Every student has a love-hate relationship with science; some chapters might be more interesting than others. For instance, chemistry is no easy game when it comes to formulas.
Still, it is exciting experimenting in the lab with various substances, just like you might love learning about conspiracy theories when studying physics, but all those numbers give you a headache.
Still, one thing is for sure: you have an upcoming exam, and you need to do your best to achieve great results. The good news is that in this article, you can find 10 valuable tips to prepare efficiently for your science exam:
Organize the Information
The first step towards a successful studying session is to actually open your books. You have to break up your chapters, prioritizing the ones that give you a hard time and leaving the easy work for last.
Moreover, organise the notes from class, grouping them by topic, so you avoid the chaos of having piles of papers. Also, to have more resources, consider keeping your laptop ready to conduct deeper research to better understand the hard topics.
Consider Tuition
The best tip to ensure significant progress and always be prepared for your exams is having tuition. For instance, if you are having a hard time learning chemistry, you can seek help from an expert who can help you prepare for your exam.
And most probably they will make you love this subject thanks to their passion for teaching. Moreover, a science tutor can identify your learning needs to structure the studying process based on how hard or efficiently you memorise the concepts, your strengths and weaknesses on the subject.
Schedule Your Study Time
It’s crucial to schedule your time to avoid a complete burnout. Even if you have a lot of studying to do, you also need some rest to refresh your brain from time to time. For instance, you can do 20 minutes of studying, and 20 of break time to relax your mind.
Also, consider establishing a study routine for the week and writing down your schedule. Still, to keep disciplined and take things seriously, avoid distractions like your smartphone during learning time and leave them for your time off when you can do whatever makes you feel good.
Create Flashcards
Write down on some pieces of cardboard the essential information you need to memorize or just the keywords to create an engaging game-like learning process. This can significantly boost your fast-learning skills and improve your memory.
You can review them whenever you need to refresh a topic quickly. Still, don’t use them to cheat on your exam; be fair and test your actual learning skills.
Make Concept Maps
Concept maps are a graphical way to summarise a chapter or page of your book, showing how the concepts are related. Firstly, identify the main topic and then organize your information by major points with additional details that might be useful to memorize them faster. Use arrows to indicate their relationship.
Use Your Own Words
It’s essential to use your own words to explain a complex topic in order to get yourself involved in active learning. By using simple language, your brain can easily recall ideas and concepts thanks to its familiarity with your words.
Still, step by step, you should integrate into your speech the terminology you learn to get used to it, and you will be surprised about how easy it can be to memorize the information.
Summarise the Chapters
To avoid getting lost through insignificant details and putting a heavy workload on your brain, try summarising the chapters starting from the main subject and note the key concepts with one or two sentences that define your topic.
Also, consider using examples and numbers to visualize what you are writing with concrete facts. It’s also essential to be clear and concise; don’t write difficult words and long sentences, and keep it simple and easy to read.
Highlight the Important Things
Avoid highlighting the whole page of your book unnecessarily. Focus on the keywords and sentences that you need to recall when reviewing the chapter you study. It would be great to use multiple colors for different points to easily identify the concepts.
Consider highlighting the key concepts after reading each paragraph and focusing on examples, statistics, and numbers to have a clear idea of what you are reading.
Review Notes You Take in Class
As we said before, you need to organize your notes from class and group them by topic; even if you take quick notes that might seem complicated to read, you can rewrite them in a more understandable way.
These notes are important because teachers usually ask students to write down their explanations, which might not be covered in their books or represent significant details for a deeper understanding of the topic.
Read Out Loud
It is demonstrated that reading out loud triggers a dual memory process; after your studying session, try verbalising what you’ve just learned to encourage your brain to associate the spoken words with images and texts you visually memorise from your books and notes.
Moreover, consider verbally presenting your lessons to someone to test your memory or creating a game with your flashcards to answer some questions about what you’ve learned.
The Bottom Line
Remember that studying doesn’t have to be exhausting and draining; you can experiment with new techniques to identify the one that might serve your learning needs.
Also, the best thing is that you don’t have to study alone; you can seek help from an expert to ensure permanent results of your progress or meet your friends to review together the chapters that give you a hard time.
Of course, the preparation for your exam can be stressful, but we are sure you have what it takes to become a pro in science. Good luck!