Note-Taking & Studying Tips
Hey everyone, it’s me (Evie)!
This afternoon I was fortunate enough to benefit from a study tips lecture at school. Usually these sessions bore me, but I found that today’s lecture actually provided some useful tips, many of which I’d never heard of before, let alone consider using within my own study sessions! I had never doubted my study methods until now. My ( now previous ) method has always been unnecessarily time-consuming and probably wasn’t benefitting me an awful lot, contrary to the obvious goal of studying. This new method is based on scientific evidence to improve students’ memory and aid students’ in achieving better results at school. I personally plan to use this new ( and definitely improved ) study method from today onwards - I hope you’ll do the same!
Take notes throughout the entire term / course. Take notes from your textbook, your teacher / professor’s digital presentations and talks, videos provided by your teacher / professor, and anywhere else you can retrieve useful information from! Even if something seems insignificant, jot it down! It could be helpful in the future.
Finish up taking notes 3 weeks before the exam. Once you’ve reached this period of time, it’s time to start revising the notes you’ve already written down. Sure, if something seems significant and you want to jot it down, then add it to your notes, although restrain yourself from adding too many new notes at this time. Focus on revision.
Store the notes in a folder - digitally, physically, or both! Organisation is critical. Storing your notes correctly can also save time, which is handy when you’re short on time to study. This storage method can also improve your memory: continuously flipping back and forth between different topics and / or notes creates a “blockage” in your brain that prevents you from remembering information correctly. Organised folders create not only a simpler studying experience, but also helps you to remember the information more effectively.
Create lots of space on your notes. Cluttered pages of notes can be difficult to memorise because there is simply too much information for your brain to learn and process. Notes with fewer words work much better.
Use plenty of colour - highlighting is especially important! Always remember to highlight important text, and especially the most important words. Another useful tip is to use a different colour for each subject if you can. For example: use blue for everything related to English, from highlighting text to the colour of your sticky notes to the folder you store loose papers in. Associating a certain colour with a certain subject can help your brain to group that knowledge together and find connections within the learned information. Recalling the colour of the subject in your exam can also help you to recall more information about the topic.
Use trigger words. For example: instead of writing “buy the $20 calculator for the math exam tomorrow” on a note, you could rather write “$20 - calculator”. You understand the meaning of the simplified text, but you only require the trigger words to recall this information. This is useful when taking notes - the less words you use, the better! In fact, most people need to reduce the number of words in their notes by approximately 80%! Find trigger words and use them to create your notes. This also significantly reduces the risk of plagiarism.
Use criteria. If your teacher / professor provides you with the criteria for your subject, use it! If they don’t, you can create your own criteria. Clarify the key points of the subject / task with you teacher / professor and form a list of these points. Highlight significant words and the most important points. This criteria can be used to construct a response if necessary, or it can provide you with the guidelines of your study requirements to aid you in achieving a higher grade.
Memorise all of your notes at least 2 weeks before the exam. Review your notes immediately after writing them, the next day after you wrote them, and then on a monthly basis, or more often if required. Once you’ve memorised all of your notes, you can then use them to fill out past papers and form practise tests.
Use mind-mapping - always include the title, subheadings and trigger words to sum up your notes! A mind-map is simple to remember and handy to redraw in an exam - it’s like cheating, except you’re 100% following the rules!
Fill out practise papers in the 1-2 weeks before your exam. This will tell you what you need to focus on more while studying. Complete 3 past papers per subject or more if you can ( your teacher / professor should be able to provide them if you ask ). You can complete these past papers using your notes, although try to complete at least 1 without them. Don’t forget to have it marked!
Read extra texts that cover the key points and criteria of the exam. Extra information is always helpful and will always benefit you. Look for quotes, deeper knowledge and counter arguments.
Use colours! Similarly to when you took notes - add more colours! Colour coordinate your subjects! Highlight trigger words! Read the “Use plenty of colour” under “Note-taking” if you haven’t already - all the information you need is up there!
Good luck to whoever is reading this!
