hello!! ദ്ദി◝ ⩊ ◜.ᐟ
I am a second-year uni student from Canada! I am currently a music major, and I play piano, though I have numerous interests in academia.
Studying and organization have been HUGE in terms of approaching academics, and as I am in an EdPsych class right now, I am hoping I can give Studyblr a place to discuss ways to optimize their learning and track their growth.
Outside of school, I enjoy yoga, going to the gym, baking, and doing arts and crafts. And for my Studyblr folks who have BPD and MDD, this page is for you.
So one of my classes is music theory. For context I have been learning this since I was in middle school, so I've considered myself to be a strong learner in this discipline. Now in university, I realize that notes, for the most part, are quite redundant up until now.
I have typically been taking Cornell notes for the lectures, but now, I feel I could just use this (KWL) and then write a summary (or continue with the notes, possibly).
This is so I can take new information and not repeat information that I already know. I feel like in these last few weeks, I will be employing this and I will update you guys on how it goes!
-> i missed some classes during a slump, but here's the thing.
making a schema (like a story or idea) about a topic that a prof couldn't tell you, can help you remember if you're teaching yourself the content. granted, you should be able to further work with the info (ask a friend, summarize, apply) the work you missed, but making a schema is the first step. if you have some idea of what you're doing, absorbing info becomes easier as it will make connections to the schema you have towards it.
k or knowing lets us activate our prior knowledge, and this part is us building the schema. this is an idea.
w or want to know gives us ideas of how this schema could work. it's like a rough sketch of a picture. these are questions that during the reading or perhaps the lecture, will fill these gaps in (that's like our lineart).
l or learned are the details. this makes a full schema (or in this case, a full picture).
reflecting back on it, it does make things easier, but you shouldn't rely on KWL alone if you've missed a lecture or a few classes. you should be supplementing this work by working with the information in various ways.
i needed to finish a music theory assignment, so i set a goal in my study diary to do a specific section... only to completely lock in on a different section and work with a different aspect of my learning!
metacognitive thoughts: sometimes, i find that when i'm in the right environment (sometimes when i'm with a group of people), or my physiological state is at an adaquate level (AKA i'm well fed, i'm hydrated), or i am emotionally content. me entering flow state becomes so much easier, and i find that my focus levels are high.
task understanding: we learned about atonal music and jazz, and they tend to deviate from conventional harmony in classical music. in our homework, we had to identify the harmony using a particular matrix in order to notice how each key (though seemingly unrelated) relate to each other.
goal setting: "Be able to map out and identify third relations by using the tonnetz matrix to analyse the excerpt of music at 3PM."
the tonnetz analysis looked incredibly difficult, and i felt like i didn't have that much experience with it, even though i did attend the activity day to apply my skills. however...
task enactment: when i opened the package and did a survey of the concepts and questions, my eyes fell on the neopolitan sixths question and without thought, i jumped right in. i had an easier time identifying features of neopolitan sixths than focusing on how thirds related to each other in the exercpts of music i had to analyse. i felt like i was more engrossed in that activity and didn't seem keen on focusing on anything else. i ended up finishing that section for around 1-2 hours.
adaptation: things didn't go exactly as planned, but i also wouldn't say that things were lost. i find that my feelings towards my goal changed as soon as i had a proper analysis of the assignment. i think if i were to do anything else, i feel like changing my goal is always a viable option if my brain thinks that it can do much more effective work in another area.
i feel like if there's one thing i can take away, and tell studyblr about?
as long as you are learning something, it's okay if the study session doesn't go as planned.
tales of a failed study session, but also a way to get out of a slump in terms of your mental health
this was way back in march, but looking back, i am so proud of myself for getting through this. usually i'll already have hit burnout this time through. i only took a week to get myself back up and running, glad that this time, i had the resources and willpower to get there.
i understand that this isn't for everyone, and that everyone has different ways of dealing their mental health, but i want to show what has worked for me (because i know i would've appreciated this)
metacognitive thoughts: my past experiences with attempting a study session while in a not-so good mental state have typically ended in disaster. either my work quality decreases or i don't get my work done at all. on top of that, i'm dealing with worsening symptoms, emotional paralysis, and isolation. to me, it feels like everything feels heavy and everything slows down. so for me taking a less than a week to recover feels good and i'm incredibly blessed and lucky to have the supports i do now because they didn't exist a few years ago.
