Study Tips

OPEN EYES, OPEN MIND

We at Afri-Renaissance understand that when someone says “don’t stress”, you want to hit them over the head with your freakishly large textbook. So here is how to pull an all-nighter more effectively.

🕑You may want to give some exams more study time than others, so find a balance that you feel comfortable with. Organize your study space, make it as tidy as possible as this creates a conducive environment for reading and taking in information🕠.

Make your study space portable, in as much as we are creatures of habit with favourite seats and spots in the library information retention actually improves when we vary our places of study.

🎶Every time you feel your eyes close, play some hard core music. Allocate time for breaks in between studying this helps your brain remember information quicker and easier and ultimately helps you do better in your exams🎵.

📢Speak out loud instead of simply reading, although this may make you look a little crazy, give it a go! You will be surprised how much more you can remember when you have said it out loud (Do not try this in the library).

🍬Each time you read a topic and grasp a concept reward yourself with a treat. You could put pieces of candy 🍭at the end of each topic. The best way to test if you really understand something is to try to teach it to someone else. This is why group discussions are important so that in the event that you got a concept wrong you get corrections before going for the exam.

👭Create mental associations, studies have shown that associating with creative people who have a zeal for academics is the fuel of intelligence.👬

📱Turn off your cell phone and desist from thinking about checking your social media notifications. Watch a documentary on the topic you are reading on or Google search YouTube seminars of the topic. This is an entertaining way of compacting an entire story into a short timeframe. This will help you remember key details from a story plus you could even get extra credit for mentioning that you took the initiative and watched a film about the topic📴.

📃Create flash cards for quick memory buzz. Quickly test your knowledge of key concepts, definitions, quotes and formulas with flashcards. Don’t study in bed you’ll be tempted to take a little nap. If you are studying indoors open the windows and sit by the window provided there are no distractions outside. The cool breeze will invigorate you📄.

🔁Practice, practice and practice. Practicing sample answers to past exam questions can help train your brain to retrieve information. Create realistic exam-like conditions and test your understanding of the topics🔄.

➕The final piece of how to study effectively is to have a positive mind set. Nothing beats the “I can do it” mentality. It motivates you to keep on reading even when all you want to do is watch a movie or sleep➕.