You just found out about your test in three days and cram consistently, spending all nighters and living off of gatorade and coffee. But when your test results come back in, they're not what you've hoped for. That's simply because you've been putting your energy into the wrong place. Learning to study in a way that's smarter allows us to be aware of our own studying techniques and utilize them to our advantage, decreasing the time and energy spent. Here are some tips on how to study smarter, not harder!
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Learn From your Old Mistakes
If you find yourself constantly missing a type of problem, then make sure to completely understand what you are doing wrong before you move on. If you simply look over the answer key without actually understanding your mistake, you're more likely to make it again. Keeping track of problems you have had difficulty with would also be incredibly helpful when it comes time to take the exam or test for that chapter. That way, you have a way to identify what you were struggling with.
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Prioritize
This ties in to the previous tip, but prioritize your studying. There are two ways you can choose to prioritize:
Material: If you know that a certain topic is going to be about 60% of the test and another is only 20%, then spend more time on the topic that is 60% of the test as it's the majority. This is incredibly helpful when you are cramming or are on a time crunch since it allows you to prioritize the material that is going to be frequently tested upon.
Strengths and Weaknesses: Similar to the previous tip, prioritizing your weaknesses would be beneficial as it would help to gain a higher understanding of the content. Instead of focusing on the stuff you already know, use your time to study those parts that are confusing you. This may seem like a basic concept, but it's easy to engage our brains with useless content that we already know to create an illusion to ourselves that we are being productive when, in reality, we're simply wasting our time.
To gain the most out of this strategy, I would recommend using both ways together. Look at your weaknesses and improve upon them, but if they don't take up a majority of the test then prioritize it later.
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Stay Organized
The biggest time waster is spending 1 hour trying to find your notes, only to find them underneath your bed. Staying organized can not only save time but make studying a lot easier and effective. Some simple ways to organize your material are to:
Use folders/binders: Depending on your subject, you should always use some sort of folder or binder to keep track of all of the worksheets you are receiving. If there are certain chapters that have a lot of content, try using a binder with dividers to organize each chapter separately.
Make folders on Google Drive: If you do majority of your work online or take notes on your computer, organize the material by making folders in google drive and assigning them to each class, making the content easier to locate when it's time to study.
How to make folders in google drive:
go to google drive
click "New"
choose "New Folder"
Title the folder with the name of your class (ex. Chemistry)
To put the material in the folder, click on the folder on the top left corner that says "move" and choose the folder for the corresponding class
Have a designated area: Use a specific area in your room to keep all of your study material organized, preferably around your desk so that you can have easy access to them.
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Active over Passive
Instead of simply going through the flashcards mindlessly or skimming through a textbook, utilize active study techniques. These allow you to remain focused and engaged on the topics that you are attempting to recall and understand. Some would include:
Teaching: A really effective way to understand your content and test your knowledge is to see if you can explain it to somebody who doesn't know anything about the subject. That would ensure that you grasp it well enough to teach someone in simpler terms and methods.
Brain Dump: Write down all the information that you can remember about a certain topic on a piece of paper (you can go by chapters if you are studying for a unit test- writing down everything you remember from a unit can be challenging and would defeat the purpose of this exercise). Then, look back at your notes to see what information you have missed. Use another colored utensil to write down the information you missed. This allows you to actively recall the things you already know and make you aware of what you don't.
Repetition: If it's a subject in which you have multiple questions (I'm talking to you math), then repetition is your best friend. The best way to understand these problems is to figure out the pattern. That can only be done once you've done a certain number of questions. Aim for at least 15 questions- if you feel they're too easy, move on; if they seem difficult, then add on more questions to practice.
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All of these tools can be used to create a study schedule to help you achieve you academic goals. Remember, if you're spending all this time on studying, then make sure you're studying the right thing the right way. Good luck!