task understanding: chromaticism, and also helps me understand its function as a predominant chord (if you're a non-music major, don't worry about it. but if you are curious, then ask). this task is essentially about learning how to identify these two specific kinds of sixth chords.
to explain to a non-music major, it's to add more variation to a chord progression, and chord progressions have specific purposes in their sequences.
goal setting: "Correctly identify at least 2 questions on Neopolitan and Augmented sixes during my study session at 2:15 in the afternoon."
i could handle aug sixths but i remember making this goal and going "this is gonna place more emphasis on neopolitan sixths".
this was related to a previous in-class activity where one of the main concepts were about augmented sixths and neopolitan sixths. although i felt competent about augmented sixths, i missed a substantial amount of the lecture, so i felt insecure about my knowledge.
though if we're being smart students here, then we're naturally going to work on something that makes me feel insecure so we don't feel that way when an assessment occurs.
task enactment: in a state where everything became more heavy and slow for me, my perception of time felt a lot longer, and i eventually had to step away because i wasn't making any progress at all, even though this was already my intention. it's during times like these where i just had to step away and call it quits (which sometimes, that's actually better for your mind compared to pushing through).
adaptation: i can't really comment on much because i did attribute this failure of a study session due to poor mental health, but i will tell you what i did to get out of it.
having social supports: i am incredibly grateful to have such good colleagues and friends. a huge enemy of these slumps is having little to no supports. for me, a lot of my struggles in the past can be connected to the fact that i had little supports, or the supports i had could barely be considered good to me. (that's why the company you keep is so important)
reaching out to my profs and TAs ASAP: i want to say this one is unfair, because i am fortunate enough to have academic accommodations for my conditions, but in my opinion, reaching out and explaining what's going on is better than not explaining at all. if you don't explain what's going on to your TAs, they will just assume nothing at all.
it is in good nature for you as a student, if you are going through these kinds of things, to reach out if you are struggling. it shows that you are willing to take responsibility for your well-being as a student.
scheduling/prioritizing: scheduling essentially acted as a crutch for me while i was struggling to keep on track. this works if at the beginning, you already have one in place (though you can also make one if you find that you're struggling)
checking in with my physical well-being: throughout that week, i ensured that i was taking my medication, but i also made sure that i was eating well, that i was sleeping well, that i had something to eat or had enough water. this is to ensure that my brain had power to do the work it needs to do. never forget that your mind and body are both connected and that both need to work together so YOU can work!
i know these are very rudimentary bits of advice, but i am planning to post about more strategies down the line, when i have more experience dealing with mental health as a student.
I did NOT meet my study goals last week (I was grinding for auditions!), so I'm gonna see if I can go on a redemption arc by attempting the same study goal this week (AKA create a mnemonic to identify the various kinds of harmonic embellishments).
GUYS, WE DID IT! It was slightly embarrassing, but it shows the value of belonging in your faculty at school and the value of relying on other students.
I'm definitely a person who likes to talk a lot, and I tend to externalize things to understand them on a deeper level. I was telling my friend about this, and while pulling up the document detailing the various kinds of harmonic embellilshments and, it looked like this:
1. Inversions
2. Arpeggios
3. Pedal Point
4. Neighbour chords
5. Passing chords
6. Cadential 6-4
I looked at embellishments 4-6 and went to my friend, "Haha, NPC (non-playable character)"
and then it clicked.
1. Inversions (I)
2. Arpeggios (Am)
3. Pedal Point (Playable)
4. Neighbour chords (Non)
5. Passing chords (Playable)
6. Cadential 6-4 (Character)
So my mnemonic is "I am playable, non-playable character".
Now you must be asking yourself, "Does this even do anything?"
The answer is yes.
Yes. It does. On Fridays, my music theory class has a work block where we analyse excerpts of music. There was a measure that asked what kind of harmonic embellishment it was, and because I knew the various types, I was able to easily identify them without having to pull out the document.
