Questions tagged [learning]

Questions about learning process in academia, lesson plans, learning problems, etc.

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2 votes
1 answer
691 views

How to deal with exam performances that do not reflect my abilities?

I'm a mathematics undergrad student. I failed two classes I took on the first semester so I had to repeat them. unfortunately, I failed again. I got 48 on one exam as you need to get 55 to pass, which ...
20 votes
10 answers
7k views

How can I pass a statistics exam that overly relies on memorizing formulas?

Long story short, I struggle with a statistics exam at the university. Although I know how to solve all types of exercises and the rationale behind each of them, I still can't pass this exam, because ...
-1 votes
1 answer
168 views

Best Way To Research On An Alien Topic?

One of the key challenges I have faced whilst transitioning to university life and further has been the independence bestowed upon oneself to find out information on their own. What is the best way to ...
3 votes
1 answer
528 views

Trouble with exercises and problem solving in graduate math textbooks

Firstly I'd like to apologize if this is too much of an opinion-based question. I do not know where else would be appropriate for such a post, if there is such a place please let me know. I am very ...
14 votes
4 answers
3k views

How to read textbooks like you listen a lecture?

When I hear a lecture, If the instructor is the kind I like, then I can easily understand what part of what I'm learning is important and the true crux of the ideas. Like I can pick it up from how the ...
2 votes
1 answer
214 views

How do you get better at self-learning by reading research papers?

I find it very hard to learn new things through just reading, especially research papers. Previously when I was taking classes I had homeworks to help me learn. I found it particularly helpful to work ...
-1 votes
1 answer
127 views

Correct and wrong mindsets for problem solving [closed]

Is there one right answer in a math or physics problem?How does one approach a problem?With what mindsets? Is it necessary to have a mindset that you should find the correct combination of elements, ...
0 votes
1 answer
170 views

What are some good resources to adapt oneself to academia and its customs? [closed]

I am an engineer in Academia, coming from a Master's degree that is pretty distant from Academia. I am ten months into my job and I still feel a bit distant about Academia, scientific research and the ...
3 votes
0 answers
83 views

Is there any reason to not use a pre-defined absolute grading scale? [duplicate]

I feel like curving the grades is just unfair, not transparent and goes against what learning is about. It also adds extra stress on the students. Having a grading scale of let's say: A:91%- B:81%-90% ...
-4 votes
1 answer
437 views

I like learning new things but hate to do revision

This problem has been troubling me for some years. The fact that I'm actually very curious in person about everything, I naturally become a learner who likes studying a lot. However, I also get so-so ...
1 vote
1 answer
76 views

Should I do an exam-focused study or a complete learning based? [closed]

I've completed a Bachelor's degree in engineering and I plan to go for a master's next. To get admission to one of the top universities in my country, I need to take a standard exam, which is highly ...
-2 votes
2 answers
829 views

Study methods for average IQ individuals, math and physics [closed]

How should a person with 110 IQ approach studying? Particularly with math and physics. What are the methods (if any) that can be employed to compensate for my inherent inability to understand very ...
2 votes
0 answers
87 views

Research on number of exam attempts vs. learning outcome

Is there research on how allowing retakes or multiple attempts affects the learning outcome of students? For instance, if one allows students 3 attempts to take the exam rather than 1, with tests ...
1 vote
2 answers
305 views

How to avoid getting lost in referring multiple reference texts at the same time?

I am a 2nd year PhD student working on a project which involves control systems and power systems. For the next stage of my work, I have to learn about a control systems technique which I am not ...
0 votes
3 answers
138 views

What are some tips to get more out of long pre-recorded lectures?

I am seeing some online lectures and it seems so that my attention is decaying quite fast as time progresses in the lecture. Most lectures I find on the internet are 1hr yet the the time I can focus ...
117 votes
9 answers
16k views

Asking questions in class: how can I "exit" a Q&A when I haven't really understood?

I'm an undergrad and I tend to learn better when I understand the concepts behind things instead of rote repetition. As a result of this, I often have questions. There are times when I don't ...
2 votes
2 answers
141 views

Are teaching and learning philosophy/philosophies written separately?

