The Downside of Multitasking

How many other things are you doing while you read this blog? Listening to music or a podcast? Watching something streaming on a screen? Texting? Making a shopping list? You’re multitasking, the often highly valued ability to do more than one thing at a time. We all do it and are often quite proud of our juggling of multiple tasks. But are we really getting more done – and done better – this way?

The New York Times recently looked at the other side of multitasking – monotasking. It’s not the same as being mindfully aware of what you are doing. It’s simply doing one thing at a time without turning one’s attention to other tasks or distractions. It can be a matter of life and death when behind the wheel of a car, but today we will limit our discussion to other situations. Why does this matter? If we can do more than one thing at a time, doesn’t that make us more efficient and let us handle more information and be more productive? Not necessarily.

Studies have shown the downside to multitasking, including a recent study of workplace behavior that found that “shorter focus duration was associated with lower assessed productivity at day's end.” Another study, from 2014, found that turning from the task at hand to something else for just a few seconds doubled the errors that the study participants made in the primary task.

These studies have all dealt with adults in the workplace. But what about the impact of multitasking by students on their learning and studying? The findings here are disturbing. In one study, when researchers observed 263 middle school, high school, and college students studying for 15 minute blocks in their homes, they found that students started switching to other technology after less than six minutes, on average, into their study session. And these were students who were aware that their studying was being monitored. Those who interrupted their studying tended to have more technological distractors available to them and those who accessed Facebook while studying turned out to have lower GPAs. On a positive note, those students who used study strategies were more likely to stay on task.

An excellent survey of the research on this topic and on what the researchers think about how media and technology distractions affect learning can be found in an article on Mindshift, from KQED News. As with many behaviors parents want to impart to their children, modeling the target behavior can be an effective technique. If you want your child to be able to limit their multitasking to improve their learning and performance, you may decide that paying closer attention to a single task -- and explaining to your child what you are doing and why -- may help make this point.

photo credit: Craig Dennis via flickrcc

Use Practice Tests to Prepare for Standardized Tests

Casey Konstantin

If you follow trends in education, chances are you've heard about the importance of practice tests. To sum it up: Exciting research about memory has indicated that the best way to learn something is to take practice tests instead of traditional studying. Many education-centered magazines, newspapers, and blogs have been reporting on this idea and, for related content, you can access other posts we've written about this subject:

• Studying for finals
• Using test taking as a study tool 
• Test taking tips from experts, and
• Effective studying techniques

Sometimes, this is easier said than done. Taking practice tests to prepare for run-of-the-mill, in-class exams--such as a biology midterm written by the teacher--can be tricky, since ready-made practice tests don’t typically exist for tests of this kind; in these cases, we encourage students to make their own practice tests. But students preparing for a standardized test can access pre-made tests through a variety of sources. In the old days, students bought books of practice tests from companies like Kaplan, Barron’s, and The College Board. But increasingly, practice tests are available online, often for free.

The quality of free online practice tests varies, but there are some gems out there. For example, The College Board website offers practice questions for the AP exams and practice questions and a full-length, online practice SAT test. Students preparing for the ACT will find The Princeton Review’s full-length practice test useful. And Varsity Tutors has recently launched a very good “one-stop-shop” practice testing site  with access to practice questions, questions of the day, and sample tests for a multitude of exams, including the SAT, ACT, GRE, GED, ISEE, SSAT, and AP. Many of the tests feature a useful content instruction option that explains how to find the answer to several practice questions and problems; students can start here, then move to the flashcards to practice. As an added bonus, it’s possible to create a free account that will track one’s progress through the content.

Some online practice tests include a timer function. While this is not essential, it can be very helpful as students get a sense of their work pace in anticipation of a timed exam. One feature that is essential, however, is access to thoughtful explanations for correct answers. It’s important that students know more than whether they were right or wrong, and good practice sites will explain why the right answer is the best choice. Very good sites will even explain why the wrong answers are incorrect, tempting though some of them may be.

To make the most out of practice tests, students should keep the following points in mind:

• Make sure the format of your practice test matches the format of the actual test. If you’ll be testing on paper, print out the practice test and take it with a pencil. Signed up for a computer-based test? Taking it on the screen is fine. 
• Take the test under time constraints – at some point. For students who are nervous testers or those first encountering the test format, it may be a good idea to start out with an untimed practice round to test the waters. Students should be sure to take the test at least once under the time constraints they’ll face on the actual test day, though; it’s important that they know whether their natural pace is appropriate, and working under simulated pressure will help them feel more comfortable when taking the real test.
• Make sure practice conditions match test conditions as closely as possible. Don’t curl up on the couch with a laptop to prepare for a computer-based test; sit at a table or desk in a quiet, distraction-free space instead. Have scratch paper ready if the test allows it. Don’t snack or drink while working. It’s important to gain familiarity with testing conditions, not just the test format and content.

