In this post, we’ll explore different strategies that can help students ramp up their study sessions. Whether you're cramming for exams or trying to grasp new concepts, these techniques will boost your productivity and retention.
Imagine you are in a museum. You arrive early in the morning excited to see a painting by the famous grandmaster Funky Fresh. Funky is a noted artist, whose expressionist paintings hang in the finest galleries on the planet.
You arrive before the museum even opens. Cut across dozens of exhibits without even a glance to get to his gallery. Stand before his canvas for minutes, smiling in reverent awe. Probably, you look more than slightly ridiculous.
And then slowly you get bored. It isn’t that Funky Fresh lacks imagination or talent. It’s simply that everyone has their limits. No matter how good the thing you are doing is, you will eventually crave variety. This is true for art. It is also true for studying.
What is the best way to learn a difficult concept? In this article, we take a look at that question by examining why students seek different approaches to studying.
There are so many different ways to learn, and yet most lessons are presented in the same old format. The teacher provides information. The student records that information. They go home and hopefully memorize it. You might call us the reading and writing approach to learning.
For some people it is effective. For many others, it is not. The problem is that the average student doesn’t even know that they aren’t learning in the format that is most conducive to how their brain works, any more than the average car owner knows what brand of oil is best for their car. How could they when they’ve only been taught one way?
Using supplementary online resources, you can get a much better sense of how you are most effective as a learner and what tools will help you better prepare for high-pressure tests. Many classrooms are using adaptive learning models to help students find the tools that work best for them.
These are great supplementary resources that can help even people who previously struggled academically find their groove.
Standardized tests use sets of questions that typically test the way a person thinks. They are not concerned with memorized facts but with critical thinking ability and general mastery of basic school concepts.
The LSAT is a particularly good example of this because it asks logic-based questions that you could not possibly memorize the answer to.
For example, you might be asked to configure an ideal seating arrangement when there are eight guests all of whom are unwilling to sit next to a specific person attending the party. Not something you can prepare for right?
Wrong! While you can’t memorize the answers to the LSAT, you can take exams that will help you get in the right frame of mind.
The same is true of any standardized exam. But when the stakes are as high as getting into your dream school, you want to make sure that you are using every resource available to you.
Your approach to studying is a good way to stay focused and get the most out of your time.
The NCLEX is another good example. While the information this test covers does involve a degree of memorization you couldn’t possibly know what facts are going to show up on the test.
This test assesses your knowledge of four years of school. Even very dedicated future nurses can’t reasonably be expected to have instant recollection of everything they learned over the past eight semesters. How do you even prepare for something like that?
By finding the study rhythm that best suits your learning style and your interest level.
It’s not just that switching up your study sessions can help you find your groove. Variety can also keep you interested. Consider the example we gave in the introduction.
Even something you love doing becomes boring after time. No matter how studious you are you probably wouldn’t say that you love studying. That makes it even more important to keep your study sessions interesting.
Regardless of what type of learner you are, your brain will remember new information more thoroughly if it is given the chance to interact with it in different ways.
For example, you could read a fact 10 times, or you could read it three times, listen to it three times, and experience it visually three times.
In the latter case, you’ll have actually covered the information slightly fewer times than you would have through flashcard-style memorization but you almost certainly have developed a far more comprehensive understanding of it.
No matter what method you take it’s definitely going to be helpful to give yourself as much time as you can to study for your test. For big tests like the LSAT or the NCLEX, this could mean spending months getting ready.
For smaller examinations give yourself at least a few days. Ideally, you prepare in a way that will allow you to relax the evening before the test. Studies overwhelmingly show that cramming does not work. Yes, you may have had success with all-nighters before. No, they are not a sustainable strategy.
For one thing, cramming produces high levels of anxiety. Anxiety can give you energy for your study sessions but it also clouds you’re thinking.
Making your study sessions shorter and more gradual will improve your mindset going into the test. It will also better align with how your brain memorizes information. The human mind generally does better doing a deep dive into small amounts of information rather than a scattered free-for-all the night before the test.
Bottom line? Set yourself up to succeed. Study hard. Try different methods. Give yourself time to do the very best you can. Test-taking is a legitimate skill that requires hard work in addition to a smart mind.