So not only does it help you effectively remember, but you're also making good use of your time.
metacognitive thoughts: if i am in a slump, the worst thing i can do to myself is self-isolate. when i find myself to be mentally healthy/competent, people can have a tendency to be distracting factors, but when i am in a slump, i find that people can be quite advantageous for my learning and my environment. i also find that when i externalize thoughts by talking (and sometimes writing) i have a better feeling about a task's difficulty.
task understanding: *taken from my LAST post*
understanding how harmony shows up in a score can help a musician analyse conventions (on how a piece should be played), in my context, understanding harmonic embellishments can let me know more information on how a harmony is being worked with, and also shows me compositional techniques. the primary function of harmonic embellishments is to add variation and interest to the harmonic background.
in my case though, understanding the different kinds of harmonic embellishment show me when a harmony is being prolonged or used as a “step” in a sequence.
when analysing different exercpts of music in my course, certain aspects are removed once we move past the lecture or topic its featured in. memorizing these aspects can make for a more effective analysis.
goal setting: "Identify the various kinds of harmonic embellishments by creating a mnemonic during my study session
at 3:30 tomorrow."
this goal is essentially the same as the previous one, but this time, there was a specified time! i think that is why this version of my study diary. was more successful.
task enactment: while looking at the sheet for harmonic embellishments, i realized i only had to memorize six (and for some reason, i thought i had to memorize a lot). since identifying them off the bat was easy, i just had to make an six letter-mnemonic. by talking to a friend, i realized that the last three (neighbour, passing, cadential) became NPC, and then i built the rest around it, making "I am playable, non-playable character".
adaptation: within my worksheets that ask me to identify a harmonic embellishment, i usually write the mnemonic down, and then deduce based on what they are (that part is the easy part for me). typically, we are allowed to consult the course resources for that, but since i was able to memorize them all by using a simple mnemonic, i had more energy to focus on simple identification and analysis rather than reviewing on the spot.
it would not be a journey without some kind of failure along the way...
failure is normal. i think over my life i realize there cannot be good growth without the worst failures.
if no one has failed at some point towards a goal, maybe there would be no true understanding. but that's how i see it. failure just sets up a bigger success.
metacognitive thoughts: i do not fare well with routine changes. as much as adapting is a natural occurrence in life, i have found that every time i have encountered a routine change, i typically do not know how to handle it as i love having my weekends free, so they end up going into next week's tasks, which means i stay at school for a few extra hours as a result. this is a consistent thing that happens, unfortunately. sometimes, i will also over or underestimate a task, and although that can be attributed to poor task understanding, i also think it is also because of routine changes, which is something i will work on next.
i was also incredibly busy during that week as i had to do an audition on saturday, and i needed to ensure that i had adaquate time to run my repertoire daily. #ilovepiano
task understanding: understanding how harmony shows up in a score can help a musician analyse conventions (on how a piece should be played), in my context, understanding harmonic embellishments can let me know more information on how a harmony is being worked with, and also shows me compositional techniques. the primary function of harmonic embellishments is to add variation and interest to the harmonic background.
in my case though, understanding the different kinds of harmonic embellishment show me when a harmony is being prolonged or used as a "step" in a sequence.
when analysing different exercpts of music in my course, certain aspects are removed once we move past the lecture or topic its featured in. memorizing these aspects can make for a more effective analysis.
goal setting: "Identify and remember the various kinds of harmonic embellishments by creating an mnemonic during my
designated music theory study session (I have to reschedule it due to an appointment".
in hindsight, i fear the failure here was because i never specified a reschedule date, which happens to be something that has happened before. i miss a few things, i say i'll rechedule it, and then i never do.
task enactment: i wasn't able to enact the task. in fact, i knew that doing the task was at the back of my mind, but since it was my audition week, my brain switched to prioritizing this. combined with trying to be on top of my schoolwork (as there was also an assignment due at the end of the week), i had to pivot my focus.
adaptation: that was unfortunately a busy week for me, and i realized that i could've adapted some other strategies since that next week, i was able to achieve that same goal in a shorter amount of time. i want to say that i could've definitely done a "starter strategy" like pomodoro or the five-minute rule, but i feel i didn't have the metacognition to realize that (though i realize that now).
i hope a first year comes across this genuinely. if you go to my school (which, if you know you know) PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!! share this with them so they can pass musicianship and not feel bogged down by the long lectures!!
metacognitive thoughts: i have done this already for a study diary, but as past experiences with studying have went, repetition - specifically - mindful repetition, is good for your brain. i also know better than to slack off when study sessions DO get too easy because that's a trap for procrastination... i also remember the feeling of feeling overwhelmed and unsure when i slack off, so i'd rather go the route of repeated study sessions decreasing in difficulty rather than not. additionally, i knew a midterm was on its way and i didn't want to cram two days before.
