Synchronicity and Your Future

Recently, I’ve been pondering what sort of route I should take with my education and eventually career. For me, this sort of thinking is always rooted in preconceptions about what I should do based on what my parents think, what job makes money, etc. There are always problems that seem to arise when this topic [...]

Little Help?

I was wondering if anyone wanted me to talk about any specific problems or solutions you have regarding learning and such. I’d like to know where to focus my attention in the coming weeks, especially since the exam season is coming to a close.
I was thinking of ways to keep your mind active in the [...]

Graciousness

Sometimes we all feel down. “Man, I’m so tired of studying. Why am I doing this anyways?”
I was having one of those moments while lying in my bed after finishing a lecture set. Then I remembered a story I heard from a professor (Dr. Dean Tripp) at my university. I don’t remember the details – [...]

Read Instructions Carefully

Those directions are there for a reason. For your sake, mostly.
I was making some popcorn in a pot – I was trying a healthier alternative to the pre-flavoured microwave stuff. I read some instructions on the internet saying that if you coat the bottom layer with kernels, the popped kernels will expand 6 inches from [...]

Concentrating, The Gravy Way

I was wondering to myself: Why don’t you have more titles that go “Verb-ing (Gerund), The Gravy Way”? Not only is that creative, but it is hilarious. Hence, the title.
Back to good stuff…
I find that concentrating is one of the biggest barriers to learning. Given that the course has a learnable amount of content, we [...]

Taking back control

More and more, I’ve been noticing that people refuse to take responsibility for their actions. People aren’t willing to admit when a mistake is their fault. People don’t like the idea that we are the only ones in control of our future.
Someone might be performing poorly in school, so they might say:

“My parents didn’t push [...]

Quiz Yourself First

So you read that chapter from your textbook a few times. You seemed to have a strong grasp on the material. Then the test rolls around and… that whole chapter is a blur. You remember some major concepts, that picture at the beginning of the chapter (yet another molecule – real creative…) and maybe you [...]

New Post on Sunday

OK, I know it’s been a little while since I’ve posted, and for that I apologize sincerely. I’ve been studying pretty intensely for my exams (especially for the Anatomy practical exam), so I haven’t put as much energy as I would like towards new content.
I have written an article about problems-based learning, which I will [...]

Priming yourself to be smarter

In my continuing fascination with how our brains work, I decided to pick up Malcolm Gladwell’s Blink (new window), after reading his earlier book, The Tipping Point (mentioned in the post: Knowledge and Relationships).
Once again I am highly recommending this book. This book is just as, perhaps more, fascinating than The Tipping Point.
To the point: [...]

Open your mind

This is probably the greatest tip I will ever give – not just regarding learning but life in general.
In everything that you do, try to keep an open mind. Do not be so quick to judge.
Some of you may be wondering how this can relate to education at all. Have you found that you have [...]