AN: Hi, I’m Angela.

AL: And I’m Alex.

AN: We all remember our first finals week as freshmen and how we struggled through it. Although we made it through trial and error, we may have found some strategies to be more or less successful.   

AL: Today, we’ll be discussing tips and strategies for studying for finals.

AN: First off, starting to study early. It seems obvious, and yet we still procrastinate until the weekend before. Starting early allows for time to fill in knowledge gaps and more time to review material from the beginning of the semester that we have long forgotten.

AL: By spreading the studying out over one or two weeks instead of cramming it all in one sitting the night before the final, information will be committed to long-term memory instead of short-term, therefore making it easier to recall.

AN: In fact, research by German psychologist Herman Ebbinghaus backs this up. His Forgetting Curve shows us that we gradually forget our memories as time goes by. By utilizing spaced repetition at increasing intervals, information is easier to retain for the long term.

AL: If you start early to avoid last-minute cramming the night before, you’ll be able to get more sleep before finals week. Research from the National Library of Medicine finds that sleep deprivation impairs attention and memory. Studying won’t help if you fail to retain it, showing how the outcome of your finals could depend on your sleep schedule.

AN: That’s true! Keeping a consistent study schedule allows for adequate rest leading up to your finals, which is crucial for cognitive function. This allows you to absorb information more efficiently and effectively.

AL: What does a consistent study schedule entail?

AN: One strategy could be setting a specific time to stop studying every night. This set sleep and study schedule forces you to sleep at a certain time, allowing for sufficient sleep.

AL: It sounds like sleeping could actually reduce the amount of time needed to study for finals because when you get a sufficient amount of it, information retention is more efficient and effective.

AN: Moving on to strategies that you can implement while studying, active recall is one method that many studies swear by.

AL: This involves continuously testing yourself instead of passively glossing over notes and convincing yourself that you already know the information. In fact, while rereading — or even rewriting — your notes seems productive, it’s still considered passive studying.

AN: I know I’m definitely guilty of doing this. But by forcing yourself to actively search for answers and information through flashcards or practice questions, recalling information on tests becomes much easier since you’ve already practiced it.

AL: Speaking of active recall, one such method is the Feynman technique, developed by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman.

AN: The Feynman technique involves explaining the concept in simpler terms to someone else to understand the gaps in your own knowledge. Using this, you can then refine your own understanding of the concept.

AL: While the original method suggests teaching the concept to a younger audience to force a simplified explanation, explaining to anyone works just as well.

AL: In another study published by the National Library of Medicine, chewing gum has been shown to enhance attention span and certain aspects of memory.

AN: Right. Chewing gum increases blood flow to the brain, reducing stress and improving attention. When fatigue might set in after studying for a sustained period of time, chewing gum could be especially helpful.

AL: Furthermore, some studies found that chewing a consistent flavor of gum while studying and test-taking improves memory through a phenomenon known as context-dependent memory. This occurs when “​the context during encoding is the same as the context during retrieval.”

AN: In this case, if you chew a specific flavor while studying, chewing that same flavor during the test serves as a cue to jog your memory and helps recall the information you learned while previously chewing that same flavor of gum.

AL: Despite other studies deriving opposing results, we still encourage you to try it out as there’s no harm in doing so. Just make sure to properly dispose of the gum afterwards…

AN: Building off context-dependent memory in a different way, changing studying locations could prove beneficial, too.

AL: We know that as you take in information, your brain also records environmental cues like sights, sounds, smells and temperature as part of that memory.

AN: Rotating between different studying environments allows you to have more potential triggers that could access the information later, making it easier to recall the material in a wider range of situations and environments.

AL: For example, if you switch between a library and a cafe environment, your brain will be trained to recall information both in noisy and quiet environments.

AL: Ultimately, if you aren’t self-incentivized to study for finals week, having a supportive study group that helps hold each other accountable could be your biggest motivator.

AN: Not only could you easily implement Feynman’s technique from earlier in a group setting, study groups also allow for several sources of help.

AL: For example, if you get stuck on a topic or question and one person’s explanation isn’t making sense to you, hearing another person’s input might bridge the knowledge gap.

AN: While having a study group could help reduce your test anxiety and stress, there are also some downsides to forming one. Firstly, if it strays from being a study session and morphs into a hangout, the distractions could cause worse results than if you had studied alone.

AL: Additionally, unequal contributions could be frustrating, but even worse, the spread of incorrect information is possible. However, this could serve as motivation to come into the study group sessions already prepared and as knowledgeable as possible.

AN: So while study groups could be effective, choosing one wisely is extremely important. And with that, thank you for listening!

AL: Thank you for listening, and happy studying! We wish you the best of luck on your finals!

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