What is the best way to study?

Encyclopedia of Opinion

Question: What is the best way to study?
Position1 of 3›: Long-term study skills
Argument‹2 of 3›: Review notes after class

The best method of study is to take copious notes and review them after each class.

The argument

The best way to study is to take copious notes and review them after each class. It is best to review one's notes as soon as possible (within 24 hours), that way one can maximize retention — the review happens while the lesson is still recoverable from memory, so the notes are being reinforced rather than deciphered. There are three important stages to note-taking and review, and the review is only the last of them. The first is before class, where one reads or skims over the materials given prior to a day's lesson, such as assigned reading or study guides. One can also study the previous day's notes to get important building context for the follow-up lesson. Arriving with that context is what makes it possible to tell, during the lesson itself, which parts are new and which are elaborations of something already met. The second stage is the during-class process, in which one listens and pays rapt attention. Using shorthand such as abbreviations can help speed the note-taking process up so one can focus on the instruction being given; the abbreviations exist to stop the writing from competing with the listening, since a student transcribing every word is no longer following the argument being made. The third stage is review: review, edit, summarize, and organize notes so that they make more sense and can be internalized better. Each of those is an act of processing rather than of recording, which is what distinguishes reviewing from simply rereading. It may even be beneficial to recopy notes to maximize retention. Taken together the three stages form a single habit rather than a technique reserved for the week before an exam, and reviewing notes after class is the step that binds them together — which is why it counts as a long-term study skill rather than a short-term one.

Premises

[P1]Taking copious notes and reviewing them soon after each class, ideally within 24 hours, maximizes retention. [P2] Effective note-taking has three stages: previewing the material before class, paying rapt attention and using shorthand during class, and reviewing afterward. [P3] In the review stage, editing, summarizing, organizing, and even recopying notes helps internalize them. [C] Therefore, because reviewing notes after class builds lasting retention, it is one of the best long-term study skills.

Counter-arguments

Note-taking is most beneficial for linguistic or visual learners, but it may not be so for other learning styles. A kinesthetic learner may need more hands-on practice with the material, for example. For such a learner, note-taking and review can be tedious and they may not grasp or retain the material very well or at all by using solely this method.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Note-taking and review can be the most effective method for some learners, but not for all.