As a student, do you prepare for a test by staring at the examples in your textbook? Have you been known to reread a chapter several times over and over before an important exam? New research indicates a surprisingly effective study method that beats these old-fashioned techniques: Stop studying and give yourself a test!
Teachers and students often employ elaborate studying techniques including repetition (also known by some as “cramming”) and mind mapping, which involves creating detailed word and picture diagrams showing the connections between facts, to help students synthesize the material. These strategies are popular among educators because they require students to recite terminology and make connections by elaborately displaying the material.
However, a recent report by two Purdue University researchers, as published in Science Magazine, indicates that these methods are far less helpful than simply taking a test on the subject matter. Researchers Jeffrey D. Karpicke and Janell R. Blunt arranged a series of experiments with 200 college students to test their academic success using various study methods. They determined that retrieval — the brain’s function of accessing data from memory — was the most useful tactic of all, because it enhances learning by forcing the brain to make inferences and admit gaps in knowledge.
In fact, students who read a passage and were tested on the contents afterward retained about 50% more of the details one week later than students who used these other studying methods. It’s simple: While most other techniques identify what students THINK they know, testing demonstrates what they actually know — and what they still need to learn.
What does this mean for students? Abandon studying altogether, of course! (Just kidding.) The most effective studying method is individual to each student, and often it involves a combination of different learning techniques. Perhaps the most important thing for a student to learn is how they learn best.
But if you’re struggling with a subject, you might want to try the researchers’ advice: Rather than reading a chapter six times, read it once and then make yourself complete a little quiz. Without cheating, try to identify the main concepts, create and solve sample problems, and define key terms. You’ll be testing your brain to find the gaps in your understanding, and you’ll be able to modify your studying strategy based on your results.
No longer do tests have to be the stressful finish line, or the bane of a student’s existence. Rather they can be the means to a successful study session that can improve your test scores. Since studying is a process that continues far beyond your school years, carefully developing your best personal study model is a good idea for now, and the rest of your life.
If you’re a struggling math or science student, check out Virtual Nerd’s math and science tutorials, presented in our patent-pending Dynamic Whiteboard, which lets you drill down to ask personalized questions — See if you can predict what our video tutors will say before they say it — just like you would on any self-assessed quiz. It’s like having a virtual tutor, and at the fraction of a cost!
p.s. Stay tuned for an exciting announcement… It involves Virtual Nerd and taking quizzes, but that’s all I can say (for now) 
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