This PPT consists of some good practices for studying effectively and efficiently

1. Tips for Study
Chinmayananda A

2. Perspectives on Learning

3. Ancient Indian perspective on “Learning”
• Constitution of Knowledge acquisition
• ¼ from the Acharya (teacher).
• ¼ from one’s own intellect / effort / reflection.
• You can use online resources for your help.
• ¼ from classmates.
• ¼ from experience and passage of time.
• Preferably, take an advanced course in the subject for mastery.
• Socrates said :
• Smart people learn from everything and everyone.
• Average people from their experiences.
• Stupid people already have all the answers.

4. Misconceptions about learning from an “Acharya”
• Misconception I A : We study different independent (unrelated) subjects.
• Misconception I B : Learning a course will happen by studying a book.
• COURSE ≠ SUBJECT.
• Different subjects are inter-related to each other. They aren’t totally independent.
• You study different concepts related to a subject by taking up many courses.
• COURSE : You study a sequence of topics carefully chosen by your professor by
scrutinizing and studying “many” books and his/her “experience”.
• Takes into account industry relevance (professional career) and higher studies.
• Follow the professor and master the topics taught, and then study relevant parts.
• Ask doubts during and after the class. Ask them what more to study.

5. Other tips for learning
• Give up the attitude -“Will this be on the test?”
• You are not taking advantage of the professors’ knowledge.
• “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants”. – Newton.
• Ask for additional examples to clarify difficult concepts.
• Ask for best online supplementary materials.
• Be open to failure (less marks in Quiz/Mid Semester Exams ) and take initiative.
• If you loose interest in one course, this will effect other related subjects too.
• Backlogs are really lethal for your career. Don’t end up in backlogs.
• Don’t believe everything your senior tells you. Remember: he is not an expert.
• Your intention and passion to study governs your attention and retention.
• Albert Einstein – “I have no talent. I am passionately curious”.

6. Tips for problem solving
• Compile a good set of notes from the teaching hours and internet.
• During the class, jot down critical points / remarks made by the professor.
• Also, take a note of things you didn’t understand in the first “go”.
• Know what you don’t know. Fill in the gaps.
• Save your notes. They will be of immense use later on.
• Solve difficult problems from the standard textbooks.
• No active effort is exerted when you see / listen to someone’s explanation.
• Learn by doing. Confirms your level of understanding.
• Don’t waste more than half an hour without making any progress.
• Try to solve a problem before asking for help. Form a study group.
• Working with others will open up others’ viewpoints to approaching a problem.

7. Einstein’s tips for effective and efficient learning - I
• “Efficiency is doing things right . Effectiveness is doing right things.” - Peter Drucker.
• Teach someone (may be your friend or a junior) / imagine teaching someone.
• “The person who says he knows what he thinks but cannot express it usually does
not know what he thinks”- Mortimer Adler.
• Make sure you can replicate classroom teaching (by professor) + explain everything
in your own words without the help of a textbook (may be use cheat sheets).
• Don’t move on until you’ve mastered each new idea or concept.
• Learn over short periods of time.
• Create a benchmark of learning for about 30-40 minutes at a stretch.
• Then take a 10-15 minutes break. Do anything other than learning.
• Brief learning sessions are more efficient than longer ones. Quality matters.

8. Einstein’s tips for effective and efficient learning - II
• Revise frequently for some days after the first “go”.
• Make use of mental spacing for retention.
• Revise for 2-3 days after you have first studied a new topic.
• Reflect, Refine and Simplify.
• Think of the practical relevance of each concept you study (Google out).
• See if you can explain the concepts in much simpler ways without using jargon.
• “The only real valuable thing is intuition”. More important than equations.
• Understanding of ideas happens through mental experiments. – Think how the
inventor would have thought from scratch.
• Constantly question everything. Ex: If you are taught one algorithm for a task, try
understanding other alternatives and their advantages / disadvantages.

9. Thank You