BE ON THE EXAM ATTACK WITH STUDY HACKS

While students feel they have the best version of studying, the reality is they aren’t learning enough material as efficiently as they should be. With these study hacks, students can learn new material efficiently and well. 

Studying is a really important part of every child’s life. As we grow up, we develop certain study habits that help us through our educational careers. Some believe getting into studying at a young age will benefit students in the long run. “It is never too late to be successful! However, developing good study habits now will definitely help students who choose to move forward in their educational endeavors,” Chemistry teacher Ms. Dinovo said. 

While using flashcards to study is the most popular study method, Jay Willis stated in his article, “10 Helpful Tips for Effective Studying,” that  the most common way of studying is to repeat information, but this is an ineffective way of studying. He says flashcards are ineffective because they only help students learn surface level problems. Flashcards don’t help student learn complex problems like math, but only material items similar to vocabulary words. 

“I normally just use Quizlet since it’s easy and everyone else uses it,” Freshman Jazmine Maddeaux. Even though Quizlet has the same concept of using flashcards, it is actually more effective because it has different games, quizzes, etc to help students learn information. 

According to USA today’s article named “10 Effective Study Tips and Techniques” the top ten best ways to study are:

SQ3R Method

 Retrieval Practice

 Spaced Practice

 The PQ4R method

The Feynman Technique

 Leitner System

 Color-Coded notes

 Mind mapping

 Exercising before studying

 Study before Bed

Not on this list is one method many teachers love: the Pomodoro study method. This method is known to be photography teacher Mrs. Bowling’s favorite technique. This method has students sit down and do nothing but studying for 25 minutes straight. After the 25 minutes, students get a five minute break where they can do whatever they want. After their break, they repeat the cycle. After repeating this cycle 4 times, students then get a 15-30 minute break before restarting. This method is a favorite among many individuals because students can get a good amount of work done within each time period without feeling overwhelmed or exhausted after studying.

Some individuals, however, do not think studying is necessary for everything. Senior Brooke Burden and many others agree with this point of view. “Studying outside of school is important but at the same time it isn’t. If someone is going to take a big test, then yes definitely. But if it is just a small quiz, then studying before the test should be fine,” Burden said. To decide whether or not they should study, some students decide to do a small run through in their heads of the most important information. If they go through it all with ease, then there is no need for them to study for the quiz. 

Overall, studying is a very helpful task to do with multiple options to get it done effectively. Students now have the option to study whatever they want, but with more studying options.