You may think that having no study hall junior year or the first semester of senior I would be efficient with my time or have good study habits. You would be wrong. I leave everything for the night before and am quite the last minute studier. While such habits work for me, I wanted to try out some studying methods to see if they work better and lower my stress before a test. 

​​Feynman Technique

The Feynman technique was created by Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynam. He devised a method where you write out everything you need to know on a piece of paper, then try to explain it to someone who hasn’t learned that material. If there are any parts that you struggle to explain or don’t truly understand, then you go back and review those the most.

Seeing as though Richard Feynman was a physicist, I decided to take on this approach for my next big physics test. I essentially created a review guide, read it out all loud and went back to review what I got wrong. I really liked this method and thought it was very simple to do. I’ll definitely use this in the future especially when AP tests come around. 

Protégé effect 

The main idea of the protégé effect, similar to the Feynman Technique, is to teach what you are learning to others. This allows your brain to fully understand the content and improves your metacognition. Occasionally, just to go over everything, I ask my friends during lunch to listen to me talk about most often a physics topic and confirm that everything I said sounds right. This helps me feel more ready for an exam because I can quickly see if there is something I need to study more or if I know everything. Whether with a friend, by yourself, or with your dog the protégé effect really does work and is an efficient way to get things memorized. 

Blurting method

The main idea of blurting is to write out everything you know without looking at your notes. Then you add in what you missed, go over that and then write out everything again. The point is to do that as many times as it takes for you to be able to write out everything you need to know.

I used this method for an Economics test but kept forgetting little things or mixing up stuff. While I probably would have done that if I had used another method, it was frustrating to do the same thing over and over again and make little progress. I probably won’t be using this method again because it took a long time and I didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere each time I reviewed.

Study right before you go to sleep or right when you wake up

I do this most often, as I start studying later in the evening or if I feel like I need to review more I wake up early to study. Overall, I feel confident in this method. It works well for me because I don’t study that well until I have a sense of urgency. So if the test is the next day then I’ll start studying the night before then grind it out the next morning before school. I think generally this doesn’t lead to a lasting comprehension of the material but it works if you need to remember information for a little bit. Going along with this though, its important to find the best studying time for you. Some people might like to get it over with right after school, or during study hall so the benefits of this method may depend on how productive you are at certain times of the day. 

Studying a few days before, little at a time

This method is low stress and fairly simple. The one problem is that you have to be diligent and I definitely am not. I started studying five days in advance for an Economics quiz and took one day off from reviewing inbetween. Quickly glancing at my notes every so often was easy and I started to really grasp the content, but after that one day of not reviewing, my confidence in my understanding had dropped immensely. I was getting everything mixed up. I didn’t feel very confident going into the quiz but it ended up being fine and I had no trouble recollecting information so I think I was mostly just doubting myself. This method would probably be best if you are consistent and stick to your schedule of reviewing everyday but it works well even if you don’t.

After testing out a few new ways to study, I found what is most effective for me. A mixture of the Feynman technique and studying before I go to sleep seemed to help me remember the content the most and has become my new normal for studying. Finding a method that works best for you and your schedule is very important so that you can reach your full potential