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/sci/ - Science & Math

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9621894 No.9621894 [Reply] [Original]

How the fuck do people learn shit? My classmates can sleep through half the lecture and get As on their tests, but even when I read the entire fucking textbook twice then go over the professor's notes, I still barely pass. I'm a junior and I still have trouble understanding shit from several years ago. What the fuck is wrong with me?

>> No.9621906

>>9621894
they're all on amphetamines

>> No.9621914

Some people are just smarter. That's a Hard pillow we all have to accept. Though something I learnt that I was doing wrong is taking by heart one or two sources of the material, don't be afraid of using the internet and or even Wikipedia to try to get a different approach that suits you. You also need to be an autodidact and care about comprehension deeply. Being organized is a really important skill, but don't obsess about your notes, but try to understand what the professor is telling you in lectures. You also need to be flexible with your learning. Maybe there's some really tedious problem in your set that you know how to do but you are short in time, so try and just leave a sketch (if it's not homework to give in), and concentrate on what you lack. Also go to >>>/adv/ you piece of shit.

>> No.9621974

>>9621894
They're faking it. Only a small percentage of people are that smart.

>> No.9621976

>>9621894
>I still have trouble understanding shit from several years ago
well that's one problem

>> No.9621994

pay attention, be interested in the stuff you are learning, try to make sense of it and try applying to your everyday activities in some way or another, even in minor, dumb way. also, if something takes you time, don't be ashamed of following the steps manually, repeating once and once again, etc.
btw, smart people actually spend a lot of time doing the things you barely care about, so it's not simply a thing of "being smart"

>>9621976
also this. if you didn't learn the stuff you were supposed to learn, things get more confusing and difficult as time passes.

>> No.9622005

>>9621894
>My classmates can sleep through half the lecture and get As on their tests
Because They study at home with textbooks all night. So they get sleepy at class. But they study.

>> No.9622019

>>9622005
This. One of the most shocking things I realized is how much more every one else studies and does the homework compared to me. My lack of motivation and my own ego is what's largely responsible for causing my grades to continue falling.

>> No.9622053

>>9621914
>That's a Hard pillow we all have to accept
Someone needs to fluff up that pillow.

>> No.9622055

>>9622019
>>9622005
Did you even read my post? I wasn't exaggerating when I said I would read the entire textbook twice. It just doesn't fucking make sense to me, it might as well be written in Chinese.

>> No.9622065

>>9622055
well that's the problem then, you are supposed to read to understand not just memorize, if you are reading something you don't get you are just wasting time. Get another book or see the moment you stopped understanding and learn that instead.

>> No.9622096

Try reading a more advanced book on whatever subject you're studying.

>> No.9622174

>>9621894
Either you're too stupid and you should just accept it and drop out, drop out because your courses aren't a good fit, or try to find some other methods of studying/understanding the material (refer to the first two options if that still doesn't work)

>>9622096
How would that help him? If he can't understand the material at his level, how would boosting the difficulty help?

>> No.9622301

>>9622096
>Try reading a more advanced book
>>9622174
>How would that help ?

It helps a lot. Advanced books summarize the content saving time.

For a Freshman:

Calculus:
Courant, Apostol, Spivak> Simmons > Shitewart

Classical Mech: John R. Taylor > Halliday, Serway, Tipler, etc

Electrodynamics: Purcell, Griffiths > Halliday, Serway, Tipler, etc

Linear Algebra:
Hoffman > Axler > Strang, Else

>> No.9622421

>>9622019
honestly i mostly find lectures to be useless. You have a textbook, if you know how to study, you should be okay. And typically the lectures move slower than I want them to.
I get that setting in lectures, even if you know the material, helps cement it into your brain, but it always just feels like a waste of time to me.

>> No.9622434

you *might* have a learning disability that you can learn to work through with the right help, though that's something you'd have to go to a real doctor for; i could be completely off base here so please take me with a grain of salt

also tutoring might help if you need to learn old material again; khan academy is one online option you could try, googling "___ for dummies" or "___ tutorial" can also help

>> No.9622441

>>9622301
I don't think this works in general. I actually tend to go down a level when learning maths, for example. I need the exposition to help build intuition

>> No.9622443

>>9621894
Try doing nootropics

>> No.9622444

>>9622421
I agree with this anon, I will say that you get more out of lecture if you pre-read, however. Pre-reading and just listening helps me far more than taking notes while seeing the material for the first time

>> No.9622452

>>9621894
No one at the college level getting good grades is sleeping in class and not studying. Its easy to be intimidated and think that if you dont follow them around.
The asian and indian kids in your class acing the tests study 40 hours a week outside of class.