Test-Prep Tips: Studying for Finals

albertogp123

The school year is winding down, which means shows and concerts, yearbooks, and summer plans. But first, students in middle school and high school need to get through (sigh) final exams. For most students, the prospect of preparing for cumulative exams is a daunting one. Here are some tried-and-true ideas for students to help make their test preparation a success:

• Learn everything you can about the test. If your teacher has given you a study guide, great! If not, find out exactly which chapters or concepts you’ll need to know for the exam. If you don’t already know, ask how much time you’ll be given and whether your teacher will be allowing students extra time to finish if they choose to stay longer. It can also be helpful to learn the format of the test; ask your teacher if she will share the test directions with you before test day. Students who are slower workers can study the directions before test day so they don’t need to take time to read them while testing. 

• Devise a study schedule. Sit down with a blank calendar and your study guide and start planning. Figure out exactly which days will be devoted to covering which classes and which specific topics/chapters. Don’t be vague or general - really spell it out. Be sure to plan some “padding” so that your schedule isn't completely thrown off if you need an extra day here or there to cover a topic in more depth. Planning your schedule should be the first step you take outside of class. Do this before you start studying.

• Give yourself study breaks as you feel your mind starting to get tired. Taking breaks is not a waste of time, but studying when you’re mentally exhausted is. Your brain can’t absorb material when it’s worn out. Give yourself some time to recharge, preferably by moving around – just be sure your break doesn't last more than 10-20 minutes. When you return to hit the books, cover your notes and summarize for yourself everything you learned before your break. Then check your summary against your notes to make sure you didn't forget anything. This will help you get back on track, and will give your memory an extra workout. 

• Test yourself. The biggest mistake we see students make is to read over their notes and believe this prepares them. It doesn't. To be truly ready for a test, you need to practice retrieving the information from your long-term memory. Instead of reading over your notes, cover them and ask yourself questions, answer the questions in your head or on paper, then check your answers against your notes. Flashcards are another great way to test yourself. You could also plan a study session with a friend and take turns quizzing each other. One of our favorite study strategies is to make your own practice test! Make up questions like the ones you predict will be on the test, copying the test format, if you can. Do this about a week before the test. Wait a day or two and take your test without looking at your notes. When you check your answers, you’ll be able to tell what you've learned and what you need to review. You may even want to trade your practice test with a friend for a little extra practice.

With these tips in mind, students should be ready to put in the kind of studying that will have them prepared for even the most comprehensive finals! Stay tuned for a future post about test-day tips and test-taking strategies.

Foldable Flashcard Alternative

Out of index cards? Worried that your child will lose his flashcards after he takes the time to make a stack? To study for tests that require paired associate memory (the part of memory that links two pieces of information together, such as a Spanish vocabulary word to the English translation), try this fun foldable flashcard alternative:

1) Fold a piece of notebook paper in half vertically.

2) Unfold the paper and cut along every third printed line until you get to the fold. You should have a series of tabs on one side of the fold and solid paper on the other.

3) Fold the tabs back down. Write one of the element symbols/vocabulary words/math facts to be memorized on each one.

4) Lift the tab and write the corresponding element/definition/answer so that it is positioned underneath the tab.

5) Quiz your child, or show them how to do it themselves.

6) Pass the test with flying colors and celebrate!



For more resources for parents, teachers, and students, visit www.yellincenter.com/resources.

Photo: Jeremy Koren 

Test Taking as a Study Tool

No one likes taking tests. But research has continually demonstrated that it is test taking, not reading or trying to memorize, that produces the best outcomes for students. In a keynote presentation to The Association for Psychological Science convention in May, Dr. Henry L. Roediger, III of Washington University's Memory Lab addressed this issue in a talk entitled "The Surprising Power of Retrieval Practice in Improving Retention: From the Lab to the Classroom."

As reported in Education Week, Professor's Roediger's research team has found that testing itself, ideally from five to seven "retrieval sessions," seems to enable students to really understand a particular concept. The process of taking a quiz or testing yourself on material actually transforms your understanding of the material, according to Professor Roediger, and that means that you will do better on future tests than if you simply memorized the material for a single upcoming test. 

Other researchers whose work was presented at the conference had similar findings.

Dr. Jeffrey D. Karpicke of Perdue University presented the results of a study of college students asked to use various methods to learn science material. Those who quizzed themselves did roughly ten percent better on all kinds of questions than those who read the material repeatedly and even those who created concept maps of the material. 

