Here are the Tips to Help You Learn Faster
Learning is the acquisition of knowledge or skills
through experience, practice, study, or by being taught. A test measures how
much you learn by testing your ability to recall, recognize and work with what
you know. These tips are suggestions that I have that can help you learn more efficiently and do better
on exams.
1.
Read the textbook/required readings before class if possible.
For those already attending college/university, you’re probably aware that most
of the professors assign you readings to do before lectures. However, it’s hard
to discipline ourselves to do something that we feel may not be important. The
lecture is going to go over what we read anyways so why waste time going over
something again. Well, it’s actually important, because it helps you make sense
of what is being taught so you don’t get lost and it helps you store what you
learn more strongly in your memory because you are repeating what you learn.
2.
Relate to what you learn. When I first started university, one
studying tip was to relate to what I was learning. This means thinking of
situations or other things you know and incorporating them with new
information. By relating to what you learn, it helps you understand the new
information quicker and it gives you more memory cues to draw from as you try
to recall information on a test.
3.
Teach what you learn to others. When we are asked to teach
something to someone, it forces us to recall what we know. If you feel that you
have a hard time trying to remember information as you teach, it’s a sign that
you didn’t really learn the materials well. On other hand if you have really understood something, you
should find yourself having an easier time explaining a concept. We are often
poor judges of ourselves and this gives us a chance to gauge how much we
actually learn. Furthermore, by teaching someone something, you are practicing
your ability to recall a skill that is used on tests.
4.
Use Memory Tools. For example, use mnemonics. This is any
learning technique that aids information retention by translating the
information into a form that the human brain can retain better than it’s
original form. For example, if you have to remember a parts of the brain, you
can take the first letter of each part and form a word or sentence with it.
Then you remember the word or sentence for an exam and remember what each
letters or words stand for.
5.
Seek Help from Professor or teaching assistance. I
know that sometimes we feel uncomfortable to ask for help especially from them,
but it actually saves you so much time if you do. If you have notes in lectures
or textbooks that you don’t understand, you need to clarify them. This saves
you time from having to figure out everything on your own and risking
memorizing the wrong information. It also gives you a chance to hear what you
learn again reinforcing memory.
6.
Form Study Groups. I always had one of these for each class. I
know that we learn better on our own and we often choose to, but when we have a
study group, we can learn from each other as well. It also gives us a chance to
test each other and teach each other. Another tip when forming study groups is
to make sure you team up with people who are as knowledgeable as you, because
you want to benefit from them just as much as they are benefiting from you.
Hope these tips speed up your learning. Share with me
some of your tips as well!
Image Source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1102366
+ comments + 1 comments
Definitely we can do well in our exams by applying these tips.
BTW! thanks for posting.
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