The Most Important Thing Students Are Never Taught in School (and It's Destroying Their Time, Health, and Hobbies)

Reading time: 2.5 min

During pharmacy school, I noticed that most healthcare students believe that re-reading lecture notes and writing notes was how students should study. 

Yet, these are the most ineffective, time-consuming study methods. 

Despite learning and studying being a student's job, students are never taught how to learn and study effectively. From primary to higher education, students are not introduced to the psychology of learning and effective study methods in their general curriculum.

The result is that students:

• Spend hours studying with ineffective methods

• Forget what they learned right after exams

• Don't have time to develop hobbies/side projects by the time class ends and they finish their studies/assignments

This is like putting a new employee to work without training and expecting outstanding results.

Students would be much more effective learners if they were taught to employ the latest science behind learning and studying. 

I used to be a terrible student. I had a fixed mindset and never figured out how to effectively study, and my grades reflected this. Only by the end of high school did I discover what years of psychology studies have demonstrated: the benefits of a growth mindset and science-guided study methods. 

And then my scores exploded. 

I started top scoring (never did before), got into pharmacy school, and top-scored in most classes in my final year. While having time to lead student societies, take on side projects, and do internships.

The first step to change is learning about the science behind a growth mindset and typical study methods. 

Here are two of the most influential videos I've ever watched that can get you started on this change:

1. Grit: The power of passion and perseverance (Angela Lee Duckworth)

2. How to study for exams - Evidence-based revision tips (Ali Abdaal)

By developing a growth mindset as a student and adopting science-backed study techniques, here is what you can expect to happen:

• Studying will take up 1/3 of the time it used to
• You will remember the content you learned in class up to and past exam period
• You will have more time to enjoy life and achieve what you want outside education.

Simply helping students develop a growth mindset and teaching effective study techniques will super-boost their learner outcomes.

No longer will students continue the cycle of failing in class and never escaping the cycle with a fixed mindset.

No longer will students spend unnecessary hours studying with ineffective, inefficient methods. 

Students will no longer lament not having time to do what they enjoy and develop their unique skills. 

They will have the time, mindset, and ability to achieve more than they had hoped.