How To Improve Memory??

 

• Pay atten­tion and con­cen­trate.
• Relate to the infor­ma­tion you are learn­ing. The more per­sonal the infor­ma­tion becomes, the eas­ier it is to remem­ber it. Ask your­self how it makes you feel. Ask your­self where else you have heard this. Ask your­self whether there is some­thing in your per­sonal life related to this piece of information.
• Repeat the infor­ma­tion: Come back to it more than one time. This has been found in tons of stud­ies: repeated infor­ma­tion is eas­ier to recall.
• Elab­o­rate on the infor­ma­tion: think about it. Things that are con­crete and have a clear mean­ing are eas­ier to remem­ber than abstract and vague ones. Try­ing to attach mean­ing to the infor­ma­tion you are try­ing to mem­o­rize will make it eas­ier to recall later. Your brain will have more cues to look for. For instance, try to pic­ture the infor­ma­tion in your head. Pic­tures are much eas­ier to mem­o­rize than words. To remem­ber fig­ures and per­cent­ages it is much eas­ier to pic­ture these in a graph for instance. Relate the infor­ma­tion to some­thing you know already.

How To Improve Concentration??

* Focus on the task at hand. If  read­ing a book or a report: ask your­self how you would sum­ma­rize what you just read to a friend .

  *  In gen­eral, avoid and/or elim­i­nate dis­trac­tions. Tune out every­thing else. The harder the task, the more impor­tant it is to tune out distractions.

*  Do not try to double-task, this will increase your errors and divide your atten­tion. Atten­tion is lim­ited. When you try to do sev­eral things at once, you nec­es­sar­ily have to divide your atten­tion and thus con­cen­trate less on each indi­vid­ual tasks.

* Use meditation Sev­eral stud­ies have shown that med­i­ta­tion can be a good brain train­ing tool that affects espe­cially atten­tional / con­cen­tra­tion skills.

DO'S AND DONT'S ON EXAM DAY

Don't Panic

• Calm down- Don't panic.Panic will only make your situation worse. If you panic, take deep breaths  and think that you CAN do this.You're smart enough to realize you need to study days in advance. 

• Determine what material needs to be covered-  Most exams cover specific subjects and material, and it's important to know which material or components you need to study. Otherwise, you may be using your precious remaining study time incorrectly. Ask your teacher about the subjects you'll be tested on and which chapters you need to cover.Study the most important topics first. Exams usually cover a few core ideas, concepts, or skills. Review sheets, the highlighted topics in textbooks, and the parts your teacher stressed repeatedly are all clues as to what are the really important topics or components.

• Make a study plan- Determine what subjects you don't know as much about  and include more study sessions on these topics. The aspects you know more about still need reviewing, but they will come easier, so try to focus on the more challenging topics.

• Figure out your study methods.-Use tools that will help you to study. Tools like flash cards may be boring, but really help memorize important things.

Take Notes

• Take notes and ask Questions-It's never too late, and the sessions before the exam are usually for review, which is just what you need. If you're studying and happen to come across a part you can't understand, write it down. Ask your teacher either during class or during office hours. And don't worry – you aren't dumb if you ask questions. Questions mean that you're actively paying attention, and you're learning. Besides, a question ahead of time could mean a better grade on the exam.

• Find your resources-Your textbook, notes, online sources, classmates, teachers, and possibly your family members can all be of use. Old assignments are especially good, as some exams have questions directly off homework.

• Ask for help-Classmates can be helpful in studying, but choose someone who will help you, not the friend you tend to goof off with. Ask help from your parents or siblings; they may really appreciate being asked.

• Try and complete two Model Question  (each subject) in this time.

• Have a fixed time of sleep and relaxation (including TV time).

• Meditate and give auto suggestions every day, to be calm in the exam situation.

Studying Just A Day Before The Exam Is Bad

This is so true especially if you force your mind to absorb all the things that you need to review for your tomorrow’s exam. Why? Because a person typically forgets as much as 80% of what he or she learned within 24 hours and according to a research, memory retention is enhanced by sleep. And now it is clear why all experts are encouraging students to relax and sleep early the night before their exam instead of having one final round of night-review.

