When it comes to obtaining good academic results, not only intelligence counts but also the effort and time spent studying. In fact, research published in the journal Psychological Science found that many of the study techniques students use are ineffective. Based on research conducted over the past decades, these psychologists concluded that many children resort to inappropriate study techniques, which stunt the acquisition of new knowledge and the development of skills.
According to this research, in which a dozen study techniques were compared, the most effective are:
1. Time plan
It is simply a matter of implementing a calendar in which study activities are distributed throughout the week. In fact, one of the main problems of children, especially when they are young, is that they are easily distracted and forget to do their homework, so this technique is very useful to indicate when they should do their homework. and when they can play. Of course, it is not about overloading them with school activities but just about fostering a good study habit.
2. Verification tests
The typical question and answer tests, in which the correct solution must be selected, are an excellent study technique since, by offering different alternatives, they also stimulate reflection. And best of all, they can be applied to any subject, from Mathematics to History to Biology.
3. Questions and answers
The goal of education is not for children to memorize the content but to understand it. Therefore, an excellent study technique is to ask questions about the subject, questions that should promote reflection, as if it were a Socratic dialogue. At the same time, it tries that these questions allow it to establish a connection with previous knowledge, in this way the new content will be inserted into the existing knowledge structure.
4. Apply the theory
When the child can put into practice the knowledge he has acquired on a theoretical level, these are consolidated as they are integrated into the existing knowledge system. Therefore, it is recommended that you find practical examples and that you try to relate the contents of different subjects so that your child understands everything as a unit.
On the other hand, in this study, it was appreciated that some conventional study techniques that are even taught in school can be ineffective if they are not complemented with other strategies or if they are applied mechanically. These techniques are:
5. Underlined
This technique is based on marking relevant information in a text, but it is only effective when the child assumes an active role and is able to determine important data for himself since in this way thought operations such as analysis and analysis are stimulated. generalization. However, this technique does not fulfill its mission when the underlined information is provided or when the child does not know how to detect the relevant information of the insubstantial and marks practically the entire text.
6. Schemes
It is more difficult for young children to understand written information, so it is useful to teach them to make diagrams and drawings that serve to represent the information that they must learn. However, for the technique to be effective, the drawings must help to memorize and really understand the contents.
7. Abstracts
When children are young, the effort that the act of reading represents makes it difficult to understand the text. Therefore, it is convenient that you ask them to do a second reading aloud, so you can concentrate better and capture details that you initially missed. Also, ask him to summarize the relevant information. However, for the technique to be really effective, it is essential that the child does not repeat what he has read from memory but explains in his own words, in a summarized way, the essence of the text.
Obviously, these study techniques should not be applied rigidly. For example, while reading a text you can interrupt him in different sections to ask him questions, instruct him to summarize what he has learned, or give him practical examples. In fact, breaking content into smaller units makes it easier to understand. In any case, the effectiveness of the study technique depends on the active role assumed by the child. The little one must be involved in their learning.
