Lesson 2: Teach Yourself

When teaching yourself keep in mind all the previous strategies as well as the metacognitive strategies I will now introduce. 

Also, please remember that some of these strategies may work, some may only work sometimes, and some may never work for your particular needs. Keep in mind the environmental and scheduling dimensions when deciding whether these strategies work for you. 

1. Relating subjects to other hobbies/interests you are passionate about.

    a. Building systems of comparison and dissimilarity between both fields.

    b. You can use the almost-similarity of something to something else to encode the thought of the subject when engaging in the hobby. E.g. you can think that cellular respiration is a lot like the cycle of scoring a point in a game. They are both cyclical. Then, every time you watch basketball you can review the cycle of scoring points in games.

2. Relating things to yourself and own life.

    a. We are our own VIPs most of the time, at least on a psychological level. If you can relate a person in a book or a subject to your own lived experience you can relate a concept to your own life events. 

3. Building connections between what you are learning and similar, yet ontologically distinct subjects.

    a. This is recommended by most educators. 

    b. A quick way of helping yourself remember is to making a quick outline or doodle of what you are learning after the lecture, this can help you assimilate/encode the information in your memory. Another tip is to review notes from different subjects side by side, or make two outlines that then you conjoin into one or compare for future use.

4. Using behavioral reinforcers such as rewards when you successfully complete a page of studying or finish a paragraph of your essay. 

    a. An example of this is placing a gummy bear every so often in a book you are reading to help yourself feel motivated to get through the book.

5. Using negative behavioral reinforcers such as delaying gratification until you've finished your work. 

     a. Make sure you don't go overboard with this. Things like waiting to play your favorite game can be motivational. 

6. Provide yourself with feedback.

    a. Read the writing or work you've done as if you were an impartial observer who is looking at how well done the work is.

    b. Read the work some time after writing.

Note: Some of these tips are specific to humanities since humanities is the discipline I studied for bachelors. Also, most of these strategies are the ones that work for me from my personal experience.

Disclaimer: I am not a licensed psychologist or medical professional. Please take any of this advice at your own risk.