Studying for tests can be difficult and sometimes we don't even know where to start.
But there are strategies to improve your memory, concentration levels, and even your mood.
We bring together a wealth of research by neuroscientists, psychologists, and nutritionists, as well as wise recommendations from university professors, teachers, and students, and we've come up with some important tips.
Who came up with inventing the tests that torment us for the rest of our lives?
There is much you can do to study more effectively, learn study techniques that work, and stay positive.
These tips will help you stay in shape cognitively and improve your learning.
Our bodies need energy to function properly, and the brain's ability to focus comes from an adequate and constant supply of energy in the form of glucose.
Research shows that students who eat breakfast do better on tests because they find it easier to focus and remember information.
So be sure to start your day with carbohydrates that will release energy slowly throughout the morning like whole wheat bread or low sugar cereals like oatmeal.
You will also need to increase your protein intake with milk, yogurt, or eggs.
For other meals, you can choose other proven brain stimulants like eggs, fatty fish like mackerel, sardines, and salmon (rich in omega-3 fats), whole grains, cabbage, chard, spinach, broccoli (all plants with green leaves. dark, actually), tomatoes and avocados.
And don't underestimate the power of a snack in time!
Foods full of antioxidants and anthocyanins (pigments that give the leaves, flowers, and fruits their red, purple, or blue color) can help improve short-term memory and mood.
These are blueberries, strawberries, walnuts, olives, pumpkin seeds, and dark chocolate.
Start studying long before the exam date. This will help you feel calmer and less likely to end up overwhelmed.
Also, try to study in the morning , when your brain is rested and fresh. Avoid leaving most of the review in the afternoon, when there is the possibility that you are more tired.
The moment before an evaluation is the most stressful because it generates anxiety about what questions they will ask you, what topics will become more relevant and how apt you are to transmit everything you learned .
I learned how to organize yourself with the following tips on how to prepare an exam and pass the February subjects so that they enable your enrollment in all the courses of the first semester of 2017.
1. Regularly review the study plan to determine the incidence of the subject in your career, if it is previous to another subject and where the ephansis is placed.
2. Find out how many classmates will perform that day on the average number of students enrolled in the class, which could give an idea of the difficulty of the evaluation . It is useful when exams are not compulsory.
3. Study in short and continuous periods instead of endless days that produce exhaustion.
4. Play to predict the exam questions, trying to answer them and establishing an order of priority for each point of a topic. You can also apply principles and theories that solve related problems that were not covered in class.
5. Create memory cards in sticky notes or computer programs that contain the main aspects of a topic. Alter your order and see what you can remember.
6. Form small study groups to share explanations about the more complex concepts or exercises.
7. Redo all the old exercises you can or practice tests you get at the photocopier at your school. Facebook groups of each generation are also good sources for expanding the material.
8. Read all the class notes you have collected on the subject.
9. Brainstorm about the points that you are able to work without support material and those that still require more effort to retain.
10. Look for copies of partial tests that you have done to refresh where the emphasis was when the same topics that you will have in the global exam were evaluated.
11. Write a list of the necessary tasks and the deadlines that you estimate for each one, so that you can cross out the ones that you complete.
12. Avoid procrastination by relaxing for a few minutes and ranking your priorities, to solve first what concerns you most so that your mind can focus again.
13. I included complementary texts that you did not read , only if you consider that you have time to do so and omitting irrelevant parts of the text.
14. Recite the material as soon as you finish reading each section, to process the information before attacking unknown or forgotten data .
15. Integrate the class notes, graphic resources, your diagrams and diagrams into a single summary that includes everything studied on the point.
16. Create a summary for each section , concentrating the main thing so that it works as an organizer. It will be easier to study and remember the details than pouring a mass of content onto the sheet.
17. I repeated regularly instead of doing it massively the day before the exam. The only recollection is possible if practiced .
18. Do a general review before going to sleep because sleep helps to fix what you learned during the day.
19. Use various methods for information processing, because the more pathways involved, the easier it is to retrieve the data later . I wrote, filmed, recorded, or applied other forms of retention.
20. Practice what you are going to do in the test: math exercises, conjugate verbs, complete texts in English. Working on the tasks that are requested in the exam gives you confidence when the time comes, because you overcome the fear of the first confrontation.
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21. Participate in any available review sessions, such as discussion forums or consultation classes, Facebook groups, or email chains with responses.
22. I slept as you normally would. Staying overnight studying only impairs your attention span .
23. Check that your alarm clock is set to a time that allows you to arrive at the exam in time . Make sure you get up by asking a family member to wake you up or a friend to call you.
24. Take everything you need for the exam : pencils, rubber bands, sharpeners, two pens with the same color ink, corrector, calculator, calculator batteries or other items that you are going to use.
25. Focus your mind on the task you must complete , because if thoughts invade you about what that exam means to you, what happens if you miss it or other matters that are not directly related to the execution, your performance will decrease.
I discovered what study techniques you can use to make your next exams a success.
Preparing in advance is essential for you to ensure that good grade you want to achieve.
