You read your CEBS® study materials for the first time, underlining or highlighting new and critical information. Later, you reread the passage several times, reviewing the content you marked the first time around. This is how most learners begin their studies, but there are active study strategies that help what you’re learning to stick even better. Here are some tips to help you better take on the CEBS curriculum and enhance your knowledge retention:
- Embrace interleaving. Most learners use blocked practice, focusing on a single topic when they study. On the other hand, interleaving takes on several related topics in a study session. Interleaving is more challenging because your brain engages in retrieving more information, cementing your knowledge better. Try out interleaving by reviewing several related modules of the Study Guide at the same time. Note if there are any themes that run through all the modules. Mix the flashcards from your CEBS Online Study Group With Instructor Support from various modules into a single deck.
- Engage in retrieval practice. Frequently reviewing the content you’ve already learned strengthens your retention. To use this study strategy, you’ll actively use your memory to recall information without referring to any references. A few days after you’ve finished reading a module for the first time, do a “brain dump.” First, jot down a list of the key terms in the module. Then, attempt to define them, writing down everything you can remember in 12 minutes. Finally, refer to your study materials to check your work and add any important details you missed.
- Utilize spaced repetition. Spaced repetition is when a learner reviews course content throughout a learning experience with the time between each study session gradually increasing. To do this, access the interactive games in your Online Study Group With Instructor Support for a module several times. Use the interactive games directly after completing a module and reattempt them three days later, after a week has passed, after a month has passed and when you’re conducting a final comprehensive review to prepare for your CEBS exam.
If you have any questions about Study Materials or CEBS exams, please reach out to our CEBS Customer Service team at cancebs@ifebp.org for assistance with the Canadian curriculum or cebs@ifebp.org for assistance with the U.S. curriculum.
