Study Techniques

By Bernard Pierorazio

Introduction

❖ Imagine walking into school one day knowing fully well that you are not prepared for test day.

❖ As the butterflies in your stomach start to form, various questions begin to cloud your mind:

❖ Will I be able to answer the questions?

❖ What if I fail?

❖ What will my parents and friends think of me?

Introduction

❖ Now we have all been in that situation where we feel nervous right before an exam.

❖ But to help alleviate this, it is absolutely imperative that you begin implementing various study practices.

❖ These practices will allow you to take control of the situation, even if your mind is telling you otherwise.

Introduction

❖ While there are a variety of study techniques out there, there are two study practices that researchers and educational experts have recommend:

❖ 1. Spacing Effect

❖ 2. Surveying Study

The Spacing Effect

The Spacing Effect

❖ The spacing technique is said to be the easiest way to absorb any type of information

❖ By definition, the Spacing Effect is a study practice that requires the person to spread their material out over time as opposed to studying in a single session

The Spacing Effect

❖ This technique will allow your brain to cement the connections it has already built and to build upon them after a second, third, or fourth exposure

The Spacing Effect

❖ For example, if you have an exam coming up in a week, it is much better to review your notes once a day for those seven days than eight hours in one or two days.

❖ In fact, as simple as this sounds, this technique has been acquired by various standardize test practices such as the ACTs, SATs, GMATs, LSATS, GREs, and MCATs where the study schedule is broken down week by week in a span of two or three months.

Surveying Studying

Surveying Studying

❖ Surveying is a technique to help you condense a large amount of information into something effective and manageable.

Surveying Studying

❖ Begin by reading your assigned chapters and articles

❖ Make sure to highlight on the critical information in your textbook and other reading material that is not already emphasized.

❖ Go even further and take your own personal notes on each piece of information.

Surveying Studying

❖ After you are done, go through your lecture notes and implement the same concept.

❖ Highlight particular information that pertains to the exam.

❖ You can even create your own exam review notes that can be used later for your review.

Surveying Studying

❖ From there, begin condensing your studies to the emphasized and highlighted information.

❖ Be sure you are able to summarize the chapters as well as any important ideas in two-sentence explanations.

To OptimizeYour Study Schedule

Study Schedule

❖ Provide yourself a large amount of time to study.

❖ In addition, rather than use two different practices, implement both concepts (Spacing Effect and Survey Technique) for your studies.

❖ This will allow you to break down and internalize the information in the most optimal way possible.

To Learn More❖ Please visit the following sites:

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