Have any helpful study tips? Post them here...


1. Take sample exams.

If your instructor has provided sample exams in your course packet, take them to see what you do and don’t know. Then concentrate on learning the items you got wrong.

2. Use flash cards.

Write key information on index cards and try to recall it before looking at the cards.

3. Read!

For test, quizzes, and Finals; Take the course book and read. (not skim, read)

That's one of my biggest problems. If I'm not interested in whatever is assigned, I will skim it. It doesn't really do any good, and this is something I am working on :hmm:

Do your homework.
Just sit down, stop whining, and do it.
The material will stay longer if you work with it, and once you get to high school the ratio of worthless busy work to actual valuable things goes way down.

Read and reread the chapter, if applicable, even if it wasn't assigned for reading or you covered the material in class. It's also helpful to look at the book's review questions, footnotes, and captions again.

Study with a friend, read your notes aloud to yourself, or highlight them with four different colors. Anything that's a different experience from normal will make the information stick in your memory.

My biggest tip is to anticipate what the test questions will be. If the test is going to be in short-answer or multiple-choice format, review specific vocabulary from the chapter and names/dates/little facts that you might not have paid attention to the first time you read them. If there will be essay questions, think about what they could be and compose (on paper or in your head) answers you can have ready.

Oh, and get a good night's sleep, eat breakfast, and think positive.

If you're stuck with a long period of revision, or loads to do...
(1) Buy a new netebook or coloured pens - new stationary is soo much nicer to work with.
(2) Make up new, and more engaging ways to study. Study with a friend, make up a song, or just make your notes colourful and full of pictures.
(3) Write things down, that way you're learning things whilst making something to revise from later
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If ifs science - i use most diagrams as possible- it draws me attention more with nice bright colours and pictures XD

Take your time - if i rush i get REALLY horrible writing that i can't even read - if i take my time i can re-read my notes later.

When i'm writing down notes i'm not actually 'reading' then as i write then down so I always find speaking more than writing help me remember things- just writing crap down doesn't really go all the way for me so i'll have a friend over who's in the same class and we'll 'test' each other and read each other the notes.

FOCUS- take yourself somewhere without any distractions - i usually unplug my tele/computer from the wall socket (it's right behind my wardrobe so i hate plugging it in and out) so i don't get distracted to turn the tv on - i have no music playing and no sound - if i have the tv on or something i'll get distracted and watch that instead- if i have a big test coming up and it's a nice day i'll head up to the field by me with some food - sad i know but seriously i helps - i'll go up there and do some stuff and if i get peckish instead of heading home to get food i'll have something i brought with me (bag of crisp/breakfast bar). - this one is a major biggy for me (if it's nice weather)! :D

If you're studying a language, and you have to learn new vocabulary, make up a song. It really, really helps. I've been studying Japanese for 6 years now and half the stuff I know I know through songs. :P

If you're contending with material that needs to be memorized, I find that creating tricks to make the process shorter and jog your memory can be quite helpful. For example, I needed to memorize the definitions of perihelion and aphelion for my science class, but I constantly got them confused, so I taught myself to remember perihelion- proximal to sun, and aphelion- away from sun. Pneumonic devices are the best shortcut.

Also, take notes in class, even if it's not required. I take notes absentmindedly on every lecture and it helps my memory immensely. Studies show that the muscle memory in your hand helps you recall the material come test day, and at least in my case, it's true. They don't have to be detailed notes, but as long as they're legible enough that you can read back over later, they'll help.

Here's an echo of previous statements- read the textbook. Don't be afraid of it; it's designed to help you. I often find that no amount of reading the textbook in mathematics classes can help (it often serves to confuse me), but in any other circumstance, it's immensely helpful.

I agree with PixCii about the songs. It seems silly, but it works wonders. The only downside is that I can't fluidly discuss my schedule in French because I need to mentally go through the song to find the right day of the week . I'm one of the best French speakers in my class, but the French would still have a good laugh if they met me and spoke about the week.

