1. Dual coding (using words and pictures)
effective study strategies mind maps
Dual coding is when you use both words and pictures to learn information. This gives you two ways to learn the information (via the words and the pictures).
2. Retrieval practice
effective study strategies
Without looking at your books and notes, try to recall the information. Ask yourself, What did I study in human biology yesterday? Force yourself to get the information out of your brain.
The simple act of bringing information to mind helps to reinforce it in your brain.
You see, it takes effort to transfer information into your long-term memory. You don’t just hear information once in class and … BOOM! That information stays in your brain forever. Sorry, it doesn’t work like that.
3. Spaced practice
highly effective study strategies
Rather than doing 5 hours of study right before your exam (i.e. cramming), it’s much more effective to space out those 5 hours of study over 2 weeks. You learn more by spacing out your study.
Now if you’re used to the cramming approach, spreading out your study over 2 weeks will probably feel strange at first. It will require a little planning. But the more you do this, the easier it gets. Before you know it, it will become a habit.
When you sit down to do spaced practice, keep in mind you only need to do 15-20 minutes of study before taking a break (not hours and hours of study).
The spaced practice approach usually means you’ll:
Be less stressed
Get more sleep
You’ll remember the information for a lot longer
Why? Because you won’t need to stay up late or pull an all-nighter to study for your test or exam.
We are incredibly forgetful so we need to revisit the information to help cement it in our brains. Retrieval practice is the best way to do this.
