DOCTOR KATHERINE RAWSON: Students have an immense amount of information that they're expected to learn across several different classes, but coupled with the fact that they have a limited amount of time and energy that they can spend learning the information. So the question is, what is the most effective study strategy for students to use to maximize both of those goals, to be able to learn everything they have to learn, but in the most efficient way possible? And, when I say learn everything they have to learn, ultimately, what we're shooting for is long term learning; a durable learning, acquisition of a knowledge base, and not just transient familiarity with information that then you forget shortly after you've taken an exam. So, that makes the problem even trickier, not only what is an efficient way to learn, but what's an efficient way to learn for the long term?
A common misconception that students have, or a common strategy they report using, at least, is what we refer to as cramming. That is the night before an exam, spend four hours poring over everything, and then walk in, and take your exam the next day. Actually, research suggests that that's not a bad strategy, if you are going to take your exam in a relatively short amount of time right. The problem is it's very, very bad for long term retention. You'll do OK on your exam, but you're not going to remember that information for much beyond that exam.
A better use of your time is to take the same four hours and spread it out. Say, do an hour on four different days. It's the same exact amount of time, but the payoff is huge. The advantage for memory is much greater if you spread that time out across days, rather than doing it all in one fell swoop right before an exam.