Tips for Studying (For College Students)
College is the bridge between education and the real world. College life is undoubtedly an unforgettable time in everyone's life. It creates a stamp on your memory. Although college life can be an amazing and fun adventure for many, one must not lose focus from studies.
While many students enjoy the extra-curricular and social experiences during their time at college, it’s important to not lose sight of why they are attending school in the first place, to earn an education!
In order to become successful in college, it’s imperative that students develop healthy, academic, daily routines. An example of a “healthy” or “academic” routine is making time for studying. College professors usually provide informative lectures on specific topics relating to the course, but it’s not always easy to digest during that time.
This is where studying becomes key for most college students. It’s a great way to retain information and will prove vital in the weeks leading up to mid-terms and finals. We put together a list of tips for studying during your college career. Check them out below.
Prepared Materials and Group Studies:
You should have the content and materials prepared prior to sitting down to study. Hand-writing your notes has been shown to help students tremendously because your handwriting helps you understand terminologies better, and your brain can recall and remember it easily. Another tip is studying in groups. Each group member can prepare a topic and then present it to others. The added benefit to presenting a topic in a study group is that it also helps you retain the information you’re presenting on better.
Make Self-Care a Priority
Many college students try to jam as much studying into their schedule the night before a mid-term or final. Because of this, they often operate on less than 7-8 hours of sleep, and in some cases, no sleep at all! What many students fail to realize is that not getting a proper 7-8 hours of sleep actually has an adverse effect on your ability to concentrate, problem solve, and retain information. By pulling those “heroic” all-nighters in preparation for the big test, you are actually more likely to perform poorly, than if you spread studying out in increments throughout the week. For more information on how sleep can affect your academic performance, hear it from the leading neuro-scientist on sleep, Dr. Matthew Walker.
Change Your Study Locations
We all have our favourite places to work or study. Sometimes it’s in a quite corner of a library, the home-office, or even outside on a nice day. For many, they report that actually changing the locations where they study helps them refresh their brain, and take in information more easily. Make sure that your study area is well lit and neither too bright nor gloomy. If you are easily distracted be sure to find another location where you can focus and concentrate.
Use Flashcards & Highlighters
While studying any topic, mark the key pieces of information with stars, or highlight them so they’re easier to find when you go back over the content. You can prepare flashcards comprising of essential definitions, formulae, facts, etc. for easy revisions. These cards can help you to condense the information and save your time while revising the details.
Conclusion
College can offer an abundance of wonderful experiences. Not losing focus of why you are there in the first place is key. Developing healthy studying patterns and techniques will allow you to focus on your degree, which in turn will afford you with the opportunity to create long-lasting friendships, memories, and experiences. It may be hard to see now, but the four (sometimes more) years you spend obtaining an education could very well be the most important four years of your life. Study hard but more importantly, study smart!
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