By: Arcely Mateo – July 11, 2020
Examinations are essential tools to gauge learning, but they can sometimes be tad backbreaking. Failing your exams may lead to several consequences, and most of them aren’t desirable. Most major examinations, such as entrance exams, and your final examinations, are life-changing, implying that a pass, failure, or top score can indicate outcomes that will impact your future.
Yet it doesn’t stop there; students in high school or those already in college are continually seeking tips and tools to score high on their exams. Such situations show that it’s not rocket science to find help to ace your way around and above your exams.
Follow the steps below and take your exams with a good head on your shoulder.
1. Attend Classes And Pay Attention To Lessons
The smartest way to headway your exam results is to attend and never miss classes. Attending your classes is where you’re learning in the first place. When you’re not paying close attention to your lessons or skipping classes, you’ll miss relevant information and concepts that will eventually end up on test questions.
2. Make it A Habit To Take Down Notes
Taking notes is imminent if you’d like a more natural way of studying later on. Additionally, when you take down notes, you save the relevant details, and it lets you have a clearer understanding of the facts taught.
Even so, when taking notes, you’re paying attention. Thus, you’ll understand more and tend to retain much of the vital information.
3. Use Visual Aids For Improved Retention
When taking your notes or studying, try using visual aids such as maps, graphs, graphic organizers, etc. These visual aids will help you understand better, and practice organizing and interpreting data and relationships.
You may simplify your notes onto diagrams or outlines, so it would be easy to remember. Images are far more straightforward to grasp than straight-up words. That way, you could further recall whatever you need during the examination.
4. Use Memorizing Tricks
Various recall techniques may also help remember essential information like dates, categories, and names. Only make sure that you understand them well, and not mess them up instead.
Mnemonics are words or phrases that help you recall the sequence of specific processes or categories. For instance, a perfect way to easily remember nonpolar, hydrophobic amino acids Glycine, Leucine, Alanine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Tryptophan, Valine, Isoleucine, and Proline is the mnemonic GLAMP TVIP.
Another recall technique is whether you have a sequence of figures to note. Instead of struggling to grasp 2457896521, try splitting it up like a contact number: 245-789-6521. You can also split up dates in the same manner. For instance, June 12, 1898 (declaration of the Philippine Independence) can be written as 06-12-1898.
5. Sync Your Studying Patterns With The Subject
Some subject matters are simpler to understand while reviewing in a manner that correlates to the subject’s essence. For example, if you’re revisiting some literature concepts, you’ll have more writing and visual reading activities. When you are understanding music, certain auditory resources would be appropriate. At the same time, kinesthetic interactions help with dance classes.
Learning styles are components of studying that are often undermined as it is not widely observed and practiced. Many research findings show that learners aren’t even aware of what their learning styles are. Though being aware of your learning styles does not automatically indicate you’ll perform better, studying with the learning style that works best for you can be counted as an advantage.
6. Be Well-Informed About The Details Of The Exam
Don’t simply walk into the room on the day of your exam unprepared. It would be best if you were well-informed about what you’re going to face. Figure out the following before you start studying for your exams;
- Which topics are included in the exam
- Chapter of the textbook that exam will cover
- Format of the exam. Would the exam be questions with multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, short answers, or in-class essays?
- The purpose of the exam so you can decide on what approach to use in studying.
7. Cut Out The Distractions
Distractions make it almost impossible for you to focus and pay close attention when you’re studying. Which, in effect, makes it challenging to perpetrate information to memory.
Grant yourself a considerable edge by shutting off your cell phone, taking some time off social media, or switching to ambient music when you’re studying (so you wouldn’t be tempted singing along). Even having a break after an hour can help you stay concentrated.
8. Seek The Help Of The Internet
Being a student, you must understand the internet is your best buddy when it comes to sourcing data and information. It’s brimming with information that when there’s a concept or topic that you can’t understand, looking for it with Google requires only a matter of seconds.
The internet also has loads of free educational content, such as crash courses and video tutorials. You can even look for online learning platforms or, better yet, hire an online tutor. These tools and platforms can help you learn more about topics for your coming exams.
9. Energize Your Brain: Drink Coffee
Coffee is another best friend that’s of good use for some students. It would help if you had some caffeine to wake you up while studying. Particularly during a long evening when you’re awake and finishing on a project or article, a cup of hot coffee helps.
Besides keeping you awake; studies show that caffeine-rich beverages like tea and coffee effectively keep the mind active and sensitive to information.
10. Avoid Procrastination
Many students are used to mugging up when preparing for an exam. That way, they assume they’re learning more, and they’ll score higher in exams. But what most students don’t know is that they’re not doing much over mugging up all the information.
Procrastinating serves to hold stuff in your mind for a brief while, so as when you show for the exam, you somehow forget and get blank with modified questions.
If you studied beforehand and thoroughly understood the concept, you can quickly answer a question, whether it’s modified or not.
Final Thoughts
It would be best if you did not have to pressure yourself to prepare hard with every coming examination. Instead, some lesser adjustments, such as not skipping classes, effective time management, studying well, and learning tools, can help you perform well and ace your examinations.