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Posts Tagged with ‘study tips’

Best Exam Preparation Strategies: Start Early, Make Notes, Eat Healthy

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Proper and Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance

These are the 6 Golden P’s for any student who wishes to do well in exams. Exam time is really a pressure time for students. Students start to panic as soon as the exam time gets nearer and nearer.  This is because they did not start preparing for the exams well in advance and now looking at their books with just a couple of days left, it appears to be a big problem. Students often do not understand how to prepare for exams. They just feel blanked out during the exam time and don’t know from where to begin your exam preparations.

There are some important rules that must be kept in mind before starting to prepare for the exams. In order to prepare well for exams:

  • Start well ahead of time. You will not find any better substitute for this. Preparing in advance helps become familiar with the concepts early on. You get to know your strengths and weaknesses and from then on you can start improving upon them well in advance.
  • You should make your own notes in case you want a quick revision tour of the concepts before the exams.
  • Eat healthy and get adequate sleep. Avoid caffeine and junk food. Try to relax near the exam days. Indulging in sports is a good way of doing this.

Preparing for exams can become a lot easier by following these small steps and you will see your grades move in only one direction from then on which is upwards.

Promo: Get an Online Tutor to help you with doubts and difficult topics.

Exam time is really a pressure time for students. Students start to panic as soon as the exam time gets nearer and nearer.  This is because they did not start preparing for the exams well in advance and now looking at their books with just a couple of days left, it appears to be a big problem. Students often do not understand how to prepare for exams. They just feel blanked out during the exam time and don’t know from where to begin your exam preparations.

There are some important rules that must be kept in mind before starting to prepare for the exams. In order to prepare well for exams, start well ahead of time. You will not find any better substitute for this. Preparing in advance helps become familiar with the concepts early on. You get to know your strengths and weaknesses and from then on you can start improving upon them well in advance. You should make your own notes in case you want a quick revision tour of the concepts before the exams. Eat healthy and get adequate sleep. Avoid caffeine and junk food. Try to relax near the exam days. Indulging in sports is a good way of doing this.

Preparing for exams can become a lot easier by following these small steps and you will see your grades move in only one direction from then on which is upwards.

Study Tips: Optimal environment for studying?

Monday, January 25th, 2010

What kind of environment is optimal for studying (light, noise, desk, chair, temperature, etc.)

optimal environment for studyingStudying is serious business. Therefore, it requires an environment conducive to extracting maximum success out of the effort. This includes the general environment in the place of study as well as among the students and teachers involved.

Students should study in a place which is well-lit. This eases the strain of the eyes and general disposition to become lethargic due to the lack of lighting. At the same time, the lighting should not be so acute that it hurts the eyes or results in general discomfiture.

The venue of studies should have enough flow of air, that is, it should be well-ventilated. This too, eases pressure on the student as adequate oxygen flow is important for the human body to function well.

Ideally, the temperature of the place where the student is studing should be ambient. However, it must be accepted that this is easier said than done as temperatures could vary between room to room and building to building. As an alternative, where control of room temperature is not easily possible, the student should wear appropriate clothing to maintain body comfort.

Seating comfort is also a vital part of being able to study well. The student should sit on a table and chair, which is comfortable, yet not too comfortable so as to induce lethargy or sleep. Typically, the student’s legs should touch the floor while sitting on the chair for the body to be able to maintain balance. The chair should be straight-backed so that long hours of studies do not result in bent back, pain in the back or neck and strained muscles.

Where teachers are also involved, care should be taken to keep the environment stress-free. An air of enquiry should be maintained so that students are motivated to ask questions as well as encouraged to give answers. This will enhance the quality of education. The end result will be high-quality studies.

Is it better to study with a friend or on your own

Monday, January 11th, 2010

is it better to study with friendsEach of us would have done this – study with a friend, family or on ones own – at some point during the course of our education. Each of these options has its own positives and negatives. However, there are more positives associated with studying alone than with studying with friend or family member.

For students inclined towards education or who are naturally endowed with high intelligence, self-study is the best option. It gives them the opportunity to chalk out their own strategy for attaining success. Nothing could be better than that, as it prepares them to get used to working to achieve success in their field of work. It also gives them the opportunity to understand their shortcomings and work towards correcting them. On the contrary, if they were to study along with friends or family members who may not be as systematic, intelligent or knowledgable as they are, the possibilities of their getting slowed down by the others would be very high. That would be sad.

For students who are not inclined towards education or have problems in comprehending or learning things on their own, self-study would hardly give the good results desired by their parents. This would give rise to a lot of heartburn. In order to set right this situation, they would then have to look for help – preferably professional – such as tutors. Another option could be to look for assistance from parents, elder siblings or friends. Though this mode of assistance would not cost anything, the student may not be able to receive consistent inputs from these sources since the arrangement would be informal and without any commitment for sustained time allocation. It may not yield the desired results.

However, during exam/test periods, it is a good idea for students to study in a group as it helps them clarify issues, recap concepts and make preparing for the test more fun.

How can you improve your reading comprehension?

Monday, January 11th, 2010

improve reading comprehensionReading comprehension is about understanding, grasping and retaining what has been read. It’s not just about glossing through or running your eyes over the pages. After all, what counts at the end of the exercise is the amount of material you have been able to understand and retain for future reference.

