Document included in an academic success packet provided to residents working with peer mentors focusing on metacognitive skills.

1. 4.0 Study Pro –The PAER Method
1.0 Preview: Preview the material and plan ahead how you will study
Step 1: Determine yours or the instructor’s goal for the assignment or task.
Try to figure out what the instructor expects you to learn from this (learning outcomes) or what your
personal purpose is if is not assigned (reviewing a research article for a term paper for example).
You can ask the instructor, look at the chapter goals/objectives, or even look at chapter review
questions to get an idea of what you are expected to learn.
Try to figure out the importance of the information and how it is organized with the other
information related to the course or term paper. You also want to consider how important it is to
the overall field or major or the main argument of your paper. The answers to these questions
should guide you in terms of the time you devote to it, the way you read and learn it, etc.
Step 2: Figure out what you already know about the topic or assignment.
Before you start looking at the contents or chapters or the book or article, try to jot down everything
you can possibly think of that you know about the main topic. If it is a complex topic, then go
ahead and look at the chapter headings and ask yourself what you know about each one. Jot down
what you know so you can use that with your notes later.
Step 3: Preview the material and determine how the information is organized.
This is actually a two part question. First, review the table of contents or the outline of the material.
Look at bulleted information and how the information is structured. Try to determine:
 What comes first, next, last, etc.?
 What are the relationships between the items?.
 What is the logic, purpose or reasoning behind how the information is organized?
Then determine how it relates to the overall course, assignment, paper, etc. What relationship does
it hold with what you learned previously in the class, other classes, other experiences, and what you
will be studying later in the course, etc.
Step 4: Make sure you understand it all. Determine if you are unsure or confused about anything.
Look at the graphs, charts, tables, and other visual aids and make sure you understand how they
reinforce or represent the information.
Step 5: Get in the author’s head. Figure out what argument or point is the author making.
While reading the information and using what you know from looking at the outline, think about
what the author is trying to accomplish. What is s/he trying to say or convince you of? What is
s/he trying to persuade you to believe or what argument are they trying to prove? While reading the
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Copyright ©2010

2. information, think what the author is going to say next, but also think why they might do so. This
can help your understanding a great deal when you try to think like the author!
Step 6: Ask the important questions – the Expert Questions, and your own questions.
Since knowledge is born of questions, there is a good chance the experts asked questions that lead
them to the understanding that they are now sharing with you. Newton may have asked…”What
causes apples to fall down consistently rather than up?” To determine what the expert questions
are, look through the chapters at the questions they ask, look for the research questions that led
people to conduct research you read about, etc. When you start to see the same or similar questions
emerge, you’ve found the expert questions. This is probably one of the most beneficial steps!
Another crucial part of learning is being involved in the process, so you are aware of the questions
that come to your mind. If you are learning about how wars and social upheaval resulted in Great
Britain when they began changing from wood to coal for the main source of fuel, and you ask what
will happen when the US changes from fossil fuel to another source…ASK IT!!!!! If you are
learning about the civil rights struggle in the 60’s and 70’s and wonder if there are any similarlities
to the gay marriage or immigration issues…ASK IT!!!! Jot it down and bring it up, either in class,
with other classmates, or with the teacher privately.
2.0 Attend Class: Listen intently, take good notes, and monitor how well you
understand the material in terms of your goals and the learning outcomes of the
chapter or assignment. You should understand what everything means, as well
as how it is organized, what questions does it answer and raise, etc.
Step 7: Attend class and listen attentively. Take notes and think about what the teacher is saying in
relationship to what you understand from the steps above. Look for answers to the expert questions
and your own questions. (Write down new questions as they arise!)
Step 8: Determine what the important information is, how it is organized, and make sure you
understand it.
Drawing on all of the previous steps, the goal, organization, expert questions, your questions, etc.,
determine what information is important as it relates to what your instructor says and your notes and
what you know from previous steps. For example, what are the answers to the expert questions and
your own? How is the information organized? You can also rank it…
1. what is of primary importance (meaning what is central to the main ideas or goals, the
learning outcomes of the course, etc.),
2. what is of secondary importance (meaning what is not central but helps explains the
more important information, gives it context or perspective, etc.) and
3. what is tertiary (meaning what isn’t really important in terms of the learning outcomes,
but what you find interesting or helps you understand other things better).
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Learning by Design, LLC
Copyright ©2010

