When it comes to studying, most of us probably think we’ve got it down, but modern research is challenging some of the longest-held beliefs about studying. In some cases, these researchers report, counterintuitive study methods work better than traditional study methods. In this sketchnote review, I’ll doodle a few of the top study methods. A…
Research papers are one of the most time-consuming parts of school. When I went back to school after 10 years as an entrepreneur, both my time and my patience for agonizing through writing research papers was limited. Since I’ve been back in school, I’ve developed a method / “hack,” inspired by the creativity and necessity…
Memorization can be frustrating but is sometimes necessary. As much as I want my education to be a process of digesting and integrating new learning, sometimes it’s essential to simply memorize a list of facts, dates, or names. In this post, I’ll be showing you how I use multiple memorization techniques based on intersecting…
I found this vintage speedball hand lettering instructional tutorial tucked into a weathered cardboard fountain pen case in a flea market in Missouri. I’m a sucker for vintage things, hand lettering, and pens, so I knew I had to buy it- as much for the tattered old piece of paper as for the actual pens…
For me, one of the best/worst parts of being 6 semesters into my master’s degree studies is that I’m developing a vocabulary and working (but not photographic) memory of the content I’ve studied. In other words, I can speak at length at length about how research has established a link between early childhood psychological trauma…
I’m a non-traditional student. In grad school for a master’s degree after a few years in business, I was surprised to find that when I returned to school I had to learn how to write a paper all over again! Staring at a blank screen with a 10 or 12 page requirement looming left me,…
Recently the Washington Post published results of a study that surprised most students and instructors: many of the most popular study and review methods have low effectiveness in actually helping us remember and understand the material we are studying. Some of the study techniques disavowed as helpful included summarization, highlighting, the keyword mnemonic, imagery use…
Starting graduate school can be a huge transition- especially if you’ve been out of school for awhile. When I headed back to the classroom I read lots of tips and advice on navigating the graduate school world as a student back in school after a break, but here are three really useful things I learned…
Last summer an adjunct professor was brought in to teach Research Methods to my cohort of Counseling graduate students. On the first day she asked everyone to pull out their laptops and navigate to a particular website and was shocked when she was met, largely, with shrugs and apologies. Why was this instructor’s very typical…
I like to say I’m paying $16k a year to learn to take really cool notes and a masters degree comes free with purchase. Every artist needs a medium, and every writer needs ideas to pen. Going back to school as an adult has provided me both, plus the bonus opportunity (requirement) to sit and…
