I recently lead a seminar on improving study habits with younger students, particularly on how to improve memory retention, how to use active learning, and how to study with greater efficiency to finish homework and studying time quicker. Most of the study habits I shared were things that I’ve learned over several years, and the rest were habits that I’ve researched in educational psychology articles. In the seminar, my students shared a lot of the study habits that they found particularly helpful, and we discussed some ways to improve the study habits that weren’t working so well.
In this blog post, I wanted to share insights that I’ve learned on active learning, and how to improve efficiency in studying and learning information.
Most traditional approaches to studying for an exam involves reading notes from a class, reading through the textbook chapters, and learning content from the teacher’s powerpoint. Most exams involve questions that ask the student to apply that information, recollect information from studying, or answer problems and questions that ask to integrate various features of the information that you studied.
The problem between the studying approach and the testing approach is that the studying approach does not emphasize “active recall” that the testing approach does. In other words, on a test, you’re required to remember what you learned, integrate that information in specific ways, and then apply it to answer the question.
This is actually why remembering things on exams is so difficult – when you’re studying, you’re focused on learning the information, and creating connections in your brain that will help you understand what you’re studying. But when you’re in an exam – all the information is presented and asked in a new environment that you’re not familiar with. You’re tasked with recollection and integration – that is, you have to recall the information that you studied without the same cues that you had when studying. You’re in a new environment, and if you haven’t practiced recall and application in your studying, then it’s harder to perform well in your exam.
Here are some study strategies to incorporate when you’re focusing on active studying strategies, so that you can improve your studying drastically, learn in less time, and score far better in all your exams.
1. Take practice exams – if your teacher gives you any practice exams or practice problems, prioritize taking those without any help from your notes or your textbook. This will help you practice applying the information that you’ve learned, and will put you in a similar environment as your exam will.
2. Do the learn features of quizlet – it’s great to learn from the flash cards from quizlet, but after you’re done with that, make sure that you practice applying that information from the other features on quizlet. This will help you practice recalling the information, rather than just reading and learning that information
3. Teach other students – whenever you teach other people, whether they are your friends, your parents, or anybody else, you’re forming stronger connections between the neurons in your brain and helping you understand information much better. Furthermore, you’re creating a more solidified understanding of the topic and practicing recollection on an advanced level.
4. Ask questions in class – while it’s amazing to take notes attentively, it’s also a really good idea to ask questions in class about the underpinnings of certain processes, the reasons for why things happen, a teacher’s thoughts on particular readings, and other things that you might not understand fully. In psychology research papers, it was found that memories that were attached with certain experiences or certain emotions are more likely to be remembered, and when you ask questions from the teacher, you are actively engaging in the conversation, which allows your brain to better understand information, and puts you at an advantage because it helps you form connections between new pieces of information
5. Have conversations with friends and join study groups – of course, it can sometimes be distracting when too many friends are discussing an assignment or studying for a test together. but when just groups of two or three students study together with focus, it can become much more efficient to study because for any study topic, each has to engage and explain what they understand, and through explanation and teaching, the group has a much more solidified and active understanding of the topic. Just make sure that each person is contributing to the discussion, and that everybody is focused!
6. Create condensed summaries of things you’ve learned – if you’re reading a chapter from a textbook, after you’re done reading that chapter, try to create a summary of that textbook chapter in one or two pages without looking at the chapter. Create connections between concepts that are similar, and once you’re done, go back and fill in the gaps of what you missed out. Chances are, this whole process will solidify connections in your brain, and will make you much more adept at remembering and understanding concepts
7. Research more, and understand why – in classes, it’s much easier to remember things when you understand things and processes. I remember when I was taking advanced chemistry classes in college and learning some entropy concepts I didn’t fully understand, I would research on google about why certain processes exist in nature and how these things come about. Even though this information was not tested, I was able to perform very well on the test because it was easy to remember the basic concepts of entropy that were tested once I understood the bigger picture a little better. You will more easily recall and apply information if you fully understand the bigger picture.
I hope this helps! I appreciate all your time so much, and thank you for reading through. These are all tips and techniques that I wish I had known far earlier in my life, but they are things that I’ve learned through years of studying and learning and testing. Wish you all the best, and please reach out with any questions!
Naman
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