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WHAT ARE THE SOME OF THE BEST STUDY METHODS?

Developed by Frank Christ. The cycle goes like this: 

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  1. Review the information that is going to be presented BEFORE class 

  2. Go to class and ACTIVELY listen and engage in the lecture 

  3. Review the information AFTER class for a designated amount of time each day

  4. Study the material using some of the study techniques we’ve mentioned so far. 

  5. Test yourself and see where you need to fill in gaps in your knowledge.

STUDY WITH A BUDDY

Give each other mini-lectures. Can you explain the class material to someone else? If you can, that's a great indication to show you know your stuff. If you’re struggling to explain something, then you know exactly where to focus your studying. This study method is a win-win. 

DRAW IT OUT

 If you have a complicated set of steps to memorize or any kind of pathway, draw out each step. Organize and consolidate the information so that it makes sense to you. Then, quiz yourself. Can you draw out what you just learned without using your notes? If you can (awesome!) try to see if you can draw it out tomorrow, and the next day. Repetition is key.

MAKE PRACTICE TESTS 

Practicing questions is a great way to think critically about the material, test yourself, and prepare for exams. Get together with a group of students. Divide the material that will be on the test between each of you, and agree on how many questions each person will make. Quizzing yourself and learning from mistakes you make is one of the best ways to retain information.

CONCEPT 

MAPS

What exactly is a concept map? It’s a visual representation of information that shows relationships between different topics. Start out with a central topic and then create branches of ideas that stem from that central topic. This can be very helpful when organizing information.

Using flashcards can be a great way to quiz yourself on new information. Some people like to make hand-made flashcards using index cards and feel that writing out the information helps them retain it. Other students enjoy making and using online flashcards. Some of our favorites are Quizlet and Brainscape. They're FREE!

MAKE FLASH CARDS

This is a fancy way of saying "distributed practice." Basically, you are going to want to review information consistently over time rather than cramming it into a short amount of time. If you study for 20 minutes each day for an exam for several weeks, it will technically be the same amount of time as if you spent 10 hours studying for the exam the day before. However, the difference is, you are MORE LIKELY  to actually remember the information when you space it out. 

SPACED RETRIEVAL

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DEVELOP A STUDY CYCLE

DON'T FORGET TO REWARD YOURSELF AS YOU STUDY

OF NOTE:

There are a TON of different study methods that you can try out. One is not necessarily better than the other. What we can tell you for sure is that some study methods have been proven to be WORSE than others for long term retention of material. Examples of study methods to AVOID are: passively re-reading your notes, highlighting, underlining, and pure memorization. Studying in these ways causes PASSIVE rather than ACTIVE engagement with the material. Studying is hard work, if it feels easy you may not be actively engaging. 
Let us know if you have any questions (:
Best of Luck Studying!
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