Study Tips

As mock exams are approaching, an effective study method is especially useful in cutting down your workload and alleviating stress before tests and exams, here are some tips:

• Write stuff out: Oftentimes when students try to study they find themselves staring blankly at a textbook and not taking anything in. I'm sure we've all had those times when we just keep re-reading the same paragraph of a textbook over and over again, and let's face it, we're just not going anywhere. An easy way to avoid this is to write things out! Don't just copy the textbook, translate the key points into your own words. So when you write them down in note form, you know for sure that you've read and understood. It also helps you remember things after you've written it out a few times.
• Read first, then make notes from memory: This method doesn't work with everyone, but I find it especially useful when making revising for subjects that are heavy in reading (e.g. history). Read the textbook first so you can give your undivided attention to taking in the information, but highlight things as you go along, and then after you finish a chapter or section, write out the things you remember in note form (do this in pencil if you're writing it in your actual notes). After you're done, cross check it again with your textbook to make sure you got it right. That way, you've already processed the info a few times in your mind and have a firm impression of what you need to remember!
• Study through group discussions: One of the things I learned back when I was at boarding school is the benefit of studying in groups. Not everyone learns the same way, and for some people, studying through written notes and textbooks aren't effective at all. Therefore, it is always useful to get together with a group of friends and discuss the topics you're studying. This method works with basically any subject, whether it is conversing in your second language and testing each other on how to conjugate verbs, or debating over policies of dictators you're studying in history, or discussing the theory behind the laws you're learning in science. Group discussions not only help you remember information, it also allows you and your friends to actively help each other and ensure that you cover anything you might have missed in your own studying, as well as learn how to apply your knowledge. This is especially helpful in group 3 and 4 subjects, where you not only have to know the information, but also have to apply it to situations and in essay topics.
• Keep an organised set of notes: It's okay if you haven't got that handy right now, and it's probably not the best idea to start making a whole new set of notes a week before the exams. But if you have started making notes as part of your studies, don't throw them away! They can form a good basis for what you need when you make a complete set of notes that you will study from for the final exams. Try and organize your notes by topic and highlight important points that you definitely need to know and make sure they're easy to understand. When it comes to studying, especially when time is tight, it is often easier to read from bullet point notes than to sort out useful information from a textbook. So keep your notes organized and update them regularly.
• Set up memory cues: This is especially useful for remembering quotes for English and probably also memorisation-heavy subjects like history and psychology.  Identify key words or themes that are significant in the quotes or important information that you need to remember. Focus on those key words and themes every time you revise that part of the syllabus, so you'll automatically associate the relevant information to the certain words.  Instead of forcing yourself to memorize the whole thing for the exam, just memorize those words and it'll be easier to remember the rest