This week I am going to show you how I study for tests. Right now I’m a university student in Australia and I am enjoying my short break in between terms. (I think I can call it my winter break?) So I had my last finals the previous Tuesday and I’m relieved that everything is done. This term everything went online because of COVID-19, and I came back to Japan after a month of classes. However, I’m not going to talk about how to prepare for online exams. Rather I’m going to talk about how I prepare for my normal exams that we take in university. Of course this is not guaranteed that it will suit everyone, so please take it as a recommendation from a fellow student.
Taking Notes
I know there is so many types of people when it comes to studying, but for me note taking is very important. I have some points that is important for me when it comes to note taking. First of all find out what note taking method works for you. These days I take my notes on a computer but I used to take hand written notes. There are lots of people that can remember things more when taking hand written notes but for me it didn’t really make a big difference. So, I use the computer since it’s handy and doesn’t take as much time. Second of all I read it out loud when I’m making my notes. This is a note I will make when I have been given the lectures, slides, and workshops. Then I will make the notes that I will use to review before my finals. While writing this note I will make sure I read it out loud because then I will use my mouth, ears, eyes, and hands to write the notes making it easier for me to remember things. Third is to use the same colour for every notes. For example, I use green for things the teacher says is going to be on the test and red for important words. This does not change when making notes for any class or subject. This becomes useful when writing notes for sure but also when you are reviewing your notes before the finals. Anyways, it is very important to find a note taking method that works for you so please do that as fast as you can.
Asking Questions
If you have anything that you don’t know, don’t remain it like that and ask a question. For me my father has always been looking at my studies so I ask him, but you can ask anyone like your friends or teachers. Of course you can ask the teachers what you have learned in class but I get good reactions from them when I ask them something that goes beyond the lecture. I really feel that we can get good impressions from teachers, which sometimes leads to good marks, when I ask questions. This does differ to every lecturer but for me it has worked a lot, for example getting better marks for my essays or having good marks on attitude. So, I try to ask questions a lot to everyone not just for the meanings of getting good grades but also to be a favourite student to the teachers, especially when it comes to my major subjects.
Planning
Plan out what you’re going to study. You can use a study planner for this, but it didn’t suit me so I use random pieces of paper. I also plan out what I want to study for the week on Sunday night on a designated paper. I write what I would like to achieve each day but I write more than what I think I can do. I plan out what I want to do each individual day more precisely the previous night or that morning. I write how much pages I want to accomplish or how much of the essay I want to get done. I also write what I have to get done in red, so that I can tell what I need to prioritize. I will write the aim time in a very small font for each task next to it as well. The important thing when it comes to planning is to not get mad at yourself when you can’t do things the way you planned it.
That’s it for how I study for test or in general. I don’t know if anything was to any good use but I hope someone found it useful. I think this is my final form of how I study, which took me years to find out. My university life is going to end in about 2 years but I would love to get as much new knowledge in myself as I can. Let’s go through this sometimes tough journey of studying together!!