How to Study

Solid study habits are valuable skills to develop early in your college career and what works for you may not work for others. Take some time to figure out the strategies that work best for you early on in your time at Clarkson so you feel less overwhelmed with the academic expectations of college!

You may also want to schedule an appointment with an academic skills specialist at Clarkson’s Student Success Center who can provide personalized help with study skills, time management, test preparation, and more.

General Study Tips

Study Basics

  • Mobile distractions – If you can’t turn off your phone, at least turn off notifications and put your phone somewhere it won’t be distracting.
  • Snacks – Grab some healthy snacks before your study sesh to keep yourself energized.
  • Water – Make sure you have water available (you can’t survive off coffee alone).
  • Different environments – Try studying in different physical spaces! You might be able to concentrate better when you’re at a cafe or in the ERC, or maybe you need complete quiet but studying on your bed leads to an unintentional nap — find the environment that works best for you.
  • Time of day – Maybe you focus better in the mornings vs. 11 PM, or 2 in the afternoon is prime time for your productivity. Make a conscious effort to recognize the best time of day for you and schedule your study sessions around those times.
  • Sleep – It may sound like cliche advice, but you will study more effectively and retain information better on a solid night’s sleep, leading to better performance on exams and in classes. It might be tempting to put off studying until the night before, but pulling an all-nighter the night before an exam is not, in fact, the best way to encode information.
  • Self-test – Whether by using questions from a textbook or making up your own questions, quizzing yourself on the material you’re studying is a great way to actively engage with the material to help yourself retain the information. When you’re trying to build questions for yourself, think:
    • What would my professor want me to know?
    • What are the main concepts? How are the concepts connected?
  • Exercise before studying – This can help improve brain function, while also releasing endorphins to reduce stress levels. A short workout or even a brisk walk can help you prepare to study.
  • Study right before going to sleep – Review your notes or flashcards right before bed. Your brain will organize your memories as you sleep, helping develop connections between concepts to enhance your understanding.

How to Study Effectively? 10 Best Study Techniques – from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences

More Tips and Resources

Specific Study Strategies

Reading and re-reading course materials is not the most effective way to study. Instead, actively engage with the materials you’re learning to encode the information more deeply and improve your understanding of the concepts. These study strategies provide clear instructions on how to study, regardless of the discipline! Try them out to see what works best for you, and consider using multiple strategies to learn concepts more completely.

These tips were primarily found through How to Study Effectively?10 Best Study Techniques from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences and Cornell University’s Learning Strategies Center’s How to Study.

SQ3R

Based on the first letter of each word in the acronym, SQ3R encourages active engagement with the material you’re studying by structuring the steps involved.

  • Survey – Skim the section headings, images, charts, etc. that stand out in the first chapter
  • Question – Create questions for yourself around the content of the chapter, like:
    • What do I already know about this topic?
    • What is the focus of this chapter?
    • How does this relate to the information in previous chapters or other readings?
  • Read – Read the chapter or section, trying to answer the questions you created above
  • Recite – Summarize each section in the chapter after you’ve read it, trying to recall major points, while answering the questions you created for yourself
  • Review – Go back over the material covered in the chapter and quiz yourself on the questions you created, revisiting any sections you struggled with

PQ4R

Much like SQ3R above, PQ4R outlines the steps for approaching course-related readings.

  • Preview – Skim the subject headings, subheadings, and any highlighted text in the chapter first
  • Question – Ask yourself what you already know, what you think the major focus of the chapter is, etc.
  • Read – Fully read the text, section by section, answering the questions above
  • Reflect – Were you able to answer all of your questions? Were there any that you struggled with?
  • Recite – Explain the material on your own, in your own words, or write down a summary
  • Review – Go back over all the material again, answering any remaining questions from the ones you made for yourself, ensuring you can answer all of them accurately

Spaced Practice

This is a strategy that “encourages students to study over an extended period instead of cramming the night before” (How to Study Effectively? 10 Best Study Techniques from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences). Doing this helps build memory networks around new concepts so they can be recalled more easily.

  • Day 1: Learn the material in class
  • Day 2: Revisit and review the material
  • Day 3: Revisit and review
  • After 1 week: Revisit and review
  • After 2 weeks: Revisit and review

Consistently revisiting the material will help you build your knowledge base vs. trying to gain familiarity with new concepts over a short period of time. Make sure you plan ahead while using this strategy throughout the term so you are prepared for any final exams or papers.

Retrieval Practice

Retrieval practice refers to remembering material at a later time, like recalling an answer rather than looking it up. There are several ways to use this method:

  • Practice tests
  • Create your own questions
  • Flashcards – When answering the question, write down the definition/answer before flipping over the card, rather than assuming you can communicate the answer.

These methods can be used in concert with Spaced Practice, SQ3R, and PQ4R.

