The Best Ways to Preserve the Information You Study
Whether you’re studying for an exam or studying on your own, you want to do more than just re-read the material to master it. This video offers four ways to learn smarter, not just harder, and truly remember what you read.
Reviewing your notes can make you feel prepared, but turning those notes into exercises will help you better internalize what you are learning. Here are four active strategies to try.
- Ask yourself (or have someone else ask you) questions about the material.
- Visualize information. If it lends itself to a diagram, draw it or simply create a mental image to remember later.
- Apply information to a general metaphor. For example, if you want to remember that plants absorb water, sunlight and carbon dioxide and give off oxygen, you can think of consumption as cookie ingredients, baking time as plant treatment, and finished cookies as oxygen.
- If you are using flashcards, do not remove the flashcards you received correctly when running the quiz yourself. Keep them in the deck to better memorize all the cards.
These proactive strategies force you to interact with the information you are trying to learn. In addition to these active strategies, Vox also recommends planning study blocks well in advance of the test to avoid cramming. Check out all the tips at the link below.
Repeated reading is ineffective. Here are 5 tips for learning smart. | Vox