By Yosef Scher, Senior Science and Technology Editor
With final exams just around the corner, students might be wondering how to study. While everyone has their own methods, such as reviewing notes, studying in a study group, or re-reading textbook chapters, there are specific methods that scientists have found to be the most effective ways to increase one’s chances of performing well on an exam. By understanding and implementing these techniques, one can take control of one’s learning process and empower oneself for optimal performance.
Spaced repetition is one of the most effective methods researchers have found to help students excel on their exams. As one might have guessed, spaced repetition is when you space out your study sessions. In other words, instead of cramming for an exam, scientists have found that students remember more information when they space out their studying over the course of a couple of days or weeks compared to pulling an all-nighter. German philosopher Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered the concept of spaced repetition in the late 1880s. Ebbinghaus found that whenever we learn something new, our brains have a brief window of time to retain the new information. After conducting experiments, he created Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve, which demonstrates how quickly we forget information over time if we do not attempt to retain it. He found that “90 percent of information or knowledge learned will be forgotten within three days.” However, he also found that every time you recall new information, you tend to forget less of it over time. In fact, based on his findings, Ebbinghaus argued that if you review the new information within the first twenty-four hours of learning it, you will remember 80% of the information. If you review the information a second time within forty-eight hours of learning the information, then you will remember 85% of the information. However, if you review the information once again within seventy-two hours of the initial learning, you will retain almost all the information or knowledge.
Another essential way for you to remember information is by using active recall. Active recall forces you to recall information you learned instead of passively reviewing the material. Instead of reading over your notes or re-reading chapters in a textbook, you should make flashcards, practice questions for the specific exam you will be taking, or teach the information to someone else. If you are someone like me who likes to read over your notes, you can still use active recall to help you remember information by taking breaks at intervals to summarize the information you just reviewed. This notion was invented by Francesco Cirillo, a university student who “[struggled] to focus on his studies and complete assignments.” Cirillo developed the Pomodoro Technique, which students worldwide have used to help them study and ace exams. The Pomodoro Technique is composed of five key steps: identify the task that you want to get accomplished, set a twenty-five-minute timer and devote your complete attention to that task, work on that task until the timer goes off, take a three to five-minute break, and repeat the task another four times before taking a longer fifteen to thirty-minute break.
In addition to spaced repetition and active recall, researchers have found that practicing is vital to performing better on a task, such as an exam. Practically, this means that students should review past exams with similar questions if they want to do well on their final exams. Even if your professor does not post practice exams, there are countless online resources that can provide you with practice questions and step-by-step solutions to help you understand how to arrive at the answer.
These are just some of the study techniques scientists have found to be the most beneficial to students. Throughout your academic journey, you may have noticed that one of these strategies, a combination of them, or a completely different strategy has helped you succeed on your exams. Ultimately, every person learns differently, so your friend’s method(s) may be very different from the method you use. The important thing is to find the method that works best for you to help you excel on your exams.