How Are Your Study Habits?? The Do's and Don'ts of Studying
There are many different ways to study, and what works for one student may not work for another. Evidence-based research however has suggested that certain study strategies have proven to be more effective than others! I've consolidated some of this information here for your review.
DON'T read and reread something as your only method of studying. It's okay to reread a section of text or reread your notes as a method of review, but studies have shown that if student only use rereading a their technique for studying, this can create a false sense of believing you know the material better than you. Rereading has not been proven to actually help you retain information.
Instead... DO use active recall. Active recall involves trying to recall all of the information you can remember up to that point. This can help you better realize what you still need to learn and enables you to practice long-term memorization.
DON'T try to cram the night before a test. Cramming might seem helpful - and it's a common "go to" study habit for procrastinators - but the concept of the "curve of forgetting" has proven that you are actually more able to retain information if you review the information 24 hours after you learned it. By cramming, it becomes much more unlikely that you will be able to retain all of the information in such a short amount of time.
Instead... DO use interval studying. Interval studying involves you studying a little bit each day. In practice, this might look like reviewing all of your notes the evening or day after you have learned the materials. Studies have shown that the first time you learn something new, you can retain up to 80% of what you just learned if you review the information within 24 hours. So if you review your new information every day, by the end of the week when it's that night before the exam, you might be able to retain 100% of the information you are trying to learn.
*I realize that this technique might not sound as time efficient as cramming, but in fact it can be even MORE time efficient so I really do encourage you to incorporate this method into your daily routine. If you just allow even 10-30 minutes of review each day, that can save you the HOURS you would have spent cramming the night before.
DON'T focus on one subject for too long. It can become very draining and ultimately impact your concentration if you focus too long on one subject. This relates back to the cramming as well because if you start to find yourself completely zoning out, you're only wasting your time.
Instead... DO divy up your time as evenly as possible among multiple subjects. It can be very effective to mix up your studying by moving on to another subject when you find yourself losing focus. For example, you could spend one hour studying math, one hour studying social studies, and then one hour studying science. If you're a little weary that this might not work for you, it's also acceptable to join related or similar subjects together (studying vocab and reading; working on multiple math concepts). The whole point is just mixing up your studying so that it does not become too monotonous.
DON'T try to multitask. You may think you are good at multitasking, and sometimes this is an important skill to have. But there is a time and place for multitasking, and studying is NOT a time for this. In fact, multitasking can actually extend the amount of time you will need to study and it can create unnecessary distractions.
Instead... DO eliminate all distractions to create an effective study space. Turn off your cell phone, disable wifi if you need to, and set yourself up in a room where you aren't going to be tempted to turn on the tv.
But remember, it's okay to take study breaks! We need those from time to time and sometimes a reward system can be a great thing (for example, award yourself one episode on Netflix after one-two hours of studying).
A few additional study tips:
Quiz yourself - This can be a great way to help you learn information; Whether you quiz yourself using flashcards, a practice test or quizlet.com, you'll be ready for that test in no time!
Teach the material - Teaching the material, or explaining it, to someone else can really help the information to sink in for you; This method forces you to interact with the material in a new way and how well you're able to explain can show you how well you truly know the information
Find a study group - Misery loves company! A study group allows you to talk through the information with your peers and then you're all able to learn from each other. Study groups also can give you opportunities to practice the first two tips of quizzing and teaching . *If you do this, pick your study group wisely! A little chit chat never hurt anybody, but it's not going to do you any good to have a "study group" if you're all going to consistently get off topic and distract each other to the point of un-productivity!
I want to hear from you!
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