TIPS TO STUDY SMART AND SAVE TIME

Study simply means devotion of time and attention to gaining knowledge of an academic subject, especially by means of books. Emphasis on the word DEVOTION

Reading is not studying

The content does not consciously engage in simply reading and re-reading texts or notes. It just reads the notes over again. There’s no research and’ doing’ the class readings. It literally does class comprehension. Re-reading results in swift oblivion. Think of reading as an important part of pre-study, but learning knowledge involves active participation in the (studying) content. Active engagement is the process of building meaning from text, which includes making links to lectures, generating examples and controlling your own learning. Active studying does not mean highlighting or underlining text, re-reading, or rote memorization. Though these activities may help to keep you engaged in the task, they are not considered active studying techniques and are weakly related to improved learning.

Ideas for active studying include:

1. Create a study guide by topic. Formulate questions and problems and write complete answers. Create your own quiz.
2. Become a teacher. Say the information aloud in your own words as if you are the instructor and teaching the concepts to a class.
3. Derive examples that relate to your own experiences.
4. Create concept maps or diagrams that explain the material.
5. Develop symbols that represent concepts.

For non-technical classes (e.g., English, History, Psychology), figure out the big ideas so you can explain, contrast, and re-evaluate them. For technical classes, work the problems and explain the steps and why they work.

Study in terms of question, evidence, and conclusion: what is the question posed by the instructor/author? What is the evidence that they present? What is the conclusion?

Organizing and preparing will help you prepare better for your courses. Organize your materials first when you are preparing for a test, and then start your active analysis by subject. Professors also have syllabic subtopics. Using these to help arrange your materials as a reference. For example, collect all the materials for one specific topic (e.g., PowerPoint notes, text book notes, articles, homework, etc.) And put them together in a pile. Label each pile with the topic and study by topics.

Understand the Study Cycle

Created by Frank Christ, the research process breaks down the various sections of learning: previewing, attending lectures, updating, researching, and testing your understandings. Even though every move can seem obvious at a glance, students all too often seek to take shortcuts and miss opportunities for good learning. You can skip reading before class, for example, as the instructor discusses the same content in class; this ignores a crucial opportunity to learn in various ways (reading and listening) and to benefit from repetition and dispersed practice. Understanding the importance of all stages of this cycle will help make sure you don’t miss opportunities to learn effectively.

Spacing Out Is Good

“Distributed research” is one of the most impactful learning strategies — spacing the analysis out for several short periods of time over several days and weeks. The most effective approach is to focus on each class for a limited period of time per day. The average amount of time spent learning will be the same (or less) as one or two marathon library sessions, but you’re going to understand the material more thoroughly and remember much more over the long term— which will help you get a final a. The main thing is how you use your time at school, not how long you are studying. Long sessions of study result in a lack of focus, and thus a lack of learning and retention.

To spread analysis over multiple days and weeks over short periods of time, you need to have control over your schedule. Holding a list of everyday activities to complete can help you have routine productive study sessions for each class. Seek to do something every day for every class. Be precise and practical on how long you are planning to spend on each task— you shouldn’t have more tasks on your list than you can fairly complete during the day.

In addition to deeper learning of the subject, breaking up the work helps stave off procrastination. You should face the dreaded project for 30 minutes per day instead of having to face the dreaded project for four hours on Monday. It is likely that the shorter, more regular time to work on a dreaded project would be more appropriate and less likely to postpone until the last minute. Eventually, if you need to memorize material for class (names, dates, formulas), it is better to make flashcards for this material and revisit it regularly during the day, rather than one long memorization session.

It’s good to be intense

Not everybody who studies are equal. If you study intensively you will achieve more. Intensive sessions of research are short and will allow you to do the work with minimal waste of time. Shorter, more intense research periods are more successful than analysis drawn out.

In fact, one of the most impactful study strategies is distributing studying over multiple sessions. Intensive study sessions can last 30 or 45-minute sessions and include active studying strategies. For example, self-testing is an active study strategy that improves the intensity of studying and efficiency of learning. However, planning to spend hours on end self-testing is likely to cause you to become distracted and lose your attention.

On the other hand, if you plan to quiz yourself on the course material for 45 minutes and then take a break, you are much more likely to maintain your attention and retain the information. Furthermore, the shorter, more intense sessions will likely put the pressure on that is needed to prevent procrastination.

