PH 101: Introduction to Public Health: Study Strategies

In this course, you have module intros and agendas/objectives. All of those tell you which parts of the material to focus on, or study. Read these before you read the textbook or watch the lectures. They will tell you which information to look out for.

• Read the module intros and pull out things like questions and instructions on what you should be able to do from the objectives.
• As you read, jot down answers as they turn up or related information as it turns up.
• Make sure you have enough information at the end to be able to fulfill the module objectives.There's a good chance that some of the quiz questions will come from them.
• Use the module intros and agendas as study review sheets. They will help you figure out what to focus on most.

• Many people find that taking notes as they read helps them to process the material. There are a number of ways to do this--the links below provide some suggestions, like making yourself concept maps or looking away from the text to take notes from memory.
• It's also a good idea to ask yourself questions about what you're reading as you go. In this course, there's overlap between the readings and lectures. You can ask yourself how the material compares and where different sources say different things.
• Talking to someone else can also be a form of active processing. If learning from print isn't ideal for you, try studying or going over the textbook with someone else.
• You can also try taking audio notes on your phone as you read.
• If you're writing instead of talking or taking audio notes, try doing it by hand. It actually improves your recall (probably because it takes longer than typing).

Useful links:

Metacognitive Study Strategies (UNC-Chapel Hill)

Studying 101 (UNC Chapel Hill)

How to Study (Cornell University)

Metacognition and Learning Strategies (University of Colorado Boulder)

Reading and Making Notes (University of Reading)

• Some people study well by sitting still and focusing hard for a long time, but that doesn't work for everyone. You know yourself best--you'll be able to say whether having to stop studying periodically or setting a timer will just annoy you, or whether studying in short intervals will help you out.
• The Pomodoro technique, which many people use as a way to study in shorter intervals, suggests 15 minutes as a good period of time to study, but your mileage may vary. Experiment and figure out what length of time works for you, if you want to try intervals.
• For whatever period you choose, try to put your phone away or ignore it so that you're really just studying.

• Not all study strategies work well for everyone.
• Experiment and see how you process information best. For example, you may want to read a transcript instead of watching a lecture, or read the readings/watch lectures in a particular order.