Feynman Technique

This technique is based on the principle that you can demonstrate true understanding of material if you’re able to explain something in simple terms.

  • Write down the main concept or subject you’re studying, then make notes of everything you know about it.
  • Explain the concepts in your own words, like you’re teaching someone with no background in the subject.
  • Look back at what you wrote to find any errors, then find the correct answers in your notes or in course materials.
  • Review your notes, especially if you used any technical or complex terms; if so, rewrite these sections in simpler terms.

Leitner System

This practice uses flashcards stored in different boxes, with all the flashcards starting in box 1. As you quiz yourself on the flashcards, they move into different boxes based on how well you remember them. The review schedule for this is:

  • Every day: Review the flashcards in box 1; flashcards answered correctly move to box 2, while any you answer incorrectly stay in box 1 to be reviewed again the next day.
  • Every 2 days: Review box 2 (the correct answers from box 1), with any incorrect answers staying in box 2. Correct answers move to box 3.
  • Every 4 days: Review box 3 (the correct answers from box 2), with any incorrect answers staying in box 3. Correct answers move to box 4.
  • Every 9 days: Review box 4 (the correct answers from box 3), with any incorrect answers staying in box 4. Correct answers move to box 5.
  • Every 14 days: Review box 5 (the correct answers from box 4).

You can repeat this process throughout the term, building on your knowledge, and revisiting all of the flashcards before an exam.

Mind Mapping

Mind mapping involves linking together concepts, allowing you to examine the relationship between concepts and any possible hierarchical structures.

  • Take a blank sheet of paper and write down the main topic or concept you’re studying.
  • Write the main ideas and keywords associated with the main concept.
  • Create terms or write down ideas explaining the relationships between concepts/keywords, indicating the hierarchy or direction of ideas from broad to narrow, more detailed ideas (if applicable), etc.

This strategy helps you identify the main concepts under a topic and develop a deeper understanding of the relationships between different ideas. See Cornell’s Concept Mapping guide for more details and a visual representation of a mind map.

Color-Coded Notes

By color-coding your notes, you can identify important information and potentially make it easier to recall. Just try and avoid going overboard – stick to the most important info only.

  • Red – Write key points in red ink
  • Yellow – Highlight important information that supports the key points
  • Organize topics by color – Select a color for each major topic

Open-Book Exams

While open-book exams seem much easier, don’t make the mistake of assuming that you do not need to study! Often, these exams are more complex and detailed than closed-book exams because you have access to the course material. You need to be familiar enough with the material to even know where to find answers. If you haven’t cracked the book open before the exam, you’ll waste valuable exam time searching for answers. Take the time to prepare before the exam so you can navigate the textbook more easily.

Studying and Artificial Intelligence

While generative artificial intelligence should be approached with caution due to issues related to hallucination and plagiarism (violations of the Code of Student Conduct), it can be used as a study tool. Ensure you understand the ethical issues associated with AI and data security concerns before loading any information to these programs. Visit the Writing Center’s page on Using Generative AI to learn more.

How to Use AI to Study

  • Create quizzes or flashcards based on the content you’re studying
    • Be sure to verify any answers provided by GenAI for accuracy!
  • Explain concepts to a neutral third party (see Feynman Technique above), asking if any of your explanation requires clarification
    • Write out your explanation of a concept to an AI platform (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) and ask if it makes sense based on your notes and class materials
  • Make a study schedule based on the length of the course and exam/assignment schedules provided in syllabi or otherwise guide you on organizing your time
  • Generate questions based on the material to help deepen your understanding
  • Personalizing your learning experience by asking for custom exercises or other study strategies
  • Ask for feedback on what areas you should focus on after completing quizzes or flashcards

How NOT to Use AI

  • To summarize information – this is a vital component of understanding the material you’re working on, and using any AI tools to summarize for you may prevent you from gaining a deeper understanding of the topic
    • This is especially true for any material you will be submitting for a grade, as passing off AI-generated content is a violation of the academic code of integrity (p. 33)
  • To find resources related to a subject – if you do use AI in the research process, it’s important to verify the information it produces to ensure accuracy and to determine any potential biases
    • It can be difficult to keep track of all the results you receive, putting you at risk for plagiarism based on erroneous references
  • To analyze information – without critically evaluating the information outputs provided by AI tools, you run the risk of becoming over-reliant on these tools and degrading your own critical thinking skills
    • Any information you receive from an AI tool should be critically evaluated to confirm it is not a hallucination (verify the sources!) and that any conclusions drawn align with the
  • As a search engine – although there are many programs, like Google’s Gemini, that function like search engines, generative AI programs like ChatGPT create results based on the information they were trained on
    • Rather than referencing existing information, they compile results based on the patterns found in the data they are trained on and return their own answers in a conversational tone

Resources on Studying with AI