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Study Techniques for Excellence in Exams - Part 1
By Ameen Mudassar
Its time for exams. Every student has one big question - How to study in the next 2 months so as to get the best results? This is the time when a student needs to do smart work. Hence we present here some of the key study techniques which can empower students to perform better in Exams. These study techniques have been practised by our MSWT Team of Exam toppers in 10th , 12th and Graduation Exams.
Key Word Technique
Every lesson you study in any subject has keywords. By keyword we mean “important words” using which you can explain about the topic.
How to use Keyword Technique :
As you read a lesson, underline the keywords with either a red pen or sketch or a pencil and write them next to the paragraph or in the margin of the notes. Do not underline the conjunctions (Example :although, therefore, etc), articles (a, an, the), etc.
Example : Remembering date and people in Battle of Plassey.
“ On June 23rd, 1757 at Plassey, a small village and mango grove between Calcutta and Murshidabad, the forces of the East India Company under Robert Clive met the army of Siraj-ud-Doula, the Nawab of Bengal.”
So, if you know these keywords and a few more things about the battle, you now remember everything about the Battle of Plassey. In a similar way you can identify keywords for all the topics in every chapter and in every subject.
Effective use of Keyword Technique
1. At the end of each lesson or topic, read through the keywords again and then recall them.
2. Similar to keywords you can also prepare key diagrams, key figures, key tables, etc... which will help you to remember and recall.
3. When you do revision, your eyes will focus only on the key words. So write the key words next to the paragraph in the text book or notes in red or blue pen/sketch. This helps in quick revision in less time.
4. Always make sure that the keywords are not prepared like sentences or paragraphs. They are just few words which speak the complete story.
Study Sheet Technique
A study sheet is an aid to remember the contents of the entire chapter in one or more pages. The study sheet will contain only the keywords or Key diagrams from a chapter.
1. For each chapter you read, create a study sheet. This will be useful usually for textual subjects like social sciences, General Science, etc.
2. For topics which involve explaining a diagram, study the diagram and draw a rough sketch without seeing. This will help you in answering a few questions by just looking at the diagram.
3. Study sheets for languages is not necessary (unless required).
4. Study sheets are very powerful revision tools. Once you have a study sheet, you can use it along with the text book for revision.
Memory Techniques
Most of the students spend hours studying the same subject, but even then cannot recall or remember. Presented below are some of the techniques to remember what you read and recall it later.
How to remember dates ?
Method 1 : Try to give some funny meaning to numbers.
For Example : To remember the date of Battle of Plassey, You can make a funny sentence like.
“Siraj-ud daula gave 23 KGs of June ice-cream in 17 drums to Robert Clive and sent it through 57 elephants.”
Method 2 : Associate the dates with your important dates like birthday, festivals, holidays, world famous days, etc..
How to remember diagrams ?
See and Practice method Study the diagram for 5 minutes and practice immediately using a rough sheet without seeing. Then compare the diagram you created with the original and then re-draw until you are able to draw if perfectly. In about 2-3 times you will be able to get the diagram right.
Tailor Method
This is similar to the way tailors stitch clothes.. piece by piece !
Study the diagram part by part until you are able to visually recall the diagram. Then combine all the parts you know mentally to create the final diagram.
For example:
“If you want to draw the digestive system, study how stomach is drawn, then the oesophagus, the liver, intestines, etc and then finally combine your mental pictures into the final digestive system.”
How to rememberMaths formulae ?
Make a list of all formulae you need to remember and read them every morning and once before you sleep. If a formula is difficult to remember, try assigning some meaning or abbreviation to it.
For example:
Sum of n terms in arithmetic progression = [2a+(n-1)d]n/2
“ 2 apples added with new detergent to get 2 half new apples” roughly gives the order of terms in the formula.
(The contents here are excerpts from our Student Development Program 2006 Booklet – E3Cubate & CIGMa. For more, read our booklet.)
Momin’ Students Welfare Trust
M.S.W – Career Guidance & Information Center: # 214, United School Building, J.P.Nagar Post, Bangalore – 560 078. Website: www.mswt.org Email: sdp2006@ mswt.org. Phone : 080-26669784. Cell : 98455 67687
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