task understanding: although there isn't that much that happens in a musicianship class, i know that one needs to practice their aural and sight-reading skills often. this is how we learn new music in a short amount of time. in this context, though, i know:
we were going to have an aural midterm (things to listen for)
i also struggled with identifying some of the chords and needed to find a better way to identify them, as i had some difficulty with them while doing in-class drills
goal setting: "To create chord progressions using the required chords from musicianship and be able to identify them aurally during my study session at 2:15-3:30."
i thought this goal would be easy since i'd be doing them on a piano, and since i've done drills like this before outside of class, i thought it would be another reinforcement to my understanding.
task enactment: i began with doing some self-testing with some exercises i found online, and then i realized i was losing focus, so i ended up booking a practice room, switching strategies to individually play chords that i strugggled with during class (specifically the half-diminished chords and their inversions). i did end up doing some chord progressions but got a little bored as i realized that this was quite easy for me
adaptation: i definitely felt more aware after doing this (which is good! i wanted to be like that). i realized that after i caught myself losing focus and then told myself to switch strategies. also, since this was all the way back in feb, i can definitely tell when a strategy is no longer viable for me to use (one of the big indicators of this is i lose my focus and become more prone to procrastination). not only that, but i felt that the consistent effort i put in made me feel like i was actually learning something during these sessions.
and for those taking musicianship, this is for you!
aural skill testing: self-testing is amazing! there are several resources online that can help with identifying modes, identifying chord progressions, and specific types of chords with inversions. do these at least once a day!
practice sight-reading and record yourself doing it: i am incredibly guilty of this because i rarely record my sight reading/singing exercises but i do them daily. i do at least one singing-related exercise and at least one rhythmic exercise!
note your errors: often we do aural drills in class - if you find that you're struggling with a specific concept, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE note that down and study it. this is some metacognitive stuff, but being aware of this can help you strengthen (and more importantly, feel less stressed about) your skills when an assessment comes.
please send this to a first year music major so they can lock in and not feel overwhelmed about musicianship! :D
hi filipino studyblr...
did you know i'm taking filipino in university...
anyway, one of my tasks was to write a paragraph documenting and reflecting on a filipino celebrity's (Nic Chien) experiences using abilitative (naka-) and participative (naki-) verbs.
however, i've only had experience fully writing in filipino for just about two years now, and they are asking so much of me now. i have to write a movie review for the final on this course, and it irks me, but that's exactly why we have to learn the concepts (so we can express them in the writing!)
(obviously this is an application from the lecture)
to do this, i noted only the important experiences while watching the video and then listed them in english. at this level (and in the future), i will try to take them in filipino, and i've already started now.
then i not only translated the points, then i also formed them into sentences that would flow into each other. the good thing about this is that it exercises my translation skills, but also makes me think about how i would translate a bullet point into a sentence.
my designated study session for this was a challenge. it took over TWO hours to watch a 14-minute video and write a paragraph. i was doing this smack-dab in my group of friends, who were conversing. i love them but if we're going to apply our metacognitive skills here, then we know that this is not an ideal environment for learning. to address that, i had to consider the consequences. first off, even if it's late or imperfect, my fundamental rule is ANYTHING is better than not trying and getting a zero.
please drop the high school mindset of "I need this to be perfect" yada yada yada. that is going to be history in university. it's either it gets done or it doesn't.
so i honestly just pushed through, but i will admit: despite my environment, i was able to externalize my thoughts out loud to my peers (who none of which are taking filipino), so things felt less muddy to my brain.
moral of the story? yes you can do it, and you can also do it with a little help with your friends :3
language classes are a whole other beast, and for me personally, taking notes or conceiving strategies to help solidify your understanding works entirely different, so if you guys are interested in knowing how i do it for filipino, please please let me know!
and for my filipinos...
hello po! ako ay isang estudyante taga canada! ito ang pangalawang taon dito sa uni, at musika ang major ko. pianista ako at mahilig ako magstudy!
- rari :D
this study session ALSO did feel like forever, but if i'm so honest, this is already such a huge improvement compared to me from last semester or even last year. those versions of me would've taken a few days to complete it or worse...
not at all ૮(˶ㅠ︿ㅠ)ა
metacognitive thoughts: filipino is such an odd class to work with. in all honesty, this is the class i've studied the least for because.. well.. how do you apply SRL to a language? also, i recognized that the more overwhelming i percieve the task to be, the more tired i would be by the end. and by god, was i tired when i handed that assignment in.
well, guess what.
in future weeks for my filipino class, i began to write what functions the lectures had in the context of the language. this task was also incredibly lengthy, and i had my doubts in terms of finishing this as the task asked me to write a lot for it. i tried to be open-minded, but i remained doubtful for sure.
task understanding: the task was to write a large paragraph (~250 words) about a filipino actor's experience, though if i'm honest, this, alongside our other assignments (which are also writing in filipino) was actually preparing us to write longer-form material, which is important especially if you are learning a language. additionally, the relevant topics of the previous weeks were abilitative (naka-/nakapag-) and participative (naki-/nakipag) verbs, so this assignment was basically telling us to apply these concepts by talking about this person's experiences.
