In addition to embedding these effective practices into my teaching, I also want students to be practicing them on their own. I’ll be giving them posters on 6 effective strategies for learning, and running a “how to study effectively” training session early on in the semester. However, I also wanted to put something about this in the syllabus – to be up front about how I’d like them to study for this class. Here’s what I’ve drafted so far:

How to read your textbook

What do you usually do when you are assigned a text book chapter to read? Read it carefully, maybe highlighting key terms? Skim it? Just look at the pictures? Not bother reading it at all? Try the following method, which is quite likely to be more effective than all of those options. It was devised by another student just like you, based on decades of research from cognitive psychology. Rachel Adragna created a “a step-by-step guide that will lead you through reading, note-taking, formulating questions, and practicing retrieval”. We’ll be practicing it in class, and you can read about it here:

http://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2016/2/12-1

How to study

If you’ve read this far, you should have noticed that we’re using the term “retrieval practice” quite a lot. This strategy of bringing information to mind from memory is one of the most effective and efficient things you can do with your study time. There are many different ways to practice retrieval – you can write everything you know about a topic on a blank sheet of paper, maybe even draw, answer practice quiz questions, or play a game. For this particular class, I recommend that you create flashcards with the key concepts, as well as a set of instruction flashcards that tell you what to do with those concepts (e.g., draw, compare, describe). This way, you’re not just practicing remembering the definitions – you’re actively using what you know in new and different ways. We’ll be practicing this method in class as well. Check it out here:

http://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2016/2/20-1

What to study

You have three exams in this class – two mid-terms and a final. All exams are cumulative, which means you will need to remember information covered throughout the semester – not just information covered since the previous exam. This means you need to be sure you’re doing spaced practice: repeatedly practicing information from a day, a week, and a month ago. Even if you feel like you’ve learned the information, don’t stop trying to retrieve it – studies have shown that practicing retrieval even after you’re able to produce the correct answer is crucial! This blog post explains how to study using spaced practice, and why cramming doesn’t work in the long run:

http://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2016/7/21-1

I’d love to hear about what you all put in your syllabi to help your students succeed in your class. I’ve seen some great examples on Project Syllabus by the Society for the Teaching of Psychology, but this seems like something that should be addressed in all disciplines!