If you are a student or you have a student in your family, the Wall Street Journal has some excellent tips on how to get the best grade possible on a testy.
According to the latest studies, it’s not cramming, frequent rereading or pulling all nighters that will help you learn the most effectively:
It is TESTING yourself frequently on the material.
“Chiefly, testing yourself repeatedly before an exam teaches the brain to retrieve and apply knowledge from memory. The method is more effective than re-reading a textbook, says Jeffrey Karpicke, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Purdue University. If you are facing a test on the digestive system, he says, practice explaining how it works from start to finish, rather than studying a list of its parts,” writes the WSJ’s Sue Shellenbarger.
“Sleep also plays a role in test performance, but in two unexpected ways. Review the toughest material right before going to bed the night before the test. That approach makes it easier to recall the material later, says Dan Taylor, director of a sleep-and-health-research lab at the University of North Texas in Denton. And don’t wake up earlier than usual to study; this could interfere with the rapid-eye-movement sleep that aids memory, he says.
“A common study habit—the all-nighter—is a bad idea. Although 60% of college students stay up all night at some point in school, the practice is linked to lower grades, says Pamela Thacher, an associate professor of psychology at St. Lawrence University in Canton, N.Y., based on a 2008 study of 120 students. It also impairs reasoning and memory for as long as four days.”
