A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Additional study aids while going through school... - Curious

Posted: Apr 14, 2012

Im looking for additional ways to study for my classes while Im going through the coding course. Im interested in knowing what any of you have used in addition to what the school gives for study aids to help you obtain and keep the knowledge learned. I havent been to school in quite a while and I havent had to retain so much new information or take a test in all that time!!!! Ive heard and read comments about coloring books, laminated guides, crosswords etc. So what did you use and where can I get these items??? Thank you

The reality of studying - Instructor

[ In Reply To ..]
The reality of studying is that you have to do the work of learning yourself. No study aid, laminated guide, or puzzle can do it for you. Those things are a big industry, providing lots of money for people who dream them up, but little in the way of results for students.

If you are having difficulty learning the information and getting it to stick, that is an indication that your study technique is inadequate. When you improve that, you will find that you will retain the material.

Students have different learning style. You have to meet the needs of your style. Can you google that and find out what the styles are? That will help you understand how to study.

An important part of learning involves working with the information to make it yours. Note-taking is an important part of that. Look up Cornell notes and how to take notes for suggestions. A technique called mind-mapping might appeal to you, so look that up. There are articles on Wikipedia.

You did not tell us what subjects were the most problem. A&P requires memorization. Coding itself requires developing the ability to USE the code set and to solve problems using information, along with remembering some rules.

Study aids can seem very helpful, but they are not. Creating flashcards or laminated aids YOURSELF, however, IS helpful. Taking notes and streamlining them over and over IS helpful. Taking a chapter of material and organizing it to teach to someone else IS incredibly effective. Creating crossword puzzles IS useful, so download free software and create some yourself.

In high school and some early college courses, teachers do a lot of the work for you. They repeat and repeat, read it to you, hand out work sheets, and so forth. That only works when there is little to learn. It will not work now.

Just reading the material over and over will not help now. More active involvement is necessary. The involvement needs to be true study, though, rather than messing around with study-like time-wasters. Effective study takes a lot less time.

Studying - aids

[ In Reply To ..]
I know what you mean. Itâ��s hard to find your personal way of getting it to stick. I found I didnâ��t have time to even go looking for other materials. Everyone learns in a different way. What the heck is mine? I did check out other books when I had time to see if they would hit my spot. I think you just have to try different methods and see what feels the best. Not much help Iâ��m afraid, but I can relate to what you are going through.

Studying - ann

[ In Reply To ..]
First, thank you for an excellent post instructor!

My primary learning style is visual. If there is more difficult or hard-to-understand material, I take notes making the chapter an outline. I try to understand each sentence, and re-read prior sections and emphasize/underline parts in my notes. Then I will check the chapter objectives to ensure I have mastered those. Finally, I go through the chapter review questions. If there is something I did not recall in those questions, I reread that section and possibly add/edit my notes.

I have used this method since high school and I usually get A's. Again, I am primarily a visual learner. Writing it down while reading it helps me retain the information, and writing it also helps those who are kinesthetic learners. If there is something confusing to me, I will do more research in that specific area until I do understand the concept.

Best of luck to you in finding what will work for your learning style!

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