Revise your notes one day after learning them.
Research shows that if you go over your notes within 24 hours of learning them, your recall will be up to 90 percent. However, if you leave the review for three days, information recall drops to 30 percent. Your brain forgets up to 70 percent of information without repetition.
Here is a popular technique that many students use:
• Purchase a notebook for each subject and label them with each subject name.
• Each day after school, summarise what you have learned that day in each subject, on one page of the notebook.
• Write keywords, draw pictures and diagrams, use colours and make it interesting and memorable.
• The next morning, reread each summary. This one-day review can produce your 90 percent recall.
• It is important to note that if you are unsure or confused about any of the information you are summarising, please check with your teachers the next day. If you remain confused or unsure this can stop future learning.
• Remember to date your pages so you can revise them a week and a month later to keep your recall at 90 percent.
Study for 20 minutes and take a five-minute break If there was one tip that I know makes a big difference it is this one. Break your study time into small chunks rather than attempting to focus for long periods of time. It is much easier to focus for 20 minutes than it is for an hour. During your 20 minutes, focus on what you don’t know and create links between what you are learning and what you don’t know. Your first 20 minutes of each study time should be summarising your notes as discussed above. At the end of your 20 minutes, quickly revise what you have achieved and learned in that timeframe.
What you do in your five minute break is also important. Get up and move away from where you have been studying so your brain knows that it is break time. Avoid TV, computers and screens in this time, as the screen flickers causing your brain to go into a danger mode of survival rather than higher-order thinking, which is what you want during study. Eat some brain food such as unsalted nuts, banana, yoghurt or a whole grain bread sandwich. Drink a glass of water and get some fresh air. Jumping on a trampoline can also increase the good learning chemicals in your brain. Skipping for two to three minutes also has a beneficial reaction in your brain.
When your break time is over, time yourself for another 20 minutes. Most students find it helpful to plan what you are going to study each night, as you will be more focused and achieve more. If you have not already downloaded the iStudyAlarm app onto your mobile phone, iPad or tablet, check it out at either the iTunes store or Google Play. It has 27 study tips, exam tips, break ideas and links to videos with more study tips.