                          Aside from depriving yourself in getting adequate sleep when you study just a day or a night prior to your exam, you are also wasting your time as there is no guarantee that you can retain what you squeezed into your mind.  You are doing no good for your body and your mind when you force your mind to absorb the whole book or your entire one month lecture in just one sitting.

               So stick to the good-old formula of studying: establish a regular study habit whether or not you have homework or exam the following day. Studying this way is not only easier and shorter (2-3 hours daily) but also let you master and retain all the necessary information on a particular subject.

 General Tips

• Don't look for some new notes before one day. Don't try to learn   anything new, rather focus on already prepared ones.
• Talk with your family members to come out with your stress.
• Try to have light dinner.
• Don't cram all night before an exam.
• Have a relaxing night before the exam.

How to study for Approaching exam??

Don't Panic

• Calm down- Don't panic.Panic will only make your situation worse. If you panic, take deep breaths  and think that you CAN do this.You're smart enough to realize you need to study days in advance. 

• Determine what material needs to be covered-  Most exams cover specific subjects and material, and it's important to know which material or components you need to study. Otherwise, you may be using your precious remaining study time incorrectly. Ask your teacher about the subjects you'll be tested on and which chapters you need to cover.Study the most important topics first. Exams usually cover a few core ideas, concepts, or skills. Review sheets, the highlighted topics in textbooks, and the parts your teacher stressed repeatedly are all clues as to what are the really important topics or components.

• Make a study plan- Determine what subjects you don't know as much about  and include more study sessions on these topics. The aspects you know more about still need reviewing, but they will come easier, so try to focus on the more challenging topics.

• Figure out your study methods.-Use tools that will help you to study. Tools like flash cards may be boring, but really help memorize important things.

Take Notes

• Take notes and ask Questions-It's never too late, and the sessions before the exam are usually for review, which is just what you need. If you're studying and happen to come across a part you can't understand, write it down. Ask your teacher either during class or during office hours. And don't worry – you aren't dumb if you ask questions. Questions mean that you're actively paying attention, and you're learning. Besides, a question ahead of time could mean a better grade on the exam.

• Find your resources-Your textbook, notes, online sources, classmates, teachers, and possibly your family members can all be of use. Old assignments are especially good, as some exams have questions directly off homework.

• Ask for help-Classmates can be helpful in studying, but choose someone who will help you, not the friend you tend to goof off with. Ask help from your parents or siblings; they may really appreciate being asked.

• Try and complete two Model Question  (each subject) in this time.

• Have a fixed time of sleep and relaxation (including TV time).

• Meditate and give auto suggestions every day, to be calm in the exam situation.

Study Efficiently ....more tips

• Think about when your brain works best - morning, night or in the middle of the afternoon. If you're going to read a difficult article for the first time don't start at 10.00 pm unless you are a natural night owl.
• Pre-class/ tutorial  reading - You get a lot more out of a class/tutorial if you are already familiar with many of the terms and ideas.This saves time later.
• Review class notes on the same day of the lecture.
• Re-read all your notes for each subject every week.
• Use library time effectively. Don't borrow huge pile of books.
• Organise your notes and don't borrow notes from others.
• Finally,be honest with yourself.

DO'S & DONT'S

DO's to follow few days before exam:-

• Create a study schedule- and stick to it.
• Complete most or all your outlines before reading period.
• Get enough food,sleep,exercise while you're studying.
• Make a spark sheet or checklist and use it to help memorize key terms and definitions.
• Study each subject in small increments over a period of many days.
• Check your outline for completeness and accuracy by comparing it to the teachers syllabus.

• If you feel stressed out,talk to someone you feel comfortable to.

  Don'ts to follow few days before exam:-

• Wait until the Reading Period to write your outlines.
• Collect new notes and materials from friends,read and learn them till the last minute without time for revision.
• Study for long periods of time without taking breaks. Studies show that the average
  person can only concentrate for 50 minutes. After that, your ability to learn and attention span will decline.
• Excessive use of coffee or tea to keep awake whole night.
• Spending time to trace the question papers.
• Pull an all-nighter before an exam.
• Give up studying totally.