Here at The Yellin Center we often recommend that students create tests -- by themselves or in a study group -- as an important part of their studying process.

Photo: Qtea/Flickr Creative Commons

Effective Studying Techniques

Recent research in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition has shown that test-taking can be an effective form of learning and, in fact, is a more effective tool for retaining material than merely studying the subject matter involved. Students who have practice tests available to them, such as those in course review books, can use these tests to help learn the materials covered. Although many instructors do not circulate old tests so that they can re-use the questions, when old tests are available, students should use them to solidify their knowledge of the the material they cover.

For students who prefer to use flashcards, we like the website Quizlet, which offers students ages 13 and up access to millions of free flashcards or the opportunity to make up their own flashcard set using the Quizlet online tools. The site also offers study games, audio in 18 languages, the opportunity to create your own study groups, and associated apps for smartphones and other devices. It's still studying, but it doesn't have to be boring!

Test-Taking Tips From The Experts

Because of the nature of memory, we often tell students that the best way to study for a test is to take practice tests. Research indicates that rereading study material, the method preferred by most people, is less effective than taking practice tests for two reasons: First, our brains have difficulty distinguishing between material with which we are familiar and material which we truly understand. Students may stop studying too early because they recall seeing information before, only to realize during the test that they didn’t actually understand it. Second, answering practice questions gives the brain practice at retrieving information from long-term memory, the process a student undergoes during actual testing. Students who have the opportunity to rehearse “finding” answers are more prepared to do this quickly and easily on test day.

An article in The Wall Street Journal from earlier this week covers this principle and offers other testing tips derived from a number of studies on learning. For example, nearly everybody knows that eating a nutritious breakfast on test day is important, but a recent experiment demonstrated that consumption of a nutritious diet should start a week before the test date for optimum results. The article also discusses how to balance sleeping and studying, and offers tips to help combat test anxiety. 

Students gearing up for the first round of mid-terms can access the full article here.

Photo used under Creative Commons by Steven S.

A Home Office for Students

A recent article in The Costco Connection, the magazine distributed by the warehouse chain to its customers, suggests that families set up a "home office for homework," something we think is a terrific idea. If you think about it, homework and school are a student's job and, just like a parent who may need a dedicated home office space to do the work of his or her job at home -- full-time or outside the regular work day -- students need a dedicated space to enable them to work most efficiently.

Whether this student office is in the student's own room, or in a more public part of the home, is a decision that families need to make based on the age of the student, the space available, and a particular student's need for direct supervision and ease of distraction. But even when families decide that the kitchen table is the best place for their children to work, there should still be a dedicated area for supplies and storage for each student.

Since this is prime time for sales of school supplies and dorm equipment, it might be helpful to consider the following when you are creating a home office for your student:

• Different students need different kinds of chairs. At our offices, our assessment rooms have both fixed and wheeled chairs, since research has shown -- and we have observed -- that moving about while working can help students who struggle with attention to focus on the task at hand.
• For older students, who may be working for more than an hour a day, proper support for wrists and back while using a computer is important.
• Each student should have his or her own storage area -- a file box with dividers for each subject is ideal -- for papers that need to be retained (for studying for a final exam, for example) but are not needed currently. Students should be encouraged to go through their backpacks not less than every couple of weeks to remove papers that can go into this longer term storage.
• A large white board, perhaps with a calendar, is a helpful way to prioritize tasks and to keep track of deadlines.
• A dedicated place for supplies -- pens, pencils, scissors, glue sticks, paper, etc.-- can be individual to each student or centralized for the entire family. Procrastinators will have fewer excuses when the supplies they need are readily available.

All but the youngest children can become involved in setting up their home office. Taking the time to prepare before school re-opens can help reduce homework battles in the fall.


Photo used under Creative Commons by Lasse Rintakumpu

Research Roundup

Scientists at the Kennedy Krieger Institute have found that children with math difficulties may lack an intuitive number sense. (Kennedy Krieger Institute)

Educators have long observed that studying over an extended period is more effective than "cramming" to learn material. Scientists in Japan have described the neurological processes that make this so. (Riken Brain Science Institute)


A new study suggests that when individuals are already engaged in active learning or thinking, they perform better on tests of memory. (Science Daily)


New York has released dismal data about the college readiness of graduating high school students throughout the state. (New York Times)


Scientists are getting closer to understanding why self-testing improves memory, especially when students select the correct answer. (Science Daily)

Helpful Tips for Students from Google Student Blog

Google Student Blog is a nice resource for mature, tech-savvy students in grades 8-12, college, grad school, and beyond. The blog, along with its corresponding Twitter feed, @googlestudents, is rich with interesting tips and content geared directly toward students.

