Struggling to remember what you studied? Try this

Have you ever read over your notes (or your friend’s notes) right before a big test, hoping that the information will stick in your brain and carry you for the next 45 grueling minutes of strangely worded multiple choice and open-response questions, only to forget everything within 45 seconds of the test beginning? I’m here to tell you that it isn’t that difficult or time-consuming to score even a little bit better on that test. Just take a look at the following study methods and figure out which works best for you!

Classes of Study Methods

Passive Recall

        Passive recall is the simplest type of review. Techniques involve highlighting, summarizing, underlining, and reading over your notes. This is useful when you have limited time to study or when you are already confident you know the material. Otherwise, it isn’t how you should spend your time and energy as it is a less effective way to study. Here are some methods of passive recall:

• Summarization
• Rereading
• Keyword Mnemonics: used for foreign vocabulary. (You find a word similar to your vocabulary word, and then paint a mental picture that connects the two words. Ex In Spanish, aprender means to learn. It sounds like apprehend, and you can picture reaching out and grabbing knowledge in order to learn it.)
• Color-Coding
  

Active Recall

        Active recall is the opposite of passive recall. It requires actively engaging with the material. This is a part of the Focused Note Taking strategies we at MPHS are emphasizing as an avid demonstration school. Active recall includes recalling something based off of a prompt, recalling purely from memory, and being able to elaborate on a topic, or enhancing retention. Active recall is much more effective than its passive counterpart. Some methods include:

• Flashcards
• Practice Tests
• Reciting Information
• Note taking

Study Methods

SQ3R 

SQ3R stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. This method is a good way to ensure that you actually pay attention to your material the first time around and you won’t need to repeatedly study everything. The steps go as follows:

1. Survey: Familiarize yourself with the surface level topic/contents of the text by reading the titles, subtitles, essential questions, introductions, and summaries. Consider any graphics.
2. Question: Create questions based on the titles, graphics, and everything else you surveyed during the first step.
3. Read: Actually fully read the text.
4. Recite: After each section, stop and recall your questions. See if you can answer from memory, if not, go back and read again. Don’t move on until you know all the answers to the section.
5. Review: Once you’ve finished the entire chapter/text, go back to each section and try to answer the questions you created from memory again. If you can’t, study that section more.

Breaks, a.k.a. The Pomodoro Technique

This technique challenges the Forgetting Curve, which states that we lose around 50% of information in the hour after we’ve learned it. If you have difficulty memorizing your material, use this. It works by spacing out your learning in various ways, such as:

1. Plan what task you are completing or what material you are studying.
2. Work for 25 minutes.
3. Take a 5-10 minute break.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 4x

Elaboration

This method is best for cementing full concepts in your mind. Therefore, it’d be helpful when studying for open-ended text questions or free responses.

1. Pick a topic and familiarize yourself with it.
2. Have a friend ask you an open ended question and explain the relevant aspects of the concept to the best of your ability, preferably keeping track with a notebook of sorts.
3. Explain further: what is the topic related to, what other concepts are connected, what’s the history behind your answer?

Teaching, a.k.a. The Feynman Technique

Teaching is similar to Elaboration in that you are explaining your material to another person. This helps your confidence and it reveals whatever part of the topic that you don’t completely know.

1. Grab a friend.
2. Explain the topic to them like you’d expect a teacher to in class (with graphs, practice problems, examples, etc).
3. Have them ask questions if they’re confused.
4. If you at any point are unsure or can’t remember the answer, look back at your notes or research to find the correct answer.

Interleaving

Interleaving is particularly useful when multiple of your classes overlap, like psychology and biology would. The interleaving process allows you to build stronger connections between the topics and makes it easier to recall the information.

1. Plan two or more topics to study.
2. Jump between studying each of them. For example, you can make a flashcard set with information from psychology, biology, and childhood development.
3. Do this until you are comfortable with each topic.

Remember that if any of these methods seem almost perfect but need a little tweak, no one’s stopping you from changing it up! Go forth and pass your exams.