If you are a student in college, you may have realized that studying towards a college qualification is much different from a school education. You are often left to figure out things for yourself and your success is purely dependent on you – there is no one there holding your hand like your 5th grade teacher did. Furthermore there’s the element of paying for your college education – you can’t afford to fail! The more time you spend working towards a qualification – the less employable you become and this reduces your chances of moving up the ranks as fast as you potentially could. Therefore having a list of the best studying techniques for college can go a long way in helping you successfully achieve your dreams of a college education:
You may already be familiar with many of these, however fill the gaps with this list of the best studying techniques for college:
Find you best absorption time
People are different therefore to assume everyone studies effectively at the same time of day would be a gross oversimplification of the complexities of the human mind’s ability to assimilate knowledge. You may think that studying in the morning is the best for you; when your mind is fresher and absorption rate is at it’s peak. However, studies have shown that night is the best time to make knowledge “stick.” The research suggests that this is possible because the information will be imprinted in our short term memory which is consolidated during sleep.
Therefore you need to decide what time of day you study the best and leverage this to absorb the most amount of information. For e.g. if you study the best at night when there is peace and quiet – then leave the most difficult sections for this time of day and revision for the morning or midday. The converse would apply if you study best during the day.
Study with friends
Group studying doesn’t work for everyone, however it can be a valuable way of sharing knowledge easily and fast. The advantages of group studying are two fold:
1) it has a visual element which makes understanding things easier
2) different people are generally better at something things therefore they can easily share the knowledge
What I found useful about group studying is that learning from peers is much more easier than lecturers. This is because having someone at the same academic level as you reduces the burden of over complication. This usually occurs when you are lectured by someone with advanced level degrees.
Learn regularly
Is it better to learn a small section for an hour or an entire textbook two weeks before the exam? I would assume the latter is your worst nightmare if you are a college student. Therefore to ease your study load, practice creating good habits of learning on a regular basis. This is one of the best studying techniques for college because revision is much faster as opposed to learning fresh content. Learning on a regular basis also makes it easier for you to find your weaknesses and ask for help immediately; trying to this during exams is a nightmare as most people are too busy worrying about passing themselves
Watch Google and YouTube videos
If you do end up getting stuck on a problem with no friend to lend a helping hand – then just turn to your trusted friend Google and his sidekick Youtube. Together they will use their superpowers to help you better understand just about anything. Subscribe to popular Youtube channels with expert tutors or just read up tutorials done on blogs. Just make sure that the content is legit and trusted before you invest your time in it.
Use the power of visual learning
As written previously, visual learning can be a great method to improve the way you study. Visuals not only allow simplification but also removes the abstractness from paragraphs of text. You can practice visual learning through flowcharts, simulations or practicals.
Do past papers
Doing past papers and examination are probably more useful than textbook and class examples. This is because examination papers have the twists and trick questions that you will often be faced with. Doing past papers can therefore properly gauge how well you understand topics and if further foundation learning needs to be done. It is impossible to do all of them but do enough such that you feel comfortable enough. Doing past paper in an exam like setting will also help you learn to manage time and deal with anxiety.
Memorize important formulas
If you are using a particular set of rules or formulas for a particular subject – committing them to memory saves the time needed to flip back to glossary or appendixes. Learn them off and you will have them at your harness. Just make sure that you put to memory the correct information.
Use acronyms as part of your studying techniques for college
Learning acronyms are great ways to memorize large amounts of data. The mind will easily recall loads of information from just a single word. Therefore all that’s really necessary is to learn the correct acronyms before exams. Here’s an excellent opportunity for you to start making up your own vocabulary.
Learn difficult section first
It makes sense to want to constantly get better at a section you are good at – this could possibly make the difference of you passing or failing. However, be-careful not to consume all of your time studying something just because it feels good to understand it. This is especially important during the earlier stages before exams. Spend the earlier weeks before exams learning the difficult sections. The weeks closer to the exam date can then be spent revising easier section. This will make you much more relaxed and positively motivated for the exam.
Talk to previous year students
one of the best studying techniques for college is data gathering. Socializing with previous year students can give you great advice as to what to focus on or watch out for. They may also willing to hand you there study notes and some useful tips along the way. Ensure that you have an open mind but also your own viewpoint. Just because a hundred students failed a course before you – this doesn’t mean that you are going to add to that statistic.
Summarize your textbooks
Writing is one learning, as my tutor used to tell me. Summarizing information according to a study, strengthens the learning process. Neurophysiologists have discovered that when writing by hand, the brain receives feedback from our motor actions together with the sensation of touching a pencil and paper. So get ready for some very sore fingers! Add summarizing textbooks to your list of studying techniques for college.
Do you love learning about multiple subject areas? Then you may be a polymath. Read: Your Ultimate Guide To Being A Polymath; to understand how to harness your mind’s full potential.
To learn how to fully achieve success in all facets of your life, read: Applying A Growth Mindset To Achieve Success