Rabid, I know exactly what you mean by having to go through the song. I was doing a test in class and had to remember what feet was, so I started humming a song and going through the actions. Needless to say I got a lot of stares :D

Omigosh, I'm in calculus, and at my school from algebra 2 onward EVERYONE learns the quadratic formula song. It's the quadratic formula to the tune of frere' Jacques, and no one does not know that formula. And sometimes there are loud and obnoxious quadratic formula singalongs in the hallway, one person'll start singing it just for whatever reason and by the time the get to "b squared minus 4 a c" the whole hall will be singing.

I love my school.

Oh man, I remember those math songs! We had a whole bunch of them in grade 7, and even now (grade 10) everyone still remembers them. xD They were really catchy!

As for study tips? Aside from taking notes, reading the textbook and things like that, the only thing that I can think of would be acronyms. Things like 'ROYGBIV' (the colours in the rainbow- red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) and 'All Students Take Calculus' (a way of remembering which functions are positive in which quadrants- all, sine, tangent, cosine) can be very helpful for things that are seemingly impossible to remember. :]

I think the best way to study is to understand what it is you're trying to learn. Notes during class help because it makes you to actively focus on what's being taught and follow's the teacher's speach rather than stare out the window. If there's something I don't quite understand from reading alone, I make diagrams. I like to highlight important points in the textbook, not entire passages, but rather key words. If the information can be structured in a diagram, then I'll do a diagram. At the end I like to write down everything or just about the important points. Self administered quizzes help too, just write various questions from the part you're trying to learn and then answer them randomly as you pull the questions out from a hat. For learning words in a foreign language I found that actually reading stuff in that language with the dictionary next to you helps a lot.

This isn't a study tip, but you might find it useful.
If you need to pad out a paper a little bit and you either don't have time or not enough content, then if you change all the punctuation marks to a font size above (so if you're typing in 12, make all the periods and commas 13 or 14) then it makes your paper a little bit longer, page count wise.

Good tip, Panda. You can also Shift+Enter to soft return words at the ends of lines to new lines, making your paragraphs take up more space.

I never had to learn a quadratic formula song. I had to use it so much that it became ingrained in my head.

Guys, I'm going to start swearing by scheduling when you really need to buckle down and do it. This weekend I had yesterday and today all divided out into subjects and assignments and planned to be working until late tonight, but I finished about an hour ago. Eliminate distractions!

Mine's less to do with revising, but freerice.com is awesome. Especially if you're of the 'younger' high school group. Now they have chemical symbols, French, Sapnish, Italian, German, Maths, even Art.. Plus, it's quite fun AND you help starving children.

I've done that too! It is great to think that you are helping the unfortunate.

Another one.
Just do it.
Seriously. For the last few years I've just put off homework, but this year, I just sit down and do the work. It makes life so much easier. At last I'm no longer behind on homework.

I'm not sure if this'll help everyone or is a good thing to suggest but:

Study right before you take a test.

What I find happens to me is that when I study the night before or all that week, my mind goes blank come test day. Teachers probably won't recommend this but cramming usually works in my favor seeing as I always make mid-90s on my 60-word vocabulary tests and medium-level French tests. The only subject I wouldn't recommend this for is Math. It never works out for me!

Don't wait until late to do your homework like I am today.

Use a big, 5-7 subject notebook so you can just grab one instead of forgetting the seperate notes in your locker.

Related to the above, TAKE NOTES! It helps so much!

My tip: Never do what I do! I can NOT stress this enough. What do I do?

1) I procrastinate by surfing the internet or playing Halo 3.
2) Coffee does NOT enhance your brain capacity. Drinking coffee before homework? A big no-no.
3) I always chat on MSN before doing homework. Before I know it, I zonk.
4) If it's a newspaper assignment, I skip straight to the funnies.
5) The Sims 2 can't help you on most of your homework, though it has helped me in the past.
6) My worst thing? I do a half-assed job in the end in the last 20 minutes I have before handing it in.

Take my advice, and don't do what I do! :P

I don't revise. Ever.

I'm very good at remembering facts purely because I LISTEN when I'm being taught the thing in the first place!

I try to make subjects interesting too. I ask lots of questions and read on in the textbook. If you take an interest in it, it's going to be easier to remember things. It's easier to remember something if you know all of it instead of knowing random parts of it.

Everyone's different when it comes to learning and studying, so I don't think there are any 'good' tips.

Thanks for all the tips!