For this reason, I have compiled a number of ideas that should help you both improve your grades and shorten your study time. These tips and hints are helpful for all ages and for almost any type of learning situation, whether you’re studying for a high school test, college degree, professional license, or just general self-education.
Study Atmosphere
Set up a study area for that purpose only. This might simply be a corner of a room or a desktop. The important thing is that it is a place you sit to study, not talk, sleep or eat. This conditions your mind to get into a “study-thinking atmosphere” every time you get settled in.
Position your desk in an area with few distractions. If your desk faces toward the hall, consider turning it around.
Avoid fatigue by using a comfortable, supportive chair. You can save on clothes and haircuts, but don’t skimp on a good study chair. If necessary, also splurge on good lighting. If you have an uncomfortable setting in which to study, you will either consciously or unconsciously find excuses to not study.
Keep the room at a comfortable temperature. Avoid extremes. “Sweating it out” shouldn’t be taken literally.
Break for exercise periodically. A two-mile hike every half hour is excessive, but a two-minute stretch can do wonders for you.
Have all necessary supplies and equipment handy. Keep your work tools at your fingertips so that you don’t have to jump up in the middle of a problem to look for your calculator.
Work only on one class assignment at a time. It’s tempting to think you can accomplish several things at once, but splitting your attention only fractures your concentration. Put away other assignments and concentrate on one at a time.
Learn to study without background noise. These are the days of constant background music, but research indicates that noise inhibits concentration.
Use the library instead of your room for studying. Unless you have a room of your own, use the library for academics and your room for your social and personal life. You’ll find that this way, you will get the most out of both locations. (This, of course, applies mostly to college students living in dormitories.)
When at the library, do not look up every time someone walks by. Not so easy, but worth learning.
Seven Tips for Getting Top Grades
Go to class. Studies prove time and time again that those who attend class perform better than those who do not. One study showed that A-students, on average, missed less than one class per 45 (full semester), while C-students were absent more than four classes in the same semester.
Read assignments before class. Get a jump-start by reading the material before the teacher or professor discusses it. You’ll find that the information is much easier to comprehend (in class), and you may even discover you really like reading about the subject, once the stigma of “assigned” work is lifted.
Pour it on the first two weeks of each semester. Over-study to get off to a great start at the beginning of each semester. When you begin with A’s on quizzes or assignments, you get a taste of success. This builds confidence and keeps you pumping through the semester.
Never miss extra credit work. It’s not “extra” if everyone can do it. Do extra credit routinely. This often means the difference between an A and B.
Practice taking tests to improve your performance. If you visit your local or campus bookstore, there is a good chance that you can find a variety of test books on the subject matter you are studying. The more you practice, the better you’ll do.
Turn in your homework on time, neatly done and edited. Make every page perfect. This tip also improves your typing skills
Practice memory strategies. When studying, use acronyms or associate certain terms with particular images for memorization. It’s pretty difficult to forget how to spell the word “dessert,” when you remember that the letter “s” represents scoops of ice cream, and everybody would rather have two scoops than one.
My Personal Favorite Tips & Hints
Sit in the front row. This is one tip nobody ever told me about. I experimented with it during my college years and ended up receiving my best grades every time I followed it. There are many reasons why one performs better when sitting near the head of the class, but the major one probably includes the fact that your attention is on the teacher the entire lecture, not on the distractions taking place in front of you. (For example, while sitting in a middle row seat in college once, I couldn’t help but notice a spider crawling around a girl’s hair in front of me. Obviously, my mind was so distracted that I got nothing out of that particular class session. By the way, I was too nervous to inform the girl about the situation, because I thought it would cause an uproar in class if she freaked out.)
Get tutorial help whenever possible. I don’t care whether you are a D-student, a C-student or an A-student, take advantage of tutorial help whenever possible. This includes not only personal tutorial help, but also attending any additional classes a teacher may hold for those who would like to receive extra help. (In college, teacher assistants can also be excellent resources.) When it comes to grades, there’s no reason to be “too proud” to seek outside help. Turning your grades from a C to a B, or B to an A, can mean the difference between being able to choose the college or company of your choice, or not.
Discuss your subject material with friends and parents. There’s no better way to master your material or subject than by having to articulate it to parents and friends. For example, if you have an upcoming exam on the structure of the federal government, you might explain the subject matter to your parents. By doing so, you’ll quickly find out where your knowledge may be weak, while also receiving further clarification of the concept at hand.
Never be without a textbook, notecards, and pencil. Train yourself to always carry a book, notecards, and pencil with you. This way, instead of standing and fuming while waiting in line to change a class or reading a children’s magazine at the doctor’s office, you can read and underline a chapter of text. I myself became an addict of notecards while in college. As I attended a large university, it would take almost 10 minutes to walk from one class to another, which meant about an hour of wasted time everyday. Hence, to make this time actually productive, I would review my notecards instead while walking from class to class. By the end of each week, that “wasted time” had turned into a five-hour study period. (Which meant more time to hang out with friends on the weekends!).
Get to know your teachers and professors on a personal basis. On the first day of each semester, make a point to visit with your teacher outside of class hours. Inform them of your school or career goals, and that you are determined to do well in their class. You might even let them know that you are eager to get tutorial help, or work on extra-credit projects to earn a good grade. Then visit with the teacher periodically throughout the semester to discuss your grade status, and what you might do to improve. At the end of the semester, send the teacher a note thanking them for their support. The point of getting to know your teacher is not to earn any extra freebies, but rather to develop a strong rapport so that should you need help, they will be more than accommodating. It can also prove very useful at the end of the semester should you have a borderline grade.