2. goal setting: my goal was to "use Filipino abilitative and participative verbs to write a paragraph about actor Nic Chien's
experiences for around 2 hours around 11:30am." (11:30AM was my designated study time, and this was also me attempting to use the CAST goal framework.
3. task enactment: this was both a problem and a slight solution. when i was doing this task, i was in the environment i usually do my studies in (my faculty's common area), but my friends were there.
i was able to feel a little confident by venting out my frustrations to them, but i was also in the crossfire of a conversation, but i also thought their company gave me the motivation to get that assignment done. i ended up going over 2 hours (i think i did three, including breaks). i watched the video, took notes in english, and then translated these thoughts into filipino, making sentences. i also ensured that i used the verbs.
4. adaptation: throughout, i definitely experienced some frustrations as my brain was switching between the implicit task (write and use the verbs) and the explicit task (get 250 words). i remember obsessively checking the word amount when in reality, that's a secondary priority compared to the implicit task. another aspect i encountered was that i was overreliant on the dictionary to search up vocabulary (and while that's not always bad, it means that i'm not memorizing vocab, which is something i should be doing so i can gain linguistic independence). that was something i wanted to keep in mind for the future, especially since i practiced writing sentences during my filipino study sessions. additionally, i was rather frustrated with the whole assignment. rather than learn, i just wanted to get this long assignment out of the way.
musicianship tips (aka a reflection on a study session)
because you do not have to review the day before the aural exam
this was wayyyy, wayyy, wayyy back in february, so I'll be posting more of these to make it up.
returning to my goal of to determining the cognitive strategies I need to apply to learn the content, I chose to start with completing an assignment on chords for musicianship. I only partially attained my goal because that week, I ended up with a sickness and had to reschedule it for Sunday *AKA THE NIGHT IT WAS DUE* so completing it took a lot more brain power from me.
this was quite exhausting from me, so I found myself drifting in and out of focus. I took a break to ease my focus, and that seemed to work.
now, to be more specific, the task was to record myself performing different kinds of chords on a keyboard in two separate major keys.
for my musicianship students, here is how i would approach this task:
i would practice all of the chords first before recording. i also found myself forgetting certain chords to do in a specific order, so while practicing i would speak the chords out loud until i was confident i could do it without speaking.
playing the chords can help you identify what they sound like. especially when you're doing self-testing/retrieval with ear training, playing them can give you a sense of what it sounds like on its own.
all in all, this made recording my assignment very, very easy.
in honour of my SRL series i will explain how i used it to complete this task!
metacognitive thoughts: initially, i thought this task would demand a lot of me. the idea of having to play chords in that sequence in two different keys seemed like a lot, alongside creating a chord progression, but this was before i attempted it.
task understanding: that week we were learning about 7th chords in music (gorgeous-sounding things btw). the assignment was to play the different kinds of seventh chords in a specific order (i'm trying my best to explain this to non-music students so please bear with me!) and from there i can deduce a few things.
first off,
prof wants us to play them so we know what they sound like (that would be a helpful strategy for studying for aural tests).
prof also want us to play them in the specified order so we can learn how they could possibly fit in chord progressions (which was ALSO part of the assignment - we had to create a chord progression with a 7th chords)
2. goal setting: my goal for this session was "To play, identify, and create different types of 7 chords for my musicianship assignment."
3. task enactment: on a more explicit level, i didn't want to go into the practice room and attempt to play the seventh chords, so i played the chords without recording them.
i also took the time to repeat (and also play slowly) the seventh chords. it did require a lot more effort, given the fact i was doing this while i was sick, but it was done.
another thing i did is that i ended up using the sequence given to me during the course to practice (and then abandoned it during filming) so i would feel sure in my playing when i did them from memory.
