Students are expected to study and prepare for exams throughout all years of schooling, but studying becomes extra important during college. Here are some effective studying techniques and tips that are shown to improve overall studying effectiveness. We think using these techniques could help you to ace those important college exams that are right around the corner.

Lets face it, there’s a lot more to “studying” than just skimming through your notes and looking over your past homework assignments. While that may have worked in middle or high school for some students, that probably won’t cut it at the college level.

Oftentimes, college exams will require more than simple memorization and recall. Students can be examined on their ability to engage with and analyze subject matter, which requires much more than simply memorizing what was written on the whiteboard during class. Students need to have a thorough understanding of the content they’re being examined on, and this happens via effective learning methods and adequate preparation.

Regardless of the topic of study, all exams require some level of preparation. Preparation includes participating in classes, completing required homework assignments, asking questions as necessary, and independent studying leading up to exam time.

While most students probably spend some time studying for college exams, many students probably don’t study as effectively as they could.

Here, we’ll walk you through some of our favorite techniques and tips for making studying sessions as efficient and effective as possible.

Tips for Studying More Effectively

1. Get Organized

What exactly does it mean to be organized? Well, in the area of academia, and particularly as a college student, being organized means a few things:

• Familiarity with the course syllabus: knowing what assignments and papers are due when and when important exams will take place

• Maintaining a schedule that allows you to complete all work on time

• Being proactive instead of a procrastinator: setting aside the necessary time in advance that it will take to complete assignments and that will allow for proper studying

Being an organized student will help you with more than just preparing for exams. In contrast to students who wait until the last minute to write an essay or forget to look at the Moodle page to see what is due tomorrow, students who are proactive and complete assignments on time (or even early!) tend to be a lot less stressed about school as a whole.

You know there will always be instances where something better comes up that you would rather do than study or write your paper. So imagine this: make yourself write that paper 3 days before it’s due. That way, if you do decide that there is something else that you would prefer to do, you can reorganize your schedule and still hit the deadline without stressing out and pulling an all-nighter to write a less-than-perfect essay.

Organized students as a whole know what is going to happen and when, and they prepare accordingly.

2. Ask Questions

In order to study effectively, you have to have a solid understanding of what you’re going to be tested on and what your professor expects you to know or what they want you to illustrate for them. This is true for assignments, papers, and exams: if you don’t know what the professor expects of you, how can you study, write a paper, or create an assignment that you are confident about?

Professors love when students ask questions. You can ask questions during class and get clarification that way (because let’s face it, you definitely will have classmates who will be afraid to ask questions and will appreciate it when you do!). Or, if you prefer not to speak up during class, you can visit your professor during designated office hours or wait and talk to them after a class is over. As a last resort, you can always email your professors as well — just beware that response times aren’t always that of a millennial.

Just make sure you get clarification on the overall goal of a given assignment or exam. There’s nothing worse than the culmination of the stress of not knowing what you should be studying mixed with studying the complete wrong thing and thus bombing an important exam.

3. Study in Short Intervals

There’s no need to do marathon-style studying leading up to an exam. In fact, studies show that studying is more effective when completed in shorter time periods here and there than when students study in one long stretch without taking a break.

Keep this in mind when you create your study schedule for an exam. Space out your study sessions over a timespan of a few days and take breaks every hour or two.

4. Avoid Distractions During Study Time

Let’s face it, we live in a world of distractions. From social media and phones to computers, distractions are already everywhere. This intensity is further increased when you throw in on-campus living and friends constantly surrounding you. OF COURSE you’re going to be distracted, whether it be by Instagram or your roommate. That’s why it’s SO important to make sure there is no room for any types of distractions during study time.

Force yourself to tuck away your phone, get away from your roommates, and spend some focused time studying. The more focused your time spent studying, the less time that you’ll need to study to reach your study goals.

5. Have a Designated Study Spot

Leading off of our last point, it’s important to have a spot that you know is specifically for studying. Having this distinction will help you to focus on the task at hand and help avoid distractions. If your brain knows that you are in your study spot, it will know you’re meant to spend your time there studying.

For many of us, this will be a quiet place tucked off somewhere free of distractions. You’ll find that all college campuses and buildings are riddled with little nooks and crannies with cozy chairs and quiet desks. Find somewhere that works well for you and make it a routine to visit it during study time.

6. Study in the Morning

Research shows that students perform better in the morning. This is true because as the day goes on, students feel the effects of cognitive fatigue — a.k.a. their brains get tired. This is a large reason that standardized exams are conducted in the mornings and could be a reason that high school classes start so early in the day.

Use this information to your advantage, and schedule your study sessions for during the morning when possible.

Techniques for Studying more Effectively

1. Flashcards

As lame as it might seem to write out a bunch of flashcards and then spend time memorizing them, this is a technique that is proven to work. If you know that its important to memorize certain facts and figures for your upcoming exam, flashcards can be extremely effective.

Flashcards help students retain information via two methods, both of which are described more in detail below. Firstly, rewriting notes helps with recall better than simply rereading and reviewing them. Secondly, flashcards are a form of self-quizzing, which enhances long-term memory.

On a side note, there are also now electronic flashcard websites that let you quiz yourself without having to handwrite out a big pile of notecards.

2. Rewrite information

Studies show that we more effectively remember information when we WRITE it than when we read it or hear it. Have you ever wondered why you write down notes from class? It’s so you can go back and review that information and not forget it, but it also helps you to remember the information better in general.

3. Self-quizzing

Testing is referred to as “active retrieval practice.” This simply has to do with examining memory and recall. Knowing this, you can try to make your studying reflect exams as closely as possible. Try to make test questions for yourself as your learn new concept that you think you’ll be examined on.

Think about the types of questions you might be asked on a quiz or test and try to create those as part of your study plan. Try to put yourself in the shoes of your professor and develop practice questions based on what you’ve been discussing in classes and the topics of your most recent assignments. This can help you to make sure you’re focusing your studying on the correct areas, as well as give you valuable active retrieval process.

4. Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing essentially means to take longer pieces of content and summarize them using different language from that within the text. This is a practice that can be especially effective in assisting reading comprehension, regardless of the topic being studied. Whether it be biology, history, or literature readings, pausing after each section or chapter or paragraph (depending on the difficulty of the content) to paraphrase will help you to grasp and more easily recall the big picture ideas later.

Give some of these studying tips and techniques a shot next time you’re prepping for an upcoming exam. Find a special place to study that’s free of distractions and where you can work uninterrupted for a couple of hours. Make flashcards and quiz yourself on the information, or practice your imagery and making mental images in your head. Whichever of these techniques speak to you, give them a try! Solid studying techniques will help you throughout all your years of schooling.

Good luck, and happy studying!

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