There are number of things you can do to improve your academic performance.
Simple changes in your study skills can go a long way in building good memory the guys behind secret study skills are testament to that. Improving information retention not only helps us remember our daily lessons but also helps us to effectively apply them in various school/college tasks and assignments.
Why do you need a good memory?
Having a good memory is vital during exams, as your progress entirely depends on how you performed in your exams. Many students who are otherwise very bright and intelligent fail to do well in their exams only because they couldn’t remember what they had learnt in their classes. Memory, thus, plays a crucial role in shaping your career.
THE TRUTH
People think that they “lack” the ability to retain and process information; whereas the fact is that they lack the necessary techniques and not the ability to retain information. Their study skills just need a little fine tuning!
You can learn and memorize effectively through vision and hearing. Students can therefore be divided into two main groups, auditory learners and visual learners.
Auditory learners are the ones who remember things better when they hear it and can listen to instructions with total concentration. They are also the ones who can relay this information to others effectively or write it down to make notes. In fact, a lot of information that other people may fail to comprehend and retain, is effectively processed and retained by auditory learners. On the other hand, visual learners have the innate ability of clearly remembering things they have seen. They can effortlessly identify and remember symbols, images, signs, graphical representations, and directions once they see it. Majority of the student population belongs to this category of learners. Listed below are a few simple but effective study skills you need to incorporate in your study plan to raise your grades.
Image-Name Technique – This technique can be used to remember names of people and places easily and all you need to do is associate the name with a physical characteristic or an incident that can be easily remembered. The name “Katie Holmes” can thus be remembered as “kitty alone at home” or you can associate the name with the person’s tone of voice or hair color or even clothes.
Acrostic – This technique involves using first letter of every word to form an independent easy to recall sentence. Thus, if you had to remember “G-clef notes on the sheet music”, you simply use the first alphabets, E, G, B, D, F to form a simple sentence - Every good boy deserves fruit. Or Every good boy does fine
Acronym – Another Study skill that is simply the opposite of acrostics. The first letter of every word of a phrase is used to form an entirely different word. In school, you are taught to remember the colors of a rainbow using this technique.
Chaining – This study skill involves using certain words and chaining them to form a sentence or a story. For instance, you can remember the words, smart, sleep and stress by putting them together in a sentence - Getting 8 hours of sleep is a smart way of alleviating stress. Chaining is a great way of remembering a long list of words or items.
Apart from applying these study skills, you must eat and sleep well to develop a healthy mind and body. You can also try simple breathing and stretching exercises that can help you feel better and keep study related stress at bay. Stress levels are highest at the time of exams and you must assign some of your time to exercise and relax. A relaxed mind has no room for tension and stress. I would therefore help you cope with a demanding study schedule with ease.
I hope an understanding of these study skills helped