4. adaptation: i also remember that i was sick at the time of this study session, and so attempting to record myself while remembering the sequence made this a lot harder than it actually was (compared to when I was healthy). because i was sick, i had to take some time away from school, which ate into the time i was originally supposed to do this kind of work. however, i did this over the weekend due to my empty time in my schedule.
i also found myself slacking off at times, because of my sickly state. i ended up having to deal with this by taking a walk (ie. go walk around the halls, drinking water, talking to a peer). this worked (as it usually does). i also know this works becuase in piano, i will repeat a few phrases, get absolutely bored, take a walk, and suddenly that same phrase improved.
i know i mainly should be talking from an academic's point of view, but i have realized i have been doing the adaptation cycle after every practice session i've done on the piano.
for context:
in order to help me strive for consistency and undertanding with the pieces i play, i decided to take up a practice journal where after each session, i ended up writing what strategies i used that made my time effective. additionally, i have a timer app that makes me log my energy and mood, so i am able to notice at what factors in a specific practice session make me feel happy or not.
adaptation is important because after all that's said and done (cough cough, task understanding, goal setting, adapting), the important part is to build effective studying habits. additionally, this goes for knowing what things about the study session didn't work so we can avoid encountering hurdles.
if i were to advise studyblr on what they should do to enhance their metacognitive skills (because really, adaptaion is just an awareness put in the context of their study session. and awareness is a part of how metacognition works). i would honestly recommend on having a place (like your notes app or a notebook) to note how your study sessions went.
some things you can ask yourself after a study session:
how did i feel while i did the task? what might've caused me to feel that way?
did the strategy work? why do you think it worked? if not, then why didn't it?
how was i able to achieve my goal today? what did i do (mentally, strategically, environmentally) to get there?
what could work the next time i approach something like that? would i have to change my environment? my strategy? my mindset?
reflecting on the qualitative aspects of your study session will serve as a cornerstone for any future learning you do.
i know this part is really, really short but i hope you enjoyed my simplification of the srl series! there's typically a lot more, but if you have questions regarding srl, please come to my asks and i will be more than happy to answer!
since i'm too lazy to yap tbh, the goal is to just do the task
BUT ACTUALLY
NO
I'TS NOT LIKE THAT
and task enactment is so much more than actually doing it
(even though that's a huge part of the equation.)
i know i've said this before, but different kinds of information requires different ways to work with them. you're not learning anything by memorizing terms with a concept that requires you to apply a concept, and you'd learn more effectively by noticing what kind of strategy works well, because if you're not using an effective strategy during ur study session, then we'd have a bad time doing the task.
also, this isn't about task enacting itself, but rather ways on how you can approach actually doing the task once you know what to do and how to do it.
first off, we can start task enacting by asking ourselves about what makes a good study session. for me personally, i have a designated spot for myself in my faculty's building to do my studying in.
we can also identify distractions while we're at it, so examples of that would be my phone, other people (though sometimes they can be an advantage, especially if they're also working, or if they are doing nothing so I can explain my thoughts to them).
i also want to ensure that i am in a state where i can learn, so i ensure i've had something to eat and that my water bottle is nearby. i know this sounds incredibly redundant but i promise you, things like that can ensure that you're in a state to learn.
on basics aka strategies
now i can't be specific with this, but i will brainstorm different kinds of learning and reading strategies because ultimately, this all depends on the courses you are currently taking (and also, if i took the time to explain this in full detail, i would be here for hours.)
you have different kinds of learning processes that can help activate the pathways in your brain. you get sensory information (seeing info, hearing info, etc...) which travels into your working memory, and then hopefully if the information is worked within a short amount of time, it reaches the long-term memory (and even then, you want to be reviewing that info so you know how to retrieve it or activate it when needed).
some of these learning processes include...
organizing and strutcturing the info (ie. can you see if you are supposed to expand and connect? are you supposed to compare and contrast? or are you simply supposed to identify? or are you supposed to understand that the information is presented in a linear or chronological way?)
activating prior knowledge: what do you know about the topic? (fun fact: if you can write that down, you'll have an easier time comprehending the content, especially if the concept is new to you)
selecting: this was a HUGE thing i struggled with in first sem and tbh a time saver. you only need to pick up the important bits of a piece of text and then work with that rather than work with 5-6 paragraphs of heavy reading.
it was a huge struggle for me in first sem because it would take hours to do research or hours to do reading, when in reality i could just pick out a few examples and then see how they fit into the task i was doing.
generative processing: this is you "personalizing" the information in a way that seems clearer to you. it is true when people say, that if you personalize information that you intake, you have a better chance of remembering/understanding it. in a way, this also helps in clearing gaps that the instructor may have left during a lecture, or understanding what you didn't before.