Often, tips focus on how to leverage Google's array of products for educational purposes -- most of them completely free of charge for personal use; this week, however, @googlestudents has been sharing some of the best and most popular study tips they have collected from student readers of the feed and the blog for upcoming end-of-year exams and finals.

While some of these may seem obvious, we often forget that identifying and consistently utilizing simple strategies for studying can make a big difference in many instances. Here are a few of our recent favorites:

College Concerns

A recent column by Bob Herbert in the New York Times looked at a new book that revealed some troubling data about what students get out of their time in college. The book, Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses,was written by Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa, based upon a study they conducted under the auspices of the Social Science Research Council and its collaborators.

The book's thesis is that not only are students enrolling in college ill prepared to do serious learning, but that they do not generally improve their acquisition of knowledge or skills, in large part because they spend little time studying and devote a significant amount of their time and energies to social pursuits that are not connected to academics. And much of the blame, the book's authors believe, is due to the failure of colleges to demand the kind of academic rigor that would require students to take their studies more seriously. The book looks at financial factors and campus cultures that impact the kind of teaching and expectations that foster the limited academic growth and make the point that the grades of these students have not dropped substantially, even as actual learning and acquisition of critical thinking skills has declined.

Bob Herbert expresses his concern with the impact this "skating by" has on our country's role in the world and notes that too many students are leaving college without necessary skills. "The students who don’t develop them may leave college with a degree and an expanded circle of friends, but little more," Herbert notes.

As we work with college bound students and those already enrolled in college, we have noted one relevant, anecdotal factor: students in small colleges tend to be less likely to get lost in the crowd and often find it easier to establish the kind of academic linkages with their professors that lead them to real thinking and learning. It is certainly something to consider when thinking about college choices.

Study: Sleep has Major Impact on Learning

A new study by researchers at UC Berkeley has found that special, speedy brain waves - known as "sleep spindles" - may have a deep impact on our ability to take in new information and to consolidate and store what we have recently learned. The findings could have implications on scheduling for education, and further support our strong belief in the value of good sleep habits in fostering healthy, successful students.

According to Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at UC Berkeley and senior author of the study, published in the new issue of the journal Current Biology, “our findings demonstrate that sleep may selectively seek out and operate on our memory systems to restore their critical functions.This discovery indicates that we not only need sleep after learning to consolidate what we’ve memorized, but that we also need it before learning, so that we can recharge and soak up new information the next day.”

Read more here.

Thursday Links: Paying Kids to Study, Bullying Students with Disabilities, and more

Should We Pay Kids to Study? (NPR)
Hyper One Day, Calm the Next (Scientific American)
Students With Disabilities Often Targeted by Bullies (On Special Education)
Where Digital Natives Roam, Paper and Pencil Have Place, Too (Gotham Schools)
Study Warns Against Energy Drinks for Kids, Teens (Washington Post)



Photo used under Creative Commons from striatic

Study: Taking Breaks May Improve Attention

New research is providing increasing evidence to support the proverbial wisdom behind “work smarter, not harder.” Taking breaks, it seems, may actually enhance task performance.

A new study by Alejandro Lleras and Atsunori Ariga at the University of Illinois found that when given the same task, subjects who took brief breaks performed better than subjects who did not take breaks. This is consistent with the notion that change signals a heightened alertness in the brain. “We propose that deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused,” Lleras said.

Teachers may wish to consider these findings when designing their daily agendas, scheduling breaks along the way for prolonged tasks. Similarly, students should try to schedule short breaks into their study time regularly.

Photo Credit: robstephaustralia via Flickr Creative Commons

Monday Miscellany

A new study in the journal Science supports a learning strategy we have long recommended to the students with whom we work: using testing as way of learning material. We often suggest that students prepare for tests by thinking about what material might be on a test, and preparing test questions (ideally in a group) and then actually taking the test they have created a day or two later. The study notes that this method works particularly well when students need to demonstrate comprehension and draw inferences and that it is more effective than intensive studying or even concept mapping.

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Another area we stress in looking at how individual students learn is the importance of understanding concepts, the unifying ideas that allow us to think about objects as part of a category. If you understand the concept behind something, you don't need to tax your memory with every example of such an item; you simply need to look at an item and see if it fits within the concept. A recent study in the journal Psychological Science looks at how young children learn concepts and finds that exposure to a diversity of objects best supports learning concepts. For example, young children who are exposed to three very different kinds of cups will have a better sense of the concept of a cup than children who are also exposed to three cups, but where the cups are essentially the same. The study left open several questions about how and why this exposure to a diversity of objects leads to concept learning, but it is a fascinating beginning to an area of inquiry.

