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Students urged to use all senses to boost learning skills
Learning Success Center offers ‘outrageous’ tips on how to study differently
The Advocate
Learning Success Center Supervisor Sharon Juenemann taught students “outrageous study strategies” during a student success seminar on Wednesday in the Bob Scott Room.
Juenemann said, “Everyone will apply it (the study strategies) in a slightly different way.”
She started by asking the students two questions: What’s one thing you are good at? And what did you do to become good at it?
“This is basically a prescription for learning,” said Juenemann.
Students learn in all different ways — some learn by practice, reflecting, analyzing and others learn by teaching or researching, she said.
“You get information through all of your senses,” said Juenemann. The five senses people use are smell, taste, touch, hearing and sound. The ones most often used in class are sight and hearing, but Juenemann suggested using all five senses while studying for an exam.
“Sometimes there are subjects that are really dry so you have to do something to make it more fun,” said Juenemann.
For example, she suggested the use of marshmallows to visualize an abstract concept because, according to Juenemann, most people remember visuals better than words in a book.
“By looking at a mental model, I’m looking at something far more interesting. I’m looking at a marshmallow,” said Juenemann. “Make a mental model for yourself.”
Another way students remember things better is by association. In some cases this can be drinking water during every test; in other cases this might be color-coding your classes.
According to Juenemann, association with a certain product or color doesn’t come naturally and you have to continue these “rituals” throughout the class. “You have to consistently do that (association),’ said Juenemann. “It helps keep you organized too.”
In the same way that a color or drink might help students remember what they learned, it is helpful to practice dealing with environments. For instance, students can replicate their testing environment by making it either really noisy or really quiet.
“Time yourself when you’re studying,” said Juenemann about recreating a testing environment.
If all of this doesn’t help students study, they can always “talk yourself through it like a teacher does,” said Juenemann. By writing on a board and trying to explain a process, it will teach students to think outside the box.
“You’ve got to show what you know,” said Juenemann.
By teaching it to someone or something, students can answer all those questions that are asked differently on a test.
“Over-learning is the best technique,” said Juenemann. By spending more time on a subject and researching it in many different ways. you learn more, she said.
“You have to study past recognition,” she said.
According to Juenemann, instructors should all be able to come up with real world applications to make a subject more interesting.
Next week the Learning Success Center is sponsoring two student success seminars. Monday will be a “coping with stress” seminar from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 1152. On Thursday there will a “steps to successful test-taking” seminar from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 1267.
For more information about the student success seminar, contact Larry Gilius at 503-491-7507.