Studies don’t have to be difficult. In fact, there are tons of simple methods to simplify learning. While it’s true that not all methods work for all students, you can find some that are perfect for you. The following are the best and quickest ways to cover your curriculum, whether it’s British or IB.
Studies have shown that varying media activate different parts of the human brain. The more brain parts are stimulated, the more likely you will understand and remember the information.
Here are some ways to learn academic content:
It’s not possible to practice all these tactics in one setting. Just use one or few methods in your review session. Your learning speed will improve.
Regular review is critical if you want the content to stay in your long-term memory. This trick will boost your grades. The ideal review interval differs depending on how long you want to remember the information. However, here’s a suggestive schedule:
1st review session: A day after learning the new content
2nd session: 3 days after the previous review
3rd session: A week after the previous review
4th session: 21 days after the previous review
5th session: A month after the previous review
6th session: 45 days after the previous review
7th session: 60 days after the previous review
Tip: Utilize mnemonic devices such as acronyms. They are known to improve learning speed. Moreover, try to summarize the information in a mind map, comparison table, or diagram.
Instead of investing all your focus in one or two subjects, it’s a good practice to divide your focus into multiple subjects. For instance, if you are learning science subjects, study a bit of each daily. This trick will increase your learning speed rather than studying chemistry on Monday, biology on Tuesday, and physics on Wednesday.
The reason is that you might confuse similar content if you deep-dive into the same subject in one sitting.
This is backed up by lots of research, and not only because students tend to be distracted by their devices. Even if you use your laptop to strictly write notes, your learning will decrease. On the other hand, students who manually write notes actually process and understand the information.
When you type your notes, you are merely writing down what the teacher says without processing the content first. This is why students who write notes by hand do better academically.
What if the test is harder than I expected?
What if I can’t recall important information?
What if I run out of time for the exam?
It’s normal for students’ minds to have such worries before an important exam. If you don’t do anything for these thoughts, the afterword anxiety can negatively impact your grades. However, writing down notes will give words to these feelings, which means that you won’t get distracted.
Students who note their feelings about an approaching exam perform better than students who don’t. This trick works great for students who often get such worries. Journaling is also good for learning and memory.
When students read out basic information, they see and hear it at the same time. Hence, their learning speed will be faster. However, if they just read the content silently, they will only view it. It isn’t possible to read all the words in the notes aloud. Doing so will waste your time and energy. But do try to read out key information with the below process:
Step 1: While reading your notes, highlight the important terms, ideas, and concepts. Don’t memorize anything yet; simply underline or highlight.
Step 2: Once you have done this to all notes, go back to the highlighted parts and read all the information out loud. Do this as many times as you want, but remember to read slowly.
Step 3: After doing this for all the highlighted parts, rest your mind for 5 minutes.
Step 4: After the break is over, go to each highlighted part and hide it with your paper or hand. Assess yourself to see if it has been memorized.
Step 5: Repeat steps 2, 3, and 4 for the information that you have memorized.
Most students think that they drink sufficient water. However, research shows that 75% of individuals suffer from chronic dehydration. Not consuming enough water negatively affects exams and the brain.
The researchers at the University of East London have revealed that the processing ability of our brain lowers with dehydration. More studies have proven that dehydration also shrinks the grey matter in the brain.
An easy fix?
Drinking a minimum of eight glasses of water a day. Take a water bottle with you everywhere, even in exam halls. Consume some water every 40 minutes. This will improve your academic performance and serve as a short but refreshing break.
Frequent breaks in study sessions improve concentration and productivity. In other words, don’t drown in books for 6 hours straight to review on the night before an exam. Even if you intend and plan to cover all content this way, research proves otherwise.
Therefore, take a 10-minute break after every 40 minutes of intense study. If you want, use a stopwatch or timer to serve as a reminder for breaks and when you should head back to your studies.
Tip: Try your best not to use any devices in breaks as they won’t allow you to be mentally relaxed.
Sit at the front of the class.
Can you decide where to sit in class? Make sure it is at the front. Research has shown that this will lead to better grades. Here are the average grades of students based on where they sat in class:
Being at the front will make the board visible, and you will hear the teacher properly. Ultimately, this works great for focus levels.
Before starting a session, choose a tiny reward that you will give yourself after the session. This will do wonders for your memory and learning speed. Don’t think too hard about suitable rewards. They can be as simple as the following:
Exercise is a literal miracle drug. It holds magical powers for your brain and body, both:
Therefore, exercise for 30-40 minutes three times a week. You will feel energetic and healthy.
Students who enter colleges or universities focus on learning instead of attaching their personal results in the process. Concentrate on your efforts and method instead of the end result. Sure, achievements are tempting, but how you got them is more valuable. Have faith that you will overcome your weak subjects by being disciplined and investing time.
Redefine success as never giving up and not getting straight As. Weak students tend to set performance goals, while bright students set learning goals. Do you know the difference between these two goals?
Performance goals (entering a prestigious university or achieving an A on a test) are about showing off your intelligence to others. On the other hand, learning goals (memorizing Spanish present tense in a day or solving 5 math problems) focus on growth and mastery.
The majority of schools focus on passing a specific number of tests or getting 60% on a test to pass it. But in order to fulfill or pass these standards, it’s better to ignore the ideal outcome and focus on learning instead.
According to studies, multitasking makes you dumber, less productive, and more distracted. Research even states that individuals who claim to be great at it aren’t actually better than an average person.
Productive students concentrate on one thing at a time, so they don’t learn while scrolling through social media, watching a TV show, or replying to texts. Here are some ways to eliminate distractions and boost your focus:
Sleep at least eight hours every night. Learning tough content right before sleeping makes it easier to remember the next day. So whenever you can, set your schedule in a way that makes you study a difficult topic before sleeping. Whatever you do, don’t stay up all night unless you want poor grades.
A lot of research has connected sufficient sleep hours with higher memory, learning, and focus levels. It also prevents stress on important exam days.
Study faster by linking what you are learning with something you already know. For instance, if you are studying electricity, it can be connected to the flow of water since the current is similar to the flow rate of water, voltage is similar to water pressure, and so on.
Moreover, you can consider white blood cells as soldiers that fight for your body against disease or enemies.
The main goal of education shouldn’t be to score straight As. Adopting the right way to learn is a must-have skill. With the tips mentioned in this blog, you will be able to study smarter, not harder and cover the curriculum quickly. Our MTS tutors can be of great help for this purpose, too.
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