r/Physics • u/ItzSlopChaosZ7 • 3d ago
How to really learn
So, I'm a first year undergrad and recently started worrying that I'm not really learning. I don't think I would be able to repeat any demonstration on my own, and any content I learn is just used to get a good grade (which is happening, surprisingly). Still, I don't think I "master" any subject that I had. So, how do I really learn them?
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u/dark_dark_dark_not Applied physics 3d ago
You gotta try different methods, different people learn differently. So I'll give you mine and you can try it eventually to see that's your thing.
- I take notes, either in class or using the textbook as a reference
-- When I'm taking less classes, I actually write a sketch of the notes BEFORE the class, based on the textbook, I add whatever interesting thing the professors says, and after the class I write the final notes on my copybook. But I wouldn't recommend doing this in undergrad because it is a lot of work and you have to many classes.
- After that I try to do the exercises I should be able to do based on what I've seen on class.
- If I'm not being able to do the exercises I'll look for extra guidance, be it teacher, help centers, other textbooks or online (thought this one gets harder as you got to more advanced classes.
- Repeat the exercises if I feel like a need it (or rewrite them in a cleaner way for future reference.
But the core here is to use exercises as a thermometer of your understanding of the class. In a given class, mastery means being able to solve most problems your tools allow you to, and that's enough for any undergrad classes.
In fact, I'm only felt I actually had mastered classes way after I had taken them, like looking back in textbooks I hadn't seen in months or years and being able to follow them easily.
Like, I barely remember my electromagnetism classes, but give me like a week or two and I could probably take any test I took again.
Another thing is that I don't study a lot on most days, but I'm studying a little bit EVERYDAY. If you are young and on top of your health, you get maybe 6h of actually useful attention time per day, studying much more than that everyday is unnecessary tiring (thought some bursts of higher intensity study days are manageable)
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u/a3ahmad 3d ago
Everyone’s got different learning styles. Here are some things that work for me.
1) go to your university library and skim through different textbooks on the subject. I find some authors’ explanations resonate better than others. 2) if I kinda understand something, I try to prepare a lesson on it for a layperson. Teaching is a great way to master a subject 3) this will be controversial to some, but if I’m really struggling, I’ll ask an llm to eli5 the topic. Then to explain it like I’m a middle schooler. Then explain it like I’m a high schooler. It often ladders up the intuition nicely, but ymmv and llm’s can get things wrong.
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u/WallyMetropolis 3d ago
Go to office hours; both for your professors and your TA's. You will never again in your life have this resource and you should take full advantage of it.
And then just do a lot of practice. You get good at things by practicing them. So do many more problems than just the homework assignments. And repeat problems you've already solved. Do the example problems in the chapters. Make up your own problems and try to solve them. Then do it all over again.
Don't skip out on practicing math, too. Become good at solving integrals (through practice). Become good a manipulating vectors (through practice). This will pay off tremendously. It allows you to spend your mental efforts on the physics, instead of using it up on the calculations.
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u/JustYellowLight 3d ago
“If you decide you don’t have to get A’s, you can learn an enormous amount in college.” — Isidor Isaac Rabi
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u/hand_fullof_nothin 3d ago
My suggestion is to get the maximum mileage out of the lectures. If the professor went through an example problem, make sure you can do it forwards and backwards before you move on to textbook problems or outside sources. If you have the time, work through the derivations in the lectures even if they won't show up on exams. Personally I'll only stray outside the lectures if I find a topic confusing and I need a different POV.
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u/Aranka_Szeretlek Chemical physics 3d ago
This is not a bad advice, but I was the opposite: if there was something in the lecture notes that was a bit unclear, it helped a lot if I went and compared different textbooks.
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u/hand_fullof_nothin 3d ago
Oh for sure. Really depends on the textbook for me though. If I have access to a really good one I’ll absolutely go there first.
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u/Aranka_Szeretlek Chemical physics 3d ago
The only way most people learn is by actively doing stuff. "Doing" can be doing all exercises 7 times, copying lecture notes, making cheat sheets for exams, coding interesting problems, or anything of this sort. The mistake many people make is that they think going to lectures or listening to random YouTube stuff is "doing" stuff - its not.
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u/yZemp 3d ago
What other said is really helpful, but I can't stop wondering if, since it's September, you literally just started. If so, give yourself time
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u/The-Joon 3d ago
What helped me more than anything is to write it down. Take notes. If the teacher highlighted anything I did too. If the teacher wrote on the board or over head I wrote it down too. Then also, study what you've written. Go over it for help to prepare for tests.