![]() It doesn't have to be drastic, but the more you can do can really help.” Even if it's part of a study session, just moving helps. “It can be really helpful to get up and walk around for 5 minutes and come back. Specifically, physical activity can help super-charge your studying: “The more you can actually exercise on a regular basis, the better you can eat, and the more you're paying attention to sleep-these are all vitally important for your brain to be working at its optimum.” The answer: take care of your brain just as you would any other muscle, tissue, or organ. How do you optimize, not just the material you're learning, but how do you optimize the brain itself? How do you bring the brain's A-game to the table?" “This is where thinking about the brain more holistically is really vital. You may not think about these things as affecting your ability to retain information, but they absolutely do: The reason was the Great Triad: eating well, sleeping enough, and exercising regularly. Handy was afraid of sounding like a broken record. ![]() Strategy #4: The Great Triad: Eat, sleep, and exerciseĭr. The savvy student, then, not only turns off their phone in class but also while studying for an exam or writing an essay. The idea is that the deeper you engage with the material, the better you remember it.” “You're going slower, you have to assimilate what's being said and summarize it. The second reason is that taking notes by hand forces you to engage with the material on a deeper level than when you’re using a computer: “There are studies out there showing that when somebody is on a computer in a classroom, not only did they perform less well but it's distracting to everybody around them.” And he provides neuroscience literature to justify it.įirst, he said, electronics can be really distracting: Handy doesn’t allow any electronics in his classes. Make sure you tailor your study activities to the type of questions you will be asked. So take a minute to think about the type of exam you will be writing: is it going to be short-answer questions? Multiple choice? Applying concepts to real-life situations? And that might require doing something a little different than how you're currently studying.” “The smart student starts anticipating what the questions are going to be like, what the exam is going to be like. It also helps to try to anticipate what you are going to be asked on the exam: People have shown that's very effective,” said Dr. “Not only does the brain re-engage with the material and that sort of solidifies it, you're also practicing what you're going to do at the test. You are not only reviewing the material but you are essentially creating the conditions under which you will be tested. That's why using flashcards can be a really effective way of studying. “If you have an exam that's just going to ask you a bunch of questions, it's helpful to study by practicing answering those questions,” said Dr. Study methods that replicate that experience can help you perform better. When you take a traditional exam, what you’re basically doing is calling up all this information from memory. Strategy #2: Test yourself in the same way you will be tested on the exam So if you’re going to devote 3 hours to studying, the evidence suggests it is much better for you to have 3 separate, 1-hour study sessions than it is to have a single 3-hour session. That helps to solidify the information in your memory. ![]() “The real positive kick comes when you go back to it again. By reviewing the material regularly, you’re forcing yourself to recall the information, which helps you retain it. Handy.Īllowing time and space for this consolidation process, also known as an incubation period, is vital. “There is a thing called the consolidation process where the brain may be handling some of that information when you’re not thinking about it,” said Dr. Why is this helpful? Because of how the brain works: “The literature has shown that the brain is more effective at absorbing and retaining information if you have multiple, shorter study sessions than if you cram everything in all at once.” ![]() Not only is leaving all your studying to the last minute something that can cause you to stress, it’s simply not a smart way to study. Strategy #1: Space it out, don’t do it all at once Read on for 4 strategies-based in neuroscience research-that can help you study smarter, not harder. Handy, “Bringing neuroscience into learning has really expanded our understanding of study strategies and what the smart, effective student can do to bring their A-game to the academic experience.” We discussed how the "savvy student," as he put it, can use neuroscience research to optimize their academic performance.Īccording to Dr.
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