{"id":41987,"date":"2018-01-05T11:18:22","date_gmt":"2018-01-05T19:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=41987"},"modified":"2018-01-05T11:18:22","modified_gmt":"2018-01-05T19:18:22","slug":"study-habits-success-tips-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Study habits for success: tips for students"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Right now, thousands of Australian school children and university students are taking a well-earned break from the classroom. Long breaks like this help us clear our minds, but they can also provide an opportunity to prepare for the learning year ahead.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a student, this might mean thinking about your study habits. Here are some suggestions to help you learn as efficiently as possible.<\/p>\n

Focus! And don\u2019t multi-task<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Our brains are impressive machines, but they can\u2019t handle everything at once. There is simply too much going on in our sensory environment for us to digest. To be effective, we need to direct our attention to just one or two tasks at a time. That generally means no background music \u2013\u00a0it won\u2019t help you learn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Having music on while you study makes it harder for your brain to digest information. Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n

Don\u2019t be tempted to multi-task while you learn. When you do, your brain is actually trying its hardest to switch rapidly between tasks. But whenever you get distracted and switch focus, it takes minutes to settle back into the groove of studying. Minimise your distractions and focus your attention on the task at hand.<\/p>\n

Sleep well, learn well<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Learning isn\u2019t easy, and being able to focus is important for digesting new information and understanding concepts. When you\u00a0get a good night\u2019s sleep<\/a>, you feel fresh and attentive the next day.<\/p>\n

Sleep is also critical for what happened the previous day. Extensive work in both animals and humans\u00a0shows<\/a>\u00a0a crucial function of sleep is to re-process and consolidate what happened during the day.<\/p>\n

For example, scientists have recorded brain activity patterns first while an animal learns a task, and\u00a0again when the animal next sleeps<\/a>. Remarkably, the patterns in sleep are strikingly similar to what is seen when the animal learns.<\/p>\n

This replay of activity patterns during sleep happens in your brain too, hundreds of times each night. As a result, the connections between our neurons change, helping the patterns become embedded in the brain. In other words, sleep plays an indispensable role in storing our memories for the long-term.<\/p>\n

Test yourself<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The \u201ctesting effect\u201d is a well-established phenomenon in learning. Essentially,\u00a0we learn much better<\/a>\u00a0by testing our own knowledge than by re-studying material. So if you\u2019ve got an exam coming up, don\u2019t just re-read a textbook and highlight important passages.<\/p>\n

Instead, test yourself by doing practice exams. The process of actively recalling information helps deeper learning take place, and it works even better if you can check whether your answer is correct.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to wait until exam time to capitalise on the testing effect. As you read through a textbook you can give yourself mini-tests, trying to recall the major points of each chapter you finish.<\/p>\n

Although researchers are\u00a0still trying to figure out the brain mechanisms<\/a>\u00a0behind the effect, there is plenty of evidence for its effectiveness. When combined with spacing (below), practising recall is an efficient way to commit information to your long-term memory.<\/p>\n

Space out (your learning)<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Teachers and parents are always telling us cramming is the wrong way to learn, and for good reason. It just\u00a0isn\u2019t as effective<\/a>\u00a0as spacing your learning over days, weeks and months. This is known as the \u201cspacing effect\u201d.<\/p>\n

Whenever you practise something, you give your brain the opportunity to strengthen the connections between neurons. The strengthening process is similar to how hikers trampling through a forest create worn paths over time. The more hikers, the more distinct the path, just like repeated practice helps lay down strong neural pathways to store memories.<\/p>\n

Although the best spacing strategy isn\u2019t known,\u00a0we do know<\/a>\u00a0an expanding schedule is better than a contracting schedule. In other words, it\u2019s better to review your course material after a day, then a week, then a month, rather than the other way around.<\/p>\n

Use memory aids<\/strong><\/h4>\n

If you learned music as a child, you probably remember one of the mnemonics for notes on a scale \u2013 for example \u201cEvery Good Boy Deserves Fruit\u201d (E-G-B-D-F). Mnemonics like this make difficult things easier to remember. You can make up your own mnemonics for classroom concepts.<\/p>\n

