Passing an examination is not all about learning, but also the effectiveness of your study strategies. Students who do well during examinations are not superhumans with super brains at all times. Any student who masters and engages in effective exam preparation stands a better chance of scoring great grades.
You, too, can achieve exam success. In this exam tips article, ExamHall.org shares some of the best ways to do effective study and learning for your next examination.
How to engage in effective exam preparation for great grades
#1. Start your revision early, space out the study and preparation
Students who want to excel in their upcoming examinations must start preparing very early. Do not wait until a few weeks or days before you begin to get serious. Starting your preparation early would make it effective and yield the desired result.
This also requires that you space out your studies, which can be achieved when you start early. For instance, if you start studying early for an examination, you will have the luxury of breaking your study in such a way that you learn just a small fraction of the entire course at a time, and by the time the examination is getting closer, you would have covered a lot. Learning in bits over the period helps you to understand a lot more and increases the chance of succeeding in the examination.
Research has proven time and again that study that is split into smaller units leads to a better understanding of the materials. It helps students to avoid cramming so much in a few days or hours for an examination.
#2. Study by using effective learning strategies
Studying for an exam is an act, a skill, and a science. You need to know yourself and the learning strategy that works for you and use them to your advantage. Some strategies to consider as are follows.
- Underline or highlight key points in your notes and textbooks. This helps you to quickly find them and revise them later.
- Concentrate when studying and be motivated by your target for the examinations.
- Study in a quiet environment.
- Put your phone, laptop, or TV away if they are not going to contribute towards your studies. Remember that, these items can be very destructive.
- If keeping your concentration is a problem, study for 25 minutes then take a break and come and the come and do another 25 minutes.
- When studying, your target should be to understand the main ideas of the test or subject or topic.
- Make summarized notes of what you have learned. It is best these short notes are written in your own words as much as possible without losing the meaning of the main text.
- Ask likely examination questions at the end of the study and attempt to answer them. Ask
yourself who/why/what/how questions, then solve them by writing the answers and or saying them aloud. - Study alone and in groups. Group study should be done with only SERIOUS students.
#3 Take a Test regularly, practice under exam conditions
There are several useful past papers and likely examination questions. Use them to test your understanding and readiness for the upcoming examination. When doing this, time yourself, and ensure you follow strict examination rules throughout the trial test. This can be done on the individual level or with a group of serious students. This should be followed by cross-marking each other’s answers and discussing the questions. By discussing, you will be teaching and learning from your colleagues. You can also examine yourself by attempting to recall what you have learned earlier on. You can say the answers aloud or write them, explain clearly, and cite examples to support them.
READ: A Comprehensive Guide to Answering BECE English Language Objective Questions
How to deal with exam preparation stress
Remember that examination and preparing for the exam can be stressful. Learn basic and smart ways to deal with this.
If you feel stressed and anxious, try the following.
- You can do the breath in and out exercise. Thus take depth breaths and then out a few times.
- Believe in yourself during the study and be confident in your efforts.
- Take breaks and admire nature to refresh the mind
- Have a nap and stay calm.
- Close the book and take a walk for a few minutes.
You will attain effective exam preparation and do well in your examination, but it all depends on how well you prepare.