Study Tips for Final Exams

Posted by SFleming on May 13, 2010

Whether it’s the end of the semester or the end of school, middle and high school students (and even college students!) need to be preparing for exams.  Probably the most common study strategy, cramming, is also the most ineffective one.  Cramming is the practice of leaving everything until the last minute or even the night before the test, and then putting in a marathon of study time.  I’ll say it one more time: THAT DOESN’T WORK!!

Instead, studying is actually a daily (or at least weekly) process.  Ideally, it should start when the class does, but don’t panic even if you’re just now realizing that the exams are looming in your future.  These tips will work if you allow even a few days or weeks to get ready for your tests, but they are best used throughout the time you’re in school.

–>Tip #1:

Engage your brain.  If you ask questions before lectures, read the assigned text ahead of time, and make a mental effort to remember the information, you will find that it’s easier to remember!

–>Tip #2:

Organize your notes.  Yes, you should be taking notes from lectures.  Yes, you should also be taking notes from the text that you are assigned to read.  Then, instead of relegating those notes to a file somewhere and trotting them out when you want to cram, take an extra step and combine them.  Write up a third set of notes that contains all of the information from both the reading and the lecture.  You’ll be processing the info in a new way and cementing it into your head.

–> Tip #3:

Make your own study guide.  Back in middle school, most students relied on the teacher to hand them a study guide.  This study guide generally showed them what was going to be on the test and what the teacher thought was important to learn.  Once students hit high school, they should learn to create their own study guides, writing down definitions, statistics, main ideas, important people and so forth.  Create the study guide as you go through the class, or in a pinch, go back over your notes and the readings and create the study guide as a means of preparing for the test.

–>Tip #4

Teach someone else.  Form a study group and discuss the information.  Verbalizing it and helping someone else learn is a great method of learning the information yourself.

–>Tip #5

Study in small doses.  Work for fifteen to thirty minutes at a time, then take a break.  Your mind will be more fresh for absorbing information and ready for a new round after doing something different for a while.  If you stare at the same information hour after hour, your brain will sort of shut down and it won’t do you any good.

–>Tip #6

Study in the format of the test you expect.  Many people make the mistake of simply reading information over and over again and expect to have the answers for the test.  Instead, spend most of your study time giving information out instead of taking it in over and over again.  This means setting up questions that you answer, matching games to play, and so forth.  Try to adjust the activities to the type of test you expect: write paragraphs about information if you think it will be an essay test.  Play matching games if the coming test will be multiple choice or matching.  Try questions to answer with a couple of words if you expect a short answer type test.

If you study effectively, you’ll have greater success with your academic pursuits, and your grades will increase!