Despite years of varied school experiences, many college students do not have adaptable study methods that allow them to collect, organize, and reorganize information to critically assess what they know and what they need help with until after a poor exam performance. Faculty are frequently called on to help students become better learners. In addition, as the tasks and complexity of the material become more challenging, students will need to adopt new study habits and adapt them to each new learning opportunity to reach their goals. This article describes an evidence-based framework that teachers can share with students that will support better studying habits leading to deeper learning.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Many college students do not have adaptable methods habits that allow them to get the most out of in-class time and structure their out-of-class study time. As a result, faculty are frequently called on to help students become better learners. This article describes an evidence-based framework focusing on learning anatomy and physiology examples that faculty can share with students to support better studying habits leading to deeper learning.
Keywords: exam preparation; learning; retrieval practice; self-assessment; studying.