How many times have you “studied” hours upon hours for a test, only to get it back a few days later with subpar grade sprawled across the top? If this sounds familiar, you are not alone. Although many students have the right intentions when preparing for tests and exams, the ways in which they actually review material are often ineffective. I have composed a short list of studying techniques that have proven to be extremely helpful for myself or for my good friends. Check ‘em out!
1. Highlighting does not count as studying: All too often, students think that they can absorb knowledge through highlighting. Unfortunately this is actually not the case, because while you are highlighting a piece of text, you can be thinking about a million other things that aren’t related to the material at the same time. This is because highlighting requires very little mental energy (think about it: how much effort does it really take to drag your hand in a straight line?) Instead of highlighting, after reading a passage or page of a book, pause quickly to summarize the main points in your own words. If you need something to do while reading to keep yourself engaged, take notes in the margin that elaborate on the material or that restate the material in a way that helps you better understand it.
2. Make index cards: Index cards are a great study tool because you are studying while writing the information on the cards and while reviewing the cards. Index cards are particularly helpful when you need to memorize vocabulary words or specific concepts for a class. Write the word or concept on one side of the card, and then write the definition on the opposite side. Index cards are also great for relating concepts, which is an extremely important aspect of studying. When you group index cards together that have similar themes, you are not only creating a visual representation of the material for yourself, but you are also actively building on the material by forming associations and distinctions.
3. Craft study guides: Study guides are great for reviewing material because they require you to extract the most important ideas and concepts from your class notes and from your textbook. Study guides can take many shapes and forms, but most have a few common denominators: definitions of words/concepts, a brief description about the significance of these terms, and connections between the main ideas of the material. Bolded words often help students distinguish key terms or particularly important information. As with index cards, when you composea study guide, you are actively studying while both writing the guide and while reviewing the guide later.
4. Talk it out: To test your knowledge before a test or exam, debrief a good friend on the material. Pretend your friend has absolutely no prior understanding of the material, even if in reality, he or she is familiar with the topic. Explaining concepts orally is a great studying technique because it requires you to actively convey the meaning of the material without referring to your notes or to your textbook. Also, if your test or exam has an open-response section, where you are required to explain yourself in regards to a particular topic, chances are that much of what you told your friend will come flooding back to you during the test!