Have you ever had that dreaded feeling when you hear the word test and you immediately think of all the studying you have to do? Fear no more as this article will touch on some of the key strategies and tasks that you can do to help you perform better when a test time comes around. Some students struggle with studying, but they can improve how they study after reading this.  

The most important thing a student can do to improve study habits is the “students can imagine teaching it. Think about how you would explain it to someone in a classroom” says Gavan Naden in an article from Newsela called How To Improve Your Study Habits. Doing this will cause you to pull out keywords or phrases from the article or notes. This will help you better remember the information needed. It will cause you to focus on the key information and take out things that are unnecessary. Madison Tepp (a SPASH student) says “This is very helpful because it can help embed the information into your brain.”    

One more piece of advice to improve your study habits would be to create a consistent routine to follow. “Kelly Louise Preece, researcher development manager, University of Exeter Doctoral College, says in order to learn and revise efficiently it’s important to develop good work habits”. Having a constant routine can help you build habits to follow.  These habits will give you something to use every time you have to study. It will also help you have a better feeling of what you like and don’t like to use, when you study. Madison’s study habits are to study right in the morning and right before bed.  It helps Madison retain the information better. She is also a big advocate of writing things down.  

Lastly we will talk about the study environment and how that will also help you to succeed. “I need a place that is not too quiet and not too loud” Madison states. She goes on to explain that her work environment is most important to her because she can get distracted when it is too loud or too quiet.  She needs it just right to be able to keep her train of thought. This is a perfect example of getting to know yourself and finding what works best for you. Don’t be afraid to try new things such as the time of day you study, the place, highlighting key words and phrases or even reading out loud. 

In the end studying is achieved differently for everyone and it is up to you to get to know yourself and find what works for you. Use the information provided above to find a new way to help you study and better improve your study habits. Doing this will help prepare you for the test thus improving your grades.