Though I will admit I have a shit memory compared to my classmates. I can forget what the professor went over 5 minutes ago.

But anyway, you have to put the effort in to do practive problems beyond what your professors assign. After calculus, my professors assigned 3 or 4 problems in my de, analysis, algebra etc classes. Its even worse in physics. YOU have to get extra books and find problems and do them. The asian and indian kids do.

Another tip is to teach someone else the material you learned. Especially someone who doesnt know the material. Every curriculum should have teaching built in. It really is a great way to assess your own knowledge and clear things up for yourself.

>>9622055
what are you struggling with?
are your notes and thought process organized? can you talk through a problem before doing it? are you having mental health issues? you need to assess your situation

>>9622096
this is retarded
if anything, watch a youtube lecture on it for a different perspective

>>9622301
simmons is shit. rogawski is lowkey the best fresh calc book
taylor IS the remedial book
same with griffiths

>>9622421
lectures should be used to ask questions about the material you read the night before.
imo office hours are more useful than lectures

>> No.9622474

>>9622452
I'm not OP, but I have just come to the realization that one needs to do more than what's assigned. How do you decide how much extra work to do in say, an analysis course with baby rudin as a text? Couple extra problems? Every other? All? (That seems unmanageable)

>> No.9622542

>>9622474
Just work until you drop. You've got to be hardcore if you want to get ahead.

>> No.9622543
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9622543

>>9621914
This.
I started online college and I was a terrible student in high school. What seems to work with me is getting down to core concepts first. Also, make sure you study in different ways IE reading, videos, taking notes, lectures. Tons of material about everything on the internet. Go get em.

>> No.9622546

>>9621894
they probably do exercises while you just read
reading is useless brainlet

also take the mensa iq test
http://test.mensa.no/
post results

>> No.9622552

>>9621894
they are concentrating in a deep yogic mentalist meditative learning state, not sleeping, YOU POOR POOR LOWBROW.
grasp a straw at it's center, hold it against your belly button, say this out loud: " ohhhhmmmm, ohhmmmmmmmm, ohmmmmmmm - for about 20 minutes
afterwards lose the straw and the big fat mouth
...
Now you're a genius !

>> No.9622561

>>9622452
I think asians and indians have better memory than whites though.

>> No.9622576

ssri's(zoloft) made me go from average student to top of the cohort.

>> No.9622584

>>9621894
Honestly, switch degrees.

Even if you luck out and get a job relevant to your degree even the most basic tasks will be hell for you. Things that are just a job for those smart kids will be a stress filled mountain climb through hell for you.

That's no way to live life.

>> No.9622600

>>9621894
meds and/or autistic studying outside of class if they're chinks or japs

>> No.9622608

>>9621894
Stress makes it really hard to remember shit, find a way to get rid of your stress that isn't posting threads on 4chan about how "worried you are that everyone has such a better memory"

You're also probably studying wrong, reading a book two times won't teach you shit. You need to break that book down into smaller parts and remember the sections within those smaller parts so it's easy for your brain to digest. Tests also shouldn't be the first time you challenge yourself with what you learn, you need to practice before them.


Or just take the easy route like >>9621906 said.

>> No.9622610

I'm too stupid for smart shit. Please end my life.

>> No.9622613

>>9621894
>going to collage
T.loser

>> No.9622663

>>9621894
>They're all on drugs and supplements!
>They study 40 hours a week!
>They're Asian!

Sorry, but this amount of COPE is hilarious. I can guarantee you that 3 out of the top 5 graduates in our year were not studying more than 1-5 hours per week, I know this for a fact because 2 of those were my friends. Also we're all 5 white males. You know what happened most semesters? When we weren't skipping lectures to go day drinking, we were going camping, driving around the country on some adventure and other things typical university students do.

In some cases like the calc circuit and real analysis I never attended lectures. I got the top mark in 3 of those. Most people assumed I was studying my ass off. I told them I was because some were clinically and openly suicidal after failing for several years (one sad girl even showed me her papers). Well I was actually going to the gym or daydrinking. The truth is I often ripped off the plastic cover off my textbook 1-3 days before the exam, skipped most tutorials and class test and studied about 6 hours per semester test (coffee and carbs as aid; never popped a single adderal in my life).

