Planning your study time
You can learn and understand the topics you are taught. But without revisiting them using a suitable revision technique, you will not be able remember them all. It is important you plan your revision soon after you learn something new, not few weeks before the exam.
Planning your time will save your time & help you to organise your work sensibly. (So that you can enjoy your free time too)
Your study plan / time table
Researches show if you study continuously for a long session say for sample 2 -3 hours, then your efficiency of study will decrease because your mind will get tired. At the end of the session, as you think the session is going to over, your mind refreshes and the efficiency will increase slightly. Hence psychologists advise, to put fixed study sessions say 2 or 3 hours and break these up into three or four short periods with planed breaks of about 5 minutes. This will help you to keep your learning efficiency high. After every study time allow a slightly long interval about one hour for relaxation.
List the things you have to do and you want to do. Also put deadlines if necessary. When you are working in the evening, start as early as possible, since you can study best when you feel fresh. Don’t take heavy meals in the night.
You cannot remember your topics without revising them. Revision should be started after the first unit is finished. Revising your topics throughout your course help you to understand & remember your topics very well. Your final revision then will be just going over things you have already understood. Of course, you need a final revision timetable for the few months before the final examination. But you have to use all available time in this final revision (time table) even the free period during school time.
Where to study & Revise
Work in a quiet room that should have good ventilation & good lighting. You must have a table or desk, so that you can spread your books, notes & tutorials. Keep all your papers, pens
pencils & other essential equipment at hand in a place to avoid time wastage during your study time. You should have a watch or clock & a reading lamp. Try to keep the gadgets, which will distract you, away from you.
How to study & revise
You cannot study your subject simply by reading textbooks or watching YouTube videos. Do not memorize the subject material in each page blindly. It is a great aid to understanding and memory if we can associate or correlate any new ideas that we study with those which we already know. In other words we should organize our knowledge .It is difficult to remember unrelated scraps of information. This forces us to think while reading the book.
In some subjects after reading a topic or 2 pages, you must close your book or notes, and then try to recall the points/ facts that you studied, and the best is to note down them in a rough paper. In case of diagrams, you must practice them by drawing as many times as you can.
Making notes will help you to understand & concentrate, and also help you in the final revision. You will then find that, quite often, only a few fundamental concepts and facts need be remembered. Merely reading and re-reading a book several times is a passive and inefficient method of study. Take notes, as you work every unit. Make sure that your notes are organized and easy to read. Make mini notes on charts / strips of papers, for quick revision & keep them in your pockets or bags so that you can use them in rare moments. Do revision check lists of laws, formula and definitions and hang them in your study room or bed room.
To study effectively we should have a critical and questioning attitude. One way to practice your knowledge is doing questions. Testing your knowledge by doing questions will help you know your progress. Try questions in the conditions that will be provided in the hall. Allow you only the exam time for each question. When you could not answer a question, work through the topic again and attempt the questions
The success of your revision depends on you identifying the revision technique that works well for you. Good Luck.
— Jayanthan
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