After the mocks, if you began to feel like your study methods aren’t working or that you’d like to switch it up, it might be time to try some new tactics. Below is our advice on how to find the best study methods that work for you.
Know what type of learner you are
Knowing this is key in finding your best study techniques. You might be a visual learner who retains most information when it is visualised via graphs or mind maps. You could be an auditory learner who remembers their notes best by repeating them out loud. You could also learn through direct engagement with text through reading and writing, or you might be a kinaesthetic learner for whom it is best to get hands-on experience. If you are a kinaesthetic learner, you’ll like to move around while studying. Demonstrations and role-plays will help you remember and retain information.
Plan ahead and organise yourself
Knowing how much revision you have to do will help you track your progress. Keep a study diary and make a list of what topics you have to cover, then designate time to do so. Because you now set your goals, every time you sit down for a study session, you’ll know what to study and will be more determined to do so. Being organised like this will also stop you from getting stressed out the closer you get to the exam date.
Switch it up
Instead of picking one subject to study per day or per study session, make sure to break it up. Depending on how much time you want to spend on studying, choose a few different subjects. For example, if you decided to go with a language, pair it up with a science subject and then switch to history. Because what you are revising is so different, it will stop all your notes from blending together. Doing this should also keep you concentrated for longer. As you do this, you should take frequent breaks. A good idea would be to study for 50 minutes and take a break for 10 minutes. After that, move on to another subject.
Make the best use of available resources
Sometimes revising by looking over your notes or textbook can get a bit dull. Thankfully, with Internet access, you will be able to find some new sources to help your revision. YouTube offers plenty of video resources for every subject. There are some documentaries for subjects like history or geography. These could be helpful with case studies. To help you with pronunciation or to improve your aural skills, you could watch language videos. There are also book summaries and analysis for English, and videos that help explain difficult concepts for business studies or science subjects. Other than You Tube, there are plenty other resources online that could help you.
Create visual associations to help you remember
As you’ll have a lot of notes and information, you may struggle to remember it all. However, there are a lot of ways to make that easier. Creating visual associations has been proven to aid memory. For example, if you are studying some French vocabulary and are trying to remember the word for a blouse, imagine yourself wearing a bright blouse with polka dots and frills. The more unusual the association, the more likely you are to remember it. If you are trying to remember the events of the Boston Tea Party, imagine the incident in your head, the more unusual details, the better.
Use mind maps
This will help you especially if you are a visual or a reading/writing learner and is a great way to summarise your notes. Make it as colourful as you like and draw pictures or diagrams to help you. This will engage you with the text and information in a more creative way and will make them more memorable. Having a mind map of a topic or a chapter will also allow you to see how the information connects together as it will allow you to see the bigger picture.
Try out some of the above tips and see how they affect your study. Changing up your methods can make a huge difference and improve your study habits. If you’re looking for some new resources, check out the links below.
https://www.scoilnet.ie/
https://studynotes.ie/
https://ed.ted.com/