How to Study

How to Study Effectively for School, College or Exams.

Studying to Learn or Studying for an Exam?

Studying purely for the sake of learning is the ideal situation, but in the real world, we’re usually studying to pass an exam.

What’s the difference?

Strategy versus tactics.

We all love a classic quote, so here’s Sun Tzu:

“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

If you’re focused on studying for the sake of learning, it’s all about tactics - otherwise known as study skills.

But if you have an exam looming, it’s important to start with strategy.

You need to know where to focus your time and effort before you begin using the how.

Makes sense, right?

If you’re like the average student, you’re probably short on time, which makes a strategic approach all the more important.

This video explains the 6 steps for strategic exam preparation.

Whether you’re cramming for an exam tomorrow or you’re super organized and you’re preparing three months in advance, you’ll follow the same steps.

So that’s strategy, now what about specific tactics?

The ANSWER Method: 6 Essential Study Skills

How do most students study?

If you took a survey of typical students, I bet the most popular study techniques would include:

Re-reading
Highlighting
Summarizing
Flashcards

There's only one problem with that list...

... none of them are highly effective!

So I asked the cognitive psychologists over at The Learning Scientists some simple questions:

What REALLY works?

What does academic research recommend you should do? What are the most effective ways to study?

They gave me their top six tactics, just like that.

Now I'm a simple guy, and some of the words they used were too complicated for me.

So I've changed them up a bit and put them into an acronym that's easy to recall ... because I'm all about remembering things ;)

Here are the top six, evidence-based study tactics you should make sure you use:

The ANSWER Method

Ask, Explain & Connect (or Elaboration in academic speak)

No Cramming (Spaced Practice)

Switch (Interleaving)

Words & Visuals (Dual Coding)

Examples (Concrete Examples)

Recall What You Know (Retrieval Practice)

Watch the video above and you'll understand what each of them are, why they're beneficial, and how to use them.

If you'd like some free downloadable posters about these six study strategies, you can grab them HERE, courtesy of my friends over at The Learning Scientists.

And if you’d like to learn how to memorize using best-practice memorization techniques, check out the whiteboard animation videos at Memorize Academy.