Research
Learning is not instinctive
Occasionally around about half-term of the first A level term I have heard comments to the effect that "X has not yet sufficiently mastered the techniques of A level study". If I then asked X about the advice that had been offered concerning study technique, as often as not there had been none. Plenty of criticism, perhaps, of the work so far, but usually regarding its content without much concern as to how it had been acquired. The very few who say this have forgotten that the development of solid understanding is not an instinctive process; knowledge does not fall into your head without any effort. Everyone who teaches you has at some time had to go through the process of learning; there is no short-cut.
This page offers a guide as to what you might do. It does not, by any means, cover all that could be said. There are numerous books available to help you, but the core of what you should do is here.
Knowing something…..
is not the same as knowing the name of something. To know something takes time, real physical effort, and a period of assimilation and reflection. To know something you must develop a whole host of techniques; even if you have coped easily so far there will come a stage where the rate at which you are required to obtain knowledge and understanding will tax any informal techniques that you have to their limit. And, perhaps, beyond – to the point where you start to give up or to lose interest.
