Manystudentsstudywithlittlethoughtaboutwhatcomesaftertheirstudysession.
Butwhatyoudoafterstudyingcouldhaveaneffectonhowwellyoulearnandremembernewinformation.
TodayonEducationTips,wewillexploretwono-costwaysthatcanhelpyouimproveyourlearning:wakefulrestandsleep.
Whenmanystudentsfinishstudying,theyoftengostraighttoanotheractivity.Perhapstheylookattheirphoneorcomputer.Theymightevenplayavideogameorwatchtelevision.
Butresearchsuggeststhatrestingafteryoustudymayhelpyourememberwhatyoustudied.
Thebasicideaisthis:byreducingyouractivityafterthestudysession,yourbraingetsachancetorest.Restingisdifficultwhenyouhavetoomuchstimulationfromelectronicdevices,games,lightsandsoon.
Whilethismightsoundunusualtoyou,manystudieshaveexploredthebenefitsofrestingafterlearning–whatiscalled"wakefulrest."
AstudypublishedintheJournalPLOSOneexaminedhowwellolderpeoplewhowereingoodhealthcouldremembercertainwords.Intwodifferentexperiments,researchersfoundthatolderadultswhorestedfor10minutesafterlearningnewwordshadbettermemoryofthosewords."Aperiodofwakefulrestimmediatelyafternewlearningboostsfreerecallofverbalmaterial,"theresearcherswrote.
Theresultswerestrongevenaftersevendays,theyadded.
A2019studyfoundthatbothyoungandolderadultswereabletobetterremember,orrecollect,informationfromprosepassagesafterdoingwakefulrest.ThefindingsappearedinNeuroscienceLetters.
Thisstudyinvolved45youngerpeopleand40elderlyadults.
"Wakefulrestingledtohigheroverallrecollectioninbothagegroups,"theresearchersnoted.
Ifyouwanttogive"wakefulrest"atry,hereareafewsimplethingstodo.Restquietlyforfivetotenminutes.Donotlookatyourphone,readstoriesorplaygames.Justlimittheamountofstimulationyouget.Itisreallythateasy!
Inadditiontowakefulrest,sleepisalsoimportantforlearning.
Sleepisimportantforformingmemories.StickgoldtoldtheNIH"yougetverylittlebenefitfromcuttingcorners."
TheNationalSleepFoundationsuggeststhatadultsbetweentheagesof18and64getbetween7and9hoursofsleepperday.Teenagersmayneedslightlymore,andpeopleovertheageof65mayneedalittleless.
Nowyouhavetwosuggestionsforhowtolearnnewinformation.
YoucanincludetheideaswediscussedtodaywithideasweexploredinotherEducationTipsstories.Onthoseprograms,wediscussedwhatyoucandobeforeandduringastudysessiontoimproveyourlearning.