NCDAP Study Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: You have a big exam in three days. Which scheduling approach is most effective for retaining material?
- Study everything the night before in one long session
- Spread study sessions across all three days using spaced practice (Correct answer)
- Read the textbook once and highlight key terms
- Focus only on the chapters you find easiest
Correct answer: Spread study sessions across all three days using spaced practice
Spaced practice distributes study across multiple sessions, leveraging the spacing effect to strengthen long-term memory.
Question 2: When taking notes in class, which method best supports active processing of information?
- Transcribing every word the instructor says verbatim
- Writing only page numbers to look up later
- Summarizing ideas in your own words and noting questions (Correct answer)
- Recording the lecture and not writing anything
Correct answer: Summarizing ideas in your own words and noting questions
Paraphrasing and generating questions forces you to actively process content rather than passively copy it.
Question 3: A student sets a goal to 'do better in math.' How should this goal be improved?
- Keep it as is because broad goals allow flexibility
- Change it to 'practice 10 math problems every day for four weeks' (Correct answer)
- Replace it with a goal about getting more sleep
- Make the goal about attending every class without studying
Correct answer: Change it to 'practice 10 math problems every day for four weeks'
Effective goals are specific, measurable, and time-bound rather than vague and general.
Question 4: Which environment is generally best for deep, focused studying?
- A noisy cafeteria with friends nearby
- A quiet space with minimal distractions and good lighting (Correct answer)
- In front of a TV to stay entertained
- A place where you can frequently check social media
Correct answer: A quiet space with minimal distractions and good lighting
A low-distraction environment supports sustained attention and deeper cognitive processing.
Question 5: What is the primary benefit of reviewing your notes within 24 hours of a lecture?
- It lets you rewrite them more neatly
- It helps combat the forgetting curve by reinforcing memory while it is still fresh (Correct answer)
- It impresses your instructor
- It allows you to skip re-reading the textbook entirely
Correct answer: It helps combat the forgetting curve by reinforcing memory while it is still fresh
Reviewing shortly after learning reinforces neural pathways before significant forgetting occurs, consistent with Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve.
Question 6: A student underlines almost every sentence while reading a textbook. What is the problem with this strategy?
- Underlining should only be done with pencil, not pen
- Over-highlighting fails to distinguish key ideas from supporting details (Correct answer)
- Textbooks should never be marked up
- The student is reading too slowly
Correct answer: Over-highlighting fails to distinguish key ideas from supporting details
When nearly everything is marked, the highlighting loses its value as a tool for identifying the most important information.
Question 7: Which technique involves covering your notes and trying to recall the content from memory before checking?
- Re-reading
- Skimming
- Retrieval practice (Correct answer)
- Outlining
Correct answer: Retrieval practice
Retrieval practice — recalling information without looking — is one of the most evidence-backed strategies for long-term retention.
NCDAP Study Strategies 2
You have a big exam in three days.
Which scheduling approach is most effective for retaining material?