The better prepared you go to the exam, the less nerves you feel when facing it. Take advantage of these tips to study.
The same thing always happens when exam time approaches. The nerves are inevitable, you want to approve and want to do it with the highest possible note, but do not know how to study ... Sos of those who wait last minute to start?
If there is something that can assure you success in your next exams, it is to start studying in advance and using some of the most common study techniques .
10 techniques and tips to study:
Make exam drills : Exam simulations allow you to get closer to the type of questions that may appear on the test, and think about the answers beforehand .
There are some times when you have the possibility to access exams from other years. Or even to the previous ones of the same year.
In this way, it is possible to understand what format the teaching team generally proposes, giving the possibility of creating a simulation exam.
Make combinations :If you have many subjects to study you can divide your study days at different times that allow you to study them simultaneously .
A space of time for one topic, another for another ... like this until completing the study session. This way you will avoid forgetting the things you studied at the beginning. Reinforce this technique by handwriting the most important ideas.
Remember your voice - Record :Learn topics in the same way you learn a song. Don't you hear it over and over again, noticing how the singer says it?
Do the same with your songs, you can even record yourself saying the whole song and then listen to you. In this way, you will be able to relate the questions to those topics that you have been listening to for so long .
We already know that not everyone likes our recorded voice but you should try this technique.
Writing can be a great exercise : Writing by hand we mean. Visual memory is a very important factor, so the best thing you can do is exercise it.
If you write the important ideas of each topic by hand on a sheet and also use colors or drawings you will get to see the concepts more clearly.
You can also complete it with information from books. In this way you will ensure the assimilation of the most important ideas and you can visualize them once you are in front of the exam.
Divide the stimuli : Assuming that you have 4 hours to study today and that the first three are devoted to the study of new topics and the last to your review.
We recommend that the latter be separated from the other two.
In that case you would be doubling the daily stimulus to two different study strips and that can help you fix knowledge since the review part can be done better rested than if you try it after 3 hours of reading or study.
Rewriting or explaining to someone else : It is a way of fixing what has been learned and at the same time noticing where we need to reinforce the study a little more.
They are ways of self - evaluation , while at the same time perhaps we are helping someone else. Standing from the listener's side of the explanation is also a good exercise, receiving the contents again and also correcting in case of error or doubt.
Make schemes / structures : These are better fixed in the brain, so they can be easier to remember.
Key associations : Previous knowledge about a topic allows linking it with new aspects. It is easier to retain information if it does not accumulate too much, therefore, it is convenient to review what you saw in the previous class before attending the next one .
Continuity has positive effects on memory because it strengthens connections.
Reading aloud : As we said before, involving different senses in the retention of information will help you to retrieve it later. Reading aloud implies that your eyes and ears are participating in the process to apply the data when necessary.
You can even appeal to this method when you study with other people, so everyone concentrates their attention on the same subject.
Put what you've learned into practice: A knowledge sticks to your mind when you use it frequently . Internet exercises, conversations with native speakers in language learning,
capturing images with the camera if you are learning photography, examples from previous exams and other tools are ideal for applying this tip.
Memorization techniques:
Although reading and repeating until you are fed up are the main or best-known memorization techniques, and have already been surpassed by others and becoming obsolete, there are other memory-related study techniques that can be very effective :
Study techniques for people with visual memory : Use highlighters to differentiate the themes. The use of audiovisual material.
Make memory cards or flashcards. Create concept maps and infographics. Eliminate distractions and take notes by hand to give them real attention.
Educational materials such as videos, documentaries, infographics, photos, maps, and charts that require sight to be used help digest information more quickly. In addition, messages are transmitted faster and global understanding improves .
Involving the senses in the learning process makes it easier to recall a memory. Remember the famous saying: an image is worth a thousand words.
Push memory : Before jumping on the books and class notes, read the index of the topics and see how much you remember of each one .
When you include the material in the review, it will be easier to understand it because your memory has already been forced to retrieve some of the information.
Handwriting : Writing ideas on paper requires more effort than doing it on a computer, because you invest more time and the brain participates more actively remembering the shapes of the letters, ordering the physical space of the sheet and adding created symbols for you to officiate as winks.
It is a method fundamentally linked to understanding.
How to study better ?:
1. Slow, organized and safe : Do you have the feeling that until now every time you study, you forget everything at once? It is very common when you do it just a few days before the exam.
If you really want the knowledge to be fixed in your memory, you must start much earlier .
Why not create a study routine ?
By dedicating some of your time to it every day, you can gradually assimilate the knowledge . Thus, when the time comes to take the exam, you will not have to dedicate marathon days to study, but you will be able to read calmly and review everything you have learned so far.
2. Make sense of it : We assure you that everything you go to study has. Of course you won't find it if you study alone just before the exam.
Take your time to read thoroughly and you will be able to see how each topic is related to the previous and the subsequent one.
This will make you process the information better and be able to reason it out. In this way you will be able to understand the subject much better and you will not have to learn it by heart without making any sense of it.
