Meryl's Notes Blog

I believe in education for a lifetime, not just stop after college. I plan to take classes when time allows and eventually go to grad school — online preferably since lectures were rough on me (this is why). Of course, education doesn’t stop with formal classes. Reading books, researching a topic, and visiting related Web sites all contribute to learning. How To Study captures most of the strategies I’ve heard about.

Although, listening to music while studying perplexes me. I find when I listen to music and try to follow the lyrics, it distracts me from work. But perhaps to those with hearing, listening to songs is second nature where they can multitask.

Mindmapping makes a great learning tool. I’ve noticed that schools today focus more on mindmapping than when I attended school. My daughter’s 7th grade science class used a mindmapping tool. I haven’t relied much on this method and that’s probably due to the lack of learning and practicing the process.

Many resources — Web-based and downloadable software — make it easier to create flash cards. In my day, we used index cards or cut paper as flash cards. I’ve seen handheld-based applications for creating flash cards, so you can take them with you.

What studying tools and methods work for you?