What study method should I try?
Ms. Lui teaches her class during 3rd period of the school year, 2022-23, at the front of the classroom (Photo: Claire Wu, The Puma Prensa)
Take this quiz to find out your study style and how you can improve your grades for this semester!
Where do I fall short when taking a test:
a) I spend too much time on one subject
b) I can’t see the concepts in my head
c) I can never remember little details
d) I get restless and can’t concentrate
e) I find myself not being able to grasp harder concepts so I give up
f) I didn’t study
This is the hardest kind of test for me to do:
a) Multiple choice
b) Order of events
c) Fill in the blank
d) Essay or long answer
e) Open-ended
f) All of the above
Most of your feedback from teachers sounds like this:
a) “Need to study the whole concept more”
b) “Have to connect the concepts with each other”
c) “I know you know this material... what happened?”
d) “You started off strong and dwindled”
e) “Harder concept seemed to not be grasped”
f) All of the above
I think I am a(n) ______ kind of person:
a) focused
b) visual
c) structured
d) restless
e) people-person
f) disorganized
My ideal study spot is:
a) library
b) coffee shop
c) my desk
d) anywhere with another person
e) classroom
f) my bed
What is my night before a test routine?
a) I try studying everything but can only get to one subtopic
b) I recite different facts on the subject
c) I attempt some flashcards but it never sticks
d) I try to study but I can’t seem to concentrate
e) I tend to read a lot, but nothing sticks
f) I don’t study, or I cram because I hadn’t started yet
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The SQ3R or PQ4R Method:
You struggle with learning overarching concepts, because you tend to focus on one subtopic a bit too much. Try these methods to help balance your study time and ensure you get the most out of your study sessions.
The PQ3R Method stands for Preview, Question, Read, Reflect, Recite, and Review. Each one of those words is representative of a step. You begin by previewing the material before you start to read. This can be as simple as reading the headlines in a textbook or reading a synopsis beforehand. Then, you question. What has already stood out to you that you don’t understand? What do I already know? Then, the most self-explanatory step, read thoroughly. Reflect is looking back on those questions and making sure they are answered. After this, recite what you’ve learned either out loud or on paper as a way to review.
The SQ3R Method is very similar. It stands for survey, which is very similar to preview, question, read, recite, and review.
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Color Coded Notes or Mind Mapping:
You struggle to see the whole picture and crave wanting to know how things work together. Try these methods to help you be able to understand the ins and outs of the subject— and it’ll be pretty this way.
Color coded notes are a classic, but a 2019 survey shows that these colors will be beneficial: Write down key points in red, highlight important information in yellow, organize topics by color, don’t color everything—just the most important information.
Mind Mapping is an extension of this idea by using color and drawings to connect ideas. You start with the main idea in the center of the page with a circle around it and connect any subtopics in a circle with a line. Then you begin to explain those topics in the circles as you work your way out to the edges of the paper with the details. Use colors in the same way you would for the color coded notes.
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The Leitner System or Retrieval Practice:
You tend to struggle with remembering small details like dates and times. While you get the overarching idea, the tinier components tend to slip your brain as soon as the test is set down in front of you. Try these methods to better recall those details.
The Retrieval Practice is using active recall after you study. You begin by studying ahead of time (no, not the night before). Then, after a day or two, you can use one of these methods to trigger your active recall senses: practice tests, make and answer questions with a friend, and use flashcards.
The Leitner System is a more developed version of using your traditional flashcards. It uses a box system, and once you get a card right, you move it to the next one. These are the boxes, and their names correlate to how often you should review them: Every day — Box 1, Every two days — Box 2, Every four days — Box 3, Every nine days — Box 4, Every 14 days — Box 5. If you get a card wrong, you move it down a box.
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Exercise Before Studying or Body Doubling:
You struggle with sitting still long enough to understand a topic, and tend to get jittery when staying still for too long. Try these two methods to combat the physical and mental side of this phenomenon.
Exercising before you study increases your energy levels, but also calms those jitters down, making it easier for you to sit for longer. It also releases endorphins that make you happy and reduce stress. As Elle Woods says in Legally Blonde, “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't kill their husbands, they just don't.” Happy people study better, they just do.
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Feynman Technique:
You struggle to understand the whole topic and want to know how things work together. Try this method to help you verbally work out the details of a topic.
First, you either drag a family member or a friend (a stuffed animal works too) to listen to you. Begin explaining the subject from simplest topics to most complex. Verbalizing this to someone else and having them ask you questions will help you to understand the topic more completely.
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Spaced Practice:
You struggle with beginning to start the process. Sometimes it’s very overwhelming! Try this method to help you plan out your study sessions to make the hurdle of starting a little lower.
Spaced practice in simple terms is essentially planning out what you want to practice on what day. This requires a bit of forethought and seems extremely simple, but just the act of planning can do wonders. Personal tip: write it down physically to retain more of the plan in your head, and then tape it up to a wall that you see from your most relaxed position, so you always see it and don’t forget.
