Studying is a skill, just like reading or driving a car. We all have to learn to do these things if we expect to do them well. We also need practice to improve these skills and we each have our own strengths and preferred methods of studying. The key is to learn what works best for you and how to adapt to less-than-perfect conditions.
1. Think up possible test questions and quiz yourself. What things did the teacher emphasize or repeat over and over? These are likely to be test questions. Learning to recognize what the key points are and what makes a good test question can make test taking like a puzzle; the information in your notes are the clues to the puzzle.
2. Break time into manageable units. Don't plan to study for 8 hours without stopping. Your brain can only concentrate for so long!! Allow yourself time for breaks and set small goals you can accomplish in reasonable amounts of time.
3. Make a written outline of the book material. Writing is one of the most effective (thought time consuming) learning methods. That's the real reason teachers want you to take notes in class. Writing the information you see and hear forces you to DO something with the material and makes you a more active participant in the lesson.
4. Pay special attention to new vocabulary. In biology, in a particular, students are practically learning a foreign language. If you don't know what the words mean, you will have a hard time making sense of the concepts.
5. Try to teach the material to someone else. Teaching is probably the best way to learn something. Teaching someone else forces you to take the thoughts in your head and put them into logical sentences and examples to make someone else understand. No one home to teach? Talk to your dog or cat, your favorite stuffed animal, the tv. It doesn't matter as long as you talk out loud. And if no one is home, they won't be there to hear you talking to your teddy bear!! Seriously, though, if you can find a real person to teach, they can ask you questions to have you clarify your ideas, but talking out loud still works.
6. Study with a partner. Call your class mates and quiz each other or try to teach each other. Many times, one of you will understand one concept and not the other (and vice versa) and you can benefit from each other's understanding.
7. Recopy your notes. Rewriting information and filling in the gaps using your book is a great way to make ideas make sense. It also gives you a chance to see what you ACTUALLY wrote in class and try to make some sense of it. When taking notes, you don't have time to write complete sentences and add all the detail. Add that in when you rewrite your notes.
8. Memorize only AFTER understanding. Too many times, we make the mistake of trying to memorize information instead of understanding it. If you understand what the concept is, you probably won't have to memorize it. And if you need to memorize it, it will be much simpler once you understand what you are trying to memorize. In biology, I am not interested in your ability to spit out facts but that you can see the connections between ideas.
9. Read aloud. You will be surprised the things you hear that you didn't notice when you read silently. Reading aloud ensures that you read every word.
10. Study comfortably. Have enough light. Eliminate distractions. Play some quiet, soothing music (not too soothing! You don't need to fall asleep yet!). Sit comfortably, but not so comfortably that you will fall asleep.