Study Hints

How to Study History (Or Anything Else)

Students sometimes tell me that are having difficulty learning the material for the tests. Thus I have added this section on how to study history, which I hope will be useful for some if not all of you. This process has worked for me—I hope it will help you.

First, I recommend that you print out the assignments, one section at a time if you need. I recognize that this has costs and takes time, but it is cheaper than buying a book. I have, however, provided a low cost version of the web site as a print text, which you can get for about $18 plus postage. (Sage Storefront.) You can also get a PDF version for about $3 as a download. I would also recommend that you print out the required documents if you get them off the web site. Put everything in a notebook in order, and when you're finished you'll have a complete text. (Since you are using a textbook that I wrote, whether you are using the print or web version, you can be sure that I have included all the material I think is important.)

When you start your actual study I recommend that you do two things.

First, limit your study sessions to one hour, if possible, and schedule several during the week. Try to set aside a time when you will not be interrupted, and time your sessions if you need. Even if you have good powers of concentration, and are good reader, if you are concentrating hard, your brain will become fatigued after an hour or so. Your best study work will come in the first hour of your time.
Second, rather than highlighting, which is a passive exercise that really doesn't reinforce anything, I recommend strongly that you take notes on your reading. Your text and the web site are divided into sections. I suggest that you take a notepad and write down the section headings from each part of the book or assignments page, leaving 4 or 5 lines between each. As you finish each section, turn away from the text and jot down the main points you remember from that section. Then go onto the next section, read it, stop and take notes.

When you begin your second and third study sessions, I recommend that you review your notes from your first sessions. If anything doesn't make sense, go back to the text, clarify the points that you are not sure about, update your notes, and then move on. This review will reinforce what you learned in your previous study session.

This act of taking notes requires you to process the information that you have just read and will help to stamp it into your memory. Because most generations now in school grew up with television, their brains have been accustomed to a passive mode. Study requires active involvement of your brain, and taking notes will train that portion of your mind to process the information so that you will retain it. Working in this fashion can, in the opinion of some educators, reprogram your brain to a more active mode of work. This will serve you well in all your endeavors.

Before you take an exam, take a few minutes to go over your notes, rather than trying to reread everything. Focus on those things that you don't recall very well, go back and reread the parts on which you still have a few questions. As soon as possible after taking the exam, go back and review your text and notes and see if you can make any connections between the exam and what you studied. This will not help you for the exam just completed, but it may give you some tips for yourself on the next exam. Remember that I give extra credit for improvement. (See also my test taking section.)

As the last suggestion, try to think of what you are studying as a story that has characters, a plot, drama, conflict, and even some occasional humor. If you can see history as a movie in your head or hear it being told as a story, you will have a good chance to retain it. If what you have studied is nothing more than a collection of facts, it will be hard to recall. History is a story, and most of us can remember stories. Nobody can remember lists of facts. And remember, I do not expect you to memorize dates.

This course is not difficult, though it is a lot of work. Follow good study habits such as those above—or your own tried and true methods—and you will do well.