repetition/rehearsal: your brain only has so long until the the neural pathway of a learned piece of info weakens. by repeating concepts and switching from already learned concepts, you will be able to strengthen those pathways and also have an easier time activating that knowledge when its needed.
in my context, because i am a pianist, having a repertoire is like having a machine. each piece is like a section of that machine, and over time, as that machine is being used, some parts weaken, and other parts strengthen. to ensure that my entire machine doesn't fall apart, i have to work on different parts of the machine consistently, fixing possible flaws or giving them upgrades, depending on how strong i think the machine is.
i hope this gives you guys an idea to approach the "doing" part of the srl cycle easier. i know it's not much, because really, half the battle is just sitting down and doing the thing, but i hope you guys keep this in mind, as it'll make the doing a much more fruitful experience!!!
Coming back to say that as scientists, failure is one of our favorite things.
Failure allows us to develop theories and laws, define what is true and what isn't, and my personal favorite: what doesn't work.
For when we fail, when we define what method doesn't work, we concurrently leave passage for others to incur, question, and explore ways to make it work.
So not only does failure allow room for development -> it also promotes growth, drive, and tenaciousness in our community as a whole.
i cannot stress at how using growth mindset is such an important thing as a student. you will not be getting everything perfect or to a standard you want sometimes. the perfectionist mindset has to LEAVE in uni!!
the minute i switched my mindset to "i have to get this perfect" to "i need to understand this as much as i can" my life changed for the better.
i remember telling my music school librarian (NOT VERBATIM BTW) that "i can't get it perfect. perfect is impossible. the next best thing i can do is mastery, because mastery can be built over time, but perfection can't."
anyway i hope that helps since finals season is on its way :D
since you know what the underlying task asks of you...
how do you ensure you end up with the (intended) final product?
this is not some SMART goals type deal... this is a whole other thing...
srl goals function differently from your typical goals.
before this course, completing things looked like
vague descriptions (i.e. complete page 5) (writing about music reading)
like... what is this
and to no one's surprise the likelihood of getting these goals ticked off were often time-consuming and also a huge energy DRAIN.
also, it is emotionally FRUSTRATING if you can't make a good goal! you won't get anything done!
srl goals function differently, especially once you've understood what a task asks of you.
often a goal needs to be specific enough because then you'll be able to lock in. from experience, people often procrastinate or get overwhelmed because their goal is too broad or completely misses the point (aka the task...)
how can we set a proper goal then?
introducing..
CAST!
Concept: The methods/concepts/ideas I need to know or understand
Action: How I should be working with the information (like. should i memorize? or should i analyse? expand? compare? contrast? create? apply?)
Standard: How will I know that I know what I'm doing? (for example, do i have three right questions in a row? am i able to have a paragraph detailing the concepts? can i explain this to a friend without needing my notes?)
Time: How much time am I gonna commit to this? also a better question would be to ask how much time am i ABLE to commit to this?(30 minutes? an hour? fun fact: study sessions for uni should be around 1-2 hours, though if your attention span is shit like mine, then i usually max them out at 1 hour and thirty mins)
note: you should try and be aware of how much actual focus time you do...30 mins of focused time is so much better than 1 hour of unfocused time
i often use these in my edpsych class' study diaries, since we have to do qualatitive evaluations with our individual goals. i have a very minute version of it (AKA the notebook), where my checklists usally involve a concept and how i'll work with it, and then my designated study time for the subject will typically fill in the role of the time aspect. though in the future, i'll see how i'll implement a standard, as i feel that was the only missing piece.
(and also, though i did format more specific goals, i still ended up with some tasks undone.)
also, please check my notebook post linked here.
i hope this helps for any person on studyblr wanting to know how to achieve a lot in a short amount of time.
because in all honesty, do you know why you're even doing the lab? or even that pesky problem set? or even why you're doing weekly reflection journals? i bet you don't even think TWICE about the underlying context. and that's the most crucial part.
task understanding appears pretty straightforward: it's just understanding the task. but task understanding does so much more for you guys if you're a student in university!! it helps your brain lock in!! TRUST!!
how does one participate in task understanding?
first off, we have to have a task to do. it could be an essay, some practice problems, a reading, or an application exercise.
great.
then, we need to ask ourselves a few questions. looking at your tasks' instructions/intentions, we could ask...
have i done something similar before? (like, have i done something like this in this current course or in another course i did?) if so, what was that experience like for me? did it feel hard/easy/fun/frustrating?
what do i know about the concepts i need to understand for this activity? do i feel confident starting knowing what i know, or am i hesitant because i feel a little insecure about my understanding?
how valuable is this task going to be for my learning?
what do my profs and TAs expect of me when i do this task?
this is so we can build a personal interpretation of what the task is like, what doing the task is like, and more importantly, what a finished task looks like.
having good task understanding means...
