Interesting Blog on studying

This came along in my daily spam from Pluralsight. Interesting concept. Makes a lot of sense to me.

http://blog.pluralsight.com/it-career-advice?
utm_campaign=newsletter_2014_0716&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=blog

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Comments

JockVSJock

Thanks for posting this.

This article, along with other research and a few books on studying I have in my library are showing the following trend. Studying in short burst throughout the day seem to perform better then trying to study for long periods of time throughout the day.

It also talks about cramming. I feel that our public school system (high school/college) encourages cramming because alot of the coursework covers so much material in so short of a period of time, there is no way to learn it and retain it for a test. Especially if the material is new or very complex or technical. So, a student has no choice except to cram the material. Especially if he or she doesn't have the ability to apply the information in their working environment or if it is all theory based coursework and there is really no hands-on.

ccnxjr

2. Test out the things you’re learning as you go along.

This resonates with some advice I got from a Lawyer (no not legal advice, just on academics/studying).
For his work/study he has to do a lot of reading.
However as a rule of thumb, for every hour of reading he commits 2 hours to active discussion/debate on the subject.
Considering his field relies heavily on reading and interpretation, discussion and debating would be a liberal arts version of practice/labbing/blogging.

So, while reading is essential, you do need the practice to solidify the concepts.

the_Grinch

Definitely great advice! I've been recently getting into shape and have been forcing myself to run daily for an hour. For years I always made the excuse that I didn't have time. Amazingly in the past 9 weeks of forcing myself to do it everyday I somehow had the hour to do it haha. Now to extend that hour to studying as well and I'll be good to go!

--chris--

Good read, it really helped to reinforce what I thought works for me...but wasn't certain if it was the right thing.

To sum it up: Read, lab, read, lab and don't cram it all into a week or a night.