Today we will talk about PQ4R Method in this article. We all have that moment in life when preparing for competitive exams gets overwhelmed by the extensive amount of information to memorize in a short amount of time. Many students go through a spiral of self-doubt, negative thinking and anxiety when trying to remember the things they studied. But have you ever wondered why we all go through that spiral?
My answer is maybe our method of study is not giving us enough confidence as it needs to, reading textbooks over and over expecting something will stick is surely not the right way. With that in mind, I am introducing to you a method called PQ4R method that will help you recall subject matter during tough competitive exams.
“Learning is not attained by chance. It must be sought for with ardour and attended with diligence.”
Abigail Adams
What is The PQ4R Method?
PQ4R method is a study method where a student takes on a lively approach for studying that enhances his memorization and understanding of the topic in depth. It was developed by Thomas E.L and Robinson H. A in the year 1972, The acronym for PQ4R stands for Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite and Review.
How PQ4R method looks in Practice
1. Preview the topic
When most students take a textbook in their hand, they try to read it without even knowing what the topic is about, they just want to finish the topic as quickly as they can so they can move to other things. But here in the PQ4R method students take a more active approach, students start with a Presurvey of the information before starting to read the topic so that they can get an idea of what subject matter they are going to study.
Skim the study material and read only the headers, subheadings, and highlighted text, then take a moment and wonder what all the information there is, what kind of questions to expect, what kind of information to expect. This step will help your mind to be very much active instead of being mindless when starting to learn about a topic.
2. Question
Next step is Questioning. Asking yourself questions about the topic, for this, you can make questions from headings, subheadings and highlighted parts. Try to develop a lot of
questions from this. For example, take the heading, “International Criminal Court”. Seeing it, you ask yourself, when and why was the International criminal court established? Where is its headquarters? What all crimes come under the jurisdiction of the Criminal Court? Etc.
3. Read
Now start reading the topic one section at a time, deliberately so that you understand what you are reading. You now have a motive to answer your questions, the mind will look for the answers you asked previously, there is traction in the mind to get answers. Also, note new questions and answers that come from the deliberate reading of the topic. This way of reading can be tried for those who are not into competitive exams also.
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4. Reflect
After reading about the topic, take some time to reflect on the topic you just read, try to remember the points you read, you don’t have to remember everything you just read word by word, that’s not the point of reflecting on the topic. Also, try to remember the answers to the questions you asked.
This is the most important part. Most students don’t reflect on what they just read and jump to the next topic, reflecting on the topic gives more depth to your understanding of the topic.
5. Recite
Now take a notebook and try to write down a summary of what you just learned. Don’t just copy the text, write it in your own words, things you learned. If you don’t like to write you can also try a recorder, record the summary in a voice recorder. Writing down or recording the summary of what you just learned will bring more clarity to things you just read.
6. Review
It’s quite obvious we won’t remember everything we learned after a few weeks, so we need to review the information we learned every week. Keep aside little time towards the end of the week for reviewing subjects that studied that week. Try to remember things you learned that week, go through the summary you wrote or recorded down, which will help in reinforcing materials you learned earlier.
Another good thing with the PQ4R method is that since you are writing down or recording a summary you don’t have to go through textbook cover to cover before the exam, you just need to read or hear the summary.
This method may seem hard at first but can easily be incorporated into your study practice. And with time you can master it. Benefits of integrating the PQ4R method in your learning yield great results in time. Remember the six steps next time you take the textbook in hand and learn actively, make things stick in your memory that can be easily recalled when writing exams.
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