5 EFFECTIVE STUDY TIPS FOR ALL STUDENTS

Basically, we study in order to understand concepts and pass examinations in our various disciplines. Studying is no easy task. It could become a boring routine. Many students don't fancy personal study.

It is important that one engages in a personal study if the goals of scholarship are to be actualized. To get that eye-popping cumulative grade point average (CGPA), you have to cultivate the habit of personal study. It will also help you master concepts and principles relating to your course of study.

I intend to give you quick tips/steps to aid your personal study time and make it worthwhile. The tips are effective when followed to the letter. So, read along with me.

RETRIEVAL
So you're at home, or you've left the class. You were in class earlier, heard the lecturers presentation and also took down notes. Great!
See top 8 reasons why you should not miss classes.
To consolidate what you have learnt in class,  try to remember all (is that really possible?) of the learning that took place in the class. OK. You probably won't remember all. But try to recollect the important points.
Trust me, that is some hard work. However, the benefits are tremendous.

The process of retrieval has been discovered to be effective as a strategy to employ if you want to understand and remember your lessons easily. You can practice this at any time and anywhere.  When you practice this consistently, it increases your capacity for knowledge retention and retrieval.

GIVE YOURSELF A TEST
Test yourself. Doing this,  you get to know your strength and weaknesses. It gives you an idea of how much effort you need to put in that course of study.

Testing yourself helps you own and personalise the study session. This guarantees more return on learning and helps achieve a better result.

SPACE YOUR STUDY
"Read a little, take a break, come back and read more, take a break again."
That was, and still is my motto for studying. In as much as you need to spend quality time studying, you do not try to understand everything about the subject of study at a stretch. That would be counterproductive as there'll be increased chances that such information will be stored in the short-term memory.

Don't pile up those notes till few weeks or days to the exam. Aside from the fact that you might end up overworking yourself, there is a high tendency that what has been learnt won't last long in your memory.

The process of studying has to be a systematic build-up and consolidation of knowledge. Not doing this will have a negative impact on your grades. It is also pertinent to state that the interval between the sessions shouldn't be too far apart. A few hours is just ok.

BE DYNAMIC
When studying and you come across new concepts, don't put them aside. Read up on such concepts immediately. It'll help you properly grasp what you are studying. Don't be one-dimensional. However, do this with caution so you don't deviate from the objectives you set out to achieve for that study session.

BE CREATIVE WITH LOCATIONS
All studying takes place in a location. Be it at the library, at home, or at the park. This underscores the importance of location in maximising the gains of study. A good study location is key to successful study time.

Rather than having a single location for studying, research has shown that not being stuck in a particular location increases learning outcomes for the individual. Therefore, you need to be creative. You could study at the library on a particular day, and revert to your garden or the park, the day after. In doing this, you'll be able to associate each concept you learn with the different environment settings you undertook your study in.

Although these tips aren't exhaustive, they will help you get more out of your study time.
Thank you for reading.

See 7 steps to form a study group here. 

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