Learning is a lifelong process and no matter what career you choose or what job you apply for, there will always be some sort of exam to test your level of expertise. Thankfully, there are number of things you can do to prepare yourself for a multiple choice exam, or a math exam or just about any exam you can think of.

 

Revise and Review - Reinforcing study material you have learnt within the first few days since you have heard or else you would lose more than 50% of the knowledge gained during the lecture. Reviewing your notes within the first seven days is therefore considered ideal to retain information in your brain for longer time.

 

Redo exercises – Your course would involve several practical exercises that can be perfected with regular practice. Once you are home, it is important to redo as many exercises as possible at home to reinforce the theory you had just learnt.

 

Work out a study schedule – This is the most essential aspect of studying, as it allows you to prepare for your exams well in advance. Ideally, you must devote four hours of study per week for every subject so as to ensure that all topics are covered properly. If you are a University student, you will realize that amount of time you need to spend on studies would more or less be the same as the number of hours you spent attending lectures. In such a case, you would be aiming for at least five hours of study time every day. No doubt it would be grueling but you can make your study period interesting by involving a friend.

 

Let the music play – This is yet another way of elevating your mood and increasing concentration. Most parents would find this suggestion absurd but the fact is that soft music playing in the background enhances your ability to retain information as you study. As per research, light music at 60 beats per minute stimulates your brain to produce more alpha (calmness) waves on either sides of the brain thus improving your concentration and memory. The “alpha” state of mind boosts creativity and learning and many Australian schools use Baroque Music to foster a calming effect and help students focus on whatever they are learning. Corporate trainers also use baroque music during training sessions and memory training seminars to increase the effectiveness of the program and also improve recall and concentration.

 

Review exam papers of previous years – Many Universities and colleges allow students to photocopy previous year’s exam papers for practice. These papers give you an insight about the way questions would be structured and allow you to gauge the kind of questions that could possibly be asked this year. The rationale behind solving previous year’s exam papers is to make sure that you can attempt all the questions in the specified time limit. Use these papers only as a guideline and do not rely entirely on them, as the syllabus may have changed or the focus may have shifted to different topics that were not included in the question papers earlier.

 

Finally, no matter how busy you are, make sure that you dedicate a few minutes to meditate and relax your mind. While the core advantage is mind relaxation, meditation also improves your memory and overall health. No matter what exam you are preparing for, follow these basic steps and see the results yourself. Instead of regarding exams as a matter of life and death, consider them as your stepping stones to success.

 

Remember however, these tips are just scratching the surface in the way to prepare for an exam. To solve this problem once and for all   head over to www.secretstudyskills.com