Over my collegiate career, I have found that there are so many different types of college study techniques.
You have the students who are sipping on Starbucks strongest brew and look like they haven’t slept in days. They are ready to get the test so they can fill it out and finally sleep for longer than two hours.
You have the studier with ten thousand neatly color-coded index cards; they are trying to soak in the last bits of knowledge they can before they regurgitate all the information on the test.
There are the quizzers, the really prepared people, who are thinking of questions you never dreamed of thinking about. You sit around at all these characters and begin to doubt how well you prepared. Maybe that really obscure question they thought of from line 115 of page 100 will be on the test.
What if’s start running through your head, and you wonder if you really prepared as well as you thought you did. Or is this just me that notices the angst of test day?
As an extremely oratory learner, I never really have a hard time in lecture-based classes. Throw me in a lab, and I begin to struggle a little, but I can be easily lifted up if given clear, concise instructions. These study tips might not work for you, but they do for me. This is how I tend to study for any test thrown my way.
Using The Syllabus As A Course Map
The syllabus is your best bet when it comes to learning how to study for certain classes. Use your syllabus as your course map because it tells you what is really important. If you have three tests in three different classes one week, you can gauge what tests you need to work the hardest in by observing your syllabus. Make sure you keep up with your syllabus throughout the year and look back at it periodically so you can look to see how much that test is worth in the long run versus how much the paper is worth that you’ve been putting off all week.
Listening/Taking Notes In Class
Class time is valuable to me. I learn about 60 to 80 percent of my information in class. I always pay attention to the teacher and keep side distractions like cell phones to a bare minimum. Sometimes I find that thumbing around on a cell phone helps, but only if the teacher is extremely boring! I try to always keep my cell phone out of sight. I jot down notes, but for the most part, I listen to what the teacher says.
A “joke” or a real joke that a teacher says may help trigger memory on the test, so I always try to take what the teacher says into heavy consideration as I am listening and storing away information. Writing down important information also helps seal the knowledge into my brain. Writing the information down and listening in class helps me remember it, so there is little work for me to do later.
Reading Aloud
Obviously, since I am an oratory learner reading the material aloud helps me study a lot. I actually read really loud in the library once, and a girl had to come tap on my study room door to get me to shut up (those things aren’t soundproof?) Obviously, this study tip is not the best one if you are studying in a library and people are trying to study around you, but if you are in your room and it helps to hear things for you, it’s a good tip. Be careful, though, because reading aloud can tend to slow you down a bit. Sometimes I narrate in my head and don’t actually speak anything aloud.
Nonsensical Stories
This one is a little strange, but I found that it really helped me in my History classes. In History classes, you often have to remember a lot about certain events. I would sit with my study guides in the library and make up a colorful dialogue with the history stories. I would consider them stories and fluff them up into more memorable scenes by adding fake dialogue to them in my head. When you do this, make sure you add all the facts you are trying to study into the story. You won’t be graded on how well you made up stories.
Learning What Doesn’t Work For Me
Over the years, I have studied my study habits, and I have come up with things that don’t work for me. Index cards are not my friend, and neither are all-nighters. I get hand cramps by the time I am writing the twentieth index card, and I like my sleep before the test. I also realize that studying right before the test doesn’t help me either. You have the students with their noses stuck to their study guide until their teacher starts to give them the test, but I don’t do that. I put away my study guide well before the test. I've found that I can’t really learn anything in ten minutes anyway. I think about happy thoughts, or I browse Pinterest. Puppies and dessert recipes are the only things I want to think about right before I delve into a test!
Using Study Guides
If your teacher is kind enough to give you a study guide, use the study guide. If a teacher gives study guides, I will sometimes cut back on my reading until I get the study guide and then read only the parts of the book listed on the study guide. It does depend on what type of school you go to, though, because some teachers are a lot sneakier…but you can gauge that once you actually get in class.
Get To Know Your Professor
Being in sync with your teacher has to be an important studying technique. If you are in sync with your teacher, you can begin to tell the kinds of things they will likely have on the test. If you know your teacher is a hard question maker, you tend to study a little harder for their test. You don’t have to attach at the waist to your teacher, but get to know their personality and reputation and it will give you ideas on how to study for that test.
Always Learning More About Learning
Every summer, I browse the web for books to read about learning, studying, and college. I use the summer as my time to learn about learning. Normally I wouldn’t have time to read books about studying when I should be studying, but I have time to brush up on my study techniques during the summer. Think of learning as a lifelong experience that can always be brushed up on!
