With finals around the corner, students across campus are studying for the last tests of the year.
But what is the best way for students to study?
“The biggest problem we really see is people starting too late when studying for finals,” said Daniel Fry, academic coach for the Office of Undergraduate Studies. “Really, finals studying should start at the beginning of the semester, but most people wait until a few days before finals.”
Additionally, Fry said many students think they can improve their grades by simply studying harder. Instead, Fry said students must change the way they study.
“For instance, if the student just read over their notes and just skimmed the chapters to get ready for the earlier tests and they say, ‘OK, maybe I just didn’t try hard enough when I was skimming the chapter,’” Fry said. “‘Maybe I just didn’t try hard enough when I was reading my notes.’ It isn’t going to be as helpful as it could be if they did something like meet with a tutor.”
Students can also meet with professors, attend supplemental instruction sessions and create practice tests as ways to improve their studying.
Additionally, it can be helpful for students find the method through which they learn best.
“If you learn best visually, when you take notes, you may want to add doodles on the side or something that is going to strike your memory,” said Tess Gibson, Success Strategies teacher. “You can go, ‘Oh yeah, I remember what this is because of that little drawing.’”
One of the most important things for students to remember while studying is to take short, frequent study breaks.
The Office of Undergraduate Studies recommends a 5-minute study break for every 30 minutes spent studying. Additionally, students should make sure they get adequate rest each night, especially before testing, according to the Office of Undergraduate Studies.
“There has been research where they did brain scans on people who had less than six hours of sleep,” Fry said. “They put their brain scans next to people’s who had concussions and people who were on drugs and they looked exactly the same. And then they put those brain scans next to people who had had adequate sleep, so at least eight hours, and they looked completely different. And that even was while they were engaging in some sort of learning activity.”
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