Transitioning from high school to college can be overwhelming, especially if you’re not used to studying for many of your past courses. You may need to adjust to not only the rigors of college but learn how to study in the first place.
Studying is one of the vital tools for college success. It’s more than reading, taking notes, or memorizing terms and phrases (though that’s part of it). Understanding how to study and retain information is vital to true learning.
Whether your study skills are rusty or you’re trying to sharpen your study skills, here are our tips to study to help you thrive in your college courses.
What Is Studying, Really?
Contrary to popular belief, studying is not simply reading a textbook or other course material. Reading is an important part of the process, but it’s more like pre-studying.
Studying is actively engaging with the material and drawing connections between the course concepts, examples, lectures, and your own learning process. This is more than note-taking, memorizing, or highlighting important passages.
Here are some ways to ensure that you’re actively studying:
- Create questions, problems, and quizzes as your own study guide.
- Read the information out loud and ask yourself questions as you go.
- Come up with examples that are relevant to your own experiences.
- Create diagrams that explain the material.
- Work out problems and explain the steps.
What Time Is the Best to Study?
Generally, learning is most effective when the brain is receptive to learning. However, peak performance periods may not be the same for everyone.
The key is figuring out when to study while you are most receptive and productive. For most, this doesn’t happen right after you wake up because of sleep inertia – a temporary state of disorientation that impairs cognitive performance. It’s best to wait a few hours after first waking when your short-term memory, reaction time, and reasoning and learning skills are sharper.
Similarly, it’s best to avoid studying when you’re extremely tired. You can learn while tired, but it’s not the most effective. Sleep deprivation can reduce learning ability, and your brain has difficulty with tasks that require a high cognitive load.
Where Should I Study?
Everyone studies a little differently. Some people can block everything out and focus entirely, no matter what’s going on around them. Others need a quiet environment to avoid distractions. Figure out which one is best for you.
For example, you may find that you study best in a library or in bed at night. If you work from home, your office space may be the best choice for studying. Experiment a bit to find what works for you. If that changes, look for another space.
What Environment Works Best for Studying?
It may take some time, but you need to know where you study best and what noise environment is most productive for you. For example, the silence of a library may let your mind wander too much. Some people concentrate best with subtle background noise that they can ignore, such as soft music. Others may find that any sound at all is too distracting.
Another thing to consider is privacy. Active studying may involve reading the material or reciting questions out loud, which can be distracting to others if you choose a public area. Think about where to study that allows you to think aloud and listen to videos or audio files without disrupting those around you.
Study Tips and Techniques
Reading and re-reading information hoping it will stick, cramming the night before a test, and highlighting random passages in your textbook will only cause you stress. Here are some effective study methods and techniques to master your course concepts:
The Study Cycle
The Study Cycle, which was adapted from the Frank Christ PLRS system by Louisiana State University and highlighted in the book Teach Yourself How to Learn by Saundra McGuire, is a guide to build effective studying into a busy schedule.
Here are the steps to the Study Cycle:
1. Preview the material before class to anticipate the concepts, form context, and prepare questions to ask.
2. Attend lectures, watch course videos, and read announcements to gain insight from your instructor.
3. Review your notes and reading, explain it to yourself, summarize the key points, and think about the context.
4. Schedule focused study sessions throughout the week. Keep them brief but intense to retain more information – all you need is 20 or 30 minutes to study effectively.
5. Check in to make sure that what you’re working on is correct. This is important to make sure you’re learning what you need to learn.
The SQ3R Method
The SQ3R method is a reading comprehension technique that helps you identify crucial information and retain it. Also known as SQRRR, the acronym is used to outline the five steps:
- Survey: Skim the reading and take notes for headings, images, or other features that stand out.
- Question: Create questions around the content that you can reference while reading.
- Read: Begin reading your assigned chapters and see if you can answer the questions.
- Recite: After you read a section, summarize it in your own words. See how much information you can recall.
- Review: When you’re finished, review the information and quiz yourself on the questions you developed. Re-read sections if you can’t answer your questions confidently.
Retrieval Practice
Retrieval practice is a study technique that involves recalling facts, concepts, or events from memory to improve your learning. You’re essentially quizzing yourself on the information to see how much you learned.
If you practice retrieval – and hold yourself accountable – you’re more likely to remember the information later. Here are some tricks to test yourself:
- Create your own questions to answer without looking at your notes.
- Use practice tests or questions to quiz yourself.
- Create flashcards and see if you can write down the correct answer before flipping the card.
Develop Good Study Habits
Studying effectively takes time and practice. From what environment you prefer to your most receptive times of day for learning, it may take some trial and error to identify your own patterns and study successfully.
With Sophia’s self-paced online courses, you can develop your study skills while taking your gen ed courses – all without the added pressure of strict timeframes and deadlines. Start a free trial of our self-paced courses to see how they work for you!