(metacognitively) we can learn to be consistenly aware of what a task asks us to do
(behaviourally) we can understand how much time, energy, and focus a task requires
(motivationally) by task understanding and zeroing-in on a goal, one can sustain engagement by having a precise goal in mind.
(with cognition) when understanding the task, there are different strategies that can make completing your task more effective.
(with socio-emotional practices) task understanding can lessen your stress and insecurity. it also enhances your confidence and understanding towards the content and the course's learning expectations!
to think about task understanding, we can think of this through layers:
Explicit: This is the part of the assignment people are familiar with: Think the assignment description. The rubric. The format, the word count. It's the required content to produce a final assignment. Often, we approach tasks this way.
Implicit: This is the acutal "learning" part of the assignment/task. Lots of tasks deal with working with a specific context in a certain way. You might have an activity pack with specific problems, but they all ask you to approach the probelms with different strategies.
Socio-contextual: Many of the tasks you learn for your degree aren't useless - they have a purpose. The skills you learn in class can be translated to real life scenarios. A question you can ask yourself if you're in a slump is "how would a professional in my discipline apply this info to their work?"
You'll be able to make accurate goals and be able to achieve them more effectively (and quickly) by task understanding!
i feel my prof would want me to start with task understanding (next part by the way) but the thing is...
if you don't know what metacognition is, then (in my opinion) you're not truly fulfilling the srl cycle. knowing how to utilize metacognition properly helps the cycle flow.
the stronger your metacognition is, the easier it is for you to navigate the cycle and for you to come out with stronger learning outcomes.
with that, let's dive in.
simply put, metacognition is an awareness of how you think. it's also an awareness of how you behave, what you do when you're in certain situations, and so much more, like what studying strategies work for you and what studying strategies don't work for you.
let me contextualize some metacognitive processes.
planning (understanding tasks, setting goals, breaking down steps)
see, i'm a student doing some music theory classes. last week i had a 9-page package full of analysis questions to answer, and i was so sure that it would take me more than a few days to finish. however, upon greater analysis of said package, the nine pages were actually divided up into concepts that were actually only 2-3 pages long in total. keeping in mind that these packages intend to help us analyse and spot particular patterns in music, i managed to complete the package in three days.
2. self monitoring (what worked? what didn't? how's my progress?)
i am a pianist. something i do is i will play through a piece and note what method i used to either strengthen my understanding or memory of it. because of this, i am aware of what tends to work. self-monitoring also deals with emotional/mental/energetic dealings. a lot of the time, especially when i do "tedious" tasks such as larger assignments or sections of pieces that frustrate me, i usually have to check in on my ability to focus and my mood. knowing how you're feeling/thinking can affect the quality of your learning.
3. strategies
knowing what strategy to use is important. if you think flashcards are gonna get yourself through university you are sorely mistaken and might need a huge reality check. you want to play with that information in many ways. remember, analyse, expand upon, create.
for example, in my musicianship class, making flashcards isn't going to help me understand how chord progressions work. however, creating chord progressions or listening to examples and identifying them will. different concepts will require different strategies for you to properly comprehend it.
metacognition can help you identify other factors such as..
how you behave (your environment, the people in your environment, what you do), cognition (your attention span, how much you learn, your memory), your motivation (why you want to get things done), and socio-emotional factors (aka things that make us feel emotionally secure with our learning. for me, it's my friends, colleauges, and my filipino community that help me feel secure and confident as a learner).
something i wanna ask studyblr when using your metacognition is...
can you check in part or halfway through a task? do you feel drained? do you feel confident?
is the strategy you are using helping you learn? are you able to walk away knowing that you could tackle or work with the information or are you consistently hitting roadblocks?
do you know what places at school/library/your frequented areas pose as a place to focus? what about as a distraction? what distractions do you often entertain?
and the list goes on, right?
so dearest studyblr. please know yourself. being aware of your strengths and pitfalls as a uni student will help you learn how to regulate various aspects of your thinking, especially when you are tasked with something...
