Learning and studying
How to study, revise, take notes, remember and learn new skills: active recall, spaced repetition, flashcards, revision timetables, and what to do at school and university. Admissions to medical school are “Medicine and his doctor years”; reading books for their own sake is “Books and reading”.
The main topic of 15 sources; one of the topics of 3 more.
Videos
Also touch on it
- 2017-09-07 · Journey to placement - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #02 · Vlog or day in the life
- 2018-04-02 · Pakistan Society Ball - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #28 · Vlog or day in the life
- 2018-05-29 · Live Stream - Hangout · Livestream or live hangout
Often together
People: Paul · Ibz Mo · Katherine
Organizations: University of Cambridge
Concepts: active recall · spaced repetition · scoping the subject · interleaving
Places: Cambridge
Products: Anki · iPad Pro · Notability
How do you study effectively for exams? · How should you take notes when studying? · Should you study alone or with other people? · Should you cram or study a little every day? · Should you use flashcards and Anki? · Should you use the Pomodoro technique? · how to write an essay? · How many hours a day should you work?
Key statements
The most important statements (★★★) in the parts on this topic, at most 3 from one source: 43.
- 2018-03-24 · Exam Revision Tips with Ibz Mo — recommendation: Ali advises stating an essay's argument in the introduction and arguing it throughout: the GCSE and A-level mark schemes he saw gave the highest marks for a sustained argument, rather than a thesis held back until the conclusion. — 00:05:00
- 2018-03-24 · Exam Revision Tips with Ibz Mo — Ali says he got a first in third-year psychology and came joint top of the year, which he puts down to his essay-plan method. — 00:07:46
- 2018-03-24 · Exam Revision Tips with Ibz Mo — Ali: For his essay-based psychology exams Ali predicted about 50 possible essay titles from the lecture notes and subjects, made an essay plan with about seven references for each, and memorised all of them by drawing spider diagrams over and over. — 00:07:46
- 2018-04-02 · Pakistan Society Ball - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #28 — recommendation: Ali tells ethnic-minority students that Cambridge has many societies, such as PakSoc, India Soc, Bangla Soc and Somali Soc, open to anyone, and that its being mostly white alone should not stop them applying. — 00:04:20
- 2018-04-04 · How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips — Ali says rereading notes or textbooks improves retention somewhat but, compared with other techniques, is pretty much a waste of time. — 00:02:29
- 2018-04-04 · How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips — Ali concludes that making notes is probably wasted revision time; people who enjoy it can keep doing it, but not as an effective revision strategy. (hedged) — 00:05:44
- 2018-04-04 · How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips — Ali calls active recall (active retrieval, practice testing) by far the most important study technique: retrieving facts from the brain strengthens the connections. — 00:07:13
- 2018-04-09 · How to Study for Exams - Spaced Repetition · Evidence-based revision tips — recommendation: Ali's example schedule for spaced repetition: study a topic today, then tomorrow, three days later, a week later and a month later, ideally by active recall rather than rereading. — 00:03:51
- 2018-04-09 · How to Study for Exams - Spaced Repetition · Evidence-based revision tips — recommendation: Ali recommends spacing recall within the same day: after topics one and two, test yourself on topic one, about two hours later, before starting topic three. — 00:07:04
- 2018-04-09 · How to Study for Exams - Spaced Repetition · Evidence-based revision tips — Ali says he applied active recall and spaced repetition rigorously only in his second and third years at university, the two years he did really well in his Cambridge exams; in other years he drifted back to rereading and highlighting. — 00:08:37
- 2018-04-10 · Study with me + My revision method - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #30 — recommendation: Ali writes the answers in the spreadsheet's second column in white text so he cannot see them while testing himself; hovering over a cell shows the answer in Excel's formula bar. — 00:02:55
- 2018-04-10 · Study with me + My revision method - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #30 — Ali says writing questions for yourself instead of notes works because active recall is by far the most efficient study technique, while simply rereading notes is a total waste of time. — 00:03:24
- 2018-04-12 · Motivation, Stress & Time Management - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Ali: Although Ali has said making notes is a waste of time, he thinks making notes by hand in lectures is a useful strategy because it keeps you awake. — 00:02:50
- 2018-04-12 · Motivation, Stress & Time Management - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Katherine recommends the Pomodoro technique: work for about 25 minutes, rest for five and repeat; she has friends who work furiously together in cafes for 25 minutes and chat for five, which works well for some people. — 00:03:48
- 2018-04-12 · Motivation, Stress & Time Management - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Ali's tip for staying focused: study with your friends, which he finds really fun. — 00:04:45
- 2018-04-14 · Last Minute Study Tips, Flashcards, Essays & Maths - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Ali says understanding a topic comes first, and its litmus test is whether you could explain it to a friend or a five-year-old; trying to explain it is already active recall. — 00:02:12
- 2018-04-14 · Last Minute Study Tips, Flashcards, Essays & Maths - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Ali treats school exams as a team effort: you and your friends work together against the rest of the world, not as individuals competing with each other. — 00:05:38
- 2018-04-14 · Last Minute Study Tips, Flashcards, Essays & Maths - Exam Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Paul: To scope a subject, Paul says, face the mountain of work and write down everything you need to do, then split it into manageable chunks, instead of drifting through the month out of fear. — 00:08:24
- 2018-04-18 · Study With Me + 10 Productivity / Revision Tips - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #31 — recommendation: Ali's fourth tip is active recall in action: after reading over something, such as Beck's suicide scale, he writes down from memory exactly what he learned. — 00:01:27
- 2018-04-18 · Study With Me + 10 Productivity / Revision Tips - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #31 — recommendation: Ali's fifth tip: in any work session with friends at least one person must take the initiative and say what the group is doing, as Paul did; the others will follow. — 00:03:20
