Study Less Study Smart: A 6-Minute Summary of Marty Lobdell's Lecture - College Info Geek

Dr. Marty Lobdell's "Study Less Study Smart" lecture is an excellent hour-long overview of how to study effectively.

If you're pressed for time, though, this summary video will give you a good portion of the most useful advice from the lecture.

Watch the original lecture here:

Companion blog post with my detailed notes on the lecture:

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[ahmedabohay]

1- study for chunks of 25 to 30 min after that do something fun or go away
2- reward yourself after finishing your entire day
3- study concepts firstly then study facts
4- once you learn the concepts test yourself and learn actively
5- highlight the important terms
6- our brain is good at recognizing but it's not good at recollecting so you can
practice this by testing yourself and learn actively
7- flush out your notes to solidify the concepts in your mind if you feeling fuzzy with something
you can ask your friend who takes a good notes or ask your professor in office hours
8- summarize what you have learned by teaching it : 1- it's useful for recalling the information
2- to ensure that you understand the subject completely
9- to be good at memorizing is to use mnemonics :
1- acronyms : ROYGBIV (red orange yellow green blue indigo violet)
2- coined sayings : as you singing apoet about something you need to memorize
3- image association : to create a story in your head with what you have studied

[oleiah]

A lot of people think you talk too fast but personally, I like your channel *because* you are so fast-paced. I get distracted easily so when you keep it snappy and keep it moving, I can pay attention better!

[connorrydel]

this guy really took the "teach it to someone else" concept and thought we didn't notice him doing it

[IndrajitRajtilak]

00:39 - Break your studying into chunked sessions
01:21 - Create a dedicated study area
01:56 - Study actively: Facts or Concepts
03:48 - Take more effective notes
04:11 - Summarize or teach what you learn
04:36 - SQ3R: Survey Question Read Recite & Review
05:10 - Use mnemonics when studying facts: acronyms, coined sayings and image associations

[TheCrimson]

As someone who isn't a native English speaker, I haven't missed a word in your fast-paced speech and it made my day. Your pronunciation is so cool. Thanks for the tips and hope you do this more.

[eggs]

Studying for an exam:
Actual studying - 10%
Watching youtube vids on how to study - 90%
😂😂

Edit: hi guys, I just graduated this month (apr 2022) and I am so happy 😂. Just wanna share with you

[Jemmeh]

My notes for this video:
1.) Break up study sessions. Give yourself a reward or pleasant break from studying. (Walk, music, etc)
2.) Use conditioning to your advantage. Set up a dedicated study area so that you know every time you are there your brain goes to "study" mode.
3.) Be an active learner. Focus on concepts, once you understand the real concept behind how something works it sticks with you forever. Stories have meaning. Also be sure not to mix up recollection and recognition. Quiz yourself without a trigger.
4.) Take notes, and do it as soon as possible after learning something. Ask for help if you're not clear on something.
5.) Explain it to someone else, this will help you pinpoint gaps in your own understanding.
6.) Use systems for being a more active reader. Even if you don't use it exactly you can use parts of it. For example reading questions at the end of the book to figure out what is most important.
7.) Use mnemonics to memorize things. Acronyms, coined sayings, and image association. The weirder an image/story is the easier it is to understand.

[supergamer]

It's 2023 and I am still enjoying my 5 minute break.

[Thomasfrank]

One commenter asked for additional info on image associations, but YouTube wouldn't let me reply for some reason. So here's what I was going to reply with (in case it helps anyone else):

Say you want to remember that Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. One possible association: Imagine you're thrown into a lion's den. How do you cope? You pull out a box of Haagen-Dazs ice cream and feed it to the lions, of course.

That picture is completely ridiculous - but your brain actually remembers things better when they're absurd or emotionally evocative. If you can bring that crazy picture to mind, it'll be easy to connect "cope" and "haagen"-dazs with lion's "den". And that should lead your brain right back to the city and country names.

This is pretty much how I learned every Japanese kanji and vocab term I know - the app I used (WaniKani) provides crazy image associations to help connect the kanji with the meaning.

[loltadynicneni]

I use five colours for notes which enables me to colour the whole sections:
red - vital
orange - supply
yellow - definitions
green - examples
blue - terms
turquoise/purple - headings, names, dates

[lauralove]

When I started college I found you. I went from being a c student to refocusing my energy. I came across you and other YouTube help and now I’m an A student with pretty good stuff skills. Thank you!

[GubeTube]

Dear math students: PRACTICE RELENTLESSLY!

[bingahgread]

"I never watched the video because it's an hour long and I didn't have time."

Meanwhile here I am watching a 6 minute video on 2x speed and still thinking it's too long.

[rahima]

I feel like I should take breaks when I'm studying but whenever I start to relax I feel stressed and start thinking that I should be studying right now.

[nicitha]

There’s also the great tip about how you can build a study place in a small room (where you also sleep and eat for example, which is not recommended really) – you get a table lamp and only have that for studying. You are not allowed to use it for anything else. My own bonus tip is to use a timer on the lamp. The light goes out? Time for a break! No loud alarm going off, just not enough light. Quit emediatly, it is easier to get back in to it if you are mid sentence (you know what you are going back to).
I also hide my TV under a bed sheet (and put away phone and gaming controll), because it is right in front of the place I study – it does help.

[MrSiddharthbose]

Hi Thomas. I am an educator from India and work for the disadvantaged kids in the Indian Himalayas. I find your videos very useful. Thanks a lot. You are doing great work. All the best :)

[blackpenredpen]

This is great!! Thank you Tom and I will sure share this video with my students when the school starts!

[JagjitBrawler]

+Thomas Frank

For #3, I agree with the part about facts and concepts. But there's another thing I would add: skills. For example, when you're doing math, there are rarely any facts and the concepts are quite simple. The difficult part is the skill of solving the problems. That's why "studying math" is a horrible idea, rather you should be practicing many math questions to develop the skill.

[leia]

you can not imagine how incredibly helpful this was to me
i think this litterally saved my entire exam!🎉

[karylllaroco]

This is actually called the Pomodoro technique. You study for every 25mins and rest for 5-10 minutes. Then after every 5 pomodoros, take a rest for 20-30 mins.