Study, study, study… it’s what students do almost every day of their life. And, if they aren’t studying, then they are worried about when they have to start studying again after their short break. Unfortunately, that is just the way of the student. There are good and bad ways to study though. If you are a student who wants to improve your grades, then there are simple tricks and tips to keep in mind that will not only improve your grades, but possibly make your own studying habits a little simpler on yourself.
Overall, it comes down to planning. Think ahead a little bit and try out these 7 things to help improve your study skills and, ultimately, your grades.
#1 Get Rest
Although this has been gone over many times, it is never said enough – Get enough rest before you go to school. Showing up to school tired means that you are not focused on the material that your teacher is lecturing or on what you are reading. If you are having trouble focusing in class while you yawn every ten minutes or more, chances are that you are not getting enough sleep during the night. If you are still skeptical on the importance of getting sleep, there is an entire blog on Eduify that is dedicated to the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation.
#2 Eat Before an Exam, (but don’t drink much)
Food is fuel. When people do not eat properly they become tired, weak, and grumpy. None of those symptoms of hunger are conducive to proper concentration while you try to study or attend class. If you are in class and you stomach is grumbling because you skipped breakfast again, you are going to end up daydreaming about food rather than listen to the lecture. Do yourself a favor and eat something that will tide you over while attending class. However, you may not want to drink anything in excess. The feeling of a full bladder and needing to run to the bathroom in the middle of class can be just as distracting as an empty stomach.
#3 Arrive to Class Early
When students are showing up to class late they are often out of breath or are interrupting the instructor’s lesson. A late entrance not only distracts the students, but it distracts the teacher, which is no way to get on a teacher’s good side. Being late also means that you have missed some material that was first given in the beginning of class, which may leave you a bit frazzled and possibly missing even more information as you ask a fellow student, “What did I miss?” I recommend showing up five or ten minutes early to class, so you have time to take your seat and set up your books without disturbing anyone with your backpack’s zipper or adjustments of your chair. An early student is prepared and in a ready state-of-mind to be taught.
#4 Make Flash Cards
Many students make flash cards when they are preparing for a test. I suggest making flash cards even before your test. Make early preparations for your test. If there is some information that you feel will be difficult to remember, you should put it on a flash card, that way when it is time to take your test, most of your flashcards will already be set for you, which should make you more relaxed than having to prepare cards last minute for your test.
#5 Record Lectures
If you happen to have a teacher who goes over material quickly or does not seem to stay on a topic long enough for you in class, ask the instructor if he or she would mind that you record the lecture. With a copy of the lecture in your pocket, you can later rewind and listen to any important parts that you may have missed jotting down in your notes. Most teachers do allow students to bring a recorder in to class, as long as they are warned ahead of time. It is not ethical to record a person talking who is not aware of it, so be sure to ask your teacher for permission before doing so.
#6 Read the Material after the Lecture
It may seem simple, but there are far too many students who only listen to the teacher lecture over a subject, but never actually read the material in the book. After the lecture, make time to read over the same material your instructor went over. Going over a lesson twice will help solidify the information in your memory better.
#7 Discuss Material with Friends
Although most students do not want to talk about their homework, having a discussion about the material you are studying is a great way to help remember information. If you are reading something confusing or interesting, relay that exact information to a friend or family member. When you force yourself to repeat the material and think about the topics in a conversation, you help yourself remember the information better. Since I had trouble remembering dates in history, I used to spout off facts to my brother with, “Did you know…?” He would usually roll his eyes or ignore me because he didn’t want a history lesson, but I just continued talking at him and it was a lot of help for me to remember the facts easier.
So you need to pull an all-nighter because you’ve played video games all week instead of writing your term paper, plus you have four tests tomorrow (none of which you’ve studied for), and it’s now 8PM and you’re in a daze, freaking out, and feeling like you’re going to have a heart attack because you have no idea how to tackle the intense studying and writing that await your attention the night ahead and you have no idea how to get out of it alive?
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It’s 9:00 AM, and the final bell begins to ring. You barely slept the night before in preparation for today’s exam. You wait anxiously in your seat, and your palms are already starting to sweat furiously. You glance at your teacher, sitting in the front of the classroom, who is busy pulling something out of her desk. A horrible feeling gushes through you: something like a mix between fear and dread. Before you even see what is in your teacher’s hand, you already know what it is — and you suddenly realize that your worst nightmare on Earth has just become reality. In your teacher’s hand is a stack of objects which signify to you everything that is insipid, unnecessary, and evil in the world. Your teacher is walking toward you with a stack of blue books in her hand. As if dreaming, you rise from your seat, walk over to the row of windows at the back of the room, and throw yourself out of one. Defenestrate, incidentally, has always been your favorite S.A.T. word.
Had you conquered your fear of the essay test (and had you paid more attention in science class to Newtonian laws of physics), you would not have participated in an act of defenestration.
The essay test is one of the most challenging exams for students, largely because you never know what to expect. Writing essays is a difficult endeavor in its own right, but with the time constraints and ‘element of surprise’ that go into essay tests, the whole situation becomes even more challenging. But if you learn some basic strategies for taking essay tests, you will soon realize that they aren’t really as noxious as everyone seems to think. There are techniques that you can use to ace this dreaded exam, and all that is required is a little foresight and organization. By learning these 10 tips for taking essay tests, you’ll score higher on your tests, write better papers, and sleep a lot easier the night before your exam.
10. Prepare for the exam. Essay tests are infinitely easier if you go into them with knowledge of the topics that are going to be covered. In my opinion, essay tests are actually easier than multiple choice exams, because while you need to know the ‘broad picture’ of what you studied, you don’t need to memorize every specific detail of your subject.
9. Understand the question. Before you do anything, read the essay question three times. Seriously. I can’t tell you how many great essays I wrote that missed points because I failed to answer the entire question. If the question is, “Why is the television show LOST so confusing and why did you stop caring after the third season?” and you give a persuasive answer of why the show is confusing, but you forget to say why you stopped caring after the third season, you’ve probably lost more than a few points (bad pun, sorry).
8. Write a clear thesis. Essay exams test your analytical skills rather than your memorization. Your teacher wants to see you assess the question, respond critically with a sound thesis, and provide a persuasive, analytical discussion of ideas that validates your thesis.
7. Outline everything before you begin. It helps you stay organized if you take the time, before you start writing, to outline what you’re going to say.
6. Keep your introduction short and to-the-point. Because of time restrictions, it’s silly to waste time writing a long and involved introduction when the real intention should go to the heart of the matter: the argument.
5. Stay on track with your subject. There is no greater time-drain than a tangent. Nor is there anything more annoying to the reader than when the writer veers wildly off topic.
4. Examine one new idea in each paragraph. Think of paragraphs as separate little arguments, each with a strong central point. If you stick to one idea per paragraph, the reader knows where you’re going with the paper, and your writing will be clearer and more organized.
3. Keep track of time. There is no worse feeling than when the bell rings and you’re not done with your essay. Your teacher has another class coming in, and trust me, she’s not going to wait around for you to finish. She’ll kick your butt outta class as soon as the test is done.
2. Include specific details in your writing. You can’t prove an argument without providing facts. Knowing your facts, and displaying them prominently, not only makes your paper stronger, but it will impress whoever is grading your paper.
1. Proofread your entire paper at least once before you hand it in. I know it’s annoying, and you want to get that dreaded blue book out of your hands as soon as possible. But take a chill pill and set aside a minute or two to read through your paper again. You’ll be surprised how many mistakes you can catch in the second go-over.