- 2018-04-18 · Study With Me + 10 Productivity / Revision Tips - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #31 — recommendation: Ali's sixth tip, active recall as a way of life: in a group session, instead of being spoon-fed an examination, one person talks the others through it and they fill in the gaps. — 00:03:58
- 2018-04-24 · Study with Me + Revision tips from friends - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #32 — recommendation: Ali: Revising with Charlotte, Ali draws the acromegaly and Cushing's examination diagrams from memory and fills the gaps from a master diagram, then she draws them and he fills her gaps: teaching her is active recall for him, so it helps both. — 00:03:29
- 2018-04-24 · Study with Me + Revision tips from friends - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #32 — recommendation: Ali builds his active recall spreadsheet in Google Sheets with friends: for each neurology topic the group brainstorms questions an examiner could ask, writes them in column A and works out the answers for column B. — 00:04:28
- 2018-04-24 · Study with Me + Revision tips from friends - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #32 — Ali likes working with other people because it gives a realistic idea of how little everyone else works; studying alone in a library, especially for A levels or at university, inflates what others seem to do and makes you think you are not doing enough. — 00:07:14
- 2018-05-01 · First Live Hangout + Rapid-fire Q&A — Ali's exams finished the day before the livestream (30 April 2018), so he now has all the time in the world to make lots of videos. — 00:06:48
- 2018-05-01 · First Live Hangout + Rapid-fire Q&A — Ali started his YouTube channel when he decided one day on his medical elective to make a video, filming himself talking with his phone. — 00:34:11
- 2018-05-02 · Exam Study Tips for University & A-Level students - Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Ali: With 70 lectures and little time, Ali suggests five minutes per lecture to skim it and jot down its topics and subheadings: 350 minutes, done in a single day. — 00:03:44
- 2018-05-02 · Exam Study Tips for University & A-Level students - Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Ali: If exams are essay-based, Ali advises basing revision on essay plans: take a topic's lectures and answer past or likely essay titles with them and the further reading. — 00:04:36
- 2018-05-02 · Exam Study Tips for University & A-Level students - Revision Q&A with Cambridge students — recommendation: Ali: One of Ali's most important points for getting through university efficiently and without stress is to make use of students in the years above, who have been through the course. — 00:07:02
- 2018-05-07 · Live Q&A + Hangout - Bank Holiday vibes - Ali Abdaal, Cambridge medical student — recommendation: Ali: For anyone getting an iPad, Ali recommends the new 2018 iPad rather than the iPad Pro: it is a lot cheaper and does basically the same thing. — 00:07:10
- 2018-05-07 · Live Q&A + Hangout - Bank Holiday vibes - Ali Abdaal, Cambridge medical student — Ali prefers handwriting notes to typing: typing slips into autopilot, copying out the lecture without taking it in, while handwriting is too slow to do without taking it in. — 00:09:19
- 2018-05-07 · Live Q&A + Hangout - Bank Holiday vibes - Ali Abdaal, Cambridge medical student — announcement: Ali is working on a big series of advice videos for first-year medical students, hoping to release the first by September 2018, then one a week for about three months. (hedged) — 00:11:02
- 2018-05-21 · Study with me + More revision tips - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #34 — recommendation: Ali makes his own notes only when there is no easily accessible summary, to write down mnemonics, which he loves making for lists, and to categorise things. — 00:00:58
- 2018-05-21 · Study with me + More revision tips - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #34 — recommendation: Ali advises tailoring revision techniques to the subject being revised, with no need to shoehorn it into a technique someone else uses; for visual dermatology he did an online quiz instead of going over notes. — 00:03:24
- 2018-05-21 · Study with me + More revision tips - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #34 — Ali says making notes is not inherently productive: at GCSE and A level he felt productive making notes, but now he treats it as probably suboptimal and uses notes actively to learn. — 00:04:52
- 2018-05-28 · Study with Me + How I take notes - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #36 — recommendation: Ali's first note-making tip: split a topic into numbered lists rather than bullet points, so that when explaining it or thinking it through you can say there are, say, four main things to know. — 00:01:10
- 2018-05-28 · Study with Me + How I take notes - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #36 — recommendation: Ali says the story method works for many things where you have to learn a long list, not only for a topic such as the activities of daily living that lends itself well to a story. — 00:02:08
- 2018-05-28 · Study with Me + How I take notes - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #36 — recommendation: Ali: When explaining something to someone else, Ali says it is better to get them to generate the answers themselves where they can, prodding them along rather than spoon-feeding them. — 00:03:33
- 2018-05-29 · Live Stream - Hangout — Ali: The key to a good GCSE or A-level grade, Ali says, is understanding the material well enough to explain it to a five-year-old: whoever can explain the whole biology syllabus that way gets an A*. — 00:04:10
- 2018-05-29 · Live Stream - Hangout — Ali embraces distractions when studying: he does not see studying as needing full focus, so if a friend comes in they chat, and if something happens he deals with it. — 00:05:00
- 2018-06-12 · Study with me + The Magic of Categorisation - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #38 — Ali calls categorisation a magical technique and, after spaced repetition and active recall, probably the third most important exam technique: categorise anything you can, whenever you can. (hedged) — 00:01:13
- 2018-06-12 · Study with me + The Magic of Categorisation - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #38 — recommendation: Ali says linking the items of a list of seven connects them, so you do not need to memorise a list of seven: you weave the items together in a connected way. — 00:02:11
- 2018-06-12 · Study with me + The Magic of Categorisation - Cambridge University medical student VLOG #38 — Ali says a mistake people sometimes make, and one he used to make, is thinking that the act of making notes puts the material into your brain. — 00:02:11