Study approaches for exams

By Maria Asselin-Roy,
Staff Reporter

ccording to polls in universities

worldwide, studying for exams

is by far the most stressful part
of being a student. There are basically
two approaches to this: studying in
advance, or cramming. Of course it is
a better idea to study in advance, but
there are also a few helpful tips for those
students who are forced to cram for their
exam the day before.

There are ways to get through your
exam with a high grade. The Douglas
College Learning Centre recommends
that you must work steadily throughout
the term, as well as studying hard before
having tests in order to succeed in your
courses. Many students do not do as well
on exams because they may not know
the proper techniques to studying. One
of the most important things to do while
studying is to make the information
learned in class from short term to long
term. The way to do this is by repetition.
This may sound simple enough,
although this is where you will test your
dedication as a student.

The Learning Centre suggests to
do this by: reading the material and
deciding what information needs to be
committed to memory, taking a piece
of paper and taking summary notes on
the material that is to be learned, (using
your own words if possible) reread and
write the material until you can write
it without peeking. Next, cover up the
material and practice verbally, now
once you are able to recite the material
you can work with visualization — ie
visualizing graphs, charts, or helpful
diagrams.

Another thing that successful
students should undergo is organization.
According to Student Success professors,
material that is organized is four times
faster than information that is random.
Organized material will stay in the
memory longer and it is easier to study
from. By organizing notes properly in
labelled binders, students are much more
likely to get a higher grade. Other ways
of organization include making concept
and comparison summary sheets, which
deal with making columns of things
to compare and linking various topics
together to understand the main picture.

If your course requires you to
memorize terminology, one of the best
ways to do this is by making cue cards.
Studies show that students who have
flipped through a pack of their written
cue cards a few times will most likely
achieve at least one letter grade higher.
Flip through the cue cards enough
times; you can actually “over learn”

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the subject. It is important to do the
serial positioning effect while studying.
(Changing the order of the cards)

If you need help with the
preparation of your exams, the Learning
Centre is available at both campuses for
students. The Learning Centre is both
online and face to face, and can help
you with general academic skills such
as math or writing. It is best to make an
appointment, so check out the Douglas
website and look under “Services” and
then “Learning Centre.”

Because college students tend to
procrastinate, perhaps focus more on
other courses, and lead very busy lives,
cramming is an appealing alternative. It
is not the best approach, but when the
exam is a day away it needs to be done.
According to Maryellen Weimer, editor
of The Teaching Professor newsletter,
“the percentage of students that cram for
exams ranges somewhere between 25
and 50 percent, depending on the study.”

Although cramming is typically seen
as poorer student effort in comparison
to studying well beforehand, studies
have found mixed results in which study
approach is more effective. Studies that
were done between 1968 and 2001 found
that cramming did not affect the course
negatively. However, if the student were
to cram for most/all of their courses, the

      

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student tends to have a lower GPA. If a
student crams for one of their courses,
their GPA usually goes unharmed.
The problem with cramming is
that the information that is retained
in such a short period of time results
with the information staying with the
short term memory, which does no help
in preparing for future final exams.
According to students however, some
teaching methods that are applied in
class actually encourage students to
cram. For example, the common use
of power point slide lectures does not
encourage students to take their own
notes, but to just copy them down like
drone robots which in effect leads
students to cram at the end of the term.
Because of this, it is recommended
that if you are taking notes by power
point or read out lectures to summarize
it in your own words. That way, much
of the information will go from the short
term memory to the long term memory.
If you must cram as a last resort,
here are some tips on preparing for an
exam the night before. They are taken
from various student journals and blogs
as well as studies. The most important
factor in preparing for exams is to try
and get as much sleep as you possibly
can. If a student gets at least three hours
(or one sleep cycle) studies show that

   

student will do much better as opposed
to being sleep deprived and high on
caffeine. Also, make sure to eat some
food to give you energy and to help your
brain function at a higher level. Although
try and avoid foods with excess sugar
which will make you hyper and thus
more difficult to concentrate.

The night before, find a well lit
study area with no distractions such as
the TV or computer. Another important
key factor is do not stress! Keeping
a positive attitude will make it easier
to study when you have a relaxed but
focused state of mind. In doing so, you
will be able to focus on the main ideas
and learn the key formulas. Also, make
sure to highlight the most important
points in your notes and try to focus on
those and linking topics together. Going
over chapter summaries and rereading
lecture notes the night before as well
as first thing in the morning will help
immensely in memorization.

Whether studying in advance or
cramming, everyone has a different
technique. Finals are coming up in
early December, and professors and
advisors are encouraging students to start
studying now. There is plenty of help
around campus and there is also tons of
help and advice online.