The end of the semester is coming up and everyone has serious studying to do. By this time we are thinking about final exams and focusing on time management in order to achieve the final grades we long for.
Many of us have stayed up countless number of hours trying to cram excessive amounts of information into our brains before a big test but is this really helpful? How long should we really be studying for in order for our brains to absorb the information needed?
Studies have shown that students entering their first year of college are used to high school studying habits, that is, an average of about 5 hours of studying a week. This, however, tends not to work for college students. It is said that college students should be studying on a 2:1 ratio. For every one hour that you are in class, you should study for 2 hours, with a maximum of two 15 minute breaks. If you are studying for an exam, you may want to increase your study time to 3 hours at the max, adding on another 15 minute break period.
According to “The Science of Brain HQ”, over time, our brain gradually slows down. It begins to miss many details making it more difficult to remember and react to what we saw or heard. This is a big reason for taking breaks after a while of studying. You need to refresh your brain- perhaps with a glass of water or juice or a light snack.
Here is a short video discussing effective study habits.
http://www.brainhq.com/world-class-science/brainhq-effective/science-brainhq
http://science.psu.edu/advising/success/learningscience.html/
Which studies have shown this information? It is important to know where the study was located, the sample size used, and if the study was repeated to rule out other confounding variables. Without knowing the background information of the study, it’s almost impossible to conclude that this information is reliable. What if this information only covers a small group of people? There is also always the possibility of chance.
Very interesting blog. While you threw a lot of facts at us I would like to know a lot of “whys.” By that I mean, why do scientists find it important that we take these little breaks in between? Also, while you say the ratio of studying to classroom time is 2:1 ; I must pose an argument to this. I believe that is a big subjective. I believe your studying time should vary depending on the class and your overall knowledge in that field. Like Andrew always suggests in class , in science we must always question the things that are presented to us. On a positive note I must agree with you when it comes to we must change our studying habits that we might’ve adopted back in high school . College is really a different ball game. Remember in class Andrew had a lecture on whether worms made kids stupid or not? In the end we come to the conclusion that kids with worms weren’t as bright as kids that hadn’t experienced worms. To me that finding was very interesting. To tie this into your blog I think it would be cool if there was a studying showing how kids who might’ve had worms in the past do in college finals as opposed to those kids who have not experienced worms in their lifetime. I’m very curious if there is a strong correlation between these two things. Going along with your idea that studying is important during finals week, here is a link that suggests music helps studying. http://uncc49er.com/622/music-can-help-you-study/
I agree with your point about the change in study habits from high school to college. I wrote a blog about whether to sleep or study and I learned from research that cramming may help you remember a few facts but like you said your brain is just going to forget it because our brain “slows down” with age. Check out this Cornell College article discussing studying and time management: http://www.cornellcollege.edu/academic-support-and-advising/study-tips/time-to-study.shtml. Time management is the most important thing to learn from college. You discussed 15 minute breaks to help your brain replenish. You need to do that often and efficiently in order to succeed in college.