📚 How to Study Effectively in College - Dr. Stephen Chew

Introduction

• Dr. Stephen Chew is a professor of psychology at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama
• This is the first video in a series about effective college studying
• As a cognitive psychologist, Dr. Chew studies how people learn and think
• The video aims to help students transition to college-level coursework
• There are no "quick fixes" or "magic products" - effective learning requires proper strategies

🚫 "Beliefs That Make You Stupid"

Dr. Chew identifies several misconceptions that undermine learning:

1. Underestimating study time ⏰

   • First-year students often misjudge how long assignments take
   • Reading without review leads to minimal learning
   • Plan for assignments to take longer than expected
   • Complete reading well before exams to allow multiple days for review

2. Memorizing isolated facts 📝

   • Struggling students often focus on memorizing definitions
   • Textbooks can encourage this with bold terms and margin definitions
   • Good professors test for comprehension, not just memorization

3. Believing in natural ability 🧠

   • Many students think people are naturally "good" or "bad" at subjects
   • Academic success is more about hard work than inborn talent
   • Time constraints can limit success, but effort matters

4. Multitasking myth 📱

   • Students believe they can effectively study while texting, checking social media, etc.
   • Research shows multitasking significantly reduces learning efficiency
   • Each distraction reduces learning, increases study time, and raises the chance of poor grades

🔍 Metacognition: The Key Difference

• Metacognition = awareness of how well you truly understand concepts
• Weaker students are often overconfident about their understanding
• This leads to insufficient studying and shock at poor exam results

📊 Research Example

• Dr. Chew had students estimate their exam performance percentage
• Results showed:
  • Most students were overconfident (scored below diagonal on graph)
  • Top-performing students had accurate metacognition (clustered near diagonal)
  • Weakest students were most overconfident (far below diagonal)
  • College freshmen must develop more accurate metacognition when transitioning from high school

Conclusion

• Poor metacognition often indicates poor study strategies
• Ineffective study methods build overconfidence without increasing learning
• Improving study skills (topic of the next video) is essential for academic success