If you do not know how to study effectively for exams, the first thing you have to keep in mind is that you have to be fast. Your first step will be fundamental. That is why it is necessary that you make summaries or diagrams of the agenda to have a general idea of all the content.
This will also allow you to choose what you really need to study and mentally organize each part of the syllabus to identify possible answers to the questions that might appear on the exam. Keep reading: How to study better and faster
How to study effectively for exams?
It is important that you highlight key concepts, such as definitions or formulas. If it is not possible to learn them by heart, write them on another sheet or in any place that allows you to identify the main points to remember.
Study efficiently
It is not easy to know how to study a lot of topics in a short time. It is clear that the night before you will not be able to study all the content of the exam, so it is essential that you study efficiently and that you select the material likely to fall on the test. You must locate the most important topics or points and think about what kind of questions could enter the exam.
Not everything will depend on you, because your success or failure will also depend on the luck you have with the topics that the teacher decides to include in the exam. However, if you are able to identify the key issues, you will have more chances of achieving a good score.
Take a quick review
At this point, it is essential to absorb all the information that you have previously organized. Ask yourself questions to know if you have memorized the syllabus correctly and focus on the content that you know the worst.
It is also recommended that you take a test exam with the questions that may enter. This will help you evaluate if you are able to answer the most important part of the exam and to check to which areas of study you should spend more time.
Read in a loud voice
This technique is one of the most followed by students. Many say it helps them to memorize information better. Although each person has their tricks, oblige at least to try it.
In all the exams, there is a part of the syllabus that is impossible to study if it is not memorized. That is why it is crucial that you manage some memorization techniques that facilitate this task.
Mnemonics is a technique that involves relating words to remember something easily. For example, use the first letter of a word list to form an acronym.
Other memorization techniques are rhymes, similar words or the creation of stories to understand the content in a more entertaining way. This is one trick to studying history most frequently. It comes to studying for an exam the day before.
Eliminate distractions
Although it is practically impossible, you must get away from the computer, mobile phone and other distractions that you may have. If you have little time to study, do not make it shrink further.
Contrary to what many people think, staying up all night to study is not a good idea. If you hold up all night, it will be easier for you on the day of the exam to make absurd mistakes as a result of fatigue.
Although you cannot sleep much, it is important that you can do it for a while. The best thing you can do is study before going to bed and wake up very early in the morning to continue before going to the exam.
In addition, you should take breaks of five or ten minutes each hour of study. This will help you clear your mind and allow you to gather strength to continue. Take a soft and balanced breakfast. Having an empty stomach or too full will not help you when you take the test.
You should have a soft breakfast that contains some protein and fiber. In addition, there are foods such as blueberries or nuts that increase brain function and that can come with pearls to face the test.
Before going to the exam, it is important that you take time to review the most important concepts or those in which you have more difficulty. The objective is to have a fresh agenda before entering the exam.
Arrives relaxed and with time to spare
Once arrived at the moment, go to the exam room with plenty of time to go calm and as relaxed as possible. Before entering visit the toilet, drink water and do everything you need so that once inside you have no more worries.
The ideal is to prepare for an exam knowing the date of evaluation. This way, the time will be used to properly fix the contents, which will affect the peace of mind that we have during the test. But that is not always the case. It may be that, among so many obligations, the work accumulates and we arrive at the day before the exam without having been able to study anything at all. At this point, you have to throw away tips and tricks to prepare your exams effectively and approve that they will allow you to be efficient in the little time left.
You have to find a place suitable for study and quiet. Therefore, no noise or distractions such as television or people talking. The best ally of absolute concentration is silence.
Prepare all the books. Once we are in that comfortable and quiet space, all the notes, books, and materials necessary to pass the exam must be taken out.
This time a little more leisurely. Here it is recommended to write down all the concepts that are considered essential to cover the topic. It is also useful to write the keywords and make conceptual maps or schemes that allow organizing the ideas well. In addition, we must consider that when the ideas are written, they can be internalized much more easily.
Make annotations
You have to take notes, evaluate them, and select the most important ones. In this task, we can help the notes we have made in class. Teachers usually refer to these elements during the lesson. If we have not attended classes, it is best to ask for a notebook from a classmate. And if that is not possible, we will have to make a selection exercise based on what we have previously read.
Think about possible exam questions
A good exercise to prepare for an exam is to think about the questions that might come up in the exam. It can also help if we know someone who has seen classes with that teacher, and who can give us some idea about the style of the evaluations. If that is difficult, we can tell a colleague to ask us questions about the issue to assess if we have really understood.
It is advisable to eat well the night before the test and try to get enough sleep. If we stay awake, it can be very dangerous, because if we do not rest our brains will not be ready to face the moment of stress.
Although some people do not work, there are those who consider it useful to quickly read the notes before entering the exam or talk about it with colleagues to clear up any last-minute questions.