Silence isn’t golden

Know where you study best. The silence of a library may not be the best place for you. It’s important to consider what noise environment works best for you. You might find that you concentrate better with some background noise. Some people find that listening to classical music while studying helps them concentrate, while others find this highly distracting. The point is that the silence of the library may be just as distracting (or more) than the noise of a gymnasium. Thus, if silence is distracting, but you prefer to study in the library, try the first or second floors where there is more background ‘buzz.’ Keep in mind that active studying is rarely silent as it often requires saying the material aloud.

Problems are your friend

Working and re-working problems is important for technical courses (e.g., math, economics). Be able to explain the steps of the problems and why they work.

In technical courses, it is usually more important to work problems than read the text. In class, write down in detail the practice problems demonstrated by the professor. Annotate each step and ask questions if you are confused. At the very least, record the question and the answer (even if you miss the steps). When preparing for tests, put together a large list of problems from the course materials and lectures. Work the problems and explain the steps and why they work.

Reconsider multitasking

A significant amount of research indicates that multi-tasking does not improve efficiency and actually negatively affects results.

In order to study smarter, not harder, you will need to eliminate distractions during your study sessions. Social media, web browsing, game playing, texting, etc. Will severely affect the intensity of your study sessions if you allow them! Research is clear that multi-tasking (e.g., responding to texts, while studying), increases the amount of time needed to learn material and decreases the quality of the learning.

Eliminating the distractions will allow you to fully engage during your study sessions. If you don’t need your computer for homework, then don’t use it. Use apps to help you set limits on the amount of time you can spend at certain sites during the day. Turn your phone off. Reward intensive studying with a social-media break (but make sure you time your break!) See our handout on managing technology for more tips and strategies.

Switch up your setting

Find several places to study in and around campus and change up your space if you find that it is no longer a working space for you.

Know when and where you study best. It may be that your focus at 10:00 pm. Is not as sharp as at 10:00 am. Perhaps you are more productive at a coffee shop with background noise, or in the study lounge in your residence hall. Perhaps when you study on your bed, you fall asleep.

Have a variety of places in and around campus that are good study environments for you. That way wherever you are, you can find your perfect study spot. After a while, you might find that your spot is too comfortable and no longer is a good place to study, so it’s time to hop to a new spot!

Become a teacher

Try to explain the material in your own words, as if you are the teacher. You can do this in a study group, with a study partner, or on your own. Saying the material aloud will point out where you are confused and need more information and will help you retain the information. As you are explaining the material, use examples and make connections between concepts (just as a teacher does). It is okay (even encouraged) to do this with your notes in your hands. At first you may need to rely on your notes to explain the material, but eventually you’ll be able to teach it without your notes.

Creating a quiz for yourself will help you to think like your professor. What does your professor want you to know? Quizzing yourself is a highly effective study technique. Make a study guide and carry it with you so you can review the questions and answers periodically throughout the day and across several days. Identify the questions that you don’t know and quiz yourself on only those questions. Say your answers aloud. This will help you to retain the information and make corrections where they are needed. For technical courses, do the sample problems and explain how you got from the question to the answer. Re-do the problems that give you trouble. Learning the material in this way actively engages your brain and will significantly improve your memory.

Take control of your calendar

Controlling your schedule and your distractions will help you to accomplish your goals. If you are in control of your calendar, you will be able to complete your assignments and stay on top of your coursework. The following are steps to getting control of your calendar:

On the same day each week, (perhaps sunday nights or saturday mornings) plan out your schedule for the week. Go through each class and write down what you’d like to get completed for each class that week. Look at your calendar and determine how many hours you have to complete your work. Determine whether your list can be completed in the amount of time that you have available. (you may want to put the amount of time expected to complete each assignment.) Make adjustments as needed. For example, if you find that it will take more hours to complete your work than you have available, you will likely need to triage your readings. Completing all of the readings is a luxury. You will need to make decisions about your readings based on what is covered in class. You should read and take notes on all of the assignments from the favored class source (the one that is used a lot in the class). This may be the textbook or a reading that directly addresses the topic for the day. You can likely skim supplemental readings.

Pencil into your calendar when you plan to get assignments completed.

Before going to bed each night, make your plan for the next day. Waking up with a plan will make you more productive.

Use downtime to your advantage

Beware of ‘easy’ weeks. This is the calm before the storm. Lighter work weeks are a great time to get ahead on work or to start long projects. Use the extra hours to get ahead on assignments or start big projects or papers. You should plan to work on every class every week even if you don’t have anything due. In fact, it is preferable to do some work for each of your classes every day. Spending 30 minutes per class each day will add up to three hours per week, but spreading this time out over six days is more effective than cramming it all in during one long three-hour session. If you have completed all of the work for a particular class, then use the 30 minutes to get ahead or start a longer project.