study & exam tips

STUDY GUIDE 1 - LEARNING LINKED TO SLEEP

Students who study hard all week and party on the weekends may lose a lot of what they learned.

Sleep deprivation on critical nights after learning may cause a 30% loss.

Carlyle Smith, a professor of psychology at Trent University in Peterborough, Ontario, researched the effects of sleep deprivation on learning by controlling the sleep of students the night they were taught a complex logic game and a list of paired words. Smith found that when students were tested on paired words a week later there was no learning deficit among the students deprived of sleep, but when tested on a complex logic game, the students deprived of sleep showed a 30% learning deficit when compared to the groups of students not deprived of sleep.

Sleep deprivation the 3rd night after learning had the same results showing a deficit of about 30% for the complex logic game. Sleep deprivation the 2nd night after learning seemed to have no effect.

This means that if you party all night on Friday after a rough week in school you will lose 30% of the learning you acquired on Wednesday and Friday. If you lose sleep on Saturday night, then Thursday's learning is also effected.

HAVE A NICE WEEKEND.

 

STUDY GUIDE 2 - GUIDE NOTE TAKING TIPS FOR MATHS

Write down the "title" of the lesson. If you don't know, ask the teacher.

Write down the maths problem and each step in the solution using maths symbols. Next to each step write down "in your own words" exactly what you are doing.

Write down a "question mark" next to anything you don't understand. Ask the teacher to explain the parts where you have written your "question marks". If you can't understand or contact the teacher, ask the tutor. Don't just "let it go" thinking that you will figure it out later. Many times, it doesn't happen.

When you get home, before you start your homework, "highlight in colour" the titles you have written in your notes. The highlighted information will help to give you the "big picture" of what you are doing.

Remember, do all homework problems, not just some of them!