Best Exam Tips: The Secret to Remembering What You Study

For competitive exams, students must commit a large amount of material to memory. It could be difficult to commit one lesson's worth of material to memory. Having a lot of subjects, though, can make it much more stressful. It is not uncommon for students to think poorly of their memorization abilities. Still, memorization is not confined to a select group of individuals endowed with the requisite skills. With practice, everyone's memory can get better.

When exam day arrives, many students question themselves on whether you are remembering what you study. Strengthening your memorisation abilities is quite simple, no matter if you are trying to learn a foreign language, prepare for a test, or just keep your mind active. It only requires experimenting with novel memorising strategies. Below are the top five techniques to improve your memory for exams or tests.

1. Take Handwritten Notes

Place your laptop in a drawer and start writing your notes. Handwritten notes are easier to remember. It is preferred to jot down your concepts for a few reasons when you are memorizing them. Your brain uses more energy and works harder to produce each letter when you write by hand. Taking handwritten notes enables students to rephrase the concepts in their own language which promotes increased engaged learning.

2. Test Your Knowledge After Memorising A Specific Topic

After reading the course material, give yourself a test. This self-assessment strategy is one of the best study techniques for improving your ability to remember words, subjects, and ideas in a hurry. It comprises probing yourself with questions following a reading on a particular topic to determine if the knowledge you took in truly clicked or if it just flowed out of your mouth. Another name for this method is retrieval practice.

3. Have A Power Nap After A Learning Session

Take a quick nap or get some rest after your learning session. After learning something, those who get eight hours of sleep are more likely to remember it than those who don't. Sleep improves memory retrieval and keeps our brains from losing memory, among its many other benefits for students. Thus, this lends credence to the claim that studying after midnight is not the best course of action.

4. Choose Different and Peaceful Locations To Study

Various environmental signals might serve as triggers for your memory. Consider changing to a different location to help the concepts stick in your memory if you're having difficulties recalling the stuff you're studying.

5. Make Use of Acronyms and Mnemonic

Organize the course material into phrases and patterns that you must learn by heart. Recalling information becomes easier when every letter is linked to a word, phrase, or rhyme. These methods are especially useful for memorizing information that is sequential and in lists. Creating engaging connections between words and images can help with memory retention. The human brain processes images faster than any other learning criterion. When words are represented visually, our brain processes them more quickly. Studies show that people can recall about 80% of the information presented in visuals and always remember it. It is among the best study strategies for helping you retain the information you have studied.