Tips for Improving Students' Study

They are useful for improving study when taking notes and students are in their study time.

Studying can also be learned. And it is done through different study techniques with which you can plan the contents and organize the time to be devoted to study or how schematize the information to understand and assimilate it more easily.  

Alex German, essays writer and professor of Psychology at D.N. University in Oklahoma, offers a series of tips for students at those educational levels requiring more attention and concentration to improve their studies and academic results. To do so, she takes into account two actions of the student: note-taking and study time.

How to improve study techniques while taking notes?

When taking notes, it is important to be attentive to what is being explained and discussed in the classroom. To do this, according to Nieto, it is important: 

• Sit close to the teacher and be punctual. This small effort predisposes you to be more attentive.
• It is not necessary to write down everything that is said in class. It is important to write down only what is essential and what would be forgotten since the priority is to understand what is being heard.
• Listen, understand and translate into 'your own language.' Later, when these notes are read, it is much easier if they are written in one's own words and with a personal way of saying things.

As for the organization of the student's notes, it is important to keep these recommendations in mind:  

• Have the notes in order with the date and name of the subject on each sheet, which allows them to be reordered in case of any 'accident.' 
• Take legible notes: abbreviations and information reduction systems can be used.
• A picture is worth a thousand words: certain concepts can be summarized more quickly with a simple drawing.
• Blank spaces are also readable: it is useful to leave blank spaces in case you need to use them later to include comments or explanations that the teacher will add later.
• Keep your notes up to date: if you cannot attend class one day, it is important to find out what has been explained and incorporate it into your studies as soon as possible. You cannot understand explanations on subsequent days without understanding that day's lectures.
• Complement the notes: using other books or the Internet is advisable. It is possible that someone has explained that concept differently and that it is more comprehensible to understand.
• If possible, always use the same type of paper and the same color pen: it gives visual coherence to the notes.
• Write down your own comments and opinions: these can be used later to expand your study.
• Use diagrams: instead of using long sentences to explain what the teacher has said, this can be reflected in the notes with a simple outline with lines, arrows, diagrams, etc.

How to improve study techniques while studying?

In this case, Nieto stresses the importance of avoiding distractions or creating a routine that, together with some simple study techniques, can significantly improve the task:

• Create attentional inertia and avoid distractions: what costs to start studying the first 5 minutes, then it is easier to continue. It is also important not to pay attention to specific distractions, such as people talking, and unspecific distractions, such as noises.
• Maintain an adequate level of alertness: it is not possible to memorize correctly with tiredness or hyperactivity.
• It is essential to create a routine: studying at the same time and in the same place creates a habit. Little by little, it becomes easier to increase the time dedicated to studying.
• Use mnemonic rules: to be effective, they have to be visual, funny, and created by the student.
• First of all, understand what you are studying: a text that is understood is learned ten times faster.
• Summarize the content with outlines: an outline of a subject that normally takes an hour to read can be reviewed in just 5 minutes. In this way, comprehensive reviews can be carried out.
• Study topics and subjects in a different order every day: the stomach likes to change the menu, and the brain loves to change subjects. So, you can also trick it into believing that what you are studying today is different from what you studied yesterday.
• Memory has unlimited capacity and is closely linked to context: you can learn any subject if you devote enough time to it. On the other hand, it is important to imagine the context in which it was learned to remember a fact.
• What time to study: it is preferable to study in the afternoon, before going to sleep, so that sleep helps to consolidate what you have studied.
• The physical form: it is necessary to eat and sleep well, do sport, and rest every few minutes. A healthy body memorizes better.