Practical Advice for Your Student - Part 2 - Studying For Tests

After I began attending Learning and the Brain conferences in 2018, one of my favorite things to do was have individual conferences with students who were not performing as well on tests as they would like.  I knew that I had advice that could help them because of what I had learned about cognitive science and memory.

I started by asking them how they currently study.  Their number one answer was, "I look over my notes."  I asked them what that meant, and it was clear why their study habits were ineffective.  They were basically re-reading the words they had copied from the wall with no context or processing.  For a couple of years, I gave them better advice about studying for tests.  

Then, I realized I needed to start expanding these conversations.  We discussed, first, what they were doing in class while learning.  I then addressed more effective study techniques.  Then, finally, we talked about how to deal with questions during the test.  

So this post is the second of the series.  How should a student study for tests?

First, their intuition is likely wrong.  In surveys, the methods students list as most effective turn out to be the least effective according to research.  My students most common answer, "I look over my notes" does little to improve their memory or understanding of the content.  Highlighting and underlining, as it turns out, have a negative effect on memory and fools you into believing you know it.  It's like your brain says, "Of course I know that.  Look at it; it's yellow."

The simplest way to answer the question about the best way to study is to recognize the power of retrieval practice.  The method is less important than that guiding principle.  Does this method allow me to passively receive input? If so, it is not an effective method.  Does it require me to actively retrieve the information from my memory?  If so, it is likely to be effective.  

So, make flashcards.  Use Quizlet or Anki.  Make flashcards.  Make and play a game of Kahoot.  Make flashcards.  Have your parents ask you questions while you answer without looking.  Did I mention you could make flashcards?  

Most of those are only useful for questions that have very short answers (definitions, examples of concepts, etc.), but they aren't great for questions that require you to explain.  For that, I would make a list of questions, including those the teacher has told you will definitely free response questions and those that just require more explanation to understand.  Then, without using your notes or book, write out the answer to the question as you would on a test.  Only after you have written out the entire answer should you go to the book, video, or other resource and check your answer against it.  Don't just do it in your mind; write it out.  I can't tell you how many times I have had students use most of the right words only to get the concept completely wrong.  In an explanation of how Boyle's Law determines breathing, the wrong answer, "Increasing volume in the chest raises the pressure" will be easy for you to fool yourself into thinking you got it right when you go look it up in the book to find "Increasing volume in the chest lowers pressure."  You see most of the right words and don't realize that you described a direct relationship when there is actually an inverse one.  But if you write it down, it is harder to fool yourself.  

It boils down to this: 

Recall > Reread

Wait some time.  Shuffle your cards / questions.  Recall again.  Wait even more time.  Shuffle again.  Recall again.  This requires planning.  It can't be crammed into one night.  But it is effective.