Finals week is one of the most dreadful and stressful times for college students. If you are in need of a new study method or simply want to try a new one out, use the study cycle! The study cycle is a five-step process that will help retain information in your long-term memory. Here is how to prepare for your finals by using the study cycle!
preview
In order to retain information in your long-term memory, you must be actively working your memory. If you don’t actively work your memory, you will never remember it! The study cycle thoroughly works your memory. The first step is to preview the material. Before a lecture, study session or office hours, preview the material you will be working with. Whether it’s notes from a lecture, a PowerPoint or a textbook, quickly go through all the information. Do this for 5-15 minutes, this will help you better understand the material once you actually start studying it.
attend
After previewing all the material, the second step is to attend a lecture, study session or office hours. This doesn’t mean simply being physically present, but also mentally present. This means getting rid of all distractions such as your electronic devices. By getting rid of all distractions, you are more likely to maintain focus on your work and understand the material better.
Review
Reviewing is a very important step of the study cycle. Immediately after you attend a lecture or a study session, take some time to go through your notes and put them into your own words. This includes searching for anything you may have not understood. You should organize your notes in a way you can best remember and understand. You can highlight, add colors and add sticky notes to help out. Organizing your notes will help you understand it more clearly.
study
The biggest step is to obviously study your material. But before you begin studying your material, make a goal for yourself. Ask yourself what you are trying to accomplish during your study session. Your goal could be to finish a certain amount of chapters or to study a set of vocabulary. By setting a goal for yourself, you won’t feel as overwhelmed to study more than you can handle. Once you begin studying, you should do 40-65 minute focused study sessions. This means straight studying and not getting distracted as this study time is critical to retain information. After your focused study sessions, take breaks and do these sessions multiple times throughout your week.
Check
The last step of the study cycle is to check yourself. This means to test yourself before your exam. You can do this by teaching your material either to someone or even to yourself, by simply talking out loud. You can also write down all the information you remember on a whiteboard or even on a sheet of paper. Checking yourself and teaching your material, will help retain that information in your long-term memory.
Hopefully, this helps prepare you and good luck with all your finals!