Why Studying with a book, paper and pen is effective
Being in the shoe of the student and teacher at the same time
There are days when I want to stay at a quiet coffee shop, read a book and take notes with my notebook. Afternoons are usually a great time to do this because it’s hot. Coffee shops are mostly air-conditioned and I loved it when they play really calm songs that do not make me mentally stressed.
My younger sister who is still in College asked me what I do that makes me stay for two hours of more in a coffee shop. People who stay for a long time at coffee shops are mostly students, people who are reviewing for a licensure exam, people in a meeting, or just random groups of people wanting to chill. I told her I study. She was confused, “What do you studying for?” I understand her confusion. I graduated from a computer degree that does not require any licensure examinations and my work is always related to a computer or laptop. I don’t have a laptop and there are no computers available in coffee shops. Of course, it’s confusing for her who is studying to be an Accountant. It’s a different field of work.
I showed her the book I’m studying, The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman and told her it’s an intersection between psychology and design. It seemed old school or too College-like to be “studying from a book” since it’s not even studying for a licensure exam.
Studying as a Student
Studying from a book is common while a person is still in a school or Universities. Students are required to buy certain books they will be learning together in class and these books are very different from inspiration, fiction or other categories of books. It’s a very effective way of learning a topic. We’ve been taught to read and take notes during a lecture since we were young. This practice is seldom used after graduation when we start working. Sure, some professionals still do so, but there are others that think it’s no longer required. This feeling is linked to society teaching us to hurry up and graduate because studying sucks. After finishing our studies, we are no longer required to study.
But, learning never stops. It will be more self-study after we graduate. It was easily studying with a class because a professor guides everyone with a study plan. When we start our job, there will be new topics you will have to learn on your own.
Studying as a Professional
In my field of work that touches technology, I am required to update myself with information that was not discussed in my University years. The value of user experience was just starting in prominent companies. It was not part of our curriculum. Our teacher had no idea what it was. After graduating, the term user experience slowly became part of companies in the Philippines. The meaning differs from one company to another. With this confusion, I decided to research more about it. Different websites offer different explanations. Some articles are too complex, which means it was written for people who have intermediate experience with the topic user experience. It was hard to distinguish which was written for beginners in mind. If I impulsively study about it from a number of websites, I might end up misunderstanding everything!
Devastated, I tried to ask myself why was it very complicated to learn something. If it had been a new programming language, it might have been a bit easier, but user experience was a topic that touches ideas, philosophy, etc. I wondered how did schools come up with their study plan for different subjects. How science teacher knew which topics to discuss first during the start of classes? A Book! The whole school year’s lecture was based on a book! Students would take notes, have quizzes and the teachers explain each chapter in her own words. Adding more examples which students can relate to.
I decided to purchase The Design of Everyday Things from various recommendations online. It was usually part of the top list of books recommended to anyone who wants to learn User Experience.
The first few weeks after I purchased the book, I started to read it like how I read normal fiction books. Just reading. It didn’t feel right and I tend to forget terms and points from the previous chapters. The book was not meant to be read in a hurry, anticipating the climax of a chapter and looking forward to what happens in the next one. Reading a novel is different from reading these type of books. With novels, each scene you picture out in a chapter is visually related to the previous one. The characters will look the same. The location will be the same. With the book I have, each chapter will touch on different topics, but subtlety related to each other. Each chapter will have a new example.
I needed to read the book in a different way.
With a Pen and Notebook or Paper
Rush reading makes it hard to make new information sink into your long term memory. That’s why professors discuss one chapter at a time with their students. Sometimes discussing a chapter would take weeks, which will include examinations, essay writing, and debates. Other professors would even teach their students how to relate the chapter into their daily lives. Making a connection between a topic and a person’s life is a very effective way of learning. I remember learning about FIFO First in, First out in a programming language. It was discussed in a way that felt too technical. It was during our first year and the first month of our degree. Not everyone in class was taught the basics of programming in their high school days. The only way I completely understood it by heart was finding an example in real life. Picturing a stack of flavored cooking cubes in a grocery. The Knorr cubes were stacked vertically inside a long box. It was hanging near the counter. At the bottom of the long box was a hole where you are able to get the cubes inside. The convenient way for customers to get a Knorr cube was by getting the one at the bottom, from the hole. That meant the first cubes placed inside the long box was also the first one to be taken out from the customer. I remember drawing this scenario on my notebook to make it easier for me to understand it.
The Design of Everyday Things use examples which are unfamiliar to me. For example, it used a US currency problem as an example at the beginning of Chapter 3. It sounded a bit gibberish to me. Without an internet connection, I am unable to research about this issue. I created an example that I am familiar with. Drew it on my notebook as my own version of the example Don Norman had. The topic became clearer to me.
As I start on lingering in a chapter for days, writing notes down, and adding my own examples, learning became much clearer for me. Books or eBooks that focus on a topic start with basic information with the assumption that the reader has no idea where to start learning. The satisfying of finishing a novel book is different from the one finishing a book that is meant for teaching. You won’t gain anything if you keep on thinking “I need to finish reading this book” while reading The Design of Everyday Things. The best way for me is slowing down and inhaling all these information while exhaling all my understanding by writing it down.
Yes, I am still not finished reading this book because I decided to go back to the beginning because I somehow stopped taking notes a few pages back. No rush. It’s great to be in the shoes of a student and teacher at the same time.
