It is impossible to be a good learner without the help of effective study methods that allow grasping the new information and memorizing it with time. It is not only enough to read or even to listen to lectures and to solve problems and listen to lectures actively and to use your strategical efforts in order to improve your memory and knowledge. In this article we are going to discover effective study skills that actually have the capacity of enhancing your retention and making studying easier and more effective.
Spaced Repetition: The Holy Grail to Retention
One of the best study methods that facilitate long-term retention is a spaced repetition. It entails reading information at longer intervals and this is proven to help in strengthening memory and avoiding forgetting.
What It Does
- When you study something new, go back to it after a day, then after some days, and after a week. The durations become longer.
- You may use apps, such as Anki, Quizlet, or SuperMemo to plan your spaced repetition.
- Spaced repetition also exploits the forgetting curve of your brain that allows you to keep information longer in your memory.
Active Recall: Self Test to Learn More
An active recall is a method in which you consciously attempt to recollect information than just passively going through notes. This study puts pressure on your brain helping it to perform better in memory consolidation.
Active Recall: How to Use It
- Close the book and attempt to summon important concepts and information after reading a lesson or a chapter in order to remember.
- Before checking notes, you should write down or utilize flashcards of what you can recollect.
- Train on questions using the materials you have studied.
- It was demonstrated that when you test yourself frequently, this helps improve your retention more than reviewing your notes or books.
Interleaving: Confuse Your Study Sessions
Interleaving means instead of studying one subject at a time over a long duration, you combine learning other subjects or topic during a single learning session. Such strategy assists the brain in establishing relations between different concepts and as a result, there is enhanced comprehension and memorization.
The Way to Use Interleaving
- As an alternative to studying one topic, which will take you one hour, split your study time into short bursts and switch topics.
- As an illustration, spend 30 minutes studying math, go on to study 30 minutes of history and go back to math.
- Interleaving allows avoiding the development of cognitive fatigue and stimulates the brain to establish the links between various pieces of information.
The Feynman Technique: Teach What You Learned
Feynman Technique is similar and considers the task of teaching what you have learned to another person (or even to yourself). Attempting to explain concepts simply forces you to learn what you are talking about (which helps to cement the knowledge acquired).
The Feynman Technique: How to Do It
- Select a concept or a topic that you wish to know and summarize as you have learned it to make an entry in the form of a teacher to a novice.
- Reduce the concept to understandable terms and attempt to describe it without jargons.
- Find any missing links in what you know and get back to your study material and fill in those gaps.
- The act of teaching makes you in clarification of the knowledge and thus learn better.
Mind Mapping: Peeking at Connections
Mind mapping is the method of visual study, which allows you to systematize and draw connections. Making a visual representation of the material, by drawing concepts and their connections, will allow you to come easy with it and easier to remember.
The Art of Using Mind Mapping
- Put the core idea of the page in the middle and expand ideas and sub topics around it.
- Concepts are related to each other by use of the colors, symbols and lines.
- Create a mind map on each chapter or major topic so that it is a visual organization of ideas you learned.
- Mind mapping can also be employed in the case of difficult topics that need to understand a wide range of concepts related to each other.
Pomodoro: Increase Concentration and Elude Burnout
The Pomodoro Technique is a time management tool which is used to enhance focus and achieve better results as regards studying, by making study rest in short intensive periods and short pauses between the periods. The method will enable you to stay focused devoid of feeling drained.
The Pomodoro Technique: How to Use It
- Put a time limit of 25 minutes and concentrate completely on your studies during that time.
- Have a 5-minute break after 25 minutes of working to relieve and rejuvenate.
- Following four Pomodoros (study sessions), make an even longer break (15-30 minutes).
- This technique works in two aspects as it helps to obtain high standards of concentration without experiencing mental fatigue.
Visual Learning: Reference Diagrams, Charts and Illustrations
In a great number of students, the visual materials can be a great contribution to the learning. Diagrams, charts and illustrations can facilitate the representation of the information into a simpler aspect so that it gets visual.
Visual Learning: How to Use It
- Develop flowcharts to identify processes or occurrences.
- Illustrate by use of diagrams, e.g. sketching the diagram of water cycle, human digestive system.
- Learn about your topic through video learning or infographics.
- The visual learner is attracted to visual learning and is particularly predominant with the subject that entails processes, structures, or relationships.
Where to Train – Understanding, Not Merely Memorizing
Although learning may be important in some subjects, learning the concepts in-depth is more important to remember the concept over a long period. Once you intellectually digest the material, recall and manipulation of the material becomes more efficient.
How to Familiarize Her Attention
- Make difficult ideas easier to understand by tearing it down into bits.
- Question yourself how and why concepts can work, and attempt to implement these in another situation.
- Learn to think about the material actively, ask questions, investigate some implications of what is read.
- Since deeper understanding guarantees that you are not merely learning things by heart but that you can also use them in the real life.
Take Breaks in Regular Intervals: Avoid Brain’s Tire
Constant studying without taking a break ensures mental exhaustion as well as low concentration. Having frequent breaks will give your head some rest and process the information you received and come back to learning with a new boost of energy.
The Steps on Taking Stress and Effective Breaks
- Apply the Pomodoro Method or just set aside a break every 45 minutes.
- Take a stroll, stretch or perform some activity that relaxes you.
- Avoid distractions such as social media during breaks as this may make returning back to concentrate on studies challenging.
- It is important to take breaks to have a clear mind and avoid burnout when studying for a long period.
ASLEEP TO SLEEP! Give Your Brain a Chance to Process
Memory consolidation involves sleep. Your brain processes and stores information that you learned during the day when you sleep. Sleep deprivation may affect your capacity to memorize new information significantly.
Tips to Get a Suggestion to Snooze
- 7-9 hours of sleep are the optimal quantity of sleep per night to aim at, especially during exam periods or study time.
- Establish a bedtime routine that can assist you to wind down (e.g. reading a book or doing relaxation training).
- Do not stay up very late to study since this will adversely affect the quality of your sleep.
- Sleep is one of the main contributors of the effectiveness of remembering and remembering.
Conclusion
The final purpose of studying is retention and there is simply no reason not to employ correct methods which can make a huge difference. With the availability of strategies such as spaced repetition, active recall and mind mapping, you can significantly improve your memory and comprehending. Also, you may use some techniques like teaching other people and visualizing ideas to make the material more memorable and leave it in your head even after a long period of time. It is to be remembered that effective studying involves doing more than working hard by doing smartly. Begin to use these applications now, and see your retention go through the roof.