3. Change places : Almost everyone always chooses the same place to study. A place where you concentrate, you have silence ... But there are scientific studies that show that there is no better place than another to study, but that changing location favors the study .
It is a way of encouraging the brain to work at full capacity so that knowledge is more firmly established in memory.
4. Review at night : Yes, we believe that before going to sleep the best thing you can do is distract yourself after the whole day.
Check your social networks, watch a movie, read something ... And why not do a review? We do not say that you do it just before sleep but reading as a review what you have studied during the day can help you better fix your knowledge.
During sleep, the brain fixes the knowledge acquired during the day, so ... Why not take advantage of it?
5. Study hours : There are many people who find, in the study routine and in having flexible hours for it, the way in which they obtain the best results .
A being those very hours of study, all other pending activities, are relegated and allows the concentration may be higher . It also somehow eliminates the possibility of the typical self-boycott of saying "I do that first and then I study."
The hours chosen can be at any time of the day, and it is necessary to try all of them to know where we have the best concentration.
6. group discussions :Share what you learned with your friends, forming study groups in which they discuss the different contents to explain to each other those ideas that they do not fully understand .
They can use a face-to-face meeting or take advantage of new technologies to build Internet forums, Facebook groups or Skype or Hangouts conversations.
Are you dying to enter that university of your dreams? Well then, the first step is to pass the admission exam. Through this test the suitable candidates are selected to be the students of that university.
If you have already done your selection process and you already have the exam file in your hands, congratulations, you have already taken the first step!
Now, what follows is preparing for that entrance exam, it really is not a difficult thing, only that many times nerves and stress make you have a bad time,
so that's why we decided to create these lines in which you will know how you should study for an admission exam. Remember that everything depends on you, if you put effort and effort, surely you can do it.
The first and most important thing is that this is an exam that covers many subjects, therefore, you will have to dedicate time to each of them.
Our suggestion is that you start by looking at how much time you have since that day that you already know the admission exam date and make a plan, remember to be super honest and set real goals: how many days and hours a week are you willing to dedicate to study.
The most convenient thing is that you make a study schedule for your admission exam, so it will be easier for you to see your progress and always take into account, at least, a week of "mattress" for anything that could happen. With all this clear, it will be much easier to organize.
As you will have enough time to prepare, our recommendation is that you consult the study guide (this must be provided by your university) and see which are the topics that are most difficult for you and begin to review them;
For example: if yours are not the dates and historical movements, start there, since having time for your entrance exam, you can delve a little more into the topics, this also consider it in your schedule so that you do not get out of control at the time of studying.
Once you have them more than mastered, then yes, go past those that are easier for you, in these, you will not have to stop as much because as you already know them,
you will simply have to take a look, review them to remember the most important points and voila! You will be ready for your admission exam.
Do you realize that with these tips you are organizing super well for your entrance exam? Well, also remember that when you are studying for each one of them, a super important point is to have study techniques that help you understand a better shape the knowledge of each subject.
Be careful, each study technique can be different by subject, for example, if for the Biology subject mind maps serve you more, that does not mean that it does not have to be the same for Mathematics, perhaps for that subject you have to make study cards.
Remember that everyone learns differently, so the most important thing is that you feel comfortable yourself and realize that you are advancing and assimilating knowledge.
Within your schedule or time table, always include days so you can rest; If you put 15 consecutive days without a break between them, it is likely that for a few days before your admission exam you will feel super tired and you will no longer want to continue.
Our tip for these cases is that maybe one day of the weekend you see absolutely nothing of what you are studying and you dedicate it to other things that you like and produce pleasure, such as: going to the cinema, watching a movie, going out with your friends or your partner, etc.,
this will help you feel more motivated and wanting to continue learning.
On the Internet there are different sites that have simulators so that you can better understand what the admission exam you are going to take will be like.
Some universities even when you obtain the form for your exam, offer you (for an extra cost) a simulator with the questions that may come within the test.
If you don't have money to pay it, nothing happens! As you read, there are several pages on the Internet that can help you to this end, in fact, here we leave you a link of a simulator for you to review and see standard questions for an entrance exam.
We suggest that when you do, it is when you already have a significant advance in the topics you have reviewed, since otherwise, you will surely have several errors and this could cause frustration.
With this type of simulator, you will be able to detect which are your areas of opportunity in a test like this and sharpen the knowledge that you are not learning quite well, it is highly recommended!
Tomorrow is the expected date for you? Well, we have two things to tell you: the first is congratulations! Because surely you worked hard for that great day and you will do very well. The second is relax, please! It is natural that you feel nervous, but try to dominate them, breathe deeply and trust you a lot.
We do not suggest that you go crazy trying to assimilate all the knowledge the night before, we assure you that you will not get anything! Go to bed early, take a deep breath and try to relax as much as you can, sleep peacefully and with the best attitude.
The next day, get up at a good time to arrive safely at the entrance exam site, have a good breakfast so that hunger does not bother you while you take your test and that's it! He trusts you a lot, you know you can!