How to Be a Super Studier

I used to spend a lot more time studying for an exam, only to get the same grades I do now, if not worse. It's not that I've gotten smarter or have started taking easier classes (quite the opposite, as any advancing undergrad will tell you), I've just learned how to study efficiently.
I took a cognitive psychology class for my psych minor, and it focused several exams on how the brain learns. There's a whole field of science dedicated to how we process new information and challenges. Humans are designed, first and foremost, to survive. So, if we think about how our ancestors conquered their environment back in the day, we can use these same techniques to learn and master new knowledge. Here are some ways to apply those survival instincts to studying.

1. Test yourself
You can't just sit there and read the textbook and notes, and expect to absorb the information. The more we rehearse and retrieve information, the easier it will be to recall it in the future. Think about your phone number. The first few times you gave it out, you had to look it up, but now you've pulled that number out of your brain so many times, you don't even have to try.

Some professors will provide practice tests, and some won't. If they don't, make your own anyway, and start figuring out what you really know and what you need to work on.
Flashcards can work to your advantage, too. Make a pile of ones you answered under 1 second. Then a pile for ones you had to think about for a while, then a pile for the ones you were stumped on, and keep drilling yourself on them. Keep doing this, mixing the hard stacks with the easy pile every time you get through all of them. Those stumped and unsure piles will get smaller every time you go through them.

2. Take study breaks
If you're trying to wrap your head around a new concept, only focus for as long as you can still get something out of it. Everyone's attention span is different. Mine is up to 45 minutes before I start daydreaming. Once you start lagging, take a break. Go do something completely unrelated to the subject you're trying to study for about 10 to 15 minutes. When you come back, your attention will be refreshed, and better yet, studies show that you still process the new information even while you're focused on other things. This is the same phenomenon that leads to that "Aha!" moment you have when you sleep on something.

3. The Memory Palace

There are all sorts of little tricks to organize and memorize information. My favorite trick is using a Memory Palace. I memorized my script for being a tour guide by visualizing all the campus buildings, and placing facts onto the structures. For example, when I talk about our bell tower, I can start at the top, look at the face of the clock, and remember the purpose behind its design. Then I follow my gaze down, and every interest piece about the tower will have a different fact I've connected to it. It makes giving tours a breeze! You can do the same. As you're walking to classes, connect facts for your next exam to different parts of campus. Whenever you pass that interest piece, you can rehearse the information.
This can also work by placing different facts on your body. I saw a girl doing this for our anatomy tests my freshman year. I thought she looked ridiculous pointing to different body parts and spewing forth facts about the pancreas, but she actually did really well on the next exam. Thanks for the tip, crazy pancreas girl.

4. Make Studying a Game
I used this technique for my pharmacology class with huge success. I made flash cards for each drug class I needed to memorize, listing the drug names and other information I needed to know about each class. Then, I typed up all the individual drugs and cut them out into little slips, mixed them up, and pulled them from a pile. I spread out all my flash cards on a big table or my floor, pulled out a drug name, and had to recall what class it belongs to and all the other facts connected to it before I could place it. If I couldn't answer everything correctly, I put it in the "wrong" pile and placed them once I got through the rest. If I finally got through the entire pile without getting any wrong, I would win, and reward myself with a piece of dark chocolate. If I look at that pile of flashcards a year later, my minds still immediately jumps to the triumphant taste of chocolate.

5. Teach Someone Else
Teaching the material to someone else means that you need to know what you're doing first. My sisters and boyfriend probably get really annoyed with me sometimes, but when I teach them, it forces me to be interested in and focused on the material I'm trying to study, meaning I actually learn it. As a bonus, my roommate now knows how to determine liver size, and my boyfriend can palpate his lymph nodes!

6. Relate the Material to Yourself
If it means something to you, you'll remember it better, so figure out how you can relate the information to you, even if it means going out and acting upon it. Which leads me to....

7. Act it out
Maybe it's because I'm a very action-oriented person, but if I can put the material into action, I learn it better. The brain was created to put thoughts into movement, so if you can get up and do the thing you're thinking about, even if it means talking or writing it out, you'll remember it better. If it's hard to act out your test material, make a dance about it, and with each choreographed movement, say a fact.

8. Mimic Your Testing State
My roommate (a behavioral neuroscience major) told me that if you learn something in a certain state (i.e. drunk, tired, sad, angry, happy), you'll recall that information best when you're in that state. So, if you take an exam early in the morning, study the material early in the morning, when you'll most likely be in the same state.

9. Ask Questions
If you're confused about the material, you aren't going to learn it well. Don't be afraid to ask questions and get involved with the lecture. Taking the initiative means you'll learn better because you've made it a personal interest, and you'll get more input from the professor/TA about what's most important to know for the test

Happy studying, and good luck this fall!