5 Study Techniques To Try This Term

Introduction

When it comes time to studying, do you simply read over a textbook, or write out notes hoping to memorise it? From my own experience as a student and in conversations with the many students at Boost Tuition, it is apparent that this is the main form of study for many. Not only is this just plain boring, but it also places immense pressure on you to remember everything just by reading.

Try these 5 study techniques below to freshen up your study experience and hopefully find success.

1. Mind Maps

Mind maps are a brilliant way to visualise and draw connections between pieces of content. It is a group of ideas placed in a diagram that flows from one idea to the next.

Mind maps are created with a central idea and topic, which is placed in the middle of the map. Branches are then created, which connect further ideas or concepts to the first. Words, phrases, examples, images and more are connected to the idea in the centre, showing the interconnection between different concepts in a topic.

By creating mind maps, you'll be able to draw your own connections and associations between concepts using your imagination and creativity.

Here's an example of a mind map by S. Genovese from Learning Fundamentals. To find more information on creating mind maps, click here

2. Colour Coding

Colour coding is great for visual learners as it helps separate your writing and allows you to categorise your learning. This way, it's not just chunks of writing.

You can use different colours to highlight different topics, important pieces of information or examples.

Here are some of our tips to colour code:

• Make sure to include a key! Something that tells you what each colour represents (just in case you forget)

• Don't just colour everything! Only pieces that you think are important or relevant

• You can write using different colours and/or highlight

Here's an example of colour coding in action! Let's see how it can help us study TEEL.

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Volcanic activity occurs around the Pacific Ring of Fire because many destructive plate boundaries are located here. One example is the destructive boundary between the continental South American plate and the Oceanic Pacific plate which has formed the Andes Mountains. The denser oceanic plate is subducted underneath the continental plate

and melts as it falls into the hot mantle. Magma then rises up through the continental plate and is erupted through volcanoes at the surface. The destructive boundaries all around the Pacific Ring of Fire are the reason for high volcanic activity.

Key:

Topic Sentence: Red

Evidence: Blue

Explain: Green

Link: Pink

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3. Teaching

One of the best ways to remember content and to find gaps in your own knowledge is to teach it! Explaining a concept or topic in your own words will allow you to test what you know, how well you know it and how well you are able to articulate it.

You could teach your siblings, friends or parents concepts or topics that you've learnt in the classroom. You could even explain the content to an imaginary student.

4. Practice Questions

For students sitting the HSC, Practice Questions are the best form of study. They allow you to see the types of questions that you could be asked in an exam, and you can also test your own knowledge. For past HSC papers, click here

You could even create your own practice questions by asking yourself what questions could be asked about the content you're learning. You could form a study group with some friends where you each make a question then share it with the group. By doing this, you'll gain a greater understanding on what questions could be asked, but also what the main concepts are.

Practice questions can be attempted in an exam setting, which will allow you to see how you perform under pressure and under time constraints. For a more relaxed setting, you could do practice questions with your notes, creating scaffolds or answering the question completely!

5. Flashcards

Flashcards are great for subjects that have definitions, formulas or other key pieces of content. They are also great as they can be used after being created and make it easy for a parent or friend to help you study.

Flashcards are created by writing a word, question or concept on one side of a card, then writing its definition or answer on the other side.

Creating flashcards is a great way of study as you'll be engaging with learning materials, creating associations between ideas and concepts. In addition, once you've completed flashcards, you can give them to a parent or friend and they can test you on that knowledge.

For more information on how to make and study with flashcards, click here