Students find alternative strategies for finals

With finals week just two weeks away, some students have turned away from traditional studying methods to more unconventional strategies.

First-year Alex Heglin faces a unique problem regarding finals week this semester. Heglin is a member of the jazz band and will be playing the bass guitar for the production of “Rent.” Because of nightly practices, his studying time has been cut drastically.

“I’ll definitely be less focused because of it, at least until I get more used to the “Rent” music,” Heglin said. “I will probably be having a lot of late nights that week studying for it like last semester.”

After hearing of a technique from a professor, Heglin has decided to link his studying to multisensory experiences.

“Dr. (Cliff) Summers told us about making studying a multisensory experience by using smells, such as cinnamon,” Heglin said. “I might give that a try.”

Summers promotes the idea of multisensory studying to his students to facilitate learning.

Summers said simply reading material is not very effective because it only incorporates one sense into the experience.

“If you learn this way, it forms a fairly weak connection,” Summers said. “More senses use more of the brain.”

Summers recommends reading information out loud, teaching it to another student, and drawing a picture to extend the senses for studying. Studying with cinnamon or other spices is another avenue Summers suggests for help with memory.

Several years ago, Summers had a student who employed a unique testing strategy.

“If she got stumped, she would write with her left hand,” Summers said.

Switching hands while studying fires neurons on the opposite side of the brain, Summers said, further enhancing connections made to the brain.

First-year Mercedes Bordeaux has heard of other methods, but has yet to try any out for herself.

“I’ve heard that listening to classical music helps. I might try it,” Bordeaux said. “I’ve heard that if you study while being drunk, and you take the test while drunk, you’ll remember what you studied. But I’m not going to try that.”

Summers said listening to classical music could be effective in forming new connections, and many techniques could be useful if they reduce stress.