Study Advice

candy19

Has anyone out there got any advice for studying??

Generally over the last three years I've been able to study no problem..Started early in the morn and took breaks for 20 mins etc but this dosen't seem to be working.

Just done two all nighters seems to be working but I know it's not the way to go about it!

projectmayhem

Have a schedule for study (depending on the timetable of your exams). Then get yourself the past papers and any additional material your lecturers may have provided (one of mine provided a set of notes JUST for studying, summarising the course).

All-nighters and un-broken study does not work. Remember, you're studying material you've already seen before in class. You're not learning it for the first time. Trying to cram a bucket load of info into your brain isn't going to benefit you because you'll get information overload and not retain anything.

You're likely to find the last 2 years of exams (winter and summer, so 4 papers for each subject) helpful as usually there's a trend with the types of questions come up.

Last thing to say is to not panic. You'll be grand!

Naikon

Coffee. Sweet, sweet coffee.

Seriously though, just do a bit each day and you will be fine. Don't do what I did yesterday and cram a semesters worth of material into one night.
I stayed up all night and as a result was knackered in the exam. I don't expect a high mark in that subject as a result. Better to get some sleep than
trying to cram every last piece of info into your head. The questions yesterday were very generalised, so memorising the techie stuff was a waste.

All night benders = bad

Cloned Alien

the best way for dont know about others is

1) Hardest part and longest. Study all parts you need so you have a decent grasp of them.

2) Have a break and go over each section again and then after each you finsish try and reguritate the section without the notes. repeat topic until byou are able to complete.

3) Do for all topics until your finshed.

4) read all topics briefly before exam

It works for me and i only study for one day before each exam and manage to get 2:1 all the time. Not bad for lazy person. Thats my way doesnt work for all though

wolfric

I know i don't have a great track record for studying as i'm pretty lazy but the times that i did bother to do all this, it has worked wonderfully so here's my 2 cents. Apologies considering what you've done so far if any of this is obvious and therefore condescending.

All nighters - fine for doing work not studying.
Sleep is hugely linked to your cognitive abilities, attention span and memory. You know when you're tired and you read a book and you keep reading that single line over and over and you don't quite remember what it was or meant? The same thing happens if you try and study without any sleep. You just don't take the information in and it's a waste of your time.

Plans and note taking - Honestly they ARE they key. Even if you spend most of your time making plans of the different sections and notes for each of those sections it'd be worth your while. Try write down brief notes (preferably on paper so you internalise as you rewrite them out) for each key point as you run through the subject notes and then once it's all done try make them smaller but still retaining all the information. Eventually get them down so small you can fit them on one of those keycards (you can buy batches of them in Easons) so i just carry them around with me and when i have a break i just flick through them. Helps having a separate one per subject or a few subjects per card.

Once you have all the keycards made out if you make one keycard with the names of all the keycards you have, then all you have to do is run down the list of subjects on your index card and see if you can recall the subject card and what was written on it. If you can recall the keywords that you jotted down you should be able to remember what they were linked to or referring to and be able to elaborate from there.

Although it seems pretty simple, i find it really helps me de-junk my mind from trying to hold a list of too much at once and concentrate on dealing with one subject or level of notes at a time and still being able to remember the list of everything i need to know. It depends on the subject though if you just have a lot of raw information like dates and numbers etc that you need to just learn off it might not help at all.