Advisory #1

• To be successful in “Bio 3”, you must:

oBe proficient in English (reading and writing) at the 12th grade level

oBe able to work with percentages, fractions, decimals, exponents, and roots (math)

• Just as you cannot learn how to swim simply by reading a book about swimming, you cannot pass this course just by coming to class and listening to me talk about biology.

Advisory #2

Study Tips

• The college standard for study time outside class each week for a semester-length course is a minimum of 2-3 hours per credit unit.

o For Bio 3, therefore, the minimum is 8 to 12 hours outside class each week studying biology.

• Join or form a responsible study group to reinforce your learning and make the most efficient use of your time.

• Take all the Study Skills workshops offered by your campus learning resources center.

• Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850 – 1909) was a German psychologist who pioneered numerous experimental studies of memory. He was the first to describe the shape of the “forgetting curve” in 1885 in his book, Memory: A Contribution to Experimental Psychology. The results have been confirmed and are still valid today.

Cognitive Psychology

• The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve is a graph that indicates the rate at which humans forget new information.

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

• We forget almost 70% of what we learn within 24 hours. Even in the first hour, we forget more than half of what we’ve learned.

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

• The curve also shows that forgetting does

not continue until all of the information is lost. Eventually, forgetting ceases – information stored in long-term memory is surprisingly stable.

The Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

Spaced Repetitions

• Ebbinghaus’ work suggested that learning is more effective when it is spaced out over time (spaced repetitions) rather than conducted during a single longer session (massed repetition), a phenomenon known as the “spacing effect”.

• This means that "cramming" (intense, last-minute studying) the night before an exam is unlikely to be as effective as studying at intervals over a much longer span of time. For best results, study what you have learned on a set schedule.

• Let’s say that on day 1, you learned a lesson. It should be studied once to twice again on the same day, once more on the second day, once more in a week, once more in two weeks, and again in a month.

• However, research suggests that the best spacing intervals are different for different individuals.

Active Recall

• An effective repetition must be based on active recall – retrieving the information from memory (testing). This is far more effective than just passively rereading the information because:

o The act of recalling something strengthens the memory, increasing the chances we’ll be able to remember it again;

o When we’re unable to answer a question, it tells us we need to return to the material to review or relearn it.

• For example, reading a text about George Washington, with no further action, is a passive review. Answering the question "Who was the first U.S. President?" is active recall.

Reading but not studying…

• For active recall, put the book aside and hide your notes. Then recall everything you can. Write it down, or, if you're uninhibited, say it out loud.

• For active recall, put the book aside and hide your notes. Then recall everything you can. Write it down, or, if you're uninhibited, say it out loud.

• At the end of a sentence or a paragraph, rephrase the idea in your own words.

• For active recall, put the book aside and hide your notes. Then recall everything you can. Write it down, or, if you're uninhibited, say it out loud.

• At the end of a sentence or a paragraph, rephrase the idea in your own words.

• Make up a test on the material, or have a classmate make one up, and test yourself.

• Karpicke, et. al. (2009) believe that students get “illusions of competence” from rereading their notes and textbook.

Close the Book. Recall. Write It Down.

• One reason for this illusion is that the text contains all the information, so it is easy to glance over it and feel as if it is known well, when that is not the case at all. Unfortunately, active recall as a study strategy is rare among students. They prefer to reread instead.

• Flashcards are ideal for active recall. And, by not turning the card over until you’ve thought about the answer, you can learn things much more effectively than by just skimming your notes!

• Flashcards work best when the learner customizes their design, as the preparatory process will sharpen their thinking skills and help them assess the study material critically.

o Qui scribit, bis legit. (“He who writes, reads twice.” A suggestion that it is a good idea to write out something that one wishes to learn thoroughly.)

• The Leitner system combines spaced repetitions with active recall by using flashcards, based on a small number of boxes and a simple rule. It was proposed by the German science journalist Sebastian Leitner in the 1970s.

The Leitner System

• This is how it works: All flashcards start in Box 1. You try to recall the answer to a question on a flashcard. If you succeed, it is moved to the next box. But if you fail, it is returned to the first box. Each succeeding box of cards has a longer interval of time between repetitions.

• The advantage of the Leitner system is that you can focus on the most difficult flashcards, which remain in the first few groups. The result is, ideally, better retention and a reduction in the amount of study time needed.

Example Using Leitner System

• Suppose you have 3 boxes of cards

called Box 1, Box 2 and Box 3.

o The cards in Box 1 are either new

ones or the ones you have missed on

previous days.

o The cards in Box 3 are those that you

know very well.

o You might choose to study the cards

in Box 1 once a day, Box 2 every 3

days, and Box 3 every 5 days.

Box (Deck) Number

Interval Between Repetitions

One 1 day

Two 3 days

Three 5 days

F A

• If you look at a card in Box 1 and get the correct answer, you "promote" it to Box 2. A correct answer with a card in Box 2 "promotes" that card to Box 3. If you make a mistake with a card in Box 2 or Box 3, it gets "demoted" to the first box, which forces you to study that card more often.

B C D E 1 2 3

FIRST DAY FIFTH DAY THIRD DAY

• Many students are amazed at the difference spaced repetition and active recall make in how much they understand and how well they understand and retain material. It's worth experimenting for a few weeks, just to see what difference it makes to you!

Just the Facts

• Smoking weed causes memory and learning difficulties. It dulls your thinking, problem solving, and physical coordination. And it can interfere with your thinking for days or even weeks after you smoke. So frequent users may operate at a lower level all the time.

• Scientists still don’t know whether the changes marijuana makes to your brain are permanent.*

* http://www.webmd.com/brain/rm-quiz-memory-forgetting?

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