STUDY TIP FROM STUDENT

"Sometimes, if I have a study guide, I'll tape it to the front of my Trapper Keeper, so if I have any extra time, I can glance at it."

"For girls, when you study, have a scent in the room, preferably a perfume or something. Then when you take the test, wear that perfume. It can help you remember what you study because you relate the scent to the information. Of course you have to use a scent that you wouldn't normally smell."

"Listen to soothing, but invigorating music. I usually listen to Beethoven while I do mindless homework like math, French, or science assignments. It gets your brain pumping and flowing, and keeps you alert and awake."

"While studying, keep peppermint in your mouth... it clears your nasal passage for fresh air. More fresh air means more oxygen to the brain. Trust me, this really helps with memorizing and studying for school."

"When having a test or quiz on your notes (which happens quite frequently), take your notebook to your computer, and type all of your notes pertaining to that chapter in that particular section of your notebook. By typing the notes you need to know for your test, a lot of the information is displayed from your short-term memory to your long-term memory. After typing your notes out, look them over and study in-depth... This always helps.

"Definitely listen in class, you won't have to study so hard if you actually know some of the information beforehand (from class)."

"Be careful about wearing too much perfume or sitting near someone who does. The chemicals in some perfumes may affect your power to concentrate and remember information.

"Depending on the type of class, taking notes on a PowerBook computer has helped me immensely.
•It makes my notes readable & printable.
•My notes are saved in a retrievable place for the class and to use as citations for papers in other classes-(make sure you date your notes for this purpose).
•Professors and other students think you are smarter and more attuned to learning, just because you have a PowerBook in front of you, and will pay more attention to your questions. Other students will want to share their notes because they can read yours.
•The process of recording lecture notes onto a word processing document makes you consciously categorize topics as you type. Example: putting terms in bold type, putting concepts in italic, putting key ideas in underlined form, and preceding subtopics with a bullet •. This process organizes the ideas in your mind as you are doing it. The PowerBook is not helpful in Math classes, nor is it helpful in classes involving a lot of discussion.

Read over the notes a couple of times and then summarize it in your own words. Writing it down might help store it into the long-term memory."

"I'm recently starting year 12, I'm trying to get organized, I found your Tips very helpful. Though there are many other useful techniques, one of the best is teaching others what you have learned. I found when I helped others with questions I would gain a better knowledge of what I learned. I have also learned from my experience from year 11, that just studying a couple days before is not really studying but cramming. Therefore to gain better marks you have to study months before. Using flow charts, making notes simples, that's what summaries are supposed to be. My friend also gave me a study hint, though yet to be proven, she said the color yellow helps you remember things better, she always uses yellow paper for studying


"I have a TIP for you. Students should try to study as much as they can during daytime hours. When I study, I usually try to study during daytime, From my personal experience, study during the day time is much better than study during night time. I remember things better during daytime and I tend to not to slack off as much during daytime. Sometimes, there are less distraction for me during the daytime and I found myself more awake, even if I feel sleepy, take a 20~30 minute nap to recharge your energy. You should only study everything at night only if it's absolutely necessary, (i.e., due to work, after school activities,...etc.) besides, study as much as possible would usually reduce yourself from getting stress out at night time. Best of all, it would prevent you from staying up all night!"

"I am currently half way through my year 12, but I have talked to many students who have finished year twelve as well as teachers for study hints. The things that I have already put into practice, and have gotten very good results from is to write out my own study guide from the syllabus (this makes you understand the concepts you are summarizing, as well as putting the information into your long-term memory.) I have also found doing as many past papers with a time restriction extremely helpful, as many exams have similar types of questions to previous years, and after doing the questions a few times, you get so used to them, that the hard questions seem basic, because you are used to the style of question."

I have found through personal experience that by separating all of my different classes from one another by using different notebooks for each (different colors works good for me), I am not only more organized but more likely not to wander away from that subject when studying. A friend told me it's my subconscious. That I associate the notebook with that class and it helps me to concentrate on it alone. No matter what the reason is, it helped me boost my grades tremendously and learn a whole lot more then I had been before."

