You know the feeling. You spend hours studying for a test, watching videos and reviewing notes over and over, but you still leave the classroom blown away after your test. The feeling is horrible, like you wasted hours of your time. It feels like there is nothing you can do. However, after researching better study methods, I realized that common methods are not optimal.
Many common study strategies can be counter-productive. For instance, if you spend your time cramming for hours the night before, you will have spent a large chunk of time studying with little likelihood of retaining the information. Additionally, I am always tempted to read over my notes repeatedly, but this method is too passive. Your brain may recognize the words on the page, which creates the illusion that you know the material, but you aren’t actually recalling the information. The same problem occurs when you passively watch YouTube videos. None of these strategies build a real understanding for test day. They create a false feeling that you know the content, but that will quickly turn to panic when you are asked to recall it from memory. As I’ve learned from experience, studying needs to be interactive.
Most effective strategies require you to review and demonstrate your understanding. A scientifically proven strategy that actively uses your brain is active recall. This means testing yourself without notes. This can include flashcards, brain dumps, or “blurting.” In blurting, you write down everything you remember, and check the areas of your understanding that are foggy. This reveals weaker areas or gaps so that you can easily fill them. In my experience, these strategies have been great for History classes. If you do not have a full understanding of a topic, or you’re missing context for an event, you can quickly fix that. It helps you to understand complex, nuanced situations when tested.
For math and science classes, practice problems are essential. Even if you review how to do problems theoretically, that may not translate to real questions on test day. It is vital to gain an understanding of your tested content’s format. One strategy is redoing old homework problems to prepare well for test day. This will confirm your understanding of the unit and reveal any gaps in your knowledge.
Finally, a powerful tactic that works in every subject is spaced repetition. Instead of studying everything at once, you review the material multiple times over several days. This helps move information from short-term memory into long-term memory. Spaced repetition is especially useful for memorization, such as gaining a real understanding of language structures. These things are best learned through repeated practice. You can spend the same amount of time studying, just over a few days, and gain much better results from your time.
Now that I have been applying these strategies, I am seeing results. I feel more proficient in grammar structures, more experienced when asked to use complex chemical formulas, and more prepared when I walk in the classroom on test day. When you actively study with your brain, you will find that all the time that you spend will have more value, even if you do the same amount of work.