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We have written several times about Life After High School: A Guide for Students with Disabilities and Their Families, co-written by Susan Yellin, Esq. Another good resource for families dealing with college admissions and financial aid issues is the The Choice blog, written by Jacques Steinberg, who also wrote The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College. 

Cool Tools: Connecting Written Text to Recorded Audio

The New York Times recently picked up on an inspired piece of educational gadgetry which we have been recommending to many students and young professionals in our practice for quite some time.  The “smartpen,” manufactured and marketed by Livescribe in a couple of iterations, with varying features and price points, is a spectacularly handy device for note-taking in a lecture situation. It also has myriad additional uses, such as quick translation and mathematical-calculation applications built-in, and would be a useful tool in the arsenal of any business person or student who could benefit from a little support of their memory and materials-organization skills.

The current models, called “Echo” or “Pulse,” are affordably priced gadgets which essentially combine two age-old note-taking devices – the simple pen and the voice recorder – into one compact tool with intertwined functionality. The pen records lectures while you take notes as you would with an ordinary pen. It uses a proprietary notebook (a small one is included, additional books are sold separately, and the Times article implies that a “DIY” solution to creating your own coordinating paper is possible) to link the playback of your recordings with the written text you have entered while listening. Later, when studying your notes, a tap of the pen (it has a built-in sensor/stylus) can transport you back into the lecture hall by accessing the specific moment of the lecture that was being recorded while you jotted down your notes. Software (no additional charge) for your desktop or laptop computer can help you organize, access, and share your recordings. The pen and notebook system can even recognize drawings or mathematical equations that you sketch while listening.

For students with weak memory, attention, and organizational skills, the Livescribe pens can be a huge help and yield important benefits in the studying process. We have seen high-school students, college and post-graduate students, and even resident-level doctors praise the effectiveness of these sleek devices. The pens hold battery charge for a long time and are ergonomically designed, appearing no larger than a permanent marker. The bulkier size of the pen (when compared to a traditional pen) may even be a plus to some students who struggle with fine-motor issues. It charges simply via USB connection to your computer, and holds a large amount of audio recordings (variable by model and price); of course, you can upload your recordings to your computer via the supplied software, effectively allowing for infinite storage capacity of your recordings.

As with any new technology, there are certainly kinks to be worked out; for one, the pen doesn’t always trigger playback as instantaneously as you would like – sometimes you’ll have to peck intently to initiate playback. Another potential hazard is one that is not unique to the smartpen device but certainly symptomatic of much of the gadgetry of our time – the ubiquity of recording devices everywhere you turn. Whether you are a high-school student using the smartpen in class or a businessperson using the device to backup your notes on an important meeting, you will want to ensure that audio recording is acceptable in the specific situation in which you wish to use the device. Some schools and professors may not allow audio recording in their classrooms, so be certain to check with administrators prior to investing in this or any similar recording device (for example, any Mac computer or iPhone comes equipped with audio recording technology – although these devices lack the sensational cross-functionality that is built into the Livescribe pens). Also, looking into the future, it’s easy to imagine how the addition of speech-recognition software (such as the much more expensive but equally useful Dragon software from Nuance – to be discussed in a future post) to the mix would enhance the functionality of the device.

All things considered, we’ve found the Livescribe smartpens to be incredibly useful tools to help create important linkages between the spoken word and written text. Starting at just above $125 and available both online and in big-box electronic retailers, the smartpens should be fairly easy to obtain for many families.

-Jeremy Koren

On Science and Good Study Habits

Benedict Carey’s September 6 New York Times article, “Forget What You Know about Good Study Habits,” discusses one of our favorite topics – the practical application of the latest scientific findings about how the mind works to educational strategies. Carey examines recent research in the emerging field of Mind, Brain, and Education and highlights some important and useful conclusions. 

As we learn more about how we store and access information in our minds, we are identifying more and more effective strategies for learning and studying. Recently, a parent told us their son takes a “Drill and Kill” approach to studying. What he meant was that his son repeatedly re-read and re-wrote the same material over and over again. As the Times’ article points out, rather than relying on rote memory, learning is most effective when we use active study strategies, such as those identified in this article: studying in more than one place, studying a range of related material at once, spacing study sessions, and including self-testing as a study strategy. Rather than treating our minds like a suitcase, into which we stuff as much material as we can, we need to be strategic in how and what we store, so we can find it when we need it. 


(Photo by Sue Clark)