Email This StoryAchieving the study state
Oct. 30, 2007
By Hayley Frank
Reporter
It's 1 a.m. the night before your organic chemistry test, and your textbook hasn't seen the light of day since your last quiz.
You're ready to get down to business and you begin gathering everything you need for a full night of cramming.
But if six Red Bulls and a handful of adderall is on your list of effective study tools, you might have a problem.
There are however, healthy, effective methods of studying that every college student can practice to achieve successful results.
A vital factor affecting how we think and study revolves around food.
The food we eat dictates how our minds function when performing daily activities, and more importantly, when we have that midterm or final sitting on our desk.
"The key to proper eating before exams, during studying time, is to keep your energy and blood sugar level up," said Houston senior Mary Ellen Herndon, a peer nutrition educator.
Herndon said it's best to eat small, frequent meals that emphasize protein over carbohydrates, and to avoid sugary foods as well.
"Breakfast is essential for good nutrition," Herndon said. "It not only gets your metabolism going in the morning, but it gives your brain the energy it needs to function until you eat again at lunch."
The Eastern Idaho Public Health District published research showing that kids who eat breakfast seem to have an easier time learning than kids who don't eat breakfast. Breakfast eaters are able to concentrate better on learning, make fewer errors, are more creative and work faster.
If you deny your brain and body the nutrients and energy they need, your nutritional status will suffer. But, Herndon says, "your long-term health can be affected as well if there is a continuous cycle of low nutrient intake."
So you fill your stomach with all the best options from the food pyramid -- now what?
Many people maintain that listening to music aids their study efforts, and a decade ago Frances Rauscher, a psychologist now at the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh, and her colleagues have proven that listening to Mozart does improve people's mathematical and spatial reasoning.
But soothing tunes could end up being more of a distraction than a study aid. If this is the case, academic support adviser Ron English has some advice.
"Find a quiet environment," English said, "and turn off your cell phone."
When English tells his students this, he says they always seem to look at him strangely. "Whoever is calling can most likely wait until you've reached a breaking point in your studying," English said.
For students who suffer from attention deficit disorders, listening to music with no lyrics may be the answer, academic support advisor Doriss Hambrick said.
"I think there are some people who benefit from having certain kinds of activities going on at the same time they are studying," Hambrick said. "Music without lyrics helps people who suffer from ADD because they need another kind of stimulus to be able to study. But it definitely can't be the TV."
In short, Hambrick says it's important for individuals to understand what their own optimum study-environment should be, and then observe that.
Not every student learns in the same way.
Eating well and tuning into your mp3 player will help you study the night before a test, but what about the morning of -- when you're sleep-walking into class, surviving off of four hours of sleep?
"I think students suffer greatly from poor time management abilities," Hambrick said. "This leads to procrastination and they wait until the last minute to study for exams, staying up the whole night cramming."
Skipping on sleep can result in dire consequences for your brain and body.
A study out of Stanford University by graduate researcher Cheri Mah proved how much of a difference getting more sleep can make in the classroom and on the athletic field.
Mah worked with six basketball players over a period of time. Her results showed all players ran faster and made more shots when they slept at least 10 hours each night.
These studies show planning, problem-solving, learning, concentration, working memory and alertness all suffer when you're heavy-eyed and drowsy.
The same research also shows how IQ scores take a hard hit when test-takers are sleep-deprived.
"The horrible thing about cramming is that the brain doesn't have time to file information properly even if it's crammed into the working memory. Plus the stress of being nervous about being unprepared, the fatigue from not sleeping, which is sometimes exacerbated by the use of caffeine and energy drinks, then they get to class with a head full of chemicals that block long-term memory retrieval."
One doesn't have to stay up all night to feel the repercussions; two or three late nights and early mornings can result in the same effect on your body and brain.
If you're well rested, then you're better apt to carry out the next step for effective study habits: exercise.
With the Bear Trail at their disposal, Baylor students should have no problem practicing this tip.
Fitness analyses from the Salk Institute in La Jolla, Calif., found that exercise is one of the best ways to grow new brain cells, a feat that even adults can still achieve. Just walking for half an hour three times a week can improve abilities such as learning, concentration and reasoning.
Another clarification important to address is the difference between your desk and your bed.
"We know that it's not a good idea to study in bed," Hambrick said. "It appears beneficial to use the same posture when you're studying that you will be using when you take a test. There is some kinesthetic memory that helps you perform better."
What about the students who maintain they have a perfectly logical explanation for their unhealthy study habits?
For example, a common rationalization for cramming is, "I work better under pressure. I can't really focus until I know something is due the next day."
Hambrick says this justification is a myth.
"We know for a fact that the brain requires time to process information efficiently. Students can say that, but it's really just a form of denial," she said.
After witnessing students commit all of the above study crimes, plus more, English prepared an array of solutions for the student in need of a study-habits makeover.
"Join an academic support program," English said.
English said many students feel like getting tutored is demeaning. "But there is absolutely nothing wrong with coming to get help and support," English said.
English also stresses the importance of studying during the day, because the longer you're out of class, the more likely you are to forget the material.
"And if you will give two hours of study for everyone one hour in class, your grades will improve."
The good news English had to share?
"Take frequent breaks in between study times. If you study for more than two hours straight, you aren't retaining any more information at all."
So put down that industrial-sized Red Bull, pick up a banana and go for a stroll.
When you get back, you'll be ready for your new-and-improved study session.
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