Student Insights: Walid Gets Great Results Using Spaced Repetition for Test Prep
The pace of learning here at TUC is intense, which can sometimes be overwhelming even for those who have excelled at previous levels of education. We regularly ask students who are at the top of their class to tell us what study strategies they use to keep up.
Walid Aljayosi is a student in Touro University California’s College of Pharmacy.
In my time as a Touro student, I have slowly gotten better and more efficient at using my time to study wisely. When I first began school, I was all about spending entire days in the library toiling away and struggling to get all the information down. Humans were simply not meant to take in information this way.
What I have found has helped improve my test scores across the board has been the studying concept of “spaced repetition.” This is the idea that humans learn better when they continually revisit material in several sessions over a given time. Rather than consolidating my study time into a two-week intensive bolus of information overload, I have become much better at starting five weeks before a test and cutting my study time to shorter, quicker bursts. This has helped immensely, as I end up seeing the material far more often over the course of a block or semester and I am not as stressed since the material becomes very familiar and contextual.
Come test time, I can literally feel the information consolidated deep in my memory banks and those multiple choice and fill-in-the-blank questions are much more doable. Graduate studies are never easy and, thus, it is more important than ever to seek out more efficient ways of getting information into your brain. For me, I have found the skill of spaced repetition to be my key to success.
To read more Student Insights, click here.
2 Comments
Well done Walid, thanks for this valuable information. Students would do well to model your study habits. — David
Great insight Walid. I have to agree with you in that my success at Touro has been due to repetitive learning. Being able to look at information several times before a test. I think with the level of work we have, spaced repetition is the key to success.