How much does studying actually impact on your results? (1 Viewer)

[Tacenda]

Stupid question to ask as everyone knows studying will improve your results.
But just out of curiosity and complete boredom.
Does anyone actually know how much effect does not studying and actually studying will have on your results?
For example
Lets say two people attempt the same exam, they have the same capabilities and their results have always been the same
Person One DOES NOT STUDY for the Exam. Person Two DOES.
What would the results actually be? Given that the exam was out of 100.
Are there any research regarding this? Any Statistics?

 

[Precipire]

Stupid question to ask as everyone knows studying will improve your results.
But just out of curiosity and complete boredom.
Does anyone actually know how much effect does not studying and actually studying will have on your results?
For example
Lets say two people attempt the same exam, they have the same capabilities and their results have always been the same
Person One DOES NOT STUDY for the Exam. Person Two DOES.
What would the results actually be? Given that the exam was out of 100.
Are there any research regarding this? Any Statistics?

At my school we had a company who specializes in this sort of stuff come in to tell us. We were told to think of studying like a bell curve on a graph. The person who studies more will have the advantage but not if all they do is study. There is a sweet spot in-between which is where you want to sit.

 

[notthedevil]

I don't have real statistics from any research or whatever, but I can tell you from personal experience that implementing a regular study routine that fit my schedule, from Year 11 up to my last HSC exam, improved my grades drastically compared to junior school. I would say that my grades hovered around the 65-75% range on average, throughout junior school, specifically during Year 10. However, after studying regularly and improving on my tests and whatnot, my Year 12 Trial HSC exam grades ranged between 94-99%, nothing lower.

ALTHOUGH, I cannot stress enough that your results actually come from doing the exam to the best of your ability. So, no matter how much you study, the exam could throw off, you could be having a rough day, whatever, just keep that in mind. Also, in a subject like English, I would try very very hard, and would sometimes end up with an essay in the low 70s, with my peers not having read the text or studied really at all, and achieving 80+ in the same essay. It's stressful, but it will likely happen and it's also not a bad thing either.

Really depends on the subject, depends on how much you'll improve (I feel most drastic improvements are seen in maths as without study, you have nothing to go off of, whereas with English you can kinda make stuff up on the spot if need be for example). I say try hard but keep busy with other things as well, like friends and socialising and family time etc. Good luck hoped this helped maybe a little.

 

[fan96]

There are so many variables that affect exam performance.

Amount of study is just one of them.

 

[RyanT7]

lol wat

if the exam is based on content, then obviously it will be the most influential variable ?

 

[Trebla]

A key variable to consider is whether you understood the content from the day it is learnt or defer understanding it to the day you study. This is particularly relevant for uni where the pace of learning is much faster than high school.

If you already understood a concept in depth at the time of learning then you are more likely to get away with less study than if you didn't understand it at first but hope to do so when you do study.

A related consideration is how efficiently you study. You're more likely to get more value focusing on things you don't know well rather than trying to cover the whole course or rehash things you already know.

 

[Katsumi]

For the normal person studying should have a measurable effect on performance.

 

[WiIIiam]

look mate if you don't study you'll get a bad atar, simple as that

 

[Tacenda]

Thanks everyone for replying. But the real question is what's the difference in improvement. Given that both people have always been C grade students all their life. But Person one does not study and person two does. That's the question

 

[BlueGas]

It depends on the person. If person 1 already remembers all the information that they listened to in class, then they don't need to study. But if they don't remember what they learnt in class, then they do need to study otherwise their grades would go down.

Just out of curiosity, are you asking this question because there's another person you're competing with in class who has always achieved similar results to you?

 

[Drdusk]

I think it affects it quite a bit. In my software design and development yearly for year 11 I got 69% which really drove me to dedicate myself to studying for it and improving my problem solving ability. Now I'm predicting a mid 90's + raw(hopefully ), so yes studying really did affect my performance!

However I think the amount of study you need to put in for a subject really depends somewhat on your natural ability to understand it. For Physics I never did a single past paper, if I wanted to I would just look over the questions and I would take in the content really easily.

Then there there was 4u math's which even after doing so many papers, I'm aiming for a bare minimum E4 mark
Never was the very best at math's..

 

[BLIT2014]

Would depend on the subject/person. For most subjects, I have found studying has significantly improved my performance.

 

[sida1049]

Thanks everyone for replying. But the real question is what's the difference in improvement. Given that both people have always been C grade students all their life. But Person one does not study and person two does. That's the question

Assuming that the person who studies studies effectively and efficiently, then yeah, the difference is massive. It's the difference between failing and thriving. For example, had I not properly studied analysis this semester (a second year advanced maths course at uni), I would have failed. Badly. And I know this for a fact (it's god damn analysis and everyone knows how brutal it can be).

A more relevant example for you is the following: I never really studied for any maths exams until year 10. As a result, my maths results went down to 70% average by the beginning of year 10 (I even got a 51% once lmao). In year 10, for the half-yearly exam, I decided to actually try studying for it (by doing the few past papers provided), and I ended up almost topping that exam, so the teacher decided to move me from the second lowest (advanced) maths class to the highest maths class. And now I study advanced maths at uni.

big difference

There's really no excuse to not put your foot down and study.

 

[Trebla]

Thanks everyone for replying. But the real question is what's the difference in improvement. Given that both people have always been C grade students all their life. But Person one does not study and person two does. That's the question

It's not that simple in reality. There are other variables involved. It's not a case of study vs no study has an X% difference. You have to take into account other variables like intensity and efficiency of study, how quickly the student understands things in class or during study, the foundational/basic skills a student has from previous years, the health and well-being of the student etc...

For example, I can get away with next to no study for maths and do pretty decently, but I can never get away with that for say science. This is because there are other variables at play (e.g. I pick up maths concepts in class much more quickly than science, my basics in maths are much more solid than in science etc..)