3. 3.0 Engage: Really dig into the information, process it and recreate it.
Step 9: Paraphrase and summarize this information.
If there is a #2 most important step, this is it. Paraphrasing and summarizing is one of the best ways
of synthesizing information in paper and in your brain. Putting it together in fewer words again and
again, helps you better understand the material as opposed to just memorizing the facts.
Step 10: Try different ways of representing the information.
Reading and taking notes, in other words, the written word, is only one way we learn. We learn
through visual interpretation, auditory stimulation, even through smell! Visual imagery is often
considered most powerful next to the written word. So try to translate and interpret the information
in different symbols, drawings, flow charts, mind maps, etc. Do this as much as possible!
Step 11: Consider and determine the best strategies remembering this information. Then USE them!
1. Study to learn and understand, not just memorize.
2. Remember and make associations with other things.
o Draw a picture or a concept map or mind map or an outline, etc.
o Create a rhyme or song, or a story, or an acronym, or other mnemonic device, etc.
(especially for things that need memorizing, such as terms, dates, important people,
events, etc.)
o Engage your senses - smell something related to the subject and touch something
representative of it. Listen to music or other sounds that are related to it. Look at
pictures or videos that are related.
3. Study in smaller increments and understand each part very well before moving on.
4. Sleep. Memory is actually improved when you sleep (and reach dream state) after studying.
5. Use it or lose it. Practice and quiz yourself regularly. Practice giving speeches or
explaining it to someone else. The more you USE the information, the better you’ll
remember and understand it.
Step 12: Go over what you have learned and determine if you’ve missed anything or if there are
any gaps.
This is often easier done during or after you’ve tried explaining it to others or writing down
explanations of what you’ve learned. But identifying gaps in your understanding helps make sure
you have the opportunity to fill them in before an exam or before the assignment is due.
4.0 Constructing Knowledge and Meaning: Relate new information with
what you already know and determine how it fits or how it differs and why.
Step 13: Figure out how you can organize the information in relation to what you already know.
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Learning by Design, LLC
Copyright ©2010

4. Most of the time the information is already organized in the book or article you are reading…but
you may be using more than 1 source of information (book, article, lecture notes, information you
already knew, etc. (see how the information may be organized differently in those sources), and you
probably already have some prior knowledge that is related to what you just learned.
 Try to determine how the new information is related to what was in other sources and what
you already know.
o What aspects are similar? Different?
o What aspects are related to each other? How?
o Are some aspects dependent on others? How?
o How would you organize this in an outline? A concept map?
 Does it change what you already know?
 Does it conflict in any way? How can you reconcile those differences?
Try to look for related information that is not included in the material and see where you would
fit it into the organization. Try to organize it differently than the sources and see if anything
makes better sense logically or in terms of understanding the relationship. Believe it or not,
authors sometimes know TOO much information and actually organize information that isn’t
best for those with less knowledge.
Step 14: Think about how you might use this information in a different context.
Think about how could you use this in different contexts/scenarios? Could you apply that math
formula to when you go shopping or comparing the cost of things you buy online? Could you apply
that physics lesson to how you swing the bat in baseball/softball or tackle someone in football?
Could you use the general way you solve that math problem to solve a personal problem as well?
Could you apply something from the civil rights movement to the current issues around gay
marriage and immigration? Would the way that character in that novel handled a problem work for
you regarding a different problem?
Step 15: Make it yours!
Link it to other information you know as much as possible. Draw connections with other
information; combine it with what you already know. Try to relate the information to what you
know about the topic. But also relate it to what you know about anything else you can possibly,
remotely, ever so slightly relate it to. If you are studying the Greek and Trojan war, relate it to your
own feelings of love, passion, and desire for fame, etc. If you are studying the Periodic Table, try to
relate it to how you organize information and put it into “boxes” in your own head, or how you
organize your clothes, shoes, collectibles, etc.
Used with permission from:
Learning by Design, LLC
Copyright ©2010