5 Methods Of Highly Effective Students

If you re like me, you probably think you have a certain way or style of revising that works best for you. But does revising certain ways actually help us learn better? Researchers have spent a lot of time and energy exploring what methods of revising actually work best for most people. The results may not be what you expect. Highlighting readings, taking notes, summarizing, using mnemonic devices, and other very popular revision strategies have actually proven to be quite useless, especially in the long term. So, what are the best revision techniques? Most research agrees on a few key methods:

1. Reading content and notes aloud

One technique that comes up again and again is the strategy of reading things you want to remember out loud. Researchers at the University of Waterloo found that students could recall words best if they read them aloud to themselves. Instead of wasting hours in a silent study area, you d be better off in your room reading and repeating concepts aloud. Reading aloud means that you have both the physical action of saying things, plus the benefit of hearing it. Even better? Try reading things aloud as you write them. Doing so could make note-taking far more effective.

2. Testing and pre-testing

Exams may not just be an annoying part of education__they can really help us learn. Being tested on concepts and having to recall them has proven to be more effective that just reading or reciting concepts. Having to remember things to answer questions helps us retain information better and when we can t answer a question, we know exactly what we need to revise. In some cases, pre-testing can also prove effective. Pre-testing is when you are asked questions before a lesson. Studies have shown that this can be effective in helping you retain information before watching a video or receiving audio lessons, though it may not always be effective before reading something (because people have a tendency to then only read for the information asked in questions and skip over other important sections).

3. Studying over time__not the night before

Teachers always tell you not to cram right before a test, but most of us have been guilty of it more than once. Research does show that cramming isn t in our best interest. Studying for shorter intervals over a longer period of time helps us to retain more information and remember concepts better. Research from UCLA has proven that cramming is especially harmful when you sacrifice sleep for it__observed students who studied longer actually did worse academically, because they were cutting into their sleep time.

4. Give your revision some variety

It might seem like a good revision plan involves focusing on one subject at a time. In reality, variety has shown to be more effective in some subjects. In maths especially, changing the topic or type of problem you re revising can help you retain more. A study done by the University of South Florida showed that adding variety to the problems asked in algebra and geometry problems helped one class score better in exams. Studies have also shown this is a long-lasting effect. It can be applied to a range of subjects.

5. Explain things to yourself

Explaining things to yourself is a great technique for more difficult and abstract subjects, where you re struggling to grasp ideas, not just commit them to memory. It s great for when you re learning something new, and is far more effective than just reading the same thing or watching the same explanation video over and over again.

This method helps you realize where your understanding is missing. If you explain a concept aloud, you will cut off wherever your understanding lacks. This helps you to identify exactly what part of a concept or content you re learning that you need to revisit, instead of wasting time revising everything. All of these methods and the research behind them tell us one important thing__it s better to study smart than hard. Next time you re prepping for an exam, remember some of these methods to maximize your revision time.