Think students need a special place to study? Research says not so

Posted on Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 10:40 a.m.

Think students need a special place to study? Research says not so

By Jen Eyer

The New York Times had an interesting article on Monday refuting some commonly-held beliefs about effective study habits.

The article draws heavily on the research of cognitive scientists, and contains some surprising (to me, anyway) tidbits, such as:

Students should study in multiple locations, rather than having a single, quiet, dedicated study space.

Research does not support the notion that children have specific learning styles.
The type of material studied in a sitting should be varied, rather than intensely focusing on a single type of drill.
Testing enhances learning — the harder it is to retrieve information, the more securely it will be stored in the memory.

I'm glad I read this, because I had just started thinking about where our daughter's "study space" should be. I now have my answer: anywhere and everywhere she feels comfortable.

Check out the article for more details and links to the research cited.

Jen Eyer oversees the Parenting section at AnnArbor.com. She can be reached at 734-623-2577 or jeneyer@annarbor.com.

Comments

Sarah Rigg

Fri, Sep 10, 2010 : 8:34 a.m.

The book "50 Myths of Popular Psychology" has a section devoted to exploring the problems with the so-called 'learning styles'- quite well researched. http://www.amazon.com/Great-Myths-Popular-Psychology-Misconceptions/dp/1405131128

robyn

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 9:03 p.m.

It doesn't matter where the study space is - they always sit at the kitchen table and do their homework while I'm getting dinner going... I need a dedicated quiet space for cooking! It always amazes me that both kids can be working on entirely different homework, talking the whole time and generally acting like unruly monkeys tweaked out on Mountain Dew and still get their work done, retain what they've learned and do well on tests.

Lokalisierung

Wed, Sep 8, 2010 : 1:15 p.m.

"rather than having a single, quiet, dedicated study space." That was always the worst for me. My parents tried to get me to study in the dining room as a child with no tv etc etc. I couldn't stand it and it hurt my studying.