Effective study Techniques
Every-one uses different study methods. The basic types of studying are Visual, Auditory, Emotional and Kinaesthetic. At E-Classroom, we want to help you find your best studying techniques to ace those exams! We found this useful blog post which we are certain you will find very informative.
Effective Study Methods: How to Study article by STEVE MUELLER (adapted)
- Visual Learners
Try to transfer your learning resources into tables, charts, mind maps or presentations that allow you to see your notes clearly. Highlight important information with colourful markers. Any form of practice testing like past papers or worksheets related to the learning topic. Study topics over a number of short sessions over time - Auditory Learners
With the technology we have today, it is so easy to record yourself reading important notes and topic points. You will always have the recording to play back and listen to and revise the important notes. Joining other groups where every-one can test one another on the study material is also effective. - Emotional Learners
One of the most effective ways to remember something is by associating emotions with the topic that you would like to memorise. The more positive emotions you can associate with the study notes, the more you are likely to remember. - Kinesthetic Learners
Kinaesthetic learners are people who “learn by doing”, for example, like to learn whilst watching TV or listening to music. They need something going on in the back ground to save themselves from boredom! They need to change their study-place more often and experience the study material, which can be achieved by visualising what needs to remembered.
Apply Memorizing Techniques:
- Repetition: In order to remember something effectively we need to move it from our Short Term Memory to the Long Term Memory. This can be achieved by repeating what you want to study over and over. Repetition can be achieved by depicting the study material into graphs, reading the study material out loud and listening to it thereafter and by visualizing the learning material.
- Association: You can associate things to be remembered by creating mnemonics and/or by linking it to visual images or experiences. You can associate study material by linking it to self-created stories, images, colors, smells, and feelings. Whenever you need to remember what you have associated you just need to think of the story/image/etc. that you have linked to it and it will be very easy for you to recall the associated memory.
- Summarise: A lot of students are overwhelmed when they have to memorize the whole content of a book that is the main part of one of their exams. Writing short summaries that highlight the most important points of a chapter can be utterly helpful to simplify information-heavy materials. Once you have summarized everything (I prefer a word processor, but you can also write it down on paper) you have a summing that contains the most important things you need to remember for your exam/test. Now, in order to memorize and remember the content of your summary, you should read the sentences out loud before you close your eyes and try to memorize the whole sentence.
- Acronyms: They can often be an excellent mnemonic that helps you to remember difficult words that you tend to forget. Acronyms work especially great when you can form relatively easy to remember acronyms, such as S.M.A.R.T (which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timed). When you are able to remember the acronym you will most likely be able to remember the words that are associated with it as well.
- Rhythm & Music: Do you remember the time when you learned the ABC? Well, if not then just ask a child to recite the ABC for you and you will notice that there is a certain rhythm, as children all over the world learn the ABC by singing it or by hearing the tune of music. You can make use of this memorizing technique by signing what you want to remember to a familiar tune.
Hope this was helpful! Good luck for exams!