Students Give Advice on Study Techniques for Finals

Staff Writer

   Finals at the University of Arkansas at Monticello start this week, and students all over campus are beginning to prepare. Everyone can improve their study habits by studying the right way, which can help save a lot of time and stress.

   “As a freshman I didn’t really know how to study or prepare, and I felt lost. As a senior, I am more able to prepare and handle finals,” senior Brandon Flemister said.

    Juniors and seniors find even though the classes get more difficult, studying gets easier over time. Some first-year students  really do not know what to expect or how to handle the stress of finals.  Other first-year students feel their classes were easy and they do not need to study as much.

   Psychologists Godden and Baddley completed a study called “Context Dependent Memory in Two Natural Environments on Land and Underwater.” This study proved that if you learn something underwater than you will remember it better underwater. Therefore, you should not study in a dorm room with loud music and the television going. Studying will prove more effective if you study in an environment similar to the testing environment.

   Psychologist  Jenkins and Dallenbach proved sleeping reduced the amount of forgetting. They tested two groups that had learned an equal amount of information, but one group got to sleep before the test and the other did not. The group that slept had better test results.

   “It is not a good idea to have information recorded on a tape and play it repeatedly while you sleep,” Ben Brown, assistant Psychology professor, said.

   There is no evidence supporting you can learn things in your sleep, because you cannot pay attention and comprehend information while asleep.

   It is also better for students to study for one hour a day five days before the test than to spend five hours the day before the test studying. Even though it is an equal amount of time spent studying, the one hour per day would be more effective than cramming.

   “You want to break up studying. Do not cram. Also, try to expose yourself to the material in as many different ways as possible,” Brown said.  

   Some students find studying easier in a group while others would rather study alone. Group studying depends on the group. If there is a group of students who all care about their grades and they all work hard, then group studying might be successful. However, if you have some students that want to study and some that just want to hang out, then it might not be a good idea.

   “I study alone most of the time. I find that when I study with a group, not much studying gets done because I get distracted. Plus, we always end up talking about other things," first-year student Kaleigh Harper said. 

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