I am applying for faculty position in some school and among the documents needed, they asked for "Teaching, Learning and research philosophy.", this my first time to hear about learning ...
0 votes
4 answers
392 views

Is there a difference between simplification and spoon feeding in education?

I had been researching about what students dislike about studying, and found out two contradictory piece of reasons: students cannot understand the concepts taught to them by the teachers; they hate ...
7 votes
4 answers
2k views

The best way to prepare an undergraduate student before entering scientific research

I am a student in the second year of a university majoring in mathematics. I am trying to publish scientific research. Of course I know that it will be very difficult to do it at this level of study. ...
3 votes
2 answers
194 views

Best way to read academic/scientific books [duplicate]

I’m a computer science student in the second semester. I passed all my first exams fairly well and can follow my lectures quite decent (usually). But whenever I want to dig deeper into a topic and try ...
2 votes
2 answers
258 views

How do I actively learn NEW CONTENT from text based content?

How do I improve my ability to learn? Here is a similar question. I will tell why it doesn't answer my question here. Solving exercises is not my problem. My problem is learning the theoritical ...
18 votes
12 answers
9k views

The Ethics of Preparing for a Course Long Before Actually Taking it

I think this is an unspoken question in academia: how do you factor in the effort put forth by a student before taking your class? I think the answer to this question has several consequences: it ...
4 votes
2 answers
543 views

How to remember what one studies, when there are a lot of things to remember

I'm currently pursuing my bachelor's in Mechanical engineering and I am facing this issue since a long time. I study a subject completely and then forget it overtime as I continue to study new ...
1 vote
2 answers
177 views

Data supporting educational entertainment media as an ineffective method to stimulate students to learn academic concepts outside of the classroom?

I define educational entertainment media as books, films, animation, video games, board games, toys, and such, designed with embedded practical examples of academic concepts. I am unfamiliar with a ...
19 votes
6 answers
3k views

How can a student improve his attentiveness during lectures?

I'll be starting my 4-th year of post-secondary education, in a few weeks, and during my first 3 years, I've had problems with attentiveness. My latest problem was last year, where I don't think I've ...
193 votes
15 answers
24k views

How to stop hopping the learning chain and actually begin somewhere?

Here is what I feel whenever I find something interesting and feel like pursuing it : Oh so I like X (Computer Graphics), let me read up papers/books about it. Ok let me begin with reading up Y (...
1 vote
1 answer
188 views

How to make the best out of my Applied Math degree?

I'm currently a second-year student taking a Math Degree. The reason I say Applied Math in the title is because I've started to see that, while I like studying Pure Math (I'm enjoying my proof based ...
3 votes
3 answers
325 views

How to write practice exams as a student as a way to study

I'm an upper-division physics student. I have finals coming up next week and I want to take the advice of one of my professors from several years ago: write your own exams for practice and give them ...
0 votes
1 answer
121 views

What does "abstract aspects" of a subject mean? [closed]

For example, political theory deals with the abstract aspects of politics, and similarly, there is theoretical (abstract) physics. Why are they called abstract or theoretical? Is something that we ...
25 votes
12 answers
8k views

How to self teach mathematics?

I am a postgraduate in biology. I haven’t had an opportunity to learn mathematics beyond secondary school. In my current project I have to use differential equations, ordinary differential equations (...
1 vote
4 answers
732 views

How to deal with lots of information as a Computer Science student?

As a Computer Science student, I have to deal with a lot of new information every day. While learning new concepts, we also have to learn multiple programming languages at the same time, learning ...
2 votes
1 answer
437 views

What are good habits in learning mathematics well?

Please bear with me while I provide some background and then ask my question, which I hope you will be able to answer and thus aid my capacity to learn mathematics more efficiently and thoroughly. I ...
23 votes
10 answers
7k views

How do you study a graduate-level textbook that doesn't have any exercises?

I am trying to self-study a graduate-level physics book that was recommended to me, but it doesn't have any exercises. Also, it's a specific enough topic to where I can't really find any other ...
4 votes
1 answer
134 views

How to overcome mental block while learning that feeling that something is too tough and I won't understand it?

