We’ve all been there. The numbers on the clock have moved past midnight, the house is silent, and you have begun to invent new ways of keeping yourself awake. Your big test or project is now only hours away from being due, and there is still an overwhelming amount of work to be done. “If only there was a better way!” you think to yourself. The most effective way to study isn’t necessarily a one-size-fits-all solution, but science tells us that there are definitely ways to study smarter, not longer or harder. We could all probably benefit from science in our own busy lives.
Whether you are a note-taker, highlighting enthusiast, or you simply like to re-read your textbook over and over (and over!) hoping it will stick, we can likely all find tips that will help us from the following scientifically proven study techniques. Read on and then study on!
1. Space out your studying.
Don’t cram the night before the test! Study the material in shorter sessions spaced out over several days. In 2009, a study from the UCLA psychology department compared two groups of students who studied the same material for the same number of hours. Those that spread their studying out in sessions over 4 days performed better than those who studied by cramming. Study the night before, but try not to cram it all in on that night; instead, study a little bit each day in the time leading up to the test.
2. Have someone quiz you or take practice questions.
Studies show rereading the material over and over does not improve performance. What has been proven to increase recall is to practice retrieving the information on your own. Some ways to do this include testing yourself with flashcards, using apps like Quizlet or Albert.io, having a friend quiz you, or hiding the definitions in your notes and trying to come up with the answers yourself (active recall).
3. When you do test yourself, make sure you check the answers. Then refocus your studying on the areas you got wrong.
When you get the answer right, it reinforces your knowlage, and lets you know that you’ve got the concept down. When you get the problem wrong, you now know where to focus your studying, which increases efficiency. Figuring out why you got it wrong will also deepen your understanding and help you ace the questionnext time.
4. Mix up the content when you are quizzing yourself.
When you study one concept repeatedly, your brain knows what is coming next, and you tend not to be as attentive (especially when it is late and you are already sleepy). Studies show that students who vary the content as they study to do better. More than likely, the topics will be mixed on the test as well, so you will get needed practice.
5. Stop multitasking.
You may think that sending an occasional text or watching your favorite TV show while studying doesn’t affect you, but researchers say that multitasking prolongs study time. Stay focused while you study, then catch up with the fun stuff afterward!
6. Pay attention to diagrams and graphs, or make your own.
Pictures and diagrams can boost your memory of the material, so pay attention to them in the material or create your own. Studies from both Washington University and Ruhr University Bochum in Germany showed that visual aids help students perform better on tests. Creating your own diagrams, especially from memory, can be a great way to see what you currently know.
7. Learn it like you are going to teach it.
If you really understand a concept, you will remember it better. See if you can teach a classmate or a family member the material. You will need to engage with the information and organize key elements in order to do this, and this will help you remember it.
8. Sleep! Don’t pull an all-nighter.
Consistently getting enough sleep is really hard to do sometimes, but it is so important for learning. Staying up all night isn’t necessarily as helpful as you may think. Fatigue and lack of focus the day following a poor night’s rest may ruin all of your study efforts. That being said, reviewing study materials before bed can help you remember it, as your brain does memory consolidation work (a process where information is transferred into long term memory) while you sleep. Yet another reason to get those Zzzz’s.
9. Exercise.
Breaking a sweat before you study can help give your brain a boost, with oxygen and nutrients fueling your thinking. It can also help you stay alert and increase your ability to learn information.
Last but not least, don’t let the list above add even more stress to your studying. Pick one or two items that you think may help you, and give them a try, adding or replacing them with others as you figure out what helps you. If we can learn to study smarter, not longer, we can make more time for the fun stuff, while still improving our performance on tests!
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