For example, maybe you need to memorise the noble gases in the periodic table (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, Rn). Just make a crazy sentence out of it and you\u2019ll find it much easier (for example, \u201che never argues, Krusty, xenophobic runt.\u201d This one might only make sense if you watched The Simpsons).<\/p>\n

Another approach, and one frequently\u00a0used by people in the World Memory Championships<\/a>, is the\u00a0memory palace technique<\/a>\u00a0(also called the \u201cmethod of loci\u201d).<\/p>\n

Your \u201cmemory palace\u201d is a place you know well, like your house, or the route you take to the bus stop. You fill this palace with the things you need to remember, and then you re-create a path that takes you past all of those items.<\/p>\n

This technique\u00a0relies partly on the fact<\/a>\u00a0that our hippocampus \u2013 the part of the brain where many memories are formed \u2013 is also crucial for navigation. Both\u00a0anecdotal<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0scientific<\/a>evidence show anybody can improve their memory using this approach.<\/p>\n

Finally, analogies and metaphors can be great tools for learning. For example, I hope that by comparing memory formation to hikers on a forest path, you\u2019ll be more likely to remember a bit about how our brains lay down strong memories.<\/p>\n

You can create similar analogies in your own study, and if you combine it with good sleep, spaced practice, self-testing and undivided attention, you can take your learning to another level.<\/p>\n

Author Bio: <\/strong>Pankaj Sah is Director – Queensland Brain Institute at The University of Queensland<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now, thousands of Australian school children and university students are taking a well-earned break from the classroom. Long breaks like this help us clear our minds, but they can also provide an opportunity to prepare for the learning year ahead. If you\u2019re a student, this might mean thinking about your study habits. Here are […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":41988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[32724],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-41987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","tag-study-habits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStudy habits for success: tips for students - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Study habits for success: tips for students - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Right now, thousands of Australian school children and university students are taking a well-earned break from the classroom. Long breaks like this help us clear our minds, but they can also provide an opportunity to prepare for the learning year ahead. If you\u2019re a student, this might mean thinking about your study habits. Here are […]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-05T19:18:22+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/studying.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"452\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Study habits for success: tips for students\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-05T19:18:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":968,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/studying.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"study habits\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Education\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/\",\"name\":\"Study habits for success: tips for students - World leading higher education information and services\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/studying.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-01-05T19:18:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/studying.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/studying.jpg\",\"width\":680,\"height\":452},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/study-habits-success-tips-students\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Study habits for success: tips for students\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/\",\"name\":\"World leading higher education information and services\",\"description\":\"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\",\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kevin\"},\"description\":\"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/author\\\/kevin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Study habits for success: tips for students - World leading higher education information and services","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Study habits for success: tips for students - World leading higher education information and services","og_description":"Right now, thousands of Australian school children and university students are taking a well-earned break from the classroom. Long breaks like this help us clear our minds, but they can also provide an opportunity to prepare for the learning year ahead. If you\u2019re a student, this might mean thinking about your study habits. Here are […]","og_url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/","og_site_name":"World leading higher education information and services","article_published_time":"2018-01-05T19:18:22+00:00","og_image":[{"width":680,"height":452,"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/studying.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kevin","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kevin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/"},"author":{"name":"Kevin","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"headline":"Study habits for success: tips for students","datePublished":"2018-01-05T19:18:22+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/"},"wordCount":968,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/studying.jpg","keywords":["study habits"],"articleSection":["Education"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/","name":"Study habits for success: tips for students - World leading higher education information and services","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/studying.jpg","datePublished":"2018-01-05T19:18:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/studying.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/studying.jpg","width":680,"height":452},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/study-habits-success-tips-students\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/world.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Study habits for success: tips for students"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/","name":"World leading higher education information and services","description":"Global Higher Education Jobs, University jobs, Lecturer & tenure jobs.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/world.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee","name":"Kevin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g8ba4c352a279c450aa9435d770c1ebf4","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1e8d491a5f9b9bf3db67c9e46abbba7bb06b26b458bd5025c55e0a4b9b60ea8a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kevin"},"description":"Kevin is founder of the world.edu project. The past 28 years have been involved in publishing to the education sector in print and the internet. Kevin has a degree in Education and has a many years experience in developing companies and projects.","sameAs":["https:\/\/world.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/world.edu\/author\/kevin\/"}]}},"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41987"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=41987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}