"Keycards are great study aids. You summarize your notes for the subject by each topic then you summarize the summary so that you have the key ideas and points for each topic. These you write down on cards under each topic heading. Put them in a small ringbinder and carry them with you. Then you can flip through them while waiting in a queue or waiting at your desk for a class to start. These quick flip-throughs of all the major points keep facts alive in your memory ready for recall in the exam.

"This is especially for my geography class because there is a lot of writing involved!

I've found that writing notes in shorthand (e.g. people=ppl) and going home that night while it is still fresh in the memory and typing it out longhand on the computer helps to memorize or keep the info in the brain because for people that constantly look up at the screen are rereading what they have typed. I don't know if this is a good study method but it works for me!

A good study TIP that I have found works quite well is to read the material to be covered in a lecture beforehand, and as you are reading create an outline, leaving plenty of space. Take this outline to the lecture and add to it new information the teacher gives, highlight on it things that you already have listed that are things she stresses as important. I type my outlines and type in blank lines using the underscore key so that they are easier to add to and because it being typed makes it easier to tell the difference between the information that came from the textbook and the information that came from the teacher. I also list questions that I have at the bottom of my outline, with lines to write the answers on. If the teacher gives the answer during the lecture then I write it in the space I have provided, the questions that she does not answer I ask for answers to."


Don't play sport or tire yourself before doing anything that requires thinking, memory etc. such as a test, or study period. Make sure you are fully rested and relaxed. I made the mistake, and took me three exams to figure it out.

The HSC is very stressing as everyone keeps on reminding you. While you are in year 12 many people will be telling you what you should and should not be doing. The important thing is to get YOUR OWN priorities straight. We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done. Only you know what you are capable of, so make sure your goals are set accordingly, and not to what others believe."


"This isn't an effective way to study but a method that my dad taught me, and it may be of use to you. You may already know it. Anyway, on the first day, you study what you learned in class. Then you read and study about 2 pages of your text book ahead, but just briefly, so you have the preview of what it is about. The next day in class, the teacher will teach the method, and you already know the basis of it, so it all clicks and maybe you learn a little more. When you get home, you don't really need to study that much. I don't know if you can get it by the way I'm explaining it. You sort of learned it the night before, and study during the actual lesson, so you're always a step ahead. Do you get it? I hope you understand what I've written. Have a good day.

"When summarizing a chapter of a subject, I type the information out in question format (e.g. instead of simply typing "alveoli are thin in shape which results in fast diffusion of substances..." I type "Discuss the structure of alveoli. How does their structure aid them in their primary role?"), then I type in the answer and, when the chapter summary is completed, print a copy. A family member or friend then asks me the questions and I give the answer. That way I'm not just making a summary once, but completing the equivalent whenever I can nag anyone into helping me. It also prepares me for exams in which they generally expect to you use your knowledge and apply it to answer questions.


For my personal TIP, I would suggest that students like me would make our own notes for every class discussion. Because if we only rely on our book, there could be some points that are hard to understand. Moreover, if we only listen to our professors, there is always a tendency to forget, knowing that we have lots of things in our mind, and that we can't remember every single detail which could be very important. One more thing, if ever we borrow our classmates' notes, for example if we missed a class, we are not sure that their notes are complete or that their notes are all correct. It is possible for them to miss out important details or misunderstood some explanations. Hence, we should attend classes regularly because it's going to be our loss to miss a class and not others


take three simple steps in order to succeed in studying.
1. Play some relaxing music (whatever music you enjoy listening to) before studying to clear my mind of everything.
2. Concentrate on what I'm studying when I begin to study, and do that throughout the process of studying.
3. Review it over orally to see if I actually remember what I studied, to see if I'm ready for that particular test.
Also, if the test is on Wednesday morning, I would study the night before, a few hours before I sleep. Since it would be fresh in my mind. Then an hour before the test, I will study for a second time just to make sure I'm completely ready. I've been doing this type of studying all my life, and it hasn't failed me. If this helps you, more power to you. If not, well hey everyone has their own methods of studying. Whatever works for you.