Best learning techniques?

I have found myself in a 2+ year funk trying to get motivated to get new certifications. I end up spending a couple days getting into full gear, then something happens in my life (work, family, etc) that makes me slip and I don't touch the material again for weeks.

Part of it is I am certian I have ADD, dry book material have always been the bane of my existence. I've always struggled when it comes to book testing, but where I learn and absorb much more via "trial by fire" aka "real life" I typically excel at.

So maybe I just need new techniques, approaches, etc to get into the swing of things. I am all ears for what I can do to get out of my testing funk.

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JDMurray

Let me ask you and everyone else that has the same question: "What study and learning techniques did you use to pass exam in high school and college?"

Studying for a certification exam is really no different than studying for a quarter or semester class in high school or college. The cert is divided up into objectives like a syllabus, and there are reference books and supplemental study materials you can find on the Web. All you need to do is put in the time and effort to study for each quiz and exam.

If there is a difference it's that there is no instructor to lead you through a self-study certification. The lack of someone to guide you through your course of study may be be the singles biggest impediment that certification candidates face. If you don't know anyone else studying for the same exam at the same time then you are truly alone--unless you've found TechExams.net, of course.

I would suggest that you need to learn how to be your own instructor. Online academia refers to this as "self-directed learning." Some people are able to just do it naturally. However, I've found that people who are good at self-directed learning are either naturally competitive, or are really interested in the topics of the cert, and that keeps them studying.

If you find that you can't keep up the momentum to study for an entire certification by yourself, you should try dividing the material up into smaller chunks and scheduling for yourself short and regular periods of study time that are easy to accomplish. You'll also need to find a way to reward yourself for each step in your study plan that you do finish. That feeling of satisfaction is actually a very important carrot to keep you going.

Also, once you get an idea of the instructor's side of learning, you will find a new respect for the job that all instructors do. By learning how to be a better instructor you will learn how to be a better student.

LTParis

I pretty much hacked my way through high school, most of the things I learned from the lessons themselves, and did little studying. I never finished college (mostly because of a medical condition) but I applied the same style. I guess I just was never a book studier unless the content was condensed.

Maybe I need to do some different techniques, like making my own flash cards, or learning new techniques to do book studying.

rogue2shadow

Random but here's a great program for creating flash cards on your PC:

Welcome to the Mnemosyne Project | The Mnemosyne Project

Hypntick

Yeah just reading the book usually doesn't do it for me. Some type of video instruction is working pretty well for me so far. Couple that with light reading is what is doing the trick. I rarely even focus on the video just have it playing and am casually listening. At least for me labsim has been the best bet, it combines video, text and a little hands on stuff. Seems to cement things really well in my head. Not exactly cheap but if you can invest in their package deal I think it would be worth it.

sthompson86

Hypntick wrote: »

Yeah just reading the book usually doesn't do it for me. Some type of video instruction is working pretty well for me so far.

That just goes to show how we all learn differently, for I am a book reader and I feel that videos do not fully teach me the material but give me a super broad over view.

darkerosxx

LTParis wrote: »

I pretty much hacked my way through high school, most of the things I learned from the lessons themselves, and did little studying. I never finished college (mostly because of a medical condition) but I applied the same style. I guess I just was never a book studier unless the content was condensed.

Maybe I need to do some different techniques, like making my own flash cards, or learning new techniques to do book studying.

I'm learning studying techniques from a doctor that aced his MCATs and USMLE's. You don't need to know what those exams are, except to know they're among the hardest scholastic/licensing exams known to man.

I could go on all day, but these are the top things I've learned so far:

1.) Form a habit of studying daily.
2.) The more forms of studying you can do, the higher your retention rate will be.
3.) The above two lead into this one... take your main study material (text book, CBT Nuggets, etc.) and while you're going through that, take notes on a side notebook. For each topic or chapter, make sure you've written enough notes so that you can look at your notes and know everything you think you need to know and/or will be on the exam. Recommendation is 3 pages of notes per chapter for college courses, so gauge your need in that area, but the limit on notes is to force yourself to start paying more attention to the most important sections, to be able to take notes faster as you do it more, and to make your weekends easier, which follows with #4.
4.) Don't do new studying on weekends. If you carried your studying well during the week, you should have paced yourself strenuously and you can use your weekend just for review. Take the pages of notes you wrote during the week and review them.
5.) If you're just doing one subject, you can do review on Saturday and a review exam on Sunday, if your book has them.

By #4, you've had 3 different forms of studying. By #5, you've had 4. At the same time, you're teaching yourself how to study more efficiently and more quickly.

Hope that helps.

Repo Man

I like adding the cert that I plan to take next to my current resume to motivate myself.

LTParis

darkerosxx wrote: »

I'm learning studying techniques from a doctor that aced his MCATs and USMLE's. You don't need to know what those exams are, except to know they're among the hardest scholastic/licensing exams known to man.

I could go on all day, but these are the top things I've learned so far:

1.) Form a habit of studying daily.
2.) The more forms of studying you can do, the higher your retention rate will be.
3.) The above two lead into this one... take your main study material (text book, CBT Nuggets, etc.) and while you're going through that, take notes on a side notebook. For each topic or chapter, make sure you've written enough notes so that you can look at your notes and know everything you think you need to know and/or will be on the exam. Recommendation is 3 pages of notes per chapter for college courses, so gauge your need in that area, but the limit on notes is to force yourself to start paying more attention to the most important sections, to be able to take notes faster as you do it more, and to make your weekends easier, which follows with #4.
4.) Don't do new studying on weekends. If you carried your studying well during the week, you should have paced yourself strenuously and you can use your weekend just for review. Take the pages of notes you wrote during the week and review them.
5.) If you're just doing one subject, you can do review on Saturday and a review exam on Sunday, if your book has them.

By #4, you've had 3 different forms of studying. By #5, you've had 4. At the same time, you're teaching yourself how to study more efficiently and more quickly.

Hope that helps.

Good stuff. I know I need better note taking and I have been doing that with my current test, but I've just been typing it out more so because I take more complete notes typing it out. I wonder if my retention rate would be greater if I hand written them out (although my handwriting plain stinks).

Panzer919

I have ADD and I can tell you it makes studying very difficult. That being said once I get locked into something I can usually retain 90% of the information in a short amount of time. Problem is, getting myself "set" and focused usually takes a good deal of time and if I get interrupted I usually end up spinning in my chair staring at the ceiling or doodling on a piece of paper.

One of the the things I have found for studying is that I work best when I tune everything else out. I end up putting my head phones on and playing either Pandora or a CD that I have listened to multiple times and it helps to block outside distractions. I found that for me, if I am hearing a sound that I have heard multiple times (like a CD) I will not focus on it. When I worked at an ISP I found out that the same thing was true if I need to listen to someone, If I distract my eyes with something that requires little thinking (like bouncing a ball doodling or playing with a toy) I would listen to the person on the phone better than if I was doing nothing.

Another thing I do is try to take notes, IF I write it down I have a better chance of remembering it accurately than if I'm trying to recall reading something. The video's help to break up the monotony of black and white text pretty well also. I even convert them to work on my EVO and listen to them on the ride home.

So for me I read the book and take notes until I either reach a time limit that I have set or I feel myself breaking concentration, I watch and listen to the video's when I have a spare 40minutes or so and I try to do labs when I am done with a section. I have the lab manuals from when I was at the network acad but there are TONS of labs online you can find for GNS3 or just get creative and make up your own. Trust me, once you configure something and it is not working it becomes a puzzle. Then you will start back tracking, checking, googling until you find out what happened and before you know it you will have learned a lot more than you think.

hope this makes you feel better, I was always worried that I was alone in my struggles to study until I got on this forum and realized that there are multiple people that have the drive and passion to learn but struggle to just lock in and study for a certification.

darkerosxx

LTParis wrote: »

Good stuff. I know I need better note taking and I have been doing that with my current test, but I've just been typing it out more so because I take more complete notes typing it out. I wonder if my retention rate would be greater if I hand written them out (although my handwriting plain stinks).

Whichever makes you think about it more. I tend to zone out as I type things, so I find writing keeps my attention and makes me personalize the information better.

Turgon

sit still for half an hour in the quiet with a book. No substitute.

Panzer919

Turgon wrote: »

sit still for half an hour in the quiet with a book. No substitute.

Easier said that done for me

LTParis

Panzer919 wrote: »

Easier said that done for me

Same. I do have a 3 and 2 year old to contend with, and by the time they are asleep I am getting ready to and get up at 4:30AM.