Many students focus on their studies without considering what will happen afterward.
However, what you do after you finish studying may have an impact on how well you learn and recall new material.
Today on Education Tips, we'll look at two free methods for improving your learning: wakeful rest and sleep.
Restful sleep
Many students conclude their studies and immediately move on to another activity. Maybe they're staring at their phone or computer. They might even watch TV or play a video game.
However, studies show that taking a break after studying can help you recall what you learned.
The main concept is that after a study session, you should reduce your activities to allow your brain to rest. When you have too much stimulation from electronic gadgets, games, lights, and other sources, sleeping is tough.
While it may seem strange to you, several studies have looked at the benefits of resting after learning, often known as "wakeful rest."
In a study published in the journal PLOS One, researchers looked at how well healthy older people could remember certain terms. Researchers discovered that older persons who rested for 10 minutes after learning new words had superior memory of those terms in two separate studies. The researchers wrote, "A period of wakeful rest immediately following new learning increases free recall of spoken material."
They went on to say that the findings were strong even after seven days.
After doing wakeful rest, both young and older persons were able to remember or recollect information from prose sections, according to a 2019 study. The findings were published in the journal Neuroscience Letters.
In this study, 45 participants under the age of 60 and 40 people above the age of 60 took part.
The researchers found that "wakeful resting resulted in higher total recollection in both age groups."
Here are a few easy steps to take if you wish to try "wakeful rest." For five to ten minutes, sit quietly. Do not play games, read stories, or look at your phone. Just keep the stimuli to a minimum. It's just that simple!
Sleep
Sleep, in addition to wakeful rest, is critical for learning.
Sleep aids learning in two ways, according to Harvard Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine. “A sleep-deprived person cannot focus attention adequately and so cannot learn efficiently,” according to a report on the school's website. "Sleep itself has a role in memory consolidation, which is crucial for acquiring new information," it adds.
Robert Stickgold is a Harvard Medical School doctor and sleep expert. He told the US National Institutes of Health, or NIH, that new memories are difficult to preserve. “Memories are formed in a very raw and fragile state when we first form them,” he explained.
Sleep is necessary for memory formation. "You get virtually little advantage from cutting corners," Stickgold told the NIH.
Adults between the ages of 18 and 64 should obtain between 7 and 9 hours of sleep per day, according to the National Sleep Foundation. Teenagers may require slightly more, while those over 65 may require slightly less.
final thoughts
You now have two options for learning new information.
After a tudy session, try to obtain some "wakeful rest." After that, attempt to get a decent night's rest.
That's all there is to it — a simple, cost-free technique to help you remember what you've learned.
You can combine the concepts we discussed today with those mentioned in previous Education Tips posts. On those programmes, we covered what you may do to improve your learning before and during a study session.
Important links:
Which of the following is an internet job search "do"?
Which of the following is an internet job search "don't"?
I'm John Russell, and I'd want to introduce myself.
This tale was written by John Russell for VOA Learning English. The editor was George Grow.