Next you're gonna say "oh wow you idiot, you learned it all in short term memory, you're gonna pay later!". Nope. In final year I resumed studying graduate level material, I aced grad electives in fields that I've since published and I was TAing junior level thermal physics before I graduated. Since starting postgrad I've TAed other courses and have never had the need to revise.

Serious advice for the OP:

Undergrad is not supposed to be difficult, you should take this issue seriously. In my experience only about 30% of students like you can turn things around. My advice would be to change your learning techniques, you're not getting anything out of reading textbooks solo, so try aural, visual and interpersonal techniques (lectures, videos, audiobooks, group studying, get tutoring etc). http://uaap.mit.edu/tutoring-support/study-tips

>> No.9622681

>>9621914
A hard pillow to swallow

>> No.9622684

>>9621894
When they go home they study 20 times more than you, while you masturbate or play games

>> No.9622704

Idk man how do you not understand how you don't understand lol like you read the book... Then poof F on test? Perhaps in like literature you might have some false confidence but with STEM you should have a pretty good idea of your own ability. How do you feel after you read? Do you know you know it? Do you know you don't know it? Do you not know if you know it or not? You should at least know if you know you know it or not, but for all I know you don't know

>> No.9622712

>>9622663
You offer bad advice, if it could even be called that. Provided what you say about yourself is true, then clearly you have a high IQ and can operate the way you do. However, an IQ that is 3 standard deviations higher than the mean is not a prerequisite to success at undergrad, or even graduate institutions. There is a lot of work to be done for many people. I am one of the best students in my Analysis class, and I got there through hours of back breaking work and constantly revising my study habits. It's certainly possible that your undergrad institution will be difficult, especially if you go to a very selective and competitive school as I do, where EVERYONE has a high IQ in conjunction with a monstrous work ethic

>> No.9622854

>>9622712
Why is it bad advice? It's what the MIT learning centre always recommends, back by decades of research.

He already said he is grinding without success, more grinding is not going to help.

>> No.9622860

I can understand how you feel. It's a difficult process, it requires a lot of vigilance, but you can improve your thinking. You'll have to mold your thinking processes into something different, and fix your foundations, but it can be done.

>> No.9622885

>>9622854
Well maybe he isn't grinding the right way. There's different ways to study, you just gotta experiment and find out what works for you.

>> No.9623213

>>9622474
Until you can look at a problem and talk through it confidently

ex) if i say prove sqrt(6) is irrational. can you say youll assume it can be written in a/b form where a and b share no divisors. then youll say you can show that b^2 * 6 = a^2 implies both a and b are even which contradicts the premise. thats the proof

once you can no longer talk through problems quickly, youre ready for grad school

>> No.9623218

>>9621894
Do the problems, you retain almost nothing just reading

>> No.9623248

>>9621894
>Read the textbook
>Go through the professor's notes

Are you learning, or are you just reading?

>> No.9624144

>>9623248
OP here. I also do practice problems and go over the homework solutions, but then the test problems are nothing like the homework problems.

>> No.9624654
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9624654

>>9622474
>but I have just come to the realization that one needs to do more than what's assigned.

>> No.9624703

>>9621894
When are you going to stop being such a bitch, man up and sort through your fucked up excuse of a life.

Ahhh poor baby why me, why me? Pull your head out of your ass and smell the sunshine.

>> No.9624712

>>9621894
you're probably depressed

>> No.9624781

>>9621894

Some people just naturally learn quickly. Why is that so hard to understand?

If you're working hard and passing your classes, good! You'll get the same degree those gifted people have, but you'll also have persistence and patience which get you a lot further in life/career than just being able to memorize/understand stuff you'll most likely never use. The sleep through lectures people tend to wilt at the first sign of real challenges.

>> No.9624789

You're depressed. Your classmates memorize the steps that they need to take in order to arrive at the right answer.

>> No.9625279

>>9622663
Same, except I did it in 5 hours.

>> No.9625283

>>9622055
It means that you lack the foundation to understand the material, baka.

>> No.9625288

>>9622663
6 hours isn't even enough time to get acquainted with material like Ochem, and get top marks. Literally impossible, or a brainlet uni.

My IQ is apparently in the 140s according to the WAIS-IV from when I was 17, and I still need to study.

>> No.9625434

They're taking Alex Jone's brainforce supplements which you can always order at infowars.com