The learning methods and training details of Harvard's top students

Chapter 9 Use the method that suits you, learning is the most effective (1)
(Harvard representative: Liu Yiting) Good methods can enable us to better utilize our natural talents.

- Famous quote from Harvard University
【Wonderful Guide】

Biography of Liu Yiting

Liu Yiting was born in Chengdu, Sichuan Province in 1981. In 1999, she was admitted to four famous universities including Harvard University, Columbia University and Wellesley College in the United States at the same time as a senior in Chengdu Foreign Language School (Senior High School). Up to more than 4 US dollars of study and living expenses and provide "full scholarship".Later, Liu Yiting chose Harvard University and enrolled in the same year.

Liu Yiting quickly adapted to the Harvard environment.At the end of the first semester, her teacher, an economic authority and government economic adviser, warmly invited her to a cocktail party organized by him.Apart from some well-known figures in economics, only a very small number of students who are interested in economics and have excellent grades can be invited to this cocktail party.

She is one of very few students at Harvard to receive the Academic Distinction Honor Award.It is quite difficult to get this honorary award. Only those who have achieved B+ and A- or above in all subjects can get it.

At the end of the first year, the department praised her for her excellent grades, noble character and super comprehensive ability, and hired her to be the teaching assistant of the professor in the second year to correct the test papers for the students.An authoritative professor in the field of economics and mathematics invited her kindly through the department, and asked her to work as a research assistant in the new academic year together with a doctoral candidate from MIT.

Liu Yiting served as the chairperson of the "Asian and International Relations Symposium" for two consecutive years in her sophomore and junior year.This symposium is a very influential university student activity in the world, and an annual meeting is held every year, with hundreds of university students from all over the world participating.In the first half year of each annual meeting, Liu Yiting will start various preparations, including drafting meeting documents, making plans, arranging venues, inviting guests, contacting student organizations around the world, etc., and even booking discounted air tickets. She also needs to run chores by herself.What bothered her the most was the $10,000+ conference sponsorship fee, which she had to implement one by one, which took up a lot of her study time.But at the same time, her organizational and leadership skills have greatly improved.

After graduating from Harvard as an undergraduate, she was hired by Boston Consulting Group.

【Character Story】

"Harvard girl" who is good at learning with methods

Mother Liu Weihua once talked about Liu Yiting's learning secrets:

1. Concentrate on studying
According to the physiological conditions of children, take 20 minutes as a learning period.Before starting to study, her mother reminded Yiting to make all the preparations, including drinking water, peeing, sharpening pencils, looking for notebooks, etc. Once the study period starts, she must concentrate on studying, neither leaving her seat nor doing anything Chores, adults should not disturb the children if they have something to do, wait until the end of the study period.Yiting soon got used to not doing other things while studying.

2. Complete homework independently
Her mother asked Yiting to put the alarm clock on the desk every time she was studying. She calculated in advance what time to start studying and when to rest, and wrote it down on a piece of paper, and she followed the schedule.My mother told Yiting clearly: "Study is your own business, and you should consciously do a good job of learning. Mom only uses spot checks to supervise." This approach is conducive to cultivating the self-consciousness of learning.

Mom also asked Yiting to use the tape recorder to dictate.There are many advantages in this way. First, it is an opportunity to concentrate on reviewing when recording dictation content; Letting children strengthen their studies is the feeling of "doing business". In addition, after recording the dictation content, let the children hand over the book to the parents for safekeeping, which can also let the children feel that the parents value honesty.

3. Will rest

After studying for 20 minutes, let the child rest for 5 minutes.Break time must leave the desk, do some non-vigorous physical activity, or do chores that are not allowed to be done while studying.Yiting is also not allowed to sit or lie lazily during rest, so as not to affect her mental state during study.

Yiting quickly formed the concept that rest is activity.In school, she insisted on not rushing homework in the classroom for 10 minutes between classes, but trying to use it for exercise.The easiest way to do this is to run the stairs, from elementary school all the way to high school.

4. Check reference books
Since the first grade, her mother has made Yiting use official reference books, mainly "Xinhua Dictionary" and "Modern Chinese Dictionary", and sometimes related sub-volumes of "Ci Hai".When encountering new words and new words, her mother does not provide her with ready-made answers, but asks her to check reference books first, and seek accurate explanations from the beginning.

5. Be kind to mistakes
Mother did not allow Yiting to erase the mistakes with an eraser, but put a mark there with a pen, so that every time she saw it, she could remind herself that it was easy to make mistakes in this place.In addition, set up a "error correction book" to record all kinds of typos by using the method of correct and wrong comparison, so as to focus on review and consolidate the effect of correction.Before the math test, redo all the wrong questions on the math homework and test papers of this semester, and strive not to make the same mistake a second time.

Liu Yiting's parents believe that in order to improve her grades, there are two different options.One is to take a "push and go" approach.Tell your child which question you don't know.If any homework is not good, help the child make up that subject.Parents are like the "fire brigade", rushing wherever there is a fire.This method can also improve grades, but the child will lack stamina.Once the thrust is gone, grades drop.A more ideal way is to give the child the motivation to move forward independently, so that she has enough ability to solve various problems faced in learning and win in the fierce competition.Liu Yiting adopted exactly this kind of plan.

