Study Hacks and Active/Passive Studying
There are few things I’m more passionate about than learning strategies that bolster student success. My goal, as a Learning Strategist, is to help students prime their brains for learning. In other words, I want to help them get their brains ready to learn, even if it’s a subject they loathe or find tremendously tedious!
The thing about study hacks is that there’s never one standard study method that works well for everyone.
Check out these tips and see if they’ll help make studying a breeze for you.
Transform detailed notes into a high-level summary sheet, or overview. I am a major advocate for this. Making a summary sheet requires that you understand key concepts and the big picture, instead of being hung up on insignificant details. Use key words, and make sure you understand their meanings and relationships.
Make your notes visually appealing, whether that’s by using mind maps, charts, or another method of consolidating information. A big sheet of notes can be overwhelming and hard to look at. I always recommend that students pick meaningful ways to rearrange information. You can do this by examining headings, chapter questions, summaries, and learning objectives to identify key themes. I always find myself encouraging students to create mind maps!
Write as many practice tests or sample exams as you can, because self-testing Is key to help you understand exactly which material needs extra focus. This should come towards the end of your studying journey. Another approach you can try is teaching a friend the material that you are learning. Teaching a friend, classmate, family member, or stuffed toy can help you figure out whether or not you truly understand the material. If you find trouble in remembering certain aspects of a concept, then you know which parts you need to review.
Create a “done” list to boost your sense of accomplishment and productivity. The brain is a powerful thing, and it LOVES rewards. Try to hack your brain by triggering its reward centre. Make sure you thank your brain for all its effort to keep it at its optimal learning state. Instead of cramming a whole bunch of information into your brain in one sitting, I like to ask students to break up their content into chunks. Once important milestones are reached, they can reward themselves (e.g., getting fresh air)!
Avoid memorizing information until AFTER you fully understand it. If you do have to memorize things, I recommend using mnemonics. It’s a classic study hack, but they work!
Acknowledge that passive study strategies can trick us into thinking we know the material, when what we’re really doing is “looking over” the words with our eyes. Active study strategies are irrefutably harder at first (they require more cognitive energy, or brainpower!), but they will actually lead to understanding and mastery of the material. Not all study strategies are created equal. Passive study strategies are so commonly used, even though they are time-consuming and don’t lead to any real learning.
Don’t believe me? Check out these wonderful quotes from two students of mine on active vs. passive studying:
“I found out that my technique is part of the passive study strategy and that it is not as effective as the active study strategies. Because of that new information, I will now try to study using the active study strategy that instead of just reading materials, I will create a cheat sheet and instead of just highlighting important words, I will reorganize the information based on my own understanding. Through this strategy, it will help me retain all significant information that I reviewed on my long-term memory.”
“Learning about the different types of passive studying styles, like mindless highlighting, and how it is actually not the optimal way of retaining information was informative considering that this was the way I was studying for most my student life. Her presentation allowed me to shift my mindset from just passively taking notes to actually reading and focusing my energy on understanding the material.”
Next time you feel like rereading lecture slides or highlighting notes, try:
Creating summary sheets that compare, contrast, and synthesize different ideas
Discussing lecture notes in a study group of around four people
Making your own flash cards and using them to practice your recall
Turning ideas into a colourful mind map, making associations/connections
Covering practice calculations and re-doing equations on your own
Nothing beats hard work and thoughtfulness but studying still doesn’t have to be hard if you study smart. I hope these tips help you see studying in a new light and stay productive! Learning can be so rewarding when you persevere and try your best to be as effective with your time and energy as possible. If your approach to studying needs a little tweaking, that’s okay!
My goal is for these tried-and-true study techniques to serve you. Happy studying!