The exams are already here. Do you know the best study techniques to improve your grades and how to alternate them to maximize their potential? There are many study techniques that we can use to get our university degree with the best grades: comprehensive reading, underlining, drawings, flashcards, mind maps, self-tests... but the key trick is not in applying one or another, but in alternating them in the most suitable way to achieve better performance.
Technology is our friend
Technology can help us a lot in our studies, that's why we must use it, but in a logical way and avoiding distractions. There are numerous applications that limit sound or message notifications while we study, so that we are not constantly checking WhatsApp or social networks, for example
Ommwriter or
SelfControl. There are also applications that help us with specific subjects so that we can improve our grades in those that we find more difficult. Others serve to organize ourselves, like Google Calendar, among others, so that we can have all the exams and assignments we have for each month at a glance. So yes, the first study technique we must always use is organization and planning, because it is essential that, during the time we dedicate to study, nothing distracts us and that we have an efficient study calendar so that nothing catches us by surprise at the last minute.
Winning combinations to increase grades
As we said, it is not about applying one or another study technique, but about getting the most out of our study time by alternating the most appropriate ones for each moment. Let's see several of them and how to alternate them:
Comprehensive reading and underlining
Whenever we start studying, we need to do a
comprehensive reading and
underline the text, but we must do it well so that we don't have to repeat this process ten times and studying becomes unbearable. If we do a good comprehensive reading and truly understand everything we read, it will be much easier for us to make an effective underlining, so that our books are not full of highlighted text, but we only mark what really matters. We will save time, ink, and the reviews will be easier and faster.
Outlines, mind maps, drawings, and study flashcards
Once we have read and underlined, we can start summarizing, and the summary itself can be, according to
better memorize, a type of outline (with
flashcards that we can review anywhere), or
mind maps that we design to activate our
visual memory or, with subjects that allow it,
drawings. This way, the retention of what we have studied will be much greater because we will distinguish very well between the superficial part of the texts (the filler) and what is essential (the main ideas that we must study in depth).
Self-tests and information exchange
The final phase of our study is the most important, and that's why we must use the study techniques that have been scientifically proven to be more effective. Creating exams and answering them is one of the best ways to learn, because we not only have to know the answer, but it also allows us to ask the question, which shows that we can differentiate important things and understand them. It will also reinforce our
confidence facing the exam and help us memorize faster. On the other hand, once we have studied the subject, it is great to meet with a classmate and have a
collaborative study session, because if we can explain it in our own words (without the stress of doing it in the exam), it means that we know it. As the
Feynman method states, if we can explain it, we have internalized the knowledge and can put it into words. If we cannot physically study with any friend or we realize that, instead of studying, we distract each other, it can be useful to create online forums with our classmates to exchange knowledge, possible exam questions and their answers, so that we expand our knowledge and motivate each other.
The final trick to boost our grades
If we have studied in advance and want to excel in an exam, we can expand our notes a little by
conducting research on our own about the subject. It is not about writing an essay for each subject, but doing our own research will help us stand out from the rest of our classmates, demonstrate our great interest, and help us further consolidate the knowledge we already had and relate separate concepts to achieve a deeper understanding. What are you waiting for? Good luck and let's improve those grades!
