Brain drain

• By ALEXANDRA SMITH
• LSU student writer
• Published: Jan 8, 2009 - Page: 1E - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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While draining the coffee pot, downing energy drinks and studying all night before a big test is not uncommon, it may not yield the best results, an academic consultant says.

Whether students want to believe it or not, cramming the night before the test will not help them learn the material any better, if at all, said Sarah Baird, assistant director and senior learning strategies consultant at LSU.

“Students should think of studying for a test like runners think about a marathon. Our brains have to be exercised, too,” she said.

When it comes to studying, how much effort a student puts into his or her work can really make a difference, and the key is to know how to study and how much time to put into it, Baird said.

Victoria Wagley is like many students in that she will wait until the day before a test to start studying and will usually stay up all night.

“If I have two tests in one week I will study for whichever one comes first, putting more time into the harder class and slacking on the easier one,” said Wagley, an LSU nursing sophomore.

LSU Nursing sophomore Abby Meche said she starts to study the week of the test and if she has two tests in one week she will study for both by concentrating on one subject for a few hours, then concentrating on the other.

Baird said students should study new material every week and review it on the weekends.

“Each week the material will build and students have a better way of being prepared for it if they learn it the first time,” she said.

The Center for Academic Success Web site offers workshops to help students study. One helpful graph, called “Bloom’s Taxonomy,” shows a pyramid of learning levels.

The pyramid starts at the bottom with knowledge, which is defined as when students memorize the information word for word without necessarily understanding the material.

It then goes to comprehension, restating in your own words, then to application, using the information to solve problems.

Next is analysis, which is identifying the components and determining arrangement, logic and semantics.