How to Study STEM
Usually in the second term of first year, and nobody warns you. You read the chapter and understand it, revise the notes and feel fine, then walk into the test and can't start question two. The material makes sense when you look at it. It just isn't there when you need it.
Free · 93 pages (A4) · 121 pages (6 × 9) · DRM-free PDF
That's a mismatch between a study method and a kind of knowledge. School subjects are made of facts and drilled procedures. A STEM degree is made of methods you have to select and apply to something you haven't seen, and the techniques that work for one are close to useless for the other.
So the fix isn't working harder. It's changing what the hours contain.
What this book helps you do
Retrieval, spacing and interleaving rebuilt for methods, not facts
The ten minutes after a lecture that do the most per minute
Four artefacts you build in five-minute pieces and revise from
Why blocked practice feels productive and trains the wrong half
Three complete worked weeks, including one that goes wrong
An honest account of what the evidence supports, and what it doesn't
What is inside
The downloadable editions include the complete chapters and toolkit listed below.
Why It Stopped Working
- The Method Is the Unit
- Why School Study Skills Fail
- The Illusion of Fluency
The Mechanics
- Retrieval, When There's Nothing to Recall
- Spacing
- Interleaving, and Why Blocked Practice Lies
- Desirable Difficulty
- Worked Examples, Used Properly
- Elaboration: Asking Why It Works
The Artefacts
- The Problem Log
- Method Cards
- The Error Log
- Summary Sheets and Method Maps
The Week
- Before the Lecture
- In the Lecture
- After the Lecture: The Forty-Eight Hour Rule
- Problem Sets Without Suffering
- Study Groups That Work
- Office Hours
The Term, and the Years
- Planning a Term
- Slumps, and Getting Back
- Labs, Projects, and Coursework
- Handing Off to the Exam
Toolkit
- Three Worked Weeks
- The Problem Log Template
- Method Card Templates
- The Error Log Template
- What the Evidence Actually Says
- Further Reading, Honestly Annotated
Two PDF editions are included
Both layouts are free to download from this page. Use the 6 × 9 edition when you want the paperback reading experience or a compact printout. Use the A4 edition for a larger screen page and easier home or office printing.
A4 screen edition
PDF · 93 pages · 274 KB
A larger page for reading on screen, and the easier one to print at home or in an office.
Download this edition6 × 9 print edition
PDF · 121 pages · 288 KB
The paperback proportions, best when you want a compact printout or the book reading experience.
Download this edition- Title
- How to Study STEM
- Subtitle
- A Working System for Problem-Solving Subjects
- Author
- Gaurav Tiwari
- Publisher
- Gaurav Tiwari Publications
- Formats
- 6 × 9 PDF and A4 PDF
- Language
- English
Download How to Study STEM
Both editions are free and contain the same complete book. Pick the layout that matches how you read.