Active learning strategies allow you to learn the most information in the least amount of
time–but only if you use them correctly. Here are 5 active learning mistakes you’re probably
making and what you can do to fix them. Dr. Jubbal, MedSchoolInsiders.com.
If you’ve been following this channel for a while, you’ll know that active learning techniques are
the best “bang-for-your-buck” study strategies. Instead of reading through textbooks or notes,
you should challenge yourself to organize, recall, and apply information through active
recall, practice problems, and the Feynman technique. But just using these strategies
isn’t enough to maximize your learning. You also need to apply them effectively.
Let’s discuss some of the most common mistakes students make when applying active learning
strategies and what you can do to fix them. The first mistake is using active
learning techniques passively. Throughout elementary, middle,
and high school, students are taught to use passive learning techniques. They’re told to
read through textbooks, listen to lectures, and review their notes to do well in their classes.
Over time, these strategies are reinforced and passive learning becomes their default setting.
As a result, it can feel incredibly difficult to break the cycle of
passive learning–even when you start adopting active learning techniques. Let me explain.
Let’s say you’ve just watched our Flash Card Basics for Premeds video and have incorporated
active recall with spaced repetition into your study routine. You’ve created your
perfect Anki deck and start blasting through 100, 200, or even 300 flashcards every day.
But you run into a problem. Even though you’re reviewing the information daily,
it’s still not sticking. The mistake you’re making is that you’re using flashcards passively.
If you read the question and immediately flip to the other side without thinking
through it or genuinely attempting to answer it, it’s no different than reading through
your textbook or notes. The same can be said about practice problems. Reading the
explanation without actually attempting the question is still a form of passive learning.
Whenever you sit down to study, you should be focused on the task at hand and treat
every flashcard and practice question as if it were the real thing. If you’re not doing that,
then you’re not using active learning effectively. This brings me to the next mistake I see students
make, which is not studying with sufficient intensity.
According to the misinterpreted-effort hypothesis, students often perceive study
techniques that require greater mental effort to be less effective for learning. As a result, they
end up gravitating towards study techniques that feel easy and avoid ones that feel challenging or
difficult. In short, when learning feels hard, many students become discouraged and quit.
The problem with this belief is that the opposite is true. Effective learning should feel difficult
and uncomfortable. It requires you to push yourself beyond your comfort zone. If it
doesn’t feel uncomfortable, then you’re probably not studying with enough intensity and are
leaving learning gains on the table. To grow and improve as a student,
you must train your brain to work through difficult problems and deal with intense
cognitive loads. This is what you’re asked to do whenever you take a test, so this is what
you have to practice whenever you study. Another reason that students often avoid
studying with higher intensity is that it can feel inefficient. Although it may seem better
to go through 40 practice questions instead of 20, quantity is not always better than quality.
Reading through a question, formulating an answer, checking it, and then reviewing what you got wrong
always takes more time than clicking through and reading an explanation. That being said,
this time isn’t wasted. By approaching practice questions in this way, you end up learning much
more per practice question than you would just blasting through as many as you can.
Instead of just understanding the answer to one specific question, you’ll understand the
underlying concept and be able to apply it to many different questions and situations.
Mistake number three is not matching the active learning technique to
the topic that you’re trying to learn. When it comes to learning, there is no
one-size-fits-all solution. Each active learning technique has its strengths and weaknesses. You
need to find what works best given the topic and how you’ll have to apply the information.
For instance, topics like anatomy and psychology are heavily dependent on rote
memorization. When learning these topics, you need to get your reps in and expose yourself
to the information enough times to make it stick. For these and similar topics,
active recall with spaced repetition in the form of flashcards is most effective.
Other classes, however, may require less memorization and assess your critical thinking
ability instead. For these topics, flashcards may be helpful for learning some of the finer details;
however, they aren’t the most optimal method for learning. These topics often require you
to make connections between concepts and apply the information to novel situations. As such,
you need to be challenging yourself to do the same when you study.
Techniques such as mind maps, practice questions, and the Feynman technique are much more effective
for learning complex concepts that require a deep understanding of the material. If your
primary study technique for these classes is flashcards, you’ll likely have a hard
time making connections and understanding the topic to the level of depth required to do well.
This applies in the reverse direction as well. If you try using mind maps, practice questions,
and the Feynman technique to learn subjects that favor rote memorization, you may end up spending
so much time trying to understand and organize the information that you fail to get your reps
in. With any topic, you need to assess what you’re trying to learn and how you will have to apply
that information to determine the best approach. And don’t be afraid to adapt and experiment with
your study techniques if things aren’t working. One definition of insanity is doing the same thing
over and over again and expecting a different result. Regularly assess your study techniques
and consider how you can improve them. The ability to reflect and adapt is
key to becoming a top student. For more tips to help you become a top performer,
be sure to check out Strategies of the Top 1% of Students – link in the description.
Mistake number four is being too structured with your learning.
Now you might be asking yourself, “isn’t organization always good?” But with learning,
this isn’t always the case. When done properly, learning is often messy. It shouldn’t feel rote
or routine. Instead, it should feel a bit challenging and even unpredictable at times.
When I was in college, I made the mistake of being too structured with my studying. I thought I had
to read through the textbook and lecture in order and do things in a regimented way. It wasn’t until
later into my academic career that I realized the power of being more flexible with my approach.
When you’re learning a topic, your goal shouldn’t be to master each concept before moving on to the
next. Instead, your goal should be to build a scaffolding and then fill in the details.
Learning is all about making new neuronal connections in the brain. The more connections
you can make between pieces of information, the more likely that information is to stick. By
building a framework of knowledge before trying to fill in the details, you give yourself more
pieces to connect. So instead of going from A to B and then to C, sometimes it may make
more sense to go from A to C and then back to B. Our job as students is to reorganize
information in a way that makes sense to us. You also shouldn’t be afraid to use all of
the tools at your disposal. You don’t have to read the entire textbook chapter
or all of the lecture slides before you start incorporating flashcards or practice questions.
Too often, students will wait until they’re familiar with the material before they start
utilizing active learning strategies because it feels premature. This is a mistake. Let it
feel messy. Let it feel uncomfortable. What you’ll end up with is a much more
robust understanding of the information. You’ll be able to make connections between
information faster which will allow you to retain the information more effectively in the long term.
The last mistake is not optimizing your physiology.
We all know the long-term health benefits of good nutrition, sleep, and exercise; however,
many people fail to realize that optimizing your health can also make you a more effective student.
Research has shown that cognitive performance and memory are improved when you are healthier. This
means that you can not only learn information more effectively, but you can also retain
that information for longer periods of time. Staying healthy has also been shown to improve
mental health which makes you more resilient to stress and burnout meaning that you can study
more intensely and for longer periods of time. There are three pillars that you need to focus on:
sleep, exercise, and nutrition. If any one of these is off, you’re leaving a
lot of performance on the table. As such, you should make each one a priority in your life.
Organize your schedule so that you can get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Schedule
time to be active and exercise. And plan your meals ahead of time so that you aren’t tempted
by fast food or other convenient options. For actionable tips on improving your health
and incorporating proper sleep, nutrition, and exercise into your schedule, be sure to check
out How to Rank First in Medical School | The (Not So) Obvious Truth over on the Kevin Jubbal,
M.D. YouTube channel - link in the description. Thank you all so much for watching. If you
enjoyed this video, be sure to check out Why You’re Not a Straight-A Student (& How
to Become One) or this other video. Much love, and I’ll see you guys there.