What does it mean to study well and learn a subject?

To learn
o how to think
o with discipline
o within that subject

to raise vital questions and problems within it, formulating them clearly and
precisely,
to gather and assess information, using ideas to interpret that information
insightfully,
to come to well-reasoned conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant
criteria and standards;
to adopt the point of view of the discipline, recognizing and assessing, as need be,
its assumptions, implications, and practical consequences;
to communicate effectively with others using the language of the discipline and that
of educated public discourse;
to relate what one is learning in the subject to other subjects and to what is
significant in human life.

How can you describe a skilled learner?

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self-directed,
self-disciplined,
self-monitored and
self-corrective
o thinker who has given assent to
rigorous standards of thought and
mindful command of their use.

Unlike inexperienced students, master students...

1: Master students make sure they thoroughly understand the requirements of each class, and ask
questions and for advice on how best to prepare.
2: Master students are active learners, prepared to work ideas into their thinking by active reading,
writing, speaking, and listening.
3: Master students think of each subject of study as a form of thinking (if they are in an Anatomy class,
their goal is to think anatomically)
4: Master students are questioners. They engage themselves in lectures and discussions by asking
questions (without questions, you will probably not discover what you do and do not know.)
5: Master students look for interconnections. The content in every class is always a SYSTEM of
interconnected ideas, never a random list of things to memorize. They study like detectives, always
relating new learning to previous learning.
6: Master students think of their teacher as their coach and of themselves as team members trying to
practice the thinking exemplified by the teacher.
7: Master students think about the textbook as the thinking of the author (for example, they would roleplay the author frequently, explaining the main points of the text to another student, as if they were the
author).
8: Master students consider class time as a time in which they PRACTICE thinking within the subject
using the fundamental concepts and principles of the course. They dont sit back passively, waiting for
knowledge to fall into your head like rain into a rain barrel. It wont.

9: Master students relate content whenever possible to issues and problems and practical situations in
your life. If you cant connect it to your life, you dont know it.
10: Master students figure out what study and learning skills they are not good at and practice those skills
whenever possible. Recognizing and correcting weaknesses is a strength.
11: Master students frequently ask themselves: Can I explain this to someone not in class? (If not, then
I havent learned it well enough).
12: Master students routinely ask questions to fill in the missing pieces in their learning. Can I elaborate
further on this? Can I give an example of that? If you dont have examples, you are not connecting what
you are learning to your life.
13: Test themselves before or after class by trying to summarize, orally or in writing, the main points of
the previous class meeting. If they cannot summarize main points, they know they havent learned them.
14: Master students learn to test their thinking using intellectual standards:Am I being clear? Accurate?
Precise? Relevant? Logical? Am I looking for what is most significant?
15: Master students frequently evaluate their listening and reading. Are they actively listening/reading for
main points? Can they summarize in their own words? Can they elaborate what is meant by key terms?
Can they distinguish what they understand from what they dont?

The value and power of questions

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Questions of relevance discriminate between what bears on a question and what doesnt.
Questions of accuracy evaluate truthfulness and correctness.
Questions of precision focus on details and be specific.
Questions of consistency examine your thinking for contradictions.
Questions of logic put your thoughts and ideas together, make sure they add up and make sense.

Asking questions to understand the field of study

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To what extent are there competing schools of thought within this field?
To what extent do experts in this field disagree about the answers they give to important
questions?
What other fields deas with this same subject but from a different standpoint? To what extent do
views about this subject differ in light of these different standpoints?
To what extent, if at all, is this field called a science?
To what extent can questions asked in this field be answered definitively? To what extent are
questions in this field matters of (arguable) judgment?
To what extent is there public pressure on professionals in the field to compromise their
professional practice in light of public prejudice or vested interest?
What does the history of the discipline tell you about the status of knowledge in the field?

Asking questions to understand the logic of a text

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What is the main purpose of this text?

What key question is the author addressing?
What are the key ideas presented in this text?
What are the most pieces of important information in this text?
What are the main inferences/conclusions in this text?
What assumptions underlie the authors thinking in this text?
What are the implications of taking / failing to take the authors reasoning seriously?
What do I need to understand and remember from this text?

(source: adapted from Critical Thinking and Teaching Students How to Study and Learn, The
Critical Thinking Community, www.criticalthinking.org)