As a sophomore in college, I can say I’ve done my fair share of studying. And after plenty of time for trial and error, I’ve learned that some methods don’t work. I used to spend hours making Quizlets with 100+ terms and re-reading my notes until I practically memorized them verbatim. But none of that ever stuck. I wasn’t getting the grades I wanted, but I was so confused because I spent hours trudging through my dense quizlet. What I learned is that the methods I was using didn’t allow my brain actually to engage with the content. I was recognizing information, not understanding it, which is why it all disappeared the moment I walked out of the test. Not to get all psychology on you (but I am), the way to make studying work is by elaboratively encoding the material. This means relating or connecting the new information to existing knowledge in a meaningful way. It is a deeper way of processing the data, which makes recall better later. Here are the best study methods that I pinky swear actually work if you put in the effort and time!
- Teach it to someone else
Explaining a concept out loud is like a reality check. If you can’t explain it clearly, you don’t really understand it yet. When you are aware of these gaps in knowledge, you know which topics to allocate more time to. Once you get a better understanding of the main proponents of the concept you are trying to learn, teach it out loud again. By speaking your knowledge out loud, your brain moves beyond memorization and forces you to actually comprehend the information. So grab a friend, a stuffed animal, or stand in front of a wall for all I care, and start talking out some of the most complex topics you need to know for your upcoming midterm, and I promise you, your grade will reflect all of the effort you put in.
- Reworking information by putting it in your own words
Stop writing down the textbook definitions of words on the back of a flashcard and trying to memorize exactly what it says. You aren’t deeply encoding the information; you are memorizing it for a short period of time. If the test asks you to explain said concept in your own words, you’ll have no clue what to do because you don’t truly comprehend the concept. When you restate or reword something in your own words, you have to understand it first. You can’t copy or memorize because your brain actually has to process what it means. So, as silly as it might seem, turning the bigger words into simpler, shorter ones might make all the difference.
- Connecting content to something familiar
If you were to take one thing away from this article, TAKE THIS TIP!! Connecting concepts to real-world examples or experiences that I can relate to has made all the difference for me. Think of applying real examples as a mental bridge between a confusing topic and actually understanding it. When you tie a concept to something you can relate to, your brain creates a shortcut. The next time you see the term, you will immediately think of the example, which will then help you recall the definition and apply it.
- Spacing studying out over periods of time
There is something called the spacing effect that basically says learning is better when the same amount of study is spread over periods of time. So, instead of studying 6 hours the night before the exam, spend 1 hour a day for 6 days leading up to the exam. I understand this is really hard to do as a college student balancing four other classes, but I promise you it is so worth it. Take the time to explain a few concepts out loud each night during the week leading up to the exam, as it strengthens and makes the memory of the topic longer-lasting.
I hope these four tips can make a difference in your study habits. It takes a little time and consistency, but trust me, once it clicks, you’ll wonder how you ever studied any other way.