Typically, you would have some idea of the story, article or book that you have taken on to read. Therefore, keep your mind on how that idea is being expanded upon. See the manner in which the paragraphs have been developed, how the different ideas have been differentiated under various headings, how the story progresses to it logical conclusion.

As you continue reading, either take notes or highlight the vital portions. Avoid underlining portions of pages as it clutters up the pages and lends them a dirty look. Highlighting will also help you revisit the necessary portions. You could highlight with different colors to mark out different ideas.

Look at the new words that have been used in the story. Make a note of these words and their meanings. Try using these words in sentences of your own. This will help you understand these words better. And then add them to your personal vocabulary.

After completing reading the story or a large portion of the book, sit back and review it all. This will help bring into focus all the vital aspects of the story. It will also help look forward to the things that need to be looked for in the ensuing pages.

Look for things you have not been able to understand in the story. Jot down these points and look elsewhere, such as reference books or on the Internet, to clarify these issues. Thus, you will eliminate the gaps in the story. A good reader is one who would have understood and grasped all that has been read. That’s a tall order, but nevertheless worth striving for.

How can you use study time most efficiently?

Monday, January 11th, 2010

Using the time available for study is vital for getting best results. The right use of this time also helps set aside some time for other pursuits, such as hobbies, sports or exercise.

The first step in the efficient use of time is to schedule the things that need to be studied. Without a schedule you wouldn’t know where to start and where to end. A schedule should also contain all the subjects or topics need to be studied. In fact, care should be taken to see that nothing is left out.

Now, allocate the time needed for each topic. There are no specific formulas for this exercise. As a rule of thumb, you just need to allocate maximum time to the most difficult subjects or topics and the least time to the easiest subjects or topics.

This should be followed by determining the part of day or night when the study has to be done. It would be a good idea to study the difficult subjects or topics when you are most fresh since it allows for greater concentration and more understanding.

Once the study is in process, it is essential to gauge how well it is proceeding. For that, you would need to sit back from time to time and survey all that has been studied. A good student will work up the courage to ask himself or herself difficult questions, and see how well the subject or topic has been absorbed. Naturally, there would be some doubts, too. At such points it would be best to repeat the same thing to oneself several times and memorize it. Get back to the topic once again after a few hours or a day and see whether you remember it all. If yes, the hours spent in studying has been worth it. Otherwise, you would need to spend a few more hours at it. Online Tutors at SchoolTrainer help you develop healthy studying habbits so that you can make most of your study time.

How to balance academics and other activities

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

Balancing academics with other daily activities is no mean task – both for students and their parents. Typically, every student would have a special liking for some other activity/activities besides studies. These could be rewarding activities such as fine arts, sports, adventure, reading or traveling, among others; or wasteful activities such as excessive watching of movies, chatting and daydreaming. While the latter needs to be curtailed, the former should be nurtured in healthy combination with education.

Let us take the example of a student who is a tennis player. In this case, the student along with the parents should gauge his or her fundamental strengths in the sport and evaluate the time that should ideally be set aside for it. Suppose the student wishes to pursue the sport only for maintaining good health and social acceptance, there is no need to spend too much time or money on the sport. However, if the student genuinely possesses the potential to grow into a tennis player, then more time and money could be allocated for pursuing the sport.

This course of action can be followed in the case of all rewarding activities.

However, wasteful activities too, form part of the student’s life. Most such activities are aimed at relaxing or gaining social acceptance. Sure, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Therefore, relaxation is necessary for the body to regain its bearings. However, it should be within limits. For an ideal student, there should be no need for anyone to remind him or her of the need to get back to his or her studies.

Eating, socializing, pursuing religious beliefs, traveling and attending to the needs of the elderly and sick in the family or even outside are all part of a typical student’s usual life. The trick is to pursue all these, but yet remain focused on studies in order to enjoy a bright future.

Study Tips – Good Study Habits

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

There are no short-cuts to attaining excellence in education. Yet, doing well in education need not turn into a daunting task for students. All it requires is following a structured regime, which will make the tasks involved simple and exciting.

Set aside a time and place for studies. This will provide continuity and context to studies.

Studies for the year should be started at the very beginning of the academic year. All that is done is class should be learned and revised on a daily basis. This will build up a sound foundation for each subject as the year progresses.

Where students face difficulties, they should at once seek help. It should not be left for a future date as that could shake the foundation of knowledge in the subject.

Not all subjects would be easy for everyone. Thus, for students who find Science daunting, they should spend more ‘quality time’ with the subject. This means, that students should take help from parents, elder siblings or take tuition in the subject.

Judge your own strengths and performance – and fairly. Do not underestimate or overestimate your capabilities in any subject.

Concentrate hard during studies. Cut out all distractions. Look for the main thoughts or the theme of the chapter. After studying a chapter, do the questions at the end of it. Form your own questions, and then answer them. Get it checked by the teacher or your elders.

Eat healthy during the years of education and especially during exam times. Yet, do not overeat. It creates lethargy and induces unnecessary sleep.

Sleep for at least 7 to 8 hours a day. Take regular baths, play regularly and stay away from memory enhancing drugs. Take holidays too, at regular intervals.

Avoid studying late nights during exam time. If possible, wake up early and study since at that time one’s mind is fresh and grasping power strong.

Above all, remain focused. Aim high, plan well to reach the goal and study consistently. All goals are achievable.