Reducing exam prep How to take notes and build up a body of work

Sunday 1 August 2010

The single greatest skill in education was in fact taught to me by a teacher in high school. I was truly a recalcitrant learner and avoided work generally doing the bare minimum to get through. After one of my infamous homework showdowns, this teacher sat me down and explained that I had the means to excell but was doing myself a disservice and since I had a penchant for leaving things to the last minute she had a few tips to offer me. These tips got me through higher education and I still apply them today.

  • Keep a notebook/file for every subject or module you are studying.
  • Every day that you have a lecture, take a few minutes to précis the lecture in a notebook, underlining key words and phrases pertaining to that lecture.
  • Once a week, read over your précis notes and ensure you have an understanding of the contents.
  • Review the precis notes once you have completed the module.
  • When time comes to study the module for examination, you will find that you are revising material that you already know and is usually chronologically noted to make it easy to understand.
This method of study preparation drastically reduces the pre exam study hours needed to put into an exam and thus enables you to excel at a chosen subject.

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