Your mind is like an athlete's body: It needs to be trained through repetition and variation in order to stay in peak condition. These are a few studies that have proved good techniques.
- Just as distance runners don't do sprints the night before the race, neither should students only cram studying in the night before. Cramming for exams may keep info fresh, but long-term retention is basically out. Instead, enlist the spacing effect--a method which calls for learning material in shorter trials spaced over long periods of time.
- Another phenomenom to take advtanage of is the testing effect. By giving yourself practice tests, you not only assess what you've learned but greatly enhance your retention of the material.
- And don't forget to mix it up, for changing the environment a person studies in improves retention. According to UCLA Psychologist Dr. Bjork, "What we think is happening here is that, when the outside context is varied, the information is enriched, and this slows down forgetting."
- You may have believe that studying a single subject burns it into memory. A University of South Florida study suggests otherwise: studying distinct (but related) skills will leave a deeper impression on the mind than focusing on a single subject. Studying related subjects like vocabulary, reading and foreign language together will equally prepare the mind for retention.
These are certainly helpful tips--I wish these studies were published when I was an undergrad. Just remember that tips alone do not shape the learning experience. It ultimately comes down to hard work and execution.
--Chris
Photo taken from this photostream and used with permission of a Creative Commons license.
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