The Ultimate Guide to Studying for Finals Based on Science and Experience
Getting Ready to Study Preparation and time management are the key to successful study sessions. GOOD NEWS! Studies show that your academic fate is in your hands! Doing well isn t so much about your fixed intelligence (like your IQ); it s about working hard, seeking help, and using effective strategies. Prepare a study schedule. Give yourself at least two weeks. Prioritize giving more time to the subjects you struggle with. Create a calendar that allows for blocks of time to study different subjects. Set specific goals for each study session to help you stay focused and on-task. Know what is going to be on the test! Ask your teacher what format it will be (essays, multiple choice, true or false, etc.). Ask what resources you should use to study, such as notes, study guides, presentations, diagrams, resources on the Moodle, etc. Ask if notes or notecards can be used during the test. If they can, make sure you create great ones! Before studying, gather all of your materials including old tests, old homework assignments, study guides, notebooks, printed computer notes, a friend s notes (if you didn t take good notes), etc.
Create an Effective Study Environment Where you study is almost as important as what you study. Use a program or app to block distracting sites for a set period of time. Check out Cold Turkey, Self Control, or Google search on apps that block social media for studying. This is tough to do, but it s worth it! Listening to music while studying stops your brain from fully concentrating. You might feel like you re getting a lot done by multitasking, but research shows that distractions while studying greatly reduce accurate recall. It s true... science says so! Set a timer and get serious about studying for 25 minutes. Give yourself a 5 minute break after each 25 minutes of hard-core studying. This is known as the Pomodoro technique and it works! Set goals and reward yourself! Rewards can be anything from gummy bears, listening to a favorite song, checking your social media... whatever. Rewarding yourself can help you perform better. No cheating, though! Bright lights increase learning and ward off depression. Studying outside on a sunny afternoon is a great idea, if it is quiet. Chewing gum and drinking water boosts your mental performance while studying and testing. Keep your study space organized and clutter free. Your brain will more easily organize all of the information you are putting in it. Changing up where you study increases your information retention. As long as it s distraction free, find different spots to study. Try a coffee shop, a quiet park, a clean room, a backyard, a zoo... wherever! Plan on studying different kinds of information in a single study session. This leads to your brain retaining information better, because it subconsciously finds deeper patterns among the varied material.
24 Studying Strategies Not all of these strategies will work for you. Try them out, choose the ones that fit your style, and get studying! 1 Your memory has finite bandwidth. Psychologist George Miller found that we can best use our brain by chunking information into seven bundles. Study your material by first separating it into seven different chunks, such as formulas, characters, vocabulary, leaders, diagrams, etc. Pretend you are taking great notes for someone else. Research shows that handwriting notes while studying leaves a longer-lasting impression on your brain than typing or not writing 3anything. 2 4 study Before beginning to study, write down everything you know about the topic. Check back with your resources and see what you got right and what you missed. Everything could include vocabulary words and their definitions, formulas, names, dates, examples, the steps to take to solve something, or anything else you know about the subject. Find a study partner or group... ONLY if you can stay focused and help each other learn. Groups sometimes work best as review once you ve completed your own sessions. 5 Draw a web of thoughts or a mental map... anything that will collect and connect your thoughts about a topic. Mind maps imitate the way your brain thinks and will make remembering it easier. 6 Come up with a color-coding system and take notes using different colored pens or pencils. This will fire up your visual memory, and make studying a little more fun. 7Try an on-line interactive flashcard site like Quizlet. 8 Read aloud! Listening to yourself while reading can help you comprehend information you might miss by silently studying.
9 Get creative! Draw pictures, mind maps, tables, make up songs, create word sequences, write poems, make mnemonic devices (easy tricks to remember something). 10 Your brain remembers emotional events better. If you can associate an emotion like love, anger, frustration, or excitement with a topic, you will remember it better come test time. 11 When you teach someone else a 12 concept, you remember it better. So, teach a class to all of your stuffed animals, your family members, or friends from your study group. You re not just helping your brain, you re having fun! Physical exercise improves learning ability by growing new neurons. Think about studying on a treadmill or while doing sit ups! practice tests after a study session. Testing not only assesses knowledge, it also trains your brain to get the information from your 13Take memory. A study showed that students who studied once and took a practice test did better than students who studied twice. Use your resources to create practice tests. 14 If your eyes start to glaze over and you can t stay focused, don t give up! Flip the paper, and read the information aloud and upside down. You ll be awake and refocused in no time! away from boring old notebook paper that your brain is used to seeing! Use colorful sticky notes, index cards, poster boards, white 15Get 16 boards, or just about anything else you can write or draw on. Create summary sheets for each class. If you didn t get a study guide, make your own!
write... compare! After you as many of your five s t u d y a c o n c e p t, h i d e t h e senses as possible while studying. information, write down everything The more you activate, the longer you remember, and then compare it the information will stay with you. 17Hide... to your resources. Spend some extra 18Activate time on what you missed. the material you are trying to learn into a memorable story. Your brain works by making connections. If you can visualize the story in your 19Turn head, it will help you to remember the important information. is key! Read it silently, read aloud, write it, sing it, draw it, over and over and over again. 20Repetition of focusing on individual facts, make connections between concepts to help your brain retain information longer. 21Instead 22 When you struggle to remember information, it lodges deeper in your mind. So, don t stop when it gets tough. Keep pushing your brain to recall the information. questions that might be on the final by looking at your old tests and assignments and thinking about what your teachers spent a 23Predict 24 lot of time talking about. Overlearn the material. When you think you are finished, keep going! There is no such thing as being too prepared.
It s Finals Time All your hard work is about to pay off! Within 12-24 hours of the test, it s time to stop studying. You will most likely confuse yourself or stress yourself out if you keep going. Sleep deprivation increases the activity of an enzyme in your brain that messes up your memory. So, get a good night s sleep before finals. A study revealed that students who ate a high-fat and low-carb diet before a test performed poorly. Students who ate a balanced, nutritious diet performed better. Eat well while studying and during finals. Use every minute provided to take the final. Check your answers... recheck them... proofread... revise... revise again... There are never bonus points for finishing first! Remember, working hard and being well-prepared is a great way to cut down on test anxiety. There is no such thing as over-preparing for your finals! Make a plan, find the strategies that work best for you, put in the time and effort, and be ready to do great on your finals!