Best Studying Techniques & Tips

Exams and assessments are really stressful so it’s important to know exactly how to make the most out of your time to do well in them! I know that I do get really nervous but doing everything in the list below has helped calm my nerves down before every exam and leaves me feeling completely prepared!

This was a scientific study done by some researchers and they found that the most common ways of studying are actually the least effective out of all.

L e a s t  E f f e c t i v e

1. Highlighting — including underlining textbooks and other materials
2. Rereading
3. Summarisation
4. Keyword mnemonics — the use of keywords and mnemonics to help remind students of course material
5. Imagery use for text learning — creating mental images to remind students of material

M o d e r a t e l y  E f f e c t i v e

1. Elaborative interrogation — uses “why” questions to get students to make connections between new and old material.
2. Self-explanation — prompting students to provide their own explanations for problems while learning material
3. Interleaved practice — mixing different kinds of problems or material in one study session

H i g h l y  E f f e c t i v e

1. Practice testing — any form that allows students to test themselves, including using actual or virtual flashcards, doing problems or questions at the end of textbook chapters, or taking practice tests.
2. Distributed practice — studying material over a number of relatively short sessions. Studying in 30 to 50 minute intervals with 10 minute breaks in between is the most effective way to retain information!

♡ Use page tabs when studying textbooks. This will make it so much more convenient for you to access certain topics and information, especially when it comes to later in a term or semester when you would have covered so much information that you forget where it is in the book!

♡ This may not be for everyone but for me, using colour helps a lot! I like to colour coordinate my notes so that it is more visually appealing to read. If it’s all monochromatic, I find that it looks incredibly boring and I will not want to look at it! =P

♡ Prepare stationery and extra equipment the night before! Make sure you bring extra pens and pencils in case they run out during an exam. A calculator is also a must for certain subjects so make sure you remember to bring it if it’s necessary!

♡ Get a good night’s rest! Your brain actually retains information better during sleep so it’s important that you don’t do an all nighter the day before an exam! Make sure you start studying earlier so you don’t need to and you will be able to sleep better knowing that you’ve prepared in advance

♡ Eat good food during the day leading up to your exam! Your mind needs fuel to function just like the rest of your body does and it’s important to provide your body with the proper nutrients it needs to work at its best!

♡ Don’t cram information into your head right before it’s time to enter an examination room (or even just for studying in general)! It can make you feel even more nervous and can cause doubts that you won’t be able to remember anything during the exam

♡ Take a deep breath and relax! You have studied as hard as you can and that is the best you can do! =)

I hope you found this post helpful! Study hard and ace your assessments!