Sunday, January 27, 2013
We, students, tend always to complain about the overloaded program, lessons that we have to memorize, and countless homework we need to do. As a reaction to our constant complains, one of my teachers always advises us not to work hard, rather work smart. I didn't believe the teacher, for I always heard that what matters is the hard work. But as I contemplate upon his advice and listen to many workshops about the topic, I come to the conclusion that what matters most is the strategy that students use in their studies not the amount of time they spend studying. Below are some tips that students can use do better at school with least energy required.
Throughout my experience as a university student, I encountered and heard about students who work for many hours but achieve little, and those who work for few hours but achieve a lot. This "paradox" between the two categories is not due to chance; rather, it can be ascribed to the fact that some students know the strategies that can help them perform better in exams, while others study in an arbitrary, unorganized way. For instance, one student can spend the whole day before s/he can memorize a lesson, while another student spends two or three hours memorizing the same lesson. The root of the difference between the two students lies on the tips they use while memorizing. One effective tip students can resort to consolidate their memory is acronyms. An acronym is a word that is formed from the first letter of each fact to be remembered. It can be a real word or a nonsense word you are able to pronounce. This technique helps students remember many words by just bearing in mind two acronyms for example.
Another strategy deemed vital for enabling
students to remember the required information at the day of exam is that of
rehearsing regularly. According to many research studies, the more students revise
the more likely they will remember what they have been revising. It is crucial
for students to make sure that they have at least two additional study sessions
between their rehearsals for the test. But two main things need to be born in
mind while rehearsing, which are: the first one is that it is more efficient to
rehearse what one has studied within 24 hours after learning the information;
in other words, it will be perfect if students revise what they have studied
immediately after the class. The second thing is that it is important for
students to give meaning to what they are studying. This means that things that
are repeated arbitrary will be easily forgotten. By contrast; when students
fully grasp something and give it meaning in their mental structure, they will
not only remember it for the test, but more crucially for the rest of their
lives, which is the eventual objective of education.
It is unfortunate to see many students unwittingly
make use of habits which cause more harm than help. The most common bad study
habits among students are multitasking and sleep deprivation. As far as the first one is concerned;
listening to music, texting… or facebooking while studying negatively affect
students for they destruct them and limit their capacity of memorization. Researchers
in the field of memory have proven that trying to concentrate on two tasks at
the same time causes an overload of the brain’s processing capacity. In simple
words, our brain cannot concentrate on two tasks at the same time. In addition
to this, there is a common misguided belief among students which is that the
less they sleep for the sake of revising for their exams the better they will
perform in them. Having this idea in their minds, students are encouraged to postpone
their preparation until last days before the exam. Thus, students are bound to
sleep fewer hours than the average requirement for young adults. Doing
thus, students are sabotaging their physical and mental health, which will harmfully affect their
performance.
To conclude, being successful at school or
college doesn't mean staying awake for the whole night or hastily memorizing
what the teacher gives you. Being a successful student means that you know how
to study by knowing the tips that will help you improve your memory and thus achieve
your goals. Several are the sips that can help students' memory; but in the
paragraphs above, I had the opportunity to shed light on the following: meaningful
learning instead of rote learning, the use of acronyms to remember vocabulary,
day to day rehearsal, as well as getting enough sleep so as to be physically
and psychologically ready for the exams.
Written by: Omar Taky-Eddine
