Optimize Your Learning
Core Idea: Stop studying early so you can focus on being at your best for exam day with relaxation and de-stressing activities.
Let's discuss how to leverage science to optimize your exam performance.
What's the most effective strategy to improve both your focus, and your ability to apply knowledge to new scenarios?
Many of you study intensely right before an exam, attempting to memorize as much information as possible. It’s called cramming.
While they say “practice makes perfect”, cognitive researcher Sean Kang from the University of Melbourne discovered that the timing of practice matters a great deal.
Kang studied a research-based concept called spaced learning.
He reviewed hundreds of studies in cognitive and educational psychology that demonstrated its effectiveness.
Here's how these experiments work:
- One group learns with continuous, back-to-back sessions, for a fixed period, then takes a test.
- A second group learns the same material, over the same period, but uses breaks before taking a test.
In other words, Group 1 studies without breaks, while Group 2 studies with breaks, notably, a break before taking a test.
You can likely guess which group performs better, but can you guess how much better?
The group that uses breaks, Group 2, often performs 16% better than the group that doesn’t, Group 1. In terms of exam scores, this can boost you from a 70% to a 80%.
Kang demonstrated that our intuitions about studying and cramming can be plain wrong.
Taking breaks, or decompressing, significantly enhances learning outcomes.
That includes:
- Memory retention
- Problem-solving abilities
- And, importantly, application of knowledge to new scenarios.
To be clear, you still need to study hard for high-stakes professional exams. Yet, remember that higher-level learning occurs during those breaks from studying.
Research also indicates optimal break durations: for next-week exams, a 24-hour break is ideal; for next-day exams, take 2–4 hours off.
So, on the day before or the morning of the exam, step away from studying. Relax and enjoy an activity that doesn’t require much concentration. Releasing pressure allows for higher-level learning.
Now, there are destructive ways of relieving stress. Social media, video games, alcohol, and drugs are considered escapes, rather than good ways to reset.
Here are constructive ways to decompress, and reset before the NPPE exam:
Movies are the most popular choice among our students. The theatre helps to provide both an environmental location change, and a mental disengagement from your studies.
Physical activities offer science-backed benefits. Examples include:
- Walking, especially in nature or with pets
- Jogging, and weight training.
Creative activities are particularly effective for decompression, such as: painting or drawing, and for me personally, cooking a new recipe at home.
Finally, reconnecting with friends and family, whom you've been unable to see while studying, often helps to create a strong sense of support that you can feel from those you care about.
Key Message: Strategic breaks and proper decompression, aka spaced learning, is a powerful way to improve your learning efficiency, with tremendous potential to boost your exam score.
By choosing positive decompression methods like movies, creative pursuits, or light outdoor activities, you can optimize your mental state for exam day.