On completing this chapter, you will be able to do the following: 1. Use techniques in learning situations that will: a. Increase your degree of concentration. b. Improve your listening skills. c. Enhance your comprehension (understanding) of information needed for critical thinking as a practical/vocational nurse. d. Develop your ability to store information in long-term memory. 1) Form neural traces to store information for recall. 2. Use hints for successful test taking when taking tests in the practical/vocational nursing program. Concentration is the ability to keep your mind completely on the task at hand. The major enemy of concentration is distraction. Many distractions in a learner’s life compete with the need to buckle down to school assignments. These distractions can be summarized as two types: external distractions, which are those that come from outside yourself, and internal distractions, which are those that come from inside yourself. Strive for a study environment that meets your learning style preference (see Chapter 3). • Identify the type of environment that allows you to get the most out of your study time. Your grades will be the criteria by which you can judge whether your environment is helping or hurting. • Locate realistic indoor and outdoor areas for studying that are associated with learning. • Alternating areas where one studies can improve retention of information. The learning resource center can be used between classes and after school. At some schools, study rooms can be reserved. • Have on hand the tools you use with a print or e-book. • You will save yourself a lot of time and aggravation if you do not have to look for your study tools each time you sit down to study. Eyestrain can occur if lighting allows glare, shadows, or flicker to exist in your study area. • eReaders may require additional external lighting. • Reading lamps are available that advertise natural white light and a light grid to reduce eye-tiring glare. • If a ceiling light is available, turn this on in addition to your table lamp to reduce shadows. • A table lamp with a properly seated bulb needs to be shaded to reduce flicker. • Your writing surface needs to be a light color to reflect light and reduce glare. • If you experience symptoms of eyestrain, such as headaches, dizziness, tiredness, or blurred vision, while reading after you have tried to eliminate glare, shadows, and flicker, it may be time to have an eye examination to rule out the need for corrective lenses. • Some learners discover they need glasses only after they enroll in an educational program that demands much reading, such as the practical/vocational nursing program. Being online offers a vast amount of resources for all your classes. • It is easy to get distracted by the information available on the Internet and social media sites. • If you use search engines, Facebook, and Twitter for personal and recreational purposes, you now need to learn how to use the Internet and social media professionally (see Chapter 5). • Watch your time when you are online for educational, personal, or professional reasons because hours can slip by before you know it. 1. Are the people you associate with at school encouraging your progress in the practical/vocational nursing program? 2. Do you and your peers support and encourage one another? 3. Do you pick a special person to sit with in class so you can privately chat while others are talking? 4. Do you seek out other students who have negative attitudes? If so, what are the conversations you engage in during a supposedly relaxing coffee break? 5. Do the people you associate with love to belittle, complain, and tear down the instructor, the course, and various students in your group? 6. Does your anxiety level increase when you carpool with certain students on test days? Personal Distractions List any external physical distractions that are affecting your concentration. _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ What can you do to eliminate these distractions? _________________________________________________________ Daydreaming can be a creative adventure or wasted time. • Every time you find your mind wandering from the topic at hand, try putting a check mark on a piece of paper that you keep at your side. This may remind you that you are drifting off and need to get back to work. • Students who use this technique find that the number of check marks decreases dramatically with time. • The passive listener/viewer receives sounds or sees words with little recognition or personal involvement. • Passive listeners/viewers may be doodling, staring out the window, staring at the instructor, aimlessly trying to copy everything—all the while thinking about where to eat after class. • The active listener/viewer is always thinking, not just hearing or seeing words. • Active listeners/viewers listen and look with full attention, are open-minded and curious, and are always asking themselves questions about content. • The active listener/viewer, who really listens to hear and thoughtfully looks to see, is searching for relevant information, strives to understand it, and is always trying to figure out how content fits into the big picture, as you will also do on the clinical area. • Active listeners/viewers realize that listening and seeing are important means of gathering information, and they work at developing these skills. The skills are also used on the clinical area. • The active listener/viewer searches for ways in which the words can be put to practical use regardless of the student’s level of interest in, or degree of, fondness for the instructor or the instructor’s dress or mannerisms. Box 4-1 gives you hints on how to become an active listener/viewer. Active Versus Passive Listener/Viewer Identify and list behaviors that indicate you are an active or passive listener/viewer. My active listening/viewing behaviors: _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ My passive listening/viewing behaviors: _________________________________________________________ • Never try to capture every spoken or written word . This is note taking, and it is impossible. • Actively listen/look for the main ideas. Capture them in a way that reflects your personal learning style or styles. You are recording ideas or key concepts that you will later add to, correct, and study. Your goal is to understand the information, not memorize it. • Engage in note making, formulating condensations of what is said or seen in a text-like manner. • Develop your own personal symbols, abbreviations, and/or shorthand of sorts to help you capture the main ideas, yet retain readability without having to completely transcribe the notes. • With practice, notes will improve. Your goal is a set of notes you can use as part of test preparation. • Outlining is a structured form of note making that starts with major points and indents supporting points. Numbers or letters can be used to outline but are not necessary. Indentations will do. Box 4-2 contains hints for note making.
Using Your Methods and Skills
Studying and Testing
General hints for learners
Concentration
External Distractions
Personal Study Area
Lighting
Internet and Social Networking
Your Peers
Internal Distractions
Daydreaming
Listening/viewing
The Active and Passive Listener/Viewer
Note Making Versus Note Taking
Note Making Hints
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Using Your Methods and Skills: Studying and Testing