I am studying a subject where I failed twice. So, it is normal that I am really scared of this. And everytime sth difficult appears, i get mental block. I feel I might not be able to solve this. But ...
0 votes
1 answer
107 views

How to use spaced repetition and active recall help to learn new topics, rather than just memorize them

I’ve used spaced repetition and active recall help to memorize things that I already understand. It has been helpful to me. Here is how I did it-: I UNDERSTAND something. I write short notes (...
0 votes
0 answers
40 views

How to improve my learning ability to learn from not so simple sources? [duplicate]

I am the person who asked How do I improve my ability to learn? this question. I forgot my last password and username, so I could not respond there so I am responding to comments here how these ...
16 votes
7 answers
14k views

How should I reply to an email from a student who took a test and failed, and promises to do better?

Below is an email I received from a student whom I'm giving Spanish lessons to. He took a assessment test and failed it. I received this email (which I've attached below) from him today, and I'm not ...
14 votes
7 answers
4k views

How do I improve my ability to learn?

I am decent at learning from videos. But poor at learning from textbooks, wikipedia articles etc. Unless the material is really easy to follow, I am unable to learn most of text content. How do I ...
5 votes
2 answers
446 views

How are other graduate students able to think on the spot during lectures or talks?

So this happened to me multiple times. Scenario 1: I'm sitting in a lecture or listening to a talk (STEM related) which is more or less aligned with my background (so I know the big picture), and then ...
0 votes
1 answer
466 views

How to efficiently switch between two different subjects without losing productivity?

One thing I have noticed as a student is that when I have to switch between two different tasks that I am supposed to be doing, say, for example, studying for two different subjects I am reading, I ...
2 votes
4 answers
316 views

Tracking reading progress of documentations or ebooks [closed]

Challenge: I need to read a lot of documentations and websites, but often in random order. I need to track which articles of a website, or which pages of a documentation I already read. I want to mark ...
13 votes
6 answers
5k views

Discouraged by advisor to take courses, is there a way to navigate through this situation?

Graduate schools in North America usually have a required number of courses that you need to pass. Afterwards, the school is usually pretty flexible at the student taking more courses (and it is often ...
1 vote
0 answers
204 views

Why do fundamentals matter?

In certain situations, fundamentals may not matter, but very often, especially for long term learning, they really matter. Since this is a deeply held belief, perhaps moulded by experience, I find it ...
0 votes
1 answer
118 views

What are some tips to keep in mind when solving back of the book exercises?

I am pretty convinced at this point that the most difficult task when learning in a new topic in physics/mathematics is to actually sit down and do the back of the book problems till you figure out ...
3 votes
2 answers
382 views

How do (STEM) professors keep up with the latest tech or development in order to publish research?

From an outsider/student's view, STEM professors are: not taking courses mostly not doing things outside of their research comfort zones not (?) studying up much except for their research, certainly ...
3 votes
1 answer
565 views

How do you do “research” as a fresh PhD student? [closed]

I started a PhD in applied mathematics and things seem to be going well after an initially terrible start. My supervisor and I have devised a clear set of objectives for the next three years and I’m ...
2 votes
1 answer
148 views

How do you re-learn a subject that you've started to forget?

Due to my lack of revision I've realized that I have started to forget most of the organic chemistry that I had learnt a few months back (spend about 3 m/o on a textbook). I'm trying to think of how ...
1 vote
1 answer
744 views

how to apply The Feynman technique efficiently to effectively improve my learning in math and physics?

I have known the Feynman technique two years ago, I tried to use it in my studies. I usually read a text about some topic(usually math, physics) and wrote in some paper what I understood. But I had a ...
15 votes
5 answers
3k views

Do researchers study topics outside their field for fun?

This question is partially inspired by this one. Do researchers, who actively publish, even have time for that? They seem to be a busy lot. I am not talking about publishing outside the filed, but ...
-3 votes
2 answers
2k views

Can someone do another Masters in Canada if you already have a Masters and PhD from the UK?

Can someone do another Masters in Canada if you already have a Masters and PhD from the UK?