How to Study in College: Use Retrieval Practice!

Do you suffer from Test Anxiety, or is it Retrieval Deficiency? Most students spend all of their time putting information INTO their brain, but Retrieval Practice will teach you how to pull that information OUT of your brain.
Every student is in college to learn something that will help them live a better life. The sad reality is that most students have never been taught how the brain actually learns. Why not use our understanding of the human brain to make sure that you study better, learn smarter, and increase the odds that you achieve your dreams.
This video is part of a presentation called The Learning Brain given by Dr. Frank O'Neill (Dr. O).
All images courtesy of Pixabay
Medical and Health Disclaimer:
This Video Presentation is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or symptom. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read or seen on this informational and educational Video Presentation. Your use and reliance on this Video Presentation is at your sole risk. If you believe you may have a medical emergency, call 911 immediately.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

What do you do to make sure that you KNOW something rather than RECOGNIZE it? What tips do you have for your fellow students?

[@lucindacords8105]

Wow! This will change the way I study. Thank you for putting this useful content out to improve our techniques. I will be putting retrieval practice into play starting this week.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

@@lucindacords8105 I hope it has a huge impact on your learning. If the research is correct it can lead to anywhere from 1-2 letter grades worth of improvement :)

[@sontreaseturner3378]

This video made me cry I thought about all the days and nights I spent studying until my brain hurt to get through this semester it made me a better learner and student and everything that was recommended in this video luckily came natural to me I think I've always had it in me but I just never really applied myself I really need someone to motivate and say aloud techniques to use during this semester and Dr. O you did that for me

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Always my pleasure to help

[@kristylander4603]

This has worked very well for me! Starting with a blank review every time was extremely helpful. It made me really think about each question and I was better prepared for the blank test when it was put in front of me.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

So well said Kristy! I am glad that it has already helped some :)

[@dspinny]

During school, I find myself becoming frustrated a lot. I'm very happy to hear that it's a good thing. I love the saying "I can't yet". I always thought that actually learning something is being able to retrieve it. That is what you will have to do in the real world. I think one way I used this semester is reprinting homework and trying to do it without using my resources. Also, saying things out loud is such a great idea!! Thanks so much!

[@GrowGrayMatter]

YET is such an important word :)

[@chriswalker7524]

Thank you for putting this video out, flash cards do help a lot. I still really don’t get your “failing before, failing while you’re learning and failing after you learn. I thought you really shouldn’t fail after. Your video is motivating. I do feel flustered when I take test and second guess, I know you're not suppose to but I can't help myself, I always go back and reread and sometimes I change it

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Good point! In a perfect world, we would learn everything and never fail, but failure is always going to be a reality. Hopefully you fail WAY less on your exams than your practice exams, but very few student will ace their exams. Even if you do you will not ace your boards, etc. There is always something to take away from every time we are tested :). This is very relevant healthcare especially. The doctors that I trust look back at what they knew 10 years ago and feel bad about how little they knew. It is that effort to improve that pushes us forward

[@sarahaleclair660]

I realized being prepared and knowing something rather then trying to retrieve it makes test Anxiety less of a problem. Thank you for all your knowledge Ive learned great habit to help me and my family. Ill help my kids get there learning on? (great words)

[@GrowGrayMatter]

I love having fun with learning. I am always telling the kids to get their learn on and crush their courses :)

[@hilary5468]

Wow! I never thought about the fact that I did not actually know the answer to a question but instead I was simply recognizing it from notes. I like the 'brain dump' idea, I can see where that is more useful than other passive ways of trying to study new material.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Recognizing something and remembering at 2 wildly different things :)

[@spencersRus]

This is Timeless Teaching! I teach teachers and Retrieval Practice makes so much sense! These are MUST watch videos in my recertification class. Thank you!!!

[@GrowGrayMatter]

I am sorry for the delay. I have been off of KZbin for the last 18 months. I finally uploaded a video that explains my absence. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIqvmZisjbqaiM0 I will work on getting caught up with replies in the next couple of weeks. Be blessed, Dr. O

[@lizmacharia-gould3338]

The quote by Lloyd Alexander rings true for many students. Whenever I struggle to find an answer to a question I tend to retain that info better and longer. It's easy to not want to fix mistakes after a test because its already been graded, but we deprive ourselves from learning from the very mistakes. Pulling information sounds hard, and while the short term route is appealing, I definitely desire to build new neural hooks to hang new information. I will most likely fail a couple of times but I must keep my eyes on the vision. The take home message is to continually test ourselves in multiple methods and check our understanding, keeping in mind that struggle to remember is the key to break that ceiling.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Very well said! You completely understand the message that I was trying to send with this talk :)

[@starlight8452]

why doesn't this have millions of views

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Thanks for the kind words. It was my pleasure to make it whether it reaches 1 person or 1 million :)

[@shaykarr8740]

i have terrible test anxiety. the worst is when it is computer testing, i rather have a good ole paper test because it helps me focus on the question itself and when there is multiple questions that intereact with the previous ones, i can go back and see what i missed when i know the right answer. if it is on the computer, i tend to think i can't go back but on paper i can. but i find out when i am in a bind and need to pull a good grade out of nowhere i review everything and anything i can so when the test is here i can say ok i know this.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

I completely understand. All we had was paper tests back when I was in school :)

[@xolyanetzigonzalez5283]

Ive only used the flashcard method once when I was in Intro to Bio and remeber it helping me out a lot with certain vocabulary terms and it helped me memorize way more than actually reading over a document over and over again. Since then I haven't done it again because what your said was true we tend not to do things that are hard or difficult.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Sounds like you know what you should do ;)

[@lilchino8365]

I do suffer from anxiety I just get very nervous doing the test. I guess this is a really good I deal of taking the pre test or the quiz before you even learn the material and then when your learning the material you will remember the things that you don't know. recognition its good to learn and flashcards really work for me but sometimes you just get very anxious. I have learn so many things with this videos. that you Dr. O'Neill have thought us , skills that we need to do to prepare our self's before you do a test.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

I am so glad that this information is going to help you :). That is my ultimate goal. You may need to help save my life someday ;)

[@telmaibarra7345]

I have always notice that when I fail the test question once I find the right answer and remember it much better. Retrieval practice seems like a more tedious study process than the flashcard method. I have never noticed it, but it is so true that I have a more determination to know the answer to the question when I fail it. This method of studying might be one I will use, but I feel it would take a lot more time to learn the material this way than using flashcards to learn the material. Ill have to try both methods and see which will work the best with my learning ability.

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Let me know what ends up working best for you :)

[@JavaughnJPorter]

I need more if these

[@GrowGrayMatter]

Here is the playlist of the entire series :) kzbin.info/aero/PL7zPcraYKbGCAfjUfZnqxwya86jUWSrC2 I hope that this helps

[@christoriabiled4067]

Bonus video 5/5

[@GrowGrayMatter]

I hope you learned a lot from this

[@knw-seeker6836]

Thanks a lot

[@GrowGrayMatter]

It is always my pleasure. Get your learn on :)

[@AUK2013]

Hi where can we watch the full video of the learning brain pls? I can’t find it. Thank you

[@GrowGrayMatter]

This link should take you to the entire playlist: kzbin.info/aero/PL7zPcraYKbGCAfjUfZnqxwya86jUWSrC2 I hope this helps :)

[@AUK2013]

@@GrowGrayMatter thank you so much Sir :))

[@GrowGrayMatter]

My pleasure :)@@AUK2013