How I study
I start studying two/three weeks before the exam and here’s what I do:
1. I use powerpoints from teachers and notes I’ve made in class and do 45 minutes of study with a ten minute break and I condense the material into what I really need to learn, covering topics with my hand, reciting as much as I know about the topic before checking the answer. I do this guess and check several times throughout the study session.
2. I record myself speaking from notes about topics and I listen and recite definitions, terminology, names and dates as I listen. I play this commuting, walking to my next class, any chance I get.
3. I don’t cover topics only once, I do a major sweep and study of a topic at once then guess and check a few days later to reinforce the long term memory.
4. I create heaps of notes for entire topics + subtopics included in one day then, once I’ve completed my notes for all the topics, I go back and I condense these notes (I have another post on how I dedicate my study time)
5. If I’m studying at home I actively study by saying important things/definitions/etc. out loud, several times. Then I cover the definition and recite it, once more from memory. It’s one thing to recognise something, it’s another to fully understand it and memorise.
6. If it’s math, I DO ALL THE QUESTIONS IN THE CHAPTER! math is so easy to breeze over thinking you know the material but when it comes to the test, you’re left thinking “how do I do this?” and that’s because you RECOGNISE the material but you haven’t UNDERSTOOD. it’s very easy to mistake the two. There’s no skimping out, it takes practice.
7. I study every day and aim to know everything two days before the exam, this leaves me with time incase I’ve accidentally missed something important and I can focus on that. Two days before the test I don’t study. I revise. I go over all the stuff I know, all the stuff from my notes and test myself.
and that’s it! you don’t have to do all this stuff but I hope that it helps! but also know that my learning method won’t work for everyone, it just works for me :D
