Previous surveys and studies have shown that most students, around 80% in fact, study by rereading books, other relevant information and/or their notes. Students will highlight sections of text they deem most pertinent when reading or writing their notes, these will often be the areas they will focus on when revisiting the information. However, psychologists have found that such popular studying strategies are often ineffective and consume a lot of time.
Further research for more effective study strategies showed that rather than ‘cramming’ a lot of information in one sitting, spreading out the study time allows for better learning. Equally, it is suggested that taking practice quizzes may be better than rereading a book and/or notes.
Another effective strategy that was identified was to answer some questions about an area prior to reading the information as opposed to after reading the information; this is to test your knowledge already as it may be that you have subconsciously taken in information during lectures or when completing other reading and/or tasks.
Studies have since found many study strategies that are more effective that the historically popular, ‘highlight and read’ approach. Some of the suggested strategies to optimise learning are discussed in this blog post.


Study Space
Where you choose to study is very important, this is right down to the tidiness of your workspace to the colours and ambiance of the environment. Studies have shown that less clutter does significantly reduce stress as well as improved cleanliness boosting confidence. Although cleanliness isn’t a direct reflection of your work output or ability, the human mind makes negative associations unconsciously with untidy and/or dirty workstations.
Equally, psychologists correlate cleanliness and mental ease. It has been found that the idea of cleanliness and tidiness induce us to be more ethical, whereas, on the contrary if we feel ourselves in a neglected environment, a feeling of frustration can lead us to lie and cheat. Therefore, concluding that tidiness does have a big emotional impact and can influence our attitudes, resilience and overall decision making.

Research also suggests that certain colours can have an impact on study performance, for example, orange is said to provoke optimism whereas pink encompasses sensitivity. So, when it comes to choosing your place to study it may be wise to consider the colour scheme.
Finally, seating has also been proven to have a significant impact on learning and concentration levels, having the correct support allows for a better posture and increased comfort therefore, less distractions and more focus! We know we would much rather a comfortable and supportive chair rather than a plastic lawn stool!
Priming

Cognitive psychologists have suggested that there is evidence of cognitive priming having direct effects on learning and generalised effects on academic achievement. Studies have shown that students fulfilling a 5-minute brain-training game immediately before completing academic tasks increased performance; equally, students taking three 20-minute brain training sessions per week increased their grades and academic achievement compared to control group students without the brain training intervention.

Elaborative Interrogation
In a nutshell, asking yourself ‘why’. This technique encourages you to think about relationships between different ideas and understanding how they differ and are similar. Elaborative interrogation works based on activating your prior knowledge and generating questions. Once questions are created, you must answer the questions by working through your previous learning, to see if a connection between new and old information can be established. Therefore, improving your understanding of the material.
Practice Testing
There seems to be a pattern emerging here… memory retrieval – and this strategy also involves recalling as much of information as you can to answer a specific question without looking at the material, hence, retrieval. This strategy is super simple! Self-testing is a powerful learning strategy as not only does it encourage information retrieval from memory which is pertinent it also helps you identify gaps in your learning and skill set, which is important for self-correction.


Mnemonic Techniques
Mnemonics are very often used in studying. Why? Well, because they are designed to increase our memory. There’s the memory pattern emerging again. Using a memory technique can help increase your ability to recall and retain information, which is exactly what you want to happen when studying.
Techniques/devices often include songs, poems, rhymes, outlines, images, and acronyms which are used to create associations amongst information to make it easier to remember such information. As information is stored and therefore remembered more easily, you can retrieve information from memory much quicker. The ability to memorize and remember rhymes, for example, is often due to repetition and rhyming.
Cognitive psychologists explain that “oral traditions depend on human memory for their preservation. If a tradition is to survive, it must be stored in one person’s memory and be passed on to another person who is also capable of storing and retelling it. All this must occur over many generations… Oral traditions must, therefore, have developed forms of organization and strategies to decrease the changes that human memory imposes on the more casual transmission of verbal material.” Hence, the use of mnemonics being simpler, using rhythms and rhymes to promote inherent memory skills.
Psychologist David Rubin found that when two words in a ballad are linked by rhyme, students could remember them better than nonrhyming words – such universal characteristics of oral narratives. Similarly, further psychological studies within education, such as Maghy’s experiment (2015), have evidenced that mnemonic strategies were beneficial in helping students score better than a normal lecture method.
Finally…
However, for any ‘study strategies’ to work or have some leverage, you must be motived to learn. But don’t worry, we have already published a blog discussing study motivation hacks, which you can read here.
Good luck with your studying,
The Essay Writer
