Learning and memory experts give their tips to studying smarter
Neuroscience and cognitive psychology experts are working with educators to improve the way students learn. Here are some of their tips to make the most when you hit the books.
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WANT to join the brainy bunch?
Understanding the inner workings of the brain could hold the key to supercharging your studies.
Increasingly, researchers in education, neuroscience and cognitive psychology are working with educators to improve the way students learn, develop effective new tools and processes, and decode common myths.
And while exams may seem like light years away, it’s important to adopt good study habits early.
So try these science-based study tips and tricks to boost your brainpower and send your scores soaring.
KICK YOUR CRAMMING HABIT
It’s a common trap to fall into. You’ve procrastinated for weeks, it’s the eve of exams, and there’s no other option but to burn the midnight oil and cram, cram, cram.
Nothing wrong with that, right? Wrong.
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Cramming is one of the worst things students can do, experts say, as the vast amounts of information absorbed during a mammoth session will just as quickly evaporate.
“It will be there the next day, for the exam, which is why some students will say it works,” says Professor Ross Cunnington, of The University of Queensland’s Science of Learning Research Centre.
“But the brain will quickly dump that information, meaning it won’t be there in the long term.”
Another problem is that students who cram will inevitably bury their heads in the books until the wee hours, leaving them groggy, sleep-deprived and less focused.
Instead, Prof Cunnington says one of the keys to successful study is “spacing out” learning over a series of weeks and months in the lead-up to exams.
“Start early and spread out your learning for an upcoming exam,” says Prof Cunnington.
“Space it out over a few days instead of cramming it all into a night.”
Another important tip is to mix up subjects every hour or so, rather than studying one subject in a big block of time.
“What we know about neuroplasticity is that when we learn something, there are physical changes that occur in the brain,” he says.
“We are strengthening and forming new connections in the brain. The more often we revisit something and retrieve that information, the more we use that pathway, reinforcing those connections and consolidating the information.
“It enables the information to move from short-term to long-term storage in the brain.”
USE A MEMORY-BOOSTING FONT
Forget typing up your notes in Arial or Times New Roman. If you want to remember what you’ve just learned, try using a typeface designed to improve memory.
A team at RMIT have created Sans Forgetica, an obscure-looking typeface lauded as the ‘font that can’t be forgotten’.
The gap-filled lettering forces the brain to work harder and linger longer on words, helping students better retain material they’ve read.
The font’s designers recommend highlighting passages of text that students most want to focus on and converting it to Sans Forgetica, rather than using it for slabs of writing.
Senior Marketing Lecturer and founding member of the RMIT Behavioural Business Lab Dr Janneke Blijlevens said conventional fonts were familiar to readers and easy to glance over.
“Sans Forgetica lies at a sweet spot where just enough obstruction has been added to create that memory retention,” she said.
AVOID MULTI-TASKING
It’s tempting to have a quick peek of Facebook or Instagram as an escape when poring over the books.
But our brains weren’t built to multitask, and research has found that the modern habit stops us from completing tasks successfully, impairs our memory and erodes productivity.
The Queensland Brain Institute says studies into multi-tasking have shown that the brain is not doing tasks simultaneously. Rather, it rapidly switches between them.
"The easiest and most obvious way we can help to focus our attention is by reducing the amount of distractions in our environment,” says QBI cognitive neuroscientist Professor Jason Mattingley.
So yes, that means turning your phone onto silent, logging off social media and switching off Netflix.
After all, is that Instagram picture of a surfing sausage dog really going to help you get into law?
REWRITE YOUR NOTES
Simply reading through material and highlighting key passages is an oft-used but ineffective study habit.
Instead, rewriting your notes and introducing different elements like charts and graphs will help the information sink in.
Prof Cunnington says completing quizzes at the end of chapters in textbooks is another useful tool.
“Active learning is much better than passive learning,” he says.
“By reproducing your work or notes, and changing the context a little bit, you are forming those important connections in your brain.”
STRESS-FREE STUDY SPACE
Albert Einstein famously quipped: “If a messy desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is a clean desk a sign?”
But exam time is stressful enough without adding a chaotic study space and bedroom to the mix.
Research has shown a messy desk area can contribute to feelings of anxiety, distract students from their studies and wreak havoc with time-management skills.
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On the other hand, a junk-free study space helps foster a sense of calm, making students feel more
positive, focused and better equipped to concentrate on their work.
So channel your inner Marie Kondo and rediscover your desk under those piles of books, papers, clothes and chocolate wrappers.
TRY TO RELAX
The last thing you want to hear when your nerves are frayed is to be told: “Take a chill pill”.
But UK psychologist and author Dr Gary Wood says employing a relaxation technique can be a magic bullet for harried students, giving their brain some time and space to reboot.
Dr Wood says moderate amounts of stress can improve performance and fire motivation, but too much stress “gets in the way”.
“Overall, we learn better when we relax,” he says.
“When stressed we slip into survival mode where non-essential higher-level cognitions switch off.
Relaxation helps us to tap into a fuller range of cognitions and emotions, including creativity, critical thinking and problem solving.”
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