The major goal of every student around the world is to get good or even excellent grades. However, to many this seems possible but far out of reach. What differs the successful ones from those who aren’t are the different study strategies applied. This article covers the most effective Study techniques that each student can apply for effective study and a chance at hitting their academic goals.
1. Teach What You Learn
Have you heard of a saying in school that what you teach others you master? Yes, that’s right. Statistically, all students who take the step to explain different education concepts to their peers end up understanding the information more. This is because as you pass on the knowledge to others, the mind’s able to bridge any gaps in the knowledge. It is alos able to develop a deeper understanding of the content.
Some of the most effective ways to apply this concept in school are; teaching fellow students in a class group, explaining to your study buddy or even reading the information aloud to yourself.
2. Practice with past exams and past papers
Have you heard of the saying that nothing under the sun is new? Yes, that’s also right and can be applied in school. One of the best and most effective ways to prepare for any set of exams be it tests or final papers is going through a set of past papers from previous years and semesters. This helps you see how the questions are set in different topics and also prepares you on how to answer the questions.
Past papers and tests can be obtained from the institution’s library or personnel in charge of exams for the specific colleges. Question banks can be obtained from book shops.
3. Utilizing the concept of Summarizing
A summary can also be called and abstract. It covers all the information contained in any piece either specific topic or all the information but when someone gores through a summary, they can relate tot the whole picture behind. This is an effective study technique as the summary acts a s a prompt. Lets say you create a summary of all the trigonometrical equations in Mathematics. This helps you easily solve any trigonometry number since you will know all the methods required. Summarizing also helps build organization as most of the time all the information is organized together.
4. Practice the Concept of Self Testing
This concept of self testing or active recall implies that instead of re-reading your notes all over and over again, test yourself. This can be down through challenging yourself to write down everything you remember or utilize some online quiz platforms. This concept helps build your memory retention time as you challenge it to remember instead of just passively review the study material.
5. Set SMART Goals
In 1981, George T Doran, a former Director of Washington Power Company quoted “There is a SMART way to write Management Goals”. From that time, this concept has been widely applied in many levels of management. It has also proven to be a concept that can maximize productivity.
SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant,and Time Bound Goals. This system can be applied to one’s study sessions.
A real time example of this concept is instead of saying that you will study Mathematics in today’s preps or study session, say that you are going to cover one topic per hour. Make the goal more specific and keep it time bound and achievable.
6. Build Focus through Eliminating Multi Tasking
Have you heard the saying that a man who chases two rabbits catches none? Yes, the same concept applies in academics. That saying means that when you serve two masters at a go, you are most definitely likely to fail. Doing multiple activities while studying, for example watching the tv or scrolling through Instagram feeds, lowers the brain’s focus and its ability to comprehend. Create specific study sessions and wholly commit or lock in to maximize all the time you have. This can help better your results as the mind will be set up for better concentration hence higher chances of information retention.
7. Utilize mind prompting tricks
Have you ever been stuck in a paper and then when one word clicks the whole information flows? If yes or no, that is how these memory prompting techniques work. Instead of having to remember different concepts all at once, you can use rhymes or acronyms to memorize difficult concepts. This makes learning more entertaining and fun.
An example of one is “Having Henry Loved Brenda But Could Not Offer Full Milk. So Mary And Simon Played Soccer Continuously And People Complained. This is an example of a Rhyme that stands for the 1st 20 elements on the Periodic table. Students use it to recall the Periodic Table. You can also find a way of utilizing this idea to recall key points in your notes.
8. Eat Well and Hydrate
One of the most undermined study preparation techniques is eating well and drinking enough water. Since learning involves constant brain activity, it is important to always carry brain boosting snacks while going for study sessions. For example, chocolates and water. They help keep the brain fresh while studying.
9. Have enough sleep
Instead of reading to cram, read to understand and remember. Just like muscle building, the brain also needs some rest time to interpret and remember difficult study material. Students should aim for a minimum of 8 hours of sleep to give the brain enough time to operate after as study session.
10. Mixing Study Subjects
An effective way of doing long self study sessions without getting bored is mixing up study subjects. You can divide them in smaller manageable chunks to avoid boredom and keep the mind active. Lets say you planned to read for three hours today, you can budget your time and read Mathematics for One Hour, English for another and Science for another. Since each subject is independent, this rewires the brain as it starts getting bored and peaks its performance again.
Conclusion
The above are some of the proven techniques that you can apply to your study sessions to boost results and performance. Some of the other techniques that can help include the utilization of audio leaning, asking teachers and fellow students questions and many others. Do you know of any effective technique that has helped you in the past? Feel free to share with our community in the comment section below.
