Midterm Study Tips

By Nicole Hillstead on October 1, 2011

Late night study sessions, information cramming, and stress through the roof….midterms are approaching. All students have a different way of coping with how to go about studying for those nasty tests; some start studying weeks before so that there isn’t any kind of information overload, others believe pulling an all nighter to study the night before a test works best for them, and others will just cram information moments before stepping into their test. Whatever the preferred method of abuse is, there are tips and tricks that can help you retain the information a little bit better.

For many the first thing that comes to mind is to make flash cards. This is the preferred technique that I use, but I’ve found that oftentimes those flashcard piles  get pretty thick, filled with notorious words and theories. To make it through this stack of insanity without literally going insane, take just a few, perhaps five or so, and go through that smaller stack a few times. Get these few down to perfection and then add five more, and five more, and five more, until the whole stack is finally memorized and you still have some sanity left.

If these cards just sound too notorious for you perhaps a study guide is the way to go. Oftentimes the professor will provide one, but if in some cases he or she does not you can create one yourself from notes and lectures. In either situation the best way to use these efficiently is through color-coding them. Highlighters are considered a gift from the heavens to any dorm room or apartment! Our brains are able to recall things better when we can associate them with other simpler things we’ve known our whole lives. This is the reason people have learned all 50 states through the special little song we learned in 3rd grade, or why people make acronyms to remember a list of related items. Color-coding your study guide can help the brain recall the information from certain categories.

For those that don’t retain information as well from a visual standpoint, recording a professor may be a better way to go about learning the material needed for the midterm. There are many students that record lectures the professor gives throughout the semester and then just before a test they listen to them over and over again. This method is a great one for the auditory learner rather than the visual learner.

Another possible method for auditory learners and even kinesthetic learners is to meet together in a study group. Study groups allow students to ask questions that they may not understand to the fullest and get detailed information from another student who understands that section better. It’s also a theory that when you have to explain something to another person the information is better thought out in your own mind and you come to a greater knowledge of that subject yourself. Study groups tend to be a more universal method in preparing for midterms, but every student learns in a different way.

It could be cards, colors, voices on replay, or a group of peers that help you understand and retain the elements needed for your next big test. To those of you who are participating in these tidbits of joy in these next few weeks as I am, I wish you luck!

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