Can you believe it? We’re already done with month one of college, congratulations!
But that means the workload is starting to heighten and midterms are coming around the corner. Many of us are still trying to figure out how to study effectively, especially when it seems like time is so limited in college. I know I can relate to this as it always feels as if I have a hundred and one things going on at the same time, so the time I can allocate to each is very limited. Luckily, I found some ways that have helped me to study efficiently and effectively so that I don’t have to spend so much time to achieve high grades.
- Active recall and spaced repetition: I figured this out during my first semester of college. This is especially helpful for memorization classes like anatomy, physiology, biology, etc. I converted my lecture notes to a question and answer document on Google Docs. I used the font color black for questions and white for the answers. Go through and try to answer each question without looking at the answer. Once I made the attempt, I would check my answer. Spacing these recall sessions out also helped to solidify it into my memory. If you really put in the work for this method, you will probably only need to spend roughly 15 to 30 minutes per day on each subject.
- Type out everything your professor says: This study technique I discovered recently and it has completely changed my studying skills. I am studying Biological Sciences, so many of the topics that I learn about are like a story that just needs to be understood. While the professor is speaking, try and type out every single word that they say (you could write it out, but typing is faster). This is because professors will tend to lecture in a way to connect all the ideas they have laid out in the powerpoint slides. You don’t even have to look at it immediately after lecture, as the connections are already spelled out for you (but you can if you want it to solidify more in your brain). A couple days, or even the day before if you’re in a time crunch, pull up the document and read over it. You will be surprised to see how much will stick!
- Try and teach the topic to others: Simply talk out the topics you are studying and act like you are teaching them to an audience. This can help you identify any areas that you have not mastered as well as raise some more questions about the topics at hand. Answering these additional questions can enhance your learning of the topic, which will be beneficial in the long run. If you realize you are unable to teach the topic, that is probably a sign that you need to focus more on that topic (like watching youtube videos, seeking additional help, etc)!
I hope these tips will help you as you are studying for upcoming tests! Feel free to reach out to me at osotioch@ncsu.edu if you have any questions or would like to learn some more studying hacks!