These Top Tips aim to accelerate your learning and make it as easy as possible for you to achieve well in your subjects. It not only covers both How and Where to Study but also some great revision tips!
Where to study
Creating good conditions to study in can help you make the most of the time you spend revising. Here are some suggestions:
- Find a quiet place to study and make sure you are sitting comfortably
- Make sure your desk is well lit
- Keep background noise to a minimum
- Avoid studying in an area where there will be distractions (like television!)
- Have everything you need to do your revision to hand before you start
There is no ‘right way’ to revise, as long as the method you choose enables you to gain a solid grasp of key facts and consolidate your knowledge. Some students are happy to read their classroom notes from start to finish, others prefer to simplify the information as much as possible, turning everything into skeleton notes, diagrams or mnemonics. In practice, most students find that mixing techniques suits the varied nature of the subjects being revised, and provides essential variety when studying.
Turn your notes into revision tools;
- Write ideas and facts on to cards to use as ‘prompts’
- Create memory aids such as diagrams or mnemonics (e.g. initial letters to make a word you need to remember or SMART objectives: Specific; Measurable; Achievable; Realistic; Targets). These will help you remember key facts
- Write key facts/notes out and display these around the house where you will see them
- record yourself reading notes to listen to
- Study with a friend and test each other’s knowledge, but remember you are meeting to revise rather than to chat!
- Work through past question papers – and use a watch to time them so that you can practise timing your answers.
- Choose study and revision guides sensibly. It’s not hard to find help with revision – as well as established published revision guides, there are hundreds of websites offering help and advice. The problem is not how to find such help, but how to judge which is the best source for your needs. Save valuable time and get recommendations from your teachers
- Remember course notes are also a valuable source of extra help
- Keep yourself more alert by changing revision methods during a session. For instance, try switching from note taking to memorising; from reading to asking someone to test you
- Attend any revision classes that your teachers may be running at school and get their advice on revision methods.
This page is also going to include all the features we run on Study Skills.
Check out the latest Study Skills books here
But first, we've got to talk about it on the main blog, so you'll have to be a little patient! The reason for this is that we don't want people to keep switching from technique to technique searching for something easy. When we give you a technique, we want you to give it Consistant Commitment, and try it every day for at least a week before trying something new.
Consistant Commitment is something we will probably keep talking about. Your mind is like a muscle, it needs regular exercise to get stronger. A bodybuilder doesn't just do one super intense workout to achieve results, it is his Consistant Commitment to working out at least three times a week, lifting more each time, which gets results. That is what you will need to do to get the most out of your mind.
(Thank you to Cambridge University for these Study Skills hint and tips, you can find more from Cambridge University here )
