Learning takes effort. Actually it takes continuous effort to truly understand the material. The following are some suggestions for effective study habits:
- be active - don't just 'read over the material'
- always have a pen in hand and make 'summary notes' - these notes can be thrown away immediately - the act of writing makes you much more engaged in learning and improves memory
- review on a regular basis - don't just cram for the test
- review notes at the end of the day and again at the end of the week
- take breaks as required (i.e. study for 45 minutes and then take a 10 minute, well earned break)
- seek answers to what you do not fully understand
- during your reviews you may find that you do not fully understand some topics/issues
- seek clarification from classmates, do the assigned readings, or talk to your professor
- look for connections and relationships between various concepts and facts
- the more you are able to relate new information to 'old ideas' the better you will understand and remember the new stuff
- make a schedule - your study calendar can include
- due dates for assignments and tests
- regularly scheduled study times
- try the distillation approach - especially during midterms and finals
- review your lecture notes and reduce (distill) them to about 1/4 (e.g. 40 pages of raw notes becomes 10 pages of distillation notes)
- take a quick break and then review your distillation notes and see if you can remember all the details of the original notes
- if not, enhance your distillation notes
- next, use only your distillation notes and reduce them again by 1/4 (e.g. 10 pages becomes only 2-3)
- take a quick break and then review your 2nd distillation notes and see if you can remember all the details of the original notes
- continue distilling until you have reduced the whole term's notes to a single page and are able to remember details from the original notes