If you’re a visual learner, consider using color-coded sections in your study guides or using idea mapping to draw out the information and make it more quickly-accessible. If you’ve got a linear mind, organize the information chronologically, or alphabetically, so you can make learn one thing in a series, and then move on to the next. If you need to connect to information emotionally to understand it, organize your notes into narrative form to study it better. Translate concepts from math into a story that you can connect to, then organize your study-guide like a short-story you can recite to remember the application of the formulas. If you can memorize information quickly, use a format that will help you memorize efficiently, whether it be recording yourself reciting vocab words and definitions, then listening back on your iPod throughout the day, or by creating flash cards and testing yourself regularly.
An example of a concept map for a history chapter on space flight might involve “The Space Race” as the main heading, which would branch off into separate categories for The United States and the Soviet Union, with trailing data about specific missions, projects, successes, and failures. A formal outline, as you’re sometimes expected to write for an essay assignment, is an example of a concept map. If outlining works for you and organizes information in a way you find useful, outline the info to study. Formal outlines can make excellent study guides, but only if you find them easy to write out. If it would be stressful to make one, find another solution. Diagrams of technical information can help to visually represent processes or procedures that take place by way of a series of defined steps. These start with a main concept and are organized from left to right in a way that highlights important key factors in the order in which they must happen. Timelines are good for outlining a series of chronological events, most often used for subjects like history, politics, and biology. When you’re studying, it can be helpful to prioritize studying broad facts, formulas, and concepts, and the relationships between them. Then, it will be easier to remember things like historical dates, names, and other details. [3] X Expert Source Ted Coopersmith, MBAAcademic Tutor Expert Interview. 10 July 2020.
For example, a comparison chart collecting different plant species might have the names of various plants in different column headers, with the plants’ kingdom, family and genus in rows underneath. This will help organize the information for quick comparison and review. You could also make use of comparison charts when you’re studying literature, setting up different characters in a novel in different columns, with attributes or other information under each. Likewise, information from two different novels might be nicely organized in a comparison table like this.
Write 1 key concept on the front of each index card and then, on the back of the cards, write whatever fact(s) you’d like to associate with the key concepts. Cycle through the cards yourself, or have someone quiz you using the cards. To make sure you’ve really got things memorized, go forwards and backwards, starting with the front of the card, then with the back. This works especially well for foreign language vocabulary.
Use your study materials to help you write the questions. Try to think of it in terms of what an instructor might ask you, then write out the answer to those questions the way you would on your test. [7] X Expert Source Ted Coopersmith, MBAAcademic Tutor Expert Interview. 10 July 2020. Many teachers will be willing to provide old versions of the test, if they’re available, for you to use as a study guide. Textbooks will often include sample tests that are an excellent way of studying. [8] X Expert Source Jake AdamsAcademic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist Expert Interview. 20 May 2020. While it may seem extra-stressful to take the test more than once, it can be a great way of studying, and might even clue you into which questions will be on the test. If you’re studying with another student from your class, set aside some time for each of you to make up an exam. Then, trade the exams with each other and try to answer each other’s questions. That way, you’ll be more sure you haven’t glossed over anything important. [9] X Expert Source Ted Coopersmith, MBAAcademic Tutor Expert Interview. 10 July 2020.
Some students find that re-writing notes and organizing the information into hand-written study guides forces your mind to connect more physically with the information when compared with typing. While rote recopying of notes has no effect on memory, actively reading and rewriting information can help you double-up on the studying: you’ve read through the info once when reading, and again, when writing. Alternatively, if you struggle with hard-to-read handwriting, or simply prefer working on the computer, feel free to type out your study guide, make it as graphically-interesting as you want, and print out copies, or read through it on your mobile device.
Some courses are cumulative, meaning the information and skills in class accumulate over the course of the semester, while some courses wait to test over all the material until the final examination, testing instead over isolated topics or chapters. Make sure to ask your teacher about the specific content on the upcoming exam for which you’re studying, and only study that information. [11] X Expert Source Jake AdamsAcademic Tutor & Test Prep Specialist Expert Interview. 20 May 2020. When in doubt about what to study, emphasize studying new information or skills. While teachers’ may delight in throwing an old question at you to test your memory, it’s more likely you’ll only be tested over the most recent chapters, lectures, and information. Most teachers don’t want to trick you.
Re-read materials to isolate the main ideas to include in your study guide. When reviewing, it’s probably not necessary to read every word of a particular chapter. Instead, scan for the main concepts to remind yourself and mark this information for inclusion on your study guide. This, in itself, makes for a good first step in reviewing for a test. Look for chapter review or study questions to guide the content of your study guide. If a textbook lists possible questions or comprehension checks, copy them into your notes to include in your study guide. Even if the teacher doesn’t base tests on the textbook, knowing the information extra thoroughly is an excellent way to review for the questions that might be asked.
Sometimes, notes taken in class can be messy, confusing, and otherwise difficult to review, making a study-guide more like an all-inclusive and clean version of your class notes. Save a bit of time for recopying, not word-for-word, but taking the main concepts and important ideas the teacher discussed, from your notes. Translate them into a concise set for your study guide. If you’re not a great note-taker, ask a classmate if you might review their notes, being extra careful to care for them and return them in a timely manner. Return the favor in the future by taking closer notes and letting your friend use them for review.
If you’re studying for a final exam, be sure to collect your previous tests, study guides, and handouts. These can make for excellent study guides.
When reviewing for math or science, make sure to have necessary formulas memorized, if need be, but make applying those formulas the more important study-focus. Understand how to use the formula, and when to use it. The concept behind the formula is more important than the formula itself. This goes, as well, for physics, chemistry, or other science courses, in which it’s helpful to create practical examples that apply the material to real-life situations. When reviewing for English, make sure you know all the characters names in the book you’ll be tested over, but focus more on the plot, the significance of the story, and other themes in the reading, rather than specific details. If you have to refer to “the main character’s sister” in an essay test, because you forgot the name, it won’t matter much if your essay is thoughtful and well-written otherwise. When reviewing for History, it’s common to spend a considerable amount of time memorizing key facts and vocabulary words, but it’s also important to understand the themes of the period of history you’re studying, and the reason those facts are important. Understand the relationship between all the names and dates, and you’ll be in even better shape.
Identify, explain and demonstrate the relationships between ideas and concepts in sub-steps on your study-guide, or by grouping your study guides into linked packets of info that you can study together. If you’re reviewing for a history final, it might make sense to bind all the war sections into one study-group, or all the information on various presidents, to look for the common themes.
Pull out your study guide on the bus, or while you’re watching TV, and just flip through it. The more often you do “hospital rounds” of the testing information, the closer you’ll be to memorizing it.
If you struggle with stress anxiety and tend to panic before tests, it can be an especially good idea to get ahead of the game and set deadlines for particular chapters or topics. If you know that you’ve got to cover the first two chapters this week, before moving on to 3 and 4 the following week, it means you’ll have a whole week to devote to that time, and you won’t be able to stress about what’s in 3 and 4 until later. Put your studies in different compartments, and only focus on one at a time. Don’t switch back and forth between five different subjects until you’ve studied for one and completed it. [18] X Research source
