Studying should be a marathon, not a sprint, and so we are happy to support this best practice of taking breaks through the app. We don’t want students to burn out as they study. Research shows that taking breaks helps you stay fresh and focused for longer. In true Pomodoro style, we also included a prompt for a 5 minute break after each study session. It is also great for staying focused on work beyond studying for your standardized exam! We also included a “General Study” option, which is the traditional 25-minute Pomodoro style increment, for when you want to read or study outside of a practice session. When you first open the app, we ask what tests you are interested in studying for, and then we display those exam options on your home page. So, we created timers for all of the exams that we currently support. GRE, GMAT, MCAT, TOEFL, LSAT and IELTS students all also want to stay focused and on-pace during their practice sessions. We also decided that this app would be useful for all of our students, not just high school students. So, we designed the timer to countdown from the time that you would get on that exam section, much like a mobile exam proctor. Students need to stay focused for the full duration of the exam-section. We also decided that 25-minute increments were fine for one-off study sessions or staying focused at work, but studying for a standardized exam is different. So we found a design for a circular timer UI that is as mesmerizing as it is effective. Students liked it, but wanted something more visual. We built the idea into a prototype as a very basic countdown timer and called the feature “Study mode”. When our team started to think about new apps that we could build for our ACT Magoosh students, a Pomodoro-style app became one of our favorite ideas. By the end of the day, I had a similar level of energy that I had earlier in the day. The app encouraged me to really stay focused for 25 minutes and then take a true break for 5 minutes. I tend to concentrate and be ‘in the zone’ for about 2 hours straight, and then burn out by the end of the day. It was easy to use and made me aware of how I spent time at work. I started using a Pomodoro style app called Tide a few months ago and fell in love. (The name is actually a derivative of tomato.) In the past few years, several apps have come to market capitalizing on this technique by enabling the user to set 25-minute segments of time, and then encouraging them to take a break afterwards. It was invented by an Italian student who used a tomato shaped kitchen timer to time himself in 25-minute increments as he studied. Pomodoro is productivity technique that has been around for decades. Magoosh has amazing content that will improve your test score, but in order for it to be effective, you have to carve out the time and stay dedicated and motivated to do so. They are already in school, or at jobs, and so it is challenging to make time for studying. It is no secret that students have a lot to do besides study.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |