避免低效率学习

Nick老师微信：1290712928 Imagine you have a test in school.It could be for a class in history or mathematics.Even worse, you could have an English test.How should you prepare for this terrible event?What can you do before the big day to help you do better? 想象你在学校有一场考试。可能是历史或者数学课的考试。更糟糕的是，你也许有一场英语测试。你应该如何为这样可怕的事件做准备呢？在这个重要的日子之前，你能做些什么帮助自己更好地发挥呢？ Should you reread your history or math books?What about underlining important words or sentences? 你应该重读你的历史或者数学课本？还是标记重要的单词或者句子？ If you are like many students, you probably use both rereading and underlining.But are these truly the best methods? 如果你像很多学生一样，你可能重读法和标记法都使用。但是这些真的是最好的方法吗？ Rereading and highlighting are common strategies that you will see in schools around the world. 重读和标记是你在全世界的学校里会看到的常用策略。 Students look at information they have already read in an effort to remember what is important. 学生看着已经读过的信息，试图记住重点知识。 Students often combine rereading with highlighting.They underline important information in what they read with a writing instrument such as a marker. 学生经常结合重读法和标记法。他们用书写工具，像一支马克笔，标记他们阅读中的重要信息。 American Mary Pyc is a cognitive scientist.She studies the human mind and its processes. 玛丽·佩克是一位美国的认知科学家。她研究人类的思维及其过程。 Pyc says that both rereading and highlighting are ineffective study tools.While better than not studying at all, she believes they are not as useful as other habits. 佩克说重读和标记都是无效的学习方法。虽然比不学习好，但她认为他们没有其他习惯有用。 “For example, with rereading, it’s maybe not as effective because you are not trying to actively retrieve the information.You are not seeing “what do I actually know about what I read?”With rereading what is going to happen is that it is going to feel like you already know the information because you’ve already read it.So, you have this sense of fluency that is leading you to think “Ok, yes, I know the information.” “例如，重读可能不是多有效，因为你不是在努力地积极重获信息，不是在领会‘对于我所阅读的，我实际上知道些什么’。发生在重读中的事情是你会感到好像已经知道这些信息，因为你已经读过了。因此，你有的这种熟悉感导致你去想‘好的，是呢，我知道这些信息。’ The problem with highlighting, Pyc says, is that students have a false sense of understanding—similar to when they reread information.Also, there is a second problem that comes with highlighting. 佩克说，标记法的问题是学生们对于理解有一个错觉——类似于他们重读信息时。标记法还有另外一个问题。 “Students aren’t always aware of what the most important information is.So it’s possible that they are maybe highlighting details that aren’t as important as the higher level concepts.” “学生们不是总是知道最重要的信息是什么。因此可能他们所标记的细节没有更高层次的概念重要。” So what should you do if rereading and highlighting are not the best ways to study for a test? 那么，如果重读和标记不是备考的最好方法，你应该做什么呢？ One idea is to test yourself.We have discussed self-testing strategies in other education stories.Simple flashcards and practice exams can help when you want to make sure that you have learned something. 自我测试就是一种方法。我们在其他教育报道中已经讨论过自我测试的策略。当你想证实自己已经学到一些东西，简单的抽认卡和模拟考试会有所帮助。 Another strategy is what education experts have called “spaced practice.”This means to practice remembering the new information over time, instead of doing everything all at once.We will discuss spaced practice in a future Education Tips story. 另一个是教育专家们称作“间隔练习”的策略。即通过练习，逐渐记忆新的信息，而不是一次性记住所有信息。我们将在未来的教育技巧报道中讨论间隔练习。 Regardless of which strategy you chose, you should know that effective learning takes time and it takes effort. 不管你选择哪一种策略，你都应该知道有效的学习需要时间，而且需要付出努力。 The next time you have a test coming, try to plan for the big day so that you can give yourself time to engage in different study habits.And remember, rereading and highlighting are better than not studying at all, but there are better methods out there! 下次你要考试的时候，尽量为这个重要的日子做计划，这样你就有时间尝试不同的学习习惯。记住，重读和标记比一点不学要好，但有更好的方法！