Study and learning techniques. To pass or to learn?

From a young age, failing grades lead children to feel insecure, believing they are not capable enough. This demotivation leads to a lack of willingness to study.

Spain has managed to reduce the rate of school dropout in the last decade from 30.3% in 2006 to 19% in 2016. Despite this, it is the second country in the European Union (behind Malta) with the highest rate of school failure: 19% of young people between 18 and 24 years old have not completed secondary education.

According to Víctor Soler, PhD in sociology, specialist in education: “It is probably not that the child is not good at studying, but that they are not suited to the type of methodology that dominates in the classroom, which involves memorizing content to pass an exam instead of learning. Unfortunately, passing and learning are not synonymous, and we all know it.”

Motivation and learning

Learning something means making a change in our knowledge through experience and acquired studies, which cannot be attributed solely to the person’s development process.

We highlight these seven basic conditions to achieve optimal learning:

Desire to learn freely and voluntarily.
Motivation to learn and interest in a final goal to be reached.
Ability to face problems and solve them.
Parental support. If a child lives in a family environment that provides harmony and stability and creates a positive climate towards studying, they will naturally integrate it into their daily life, and their academic performance will be higher.
Early detection of learning difficulties, developmental, emotional, and behavioral, to treat them as soon as possible and prevent them from hindering the child’s learning and well-being.
School. Teachers also play an active role in making studying interesting in the eyes of the child through the teaching methods they use in their classes, their academic and pedagogical training, the type of relationship they promote and develop with their students, the school climate in general, etc.
Methods and study techniques that help systematize knowledge and optimize time.

Unidentified learning difficulties can cause frustration and low self-esteem in children and adolescents.

It is obvious that these situations of non-detection and non-visibility will affect the well-being and motivation to learn of the minor. There are methods that make available to educational centers, private practices, and families the possibility of preventing and detecting these difficulties so that children successfully overcome the educational stage and grades cease to be a threat to their well-being.

It is important to be attentive to the signs that indicate a disaffection or demotivation for school, unidentified learning difficulties can cause frustration and low self-esteem.

It is estimated that around 20% of children who get bad grades and “fail” in school do so because they have undetected and untreated learning, emotional, or behavioral difficulties. Prevention and detection are not only the responsibility of schools but also of families.

Study techniques to maximize learning

José Pascual, founder of the Pascal Method, a pioneer in introducing the term study techniques in Spain 37 years ago, proposes a method to improve performance:

Pre-reading. This involves the student anticipating the lesson so that when the teacher explains the topic in class, they have already read it and know what they are talking about.
Comprehensive reading. According to the founder of the Pascal Institute, most students only use this technique: reading the syllabus, several times if necessary, and trying to understand and memorize it.
Underlining. The next step is analysis. “Underline the main and secondary ideas (with different colors). Only one word, not the whole line,” he explains.
Making summaries. It is time to synthesize: summarize in the shortest possible way, but taking care not to leave anything important out. You have to use your own words to make it easier to remember, while reviewing as you write.
Making outlines. They are another way to synthesize. Pascual explains that it is easier to organize ideas if they are represented hierarchically, highlighting the main and secondary ideas using arrows or similar.
Mnemonic rules. Very useful for remembering names, dates, or sets, relating concepts through keywords or acronyms.
Review. According to the expert, it is necessary to review what has been studied with the help of summaries and outlines, since, “if it is not done, everything will be forgotten within 24 hours.”
Self-assessment. The last step that Pascual proposes to study a topic is to do simulated or oral exams and cards with questions and answers.
Organization. For these study techniques to be successful, it is necessary to distribute time correctly, prepare a study schedule, and avoid studying the days before the exam.

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