What is the best way to study?
Test yourself instead of re-reading, and spread it out over days. That's it. Quiz yourself on the material, get the answer wrong, then look it up. Come back a day later, then a few days later, then a week later. Studies show students who tested themselves remembered about 80% a week later, versus 34% for re-reading. Do it on your own course material and spend the most time on what you keep getting wrong.
Most people study by reading their notes again and highlighting. It feels productive but it barely sticks. The thing that actually works is making your brain pull the answer out from memory. Close the book, try to answer, and only then check. Getting it wrong and correcting it is part of why it works.
The other half is timing. Don't cram it all into one night. The same hour of work spread across a week beats four hours the night before. Review something today, then a few days later, then a week later. Each time you almost forgot it, recalling it makes the memory stronger.
Last thing: don't waste time on stuff you already know. Find the topics you keep missing and hammer those. Studying isn't about how many hours you sit there, it's about how often you make yourself remember the hard parts.
- 1Turn your notes into questions, then answer them with the notes closed.
- 2Check your answer, mark what you got wrong, and write down why.
- 3Space it out: review again after 1 day, then 3 days, then a week, then 2 weeks.
- 4Spend most of your time on the topics you keep missing, not the easy ones.
- 5Try teaching a tricky idea out loud. If you can't explain it, you don't know it yet.
- 6A day or two before the test, do a full practice run under exam conditions.