It’s common knowledge that you can study almost anything these days, from taxonomy to Taylor Swift, but what’s less well known is how to study. Yet beginning a course of study with little regard to the studying method could mean the difference between flunking an exam and passing with flying colours.
So in observance of International Day of Education, we’ve been burning the midnight oil to bring you these top study tips to make your learning more productive and help turn you into a super studier.
1. Know the score
Find out as much as you can about the exam in advance. What topics will it cover? How many questions will there be? How much time will you be given to complete the exam? The more you know about it, the better prepared you will be and the more focused you can be in your studies.
2. Stick to a routine
Studying can be a hard slog, so having a routine can be a way of keeping you on track. If it helps, have a set time and place to study, and let other people know when your study time is so you don’t get disturbed or distracted.
3. Start early
The time allocated for you to complete your course should allow you to thoroughly learn and review all material without having to rush or cut corners. Delaying the start time is just putting undue pressure on yourself. The sooner you knuckle down, the better chance you’ll give yourself.
4. Break it up
As the brain can only absorb a certain amount of information at a time, it’s far better to spread out your studying rather than trying to cram it all in at once. By spacing it out, you’ll allow the new material to properly sink in and avoid any wasted learning time.
5. Practise
The only reliable way to know how well prepared you are for the exam you’re working towards is to face the real thing, so go through some dummy runs with sample tests or past papers. Research shows that students who take practise tests during the weeks leading up to their exams achieve much more favourable scores.
6. Keep yourself on your toes
If you keeping studying in the exact same way, your brain becomes lazy and your attention span shortens. So mix things up and be creative with your learning. Find different ways to test yourself on what you’ve learnt so far, such as by covering up answers or rewriting material in your own words. Interleaving – combining different topics or forms of learning – has proven to be a particularly effective study method. For example, if you have to learn about different animal species, then examining the similarities and differences between them can be a good way of strengthening your knowledge of those species.
7. Learn visually
Images are a great aid to learning. In a 2003 study, students given study material accompanied by drawings fared better in a test than students who had a text-only version. So sketch away or use clippings from magazines or the internet – anything that forms a more complete learning picture.
8. Look for examples
Concretise any abstract concepts you learn about. For example, if you’re studying the nutritive properties of vitamins and minerals, then associating them with the foods that contain them will be far more meaningful and will serve as a useful memory aid.
9. Question things
Laboriously committing reams of facts to memory without pausing to really digest them is invariably counterproductive. Question the information you’re presented with. Does it make sense to you? Could you confidently explain it to somebody if you had to? Taking a more active approach to learning gives you a much surer foundation and improves learning retention.
10. Stay in condition
Studying places extra demands on the brain, which in turn can take a toll on your physical health. Throughout your studies, and especially in the run-up to the exam, pay extra attention to your wellbeing. Get enough sleep, stay hydrated and make sure you follow a healthy diet. Find out which foods sustain you and which to avoid so you achieve optimal health and energy and can stay in peak condition. Pace yourself and give yourself the occasional time off. Above all, try your best to enjoy your studies, for the whole learning experience and for the extra knowledge it’s giving you.
Good luck and happy studying!
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