Multitasking

Humans can complete more than one simple task at one time, which is called multitasking. For example if you were to walk and chew gum you would be multitasking. However, multitasking when one or more of the tasks are even slightly complex rarely saves time and usually results in lower quality outcomes.

Don’t multitask when studying. Spend at least twenty minutes of focused work on a single topic, then take a few minutes of relaxed reflection on your work before moving on to a new task. Even listening to music might be distracting if you are actively listening to the lyrics or trying to decide if you like the song. If you notice yourself thinking about the music and not the subject you are studying, you may need to try something new.

Feedback

While new to a topic you don’t yet have the tools to correctly evaluate your own progress toward understanding. Put simply, when first starting out you don’t know what you don’t know, which can lead to overestimating your level of preparation until after an exam or other heavily weighted assignment. Receiving feedback on your progress early and often will help you to avoid this barrier to success. Your instructor might provide early and often feedback in the form of quizzes, online homework, tutorials, in-class practice problems, and clicker questions, to name a few. You should actively seek out early and often feedback by attempting the example problems in the book before looking at the solutions, starting your homework early, and asking questions during your instructor’s office hours.

In order to make the most of the feedback you receive you should practice metacognition. In other words, don’t just think, also think about how you are thinking^[1]. When learning something new, consider why you are going to learn it. Make a plan for how to learn it. Assess your progress in learning it and identify ways to improve your plan. When you think you already know something, stop and ask yourself how, why, and when you came to know it. Reflect on what information that knowledge is based, where the information came from, and how you might verify the information. Metacognition can help you recognize when you don’t yet have enough information to make a good decision, so it might significantly improve your learning and help you avoid barriers to success, both in school and in life. For more information check out this detailed resource on metacognition.

Study Strategy

You should adopt a study strategy that avoids multitasking, but includes early and often feedback along with meta-cognition (just by reading this section you are already engaging in light metacognition). Start by first attempting to understand concepts with aid from various resources. Assess your knowledge by applying it to new situations, and then use the assessment results for metacognition. Seek help from your instructor on concepts that aren’t yet clear. Review material that you figured out you don’t yet know, and then repeat. The various activities in your courses are already structured to facilitate exactly that process.  The diagram below is an example study cycle that would likely be effective in most science courses. Notice that the majority of activities provide feedback. Anytime feedback is provided you should employ metacognition and evaluate the effectiveness of your study methods. The chart that follows gives specific tips on maximizing the impact of each part of the cycle.

Effective study cycle. the color coded legend bubbles indicate the purpose behind activities in introductory courses. The totals at the bottom indicate the number of activities that fulfill each purpose. Notice that most activities provide some form of feedback that can be used in a metacognitive process.