The first thing to cultivate is self-learning ability.

The second is that the system has mastered a set of memory skills.

Learning in outline is another important learning method.

Leak trapping is also an important learning method.

Learning from others has benefited Liu Yiting many times.Since elementary school, every holiday, my mother would take Liu Yiting to her colleague's house to learn about their experiences and insights from his wife, Teacher Wu.Their son, Li Xiang, is excellent both in character and learning. In 1985, he was ranked third in the total score of liberal arts in Sichuan Province in the college entrance examination.Liu Yiting originally regarded Li Xiang as her role model. After Li Xiang was admitted to Peking University, Liu Yiting paid more attention to his experience.In junior high school, the experience Li Xiang introduced can be summed up in three words: "Remove interference!" It is necessary to eliminate all kinds of temptations from the outside world, and to eliminate the inner weariness of learning.His experience has added a lot of "concentration" to Liu Yiting's three years of hard study in junior high school.She made a high school study plan according to Li Xiang's train of thought.In order to implement the strategy of "learn mathematics first", he was also admitted to the high school Olympic mathematics class and listened to the best high school mathematics teacher in Sichuan Province.In the 3 official exams at the high school stage, Liu Yiting and the other top 3 in the class had a very small gap in total scores, and they always took turns taking the top spot.The basic rule is that whoever performs better in the mathematics test will be No. 3.Liu Yiting's hard work in mathematics has brought her the first place in the total score twice and the first place in individual subjects several times.Both the class teacher and the school leaders regard her as the "No.

【Harvard view】

The learning method that suits you is the best
At present, the speed of knowledge updating is increasing day by day, and the times have put forward more and more strict and diverse learning requirements for us.Simply relying on the method of "grinding an iron pestle into an embroidery needle" and "making it work naturally" cannot adapt to the current study.The success or failure of learning today depends not only on diligence, hard work, endurance and the time and energy spent, but also on our learning methods.

In 1980, Steven Weinberg, a professor of physics at Harvard University and a Nobel laureate, told the reporter of "Science and Technology Herald" that the most important thing for students is to have the ability to learn in their favorite method, rather than accepting it. The answer given to you in the book.

In fact, the quality of learning outcomes is closely related to whether you can learn in the way you like.Richards, a top student at Harvard and the first Nobel Prize winner in chemistry in the United States, said: "The most valuable knowledge is the knowledge about learning methods." Just like some athletes, they don't necessarily follow the requirements in the book " "Correct posture" to do exercises, but use the most suitable posture to exercise, and finally won the championship.Our learning is the same, if you only know how to follow the rules and follow the so-called "best" methods to learn step by step, the effect may be worse.

Learning in the way you like is an important part of improving your learning ability.A British sociologist once surveyed dozens of famous people who graduated from Harvard University, and found that most of them think that the most important thing when studying is to use their favorite method to study.The famous French physiologist Bernard also said with deep feeling: "The method that suits me can make me develop my talents and talents; the method that is not suitable for me may hinder the display of talents." Learning methods can enable students to become hunters with shotguns in the dense forest of knowledge, gain effective offensive capabilities and room for choosing prey.

When you try to learn with a learning method you don't like, it's like walking against the wind, which is very difficult.As a result, some students will run away from the class, many more will feel very tired, and some students will even feel that they are clumsy learners.

And when you identify your favorite learning method and use it, your learning process is like walking with the wind, and the speed of the wind speeds up your walking speed.Studying with your favorite study method will improve your brain power, make the learning process very easy and greatly increase your efficiency.

We also have experience in practical learning. Some students like to read alone, and some students learn better in groups; some students like to sit on a chair to study, and some students like to lie on the bed or the floor to study.Some students like to study in a relatively free situation. They don't like to stick to the rules and need more opportunities to choose freely, such as deciding what to study and where to start.While other students like to learn step by step, they need teachers or parents to tell them what to do every step of the way.

Which of these learning methods is the best?The answer is not absolute, as long as it is your favorite and most suitable, it is the best.Learning is an individual activity, and you must adopt your own favorite method.

Therefore, we should be good at using our favorite method to learn in our usual study. If you like watching movies and TV, then learn from video materials; if you like reading newspapers and magazines, then learn from reading.But there is one thing that must be kept in mind: this method must be organically connected with the courses you have learned.

[Easy interaction]

Are you a person with a good study method?
There are 28 questions in this test. Please answer "Yes" to the questions that you think are suitable for your situation, otherwise, answer "No".

Please read each question carefully and answer truthfully.

1. Do you prepare for school in advance every day?
2. Are you often late?

3. Is the daily study time fixed?
4. Do you often feel sleep deprivation?

5. Can you study at the specified place and time?
6. Do you have irregular wake-up and bedtimes?
7. Do you have a practical study plan?
8. Does play time often occupy study time?

9. Can I quickly enter the learning state while sitting at the desk?
10. When you are studying, your classmates invite you to play, do you readily agree?
11. In addition to using formulas and theorems, do you also deeply explore how they are derived?
12. Have you never doubted or criticized the views and content in the book?
13. Do you often go to the library and reading room?

(End of this chapter)