Self study

[DaveBB]

I know quite a few of you on here are big proponents of continuing one's education throughout adulthood.  I am currently poring over technical manuals for career advancement.  However, one thing I have noticed is that my pace is abysmal at learning such a voluminous amount of information.  I'm unable to take a class for this particular subject, so I have only one form of exposure to the material- reading.  My method so far is to read a paragraph, find the important information, write it down in a notebook, and continue on to the next paragraph.  Since these are technical codes and standards, and not college textbooks, there is very little filler material in them. 

So what advice do you have to offer on studying and learning from reading?  Is there a faster way to assimilate the knowledge, or is a slow (very slow) methodical approach really the only way?  Is note taking essential?  Any info would be appreciated. 

[skorpx1]

If you gave us the subject in study, then it'd be easier for those with the answer to this to help you out.


Right now all I can say is keep on reading and taking notes, it's how most people learn in college/tech schools.

[Blinder]

I've been in college now part-time since 2006. I'm currently in the last class of my bachelors program. I am like you in some ways. I cannot take in all the information in a textbook in a single pass. So what I do is read a chapter and then go back and review the areas covered in the class slides or power point presentations. Some of my classes ( I took two every 9 weeks at ERAU ) had me reading two chapters a week. This translated into 4 chapters a week plus the classwork, plus the research for term paper and/or group projects plus working my two jobs plus trying to find time for my wife and responsibilities at home.

What I can tell you is that skimming works well for some people. My wife did this a grad student at University of Phoenix because most of her classes were six weeks and had up to 4 textbooks per class. There is no conceivable way to take in and retain that much information unless you're Sheldon Cooper. When it comes to digesting explicit knowledge from textbooks or manuals note taking of critical memory trigger points is a good method. You seem to have that down. I have the liberty in formal college classes of having review slides posted for each chapter from the course modules. You may want to see if anyone has put together a power point for the subject matter you are studying. Other than that, the note taking method is about the best anyone can do to make it sink in.

[DaveBB]

The subject of study is Pressure Vessel Inspection.  The standards that need to be read and comprehended are:
 the American Petroleum Institutes 510 (In-service Pressure Vessel Inspection, Repair, Alteration, and Rating)
API 572 (Inspection of Pressure Vessels)
API 576 (Pressure Relieving Devices), and a few others.

Then the big ones are the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code:
 Section VIII (Construction of unfired pressure vessels) 
 Section IX (Welding and Brazing Qualifications).

[Bizman]

Your approach is good if you have to learn those things thoroughly and have exams about them. If you're just broadening your knowledge base, reading through to the level you understand what you've read and memorizing where the information can be found when needed might suffice. As has been said, finding a powerpoint show of the subject may help to learn the essentials.

[Hoarach]

Well first off I listen to music to help me focus.  Not much of a silent studier.  For my medical textbooks, Ill have either the ebook open on my tablet or book in front of me and sometimes notes/outlines professors hand out and onenote for taking notes open on my laptop.  As I am reading, I am typing out the main points of each section.  Helps to have typing down where you dont need to look up to see what you are typing.  Each bold heading gets a main section and details are indented following the main topic.  The same goes for in lecture note taking.  Posting an image of an example of what my notes look like.  Almost all material is self study, not much is taught in classes, just the basics.

[DaveBB]

I can type much faster than I can write.  However, I came across a study a while back that said that typing notes was quite a bit less effective in learning than actually hand writing them.  But if the note taking is the limiting factor (which in my case, it kind of is), then typing them out might be the way to go.

Deep processing the information vs shallow processing is also a big factor.  Understanding the full concept and actually being able to describe and teach it takes a tremendous amount of time.  But that is not really necessary unless an exam is in essay form.  Multiple choice questions are designed to just test recognition.  The shallow processing form of learning can be effective in that case.

The next section I read, I am going to try typing my notes as I go and see how that works. 

[Lusche]

<- envies everyone actually able to self study   

[Nathan60]

You have to find what works for you its different for some people myself I like it quiet with no music or tv, I write my notes in outline form(which helps me with a general outline if I have to write a paper) I tend to study on my deck or outdoors for some sound stimulation.

[zack1234]

Read it before you goto sleep

It will the first thing you remember in the mornihg

[Nathan60]

coincidentally we are actually having this same discussion in one of my classes. Someone suggested Evernote as a free note tool for you computer, I am actually downloading it now to see how it is.

http://evernote.com/

EDIT: one of my profs just posted this might be helpful to you Dave

http://www.mindtools.com/mnemlsty.html

[DaveBB]

I took a learning style test when in college.  Very high on kinesthetic (active).  That is probably the worst learning style to have, since it mimics many of the traits of ADHD.  In fact, some kinesthetic learners are misdiagnosed as having ADHD.

Here is a journal article on why handwriting notes is better than typing:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110119095458.htm

[mechanic]

Record yourself reading the relevant bits then listen to it over and over and over and over, might work

[Hoarach]

coincidentally we are actually having this same discussion in one of my classes. Someone suggested Evernote as a free note tool for you computer, I am actually downloading it now to see how it is.

http://evernote.com/

EDIT: one of my profs just posted this might be helpful to you Dave

http://www.mindtools.com/mnemlsty.html

I actually hated evernote for taking notes.  OneNote completely owns it.  Besides OneNote is free on skydrive and free app on android/apple products.  Dont like the limitations of evernote compared to OneNote.  If you dont have the standalone program on your computer just create a skydrive account and use the web version as anything on the computer or android/apple products get synced to it anyways. 

[Bodhi]

I find it helps to read through the information a couple times, then make a few outlines.  The repetition tends to help.