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Oct 12 2007

“I Study, but Then I Forget” Syndrome

Posted by Kantis Simmons in Test taking, education, studying

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Long term

Question:

“Dear Kantis….When I study right before the test I tend to get a good grade, however after the test I don’t remember any of the information. Awkwardly, when I study a week before the test it seems like I don’t remember anything and I end up with a bad test grade. Kantis, what should I do? ” - C. Williams (Decatur, GA)

Answer:

“Well, it sounds to me that you are studying and retaining information in your Short Term Memory; where it needs to be transferred to your Long Term Memory. (Especially if it is a subject that you will use over and over again.

Here are three things I practically advise for information retention:

  1. Study weeks and months before the test (not at last minute). Study about 35-45 minutes on the subject and take a break. Do this consistently weeks ahead of test. Make sure you are getting good sleep and eating well too
  2. TEACH yourself, TEST yourself, and TALK to yourself. Just like remembering the lyrics to your favorite song ( read the lyrics, sing the lyrics, and rehearse the lyrics) - the same should be true for your class work.
  3. Discuss your studies with others. If you can openly talk about it with simplicity, that is a sure way that you have it in long term memory.

To shed more light on this question, see How to Cram Your Way to Academic Success.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 5:59 am and is filed under Test taking, education, studying. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to ““I Study, but Then I Forget” Syndrome”
  1. College Success says:
    August 14, 2008 at 12:36 am

    I find that flash cards are the trick for me. If i can recite the information on the back the day after studying the day before I am OK. I can not agree more with”Study weeks and months before the test (not at last minute). Study about 35-45 minutes on the subject and take a break.” I can’t tell you how many students stay up all night only to be falling esleep for the test.

  2. Craig says:
    August 19, 2008 at 6:44 am

    I am 52 years old and I will be going back to school and will be a full time student. Four dayst a week and four
    hours a night. I am currently unemployed and looking for work. It has been at least two decades since I’ve
    been in school. And I have been out of work since April of this year. I’ m going to try to do both of them and
    I am more of a morning person than I am a night or evening person. I chose evening classes because I felt
    that I would feel out of place with teenagers all around me during the day so I chose the 6 to 10 schedule.
    I’m not to comfortable with that either because I start to fade in the evening so I am at a lose on what to do. I
    do feel out of place but I know that I must make this move. I need some advice on study and time of day. I feel
    kind of lost and I have not even started yet. And I don’t like to have this attitude going into this. What advice
    if any do you have for me.

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