What Is the Best Way to Study?

Every student will experience hard classes at some point in their education careers. Good study habits are crucial to high performance. An article in the Wall Street Journal outlines the best practices for retaining information in order to perform well on tests. The most beneficial way of studying is doing practice tests or having students test themselves. These include practices such as flash cards or trying to explain it to someone else. This is a much better way to retain the information then just re-reading the information.

Sleep the night before matters too. Most students know the concept of ‘pulling an all-nighter’ the night before a test, but this is actually linked to poor performance. Also the timing of sleeping to study matters as well. Studies have shown that studying the toughest material right before bed and not waking up early to study helps with retention of information. Diet can help as well. Students who eat a balanced diet, not just the morning before the test but also the week leading up to test day, are shown to have better comprehension and retention of information. Studying with distractions, such as music or TV, has been shown to have led to poorer memory of the material being studied while distracted.

But attitudes on test day can make or break performance as well. This is chiefly due to test taking anxiety. Students perform worse on tests if they are nervous. But there are several things that can be done to lower the stress. One is to change the student’s outlook on the test. Have them instead envision the test the same way they would envision something challenging yet energizing. For a swimmer this might be stepping up to the block before a race. For a soccer player it might be scoring a goal. This changes the mindset to one that encourages better focus, and they do better. It could also help to have them write down their concerns right before the test. This unberdens the brain and increases focus as well.

Studying is something that all students must do well in order to succeed. And learning how to study properly will help students succeed on their own accord.

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