As finals week quickly approaches, many students on campus are implementing a vast assortment of study techniques—some logical, others not so much.
While some students cave under the pressure of final exams, others excel through their use of creative and effective study techniques.
“The craziest study technique is the most common: cramming for exams,” said Dr. James Woodson, associate professor of psychology here at the University of Tampa. “Research consistently shows us that a last-minute approach does not work.”
As a psychologist and a behavioral neuroscientist, Woodson splits his reasoning behind this into two parts and provides four reasons why cramming doesn’t work.
1. Learning takes time. When too much information is compressed into too short a time, less material is processed, understood and retained. If it doesn’t get in, you can’t retrieve it later. It’s not there.
2. Depth of processing (engagement with the material) affects how information is encoded into memory, and the ease with which it is later recalled. Skimming is not engaging. By its definition skimming is surface level, not deep processing.
3. Short-term memory for newly acquired information is impaired by stress — like the stress encountered when taking exams—particularly exams one is not well prepared for. Recently learned information is in a volatile state.
4. Long-term memory is less likely to be impaired by stress, but takes days to consolidate—a process of becoming permanent similar metaphorically to making Jello in a molded form of some kind. If you try to use it too early, before it becomes solid, it loses its form and leaves you with an unidentifiable mess.
Students at UT admit to crazy study techniques aside from cramming. Some include locking themselves in their rooms for days at a time, pulling all nighters with the help of energy drinks or other caffeinated substances, skipping class before exams to study and rereading the textbook in its entirety.
“I have heard some people study around certain smells, so that when they are in the exam and they smell that smell again, they can recollect what they were studying,” said senior Michelle Douglas.
Senior Miguel Velasco said that he tries to “set a schedule and [cram] a little bit more at the end, hoping for the best.” Fellow senior Ryan Devine adds that he will “wait until the last minute and cram everything in.”
Though some of these tactics may work for some students, they prove to be detrimental to others.
Some techniques that have been known to work, according to some students’ experiences, are unplugging cell phones and laptops, looking over notes, going over chapter reviews found in textbooks, reviewing practice problems and making use of the extended hours of library and computer labs.
“A helpful study tactic is to have your roommate change your Facebook password, so you don’t get distracted,” said freshman Liz Anthony.
Freshman, Jessie Luttenschlager said likes “going to the cubicles in the back of the library, so I don’t have any distractions. I don’t ever bring my computer.”
In addition to those study techniques, Woodson said, “The disciplined student, who is serious about earning an ‘A’ grade keeps up with the assigned reading, engages themselves in the material as best they can and reads to understand in depth, not just memorize the facts and words they’re skimming over.”
“Rather than introducing completely new information, material that’s presented in a professor’s lecture should re-emphasize, explain and elaborate on information that has already been encoded, while doing the assigned reading ahead of time,” said Woodson.
“This way, the student has multiple exposures to the material in different sensory modalities each time—visual while reading, auditory while listening—and each time the material is reviewed memory is strengthened through repetition and recall, and there is time for long-term memory consolidation between learning the material and recalling it during an exam.”
The best way to reduce stress during finals week and do well on exams is to start studying early and maintain good sleeping and eating habits.
Shivani Kanji can be reached at shivani.kanji@spartans.ut.edu.