Every student wants to study better and improve their learning, you often search the internet for study tips and collect those that sound useful. Well, here's another one for you! Specifically, I'm going to cover a study tip for exams, because that's the one thing we are all worried about. Knowing how to study effectively depends on a mix of techniques that improve your ability to condense and digest information, but one resource totally available to you probably remains untapped!
I've seen a lot of study tips and techniques in my time, but there's one of them that seems to be overlooked. I can understand why, but if you have the courage to use it, the benefits are potentially immeasurable.
Good study skills are ones that resonate with you, the ones that you can actually get a benefit from and don't just 'sound' good on the surface.
If you want my one tip on how to study more effectively, I think I'd point you to this very revision tip!
A Resource Hidden in Plain Sight
Let me tell you, there is a hidden resource that is available to you which knows all of the information in your up coming exam, they are the architect of the content you study throughout the year and they speak your language...hopefully.
I'm sure that's given it away, but I'm speaking about your teacher/lecturer.
When I read about effective study tips, they talk about techniques on how to study, which is totally valid. But lesser amounts of study tips concern the resources you can use.
Those tips will talk about good study habits, study motivation, the best music to study to or how to study more - again, totally valid.
My invitation to you is to gain the courage and skill to talk to your lecturer, they are a gold mine of information and study technique.
I understand that this can be difficult in some scenarios, all lecturer's aren't as approachable as each other. But you likely have a range of modules to study that has one lecture per module. Meaning, if you gain this benefit from only a few, you can boost your average end of term grade.
How to Become Known to your Lecturer
Okay so let's say that you currently have a very passive relationship with your lecturer, you show up to most classes, listen to them, you don't engage much and then go home to study.
This is the pattern of most students, and some students end up doing well without any interaction with the teacher, some.
But, what you won't know, is that some of those students who go to class, sit down, listen and leave...end up talking to the teacher after class and organising sessions where they get additional help - this resource is a governing reason why they do well in exams, and it's available to you.
Developing a good relationship with your teacher is important for many reasons, but we're speaking about the benefit of increasing your performance in an exam.
Sit at The Front of The Class
Take any classroom, you'll notice something, those sitting at the back always seem less engaged with the content compared to those at the front.
Those at the front of the class almost always perform better. This is because when you are at the front of the class you are in a position where you can be more engaged, meaning you don't really get bored and you consistently stay up to speed with what is going on.
This engagement and enthusiasm does not go un noticed, before long, you are on first name terms with your teacher and they see and appreciate you as a listener of the content they teach.
We're all humans at the end of the day, and when you have someone who appreciates your work they will be that much more inclined to help you. So sit at the front of the class next time, get there early if you need to.
Infact, getting to class first is also another thing you could do to show your interest and gratitude. Never be late for class, make sure you respect the lecturer's time and teachings.
Additionally, if you have an issue with study motivation in class, sitting at the front is probably a smart move, so many advantages with this one!
Read Before Class and Engage in The Lesson
I've written many study tip based posts in the past few months, studying before class is one of my easiest to implement and most effective techniques, this one really changed my studies forever.
If you manage to get the content for your course in advance (lecture notes etc) make sure you use them BEFORE you go to class, this can be the night before or just a few hours before the lecture.
The advantage here is that you are becoming familiar (but maybe not proficient) with the content before class, then you are going to class and being taught the same stuff from a different perspective...by the expert in that content, and then you will study it afterward.
The advantage in using this technique is profound, if you struggle with being engaged in class - this is probably your solution.
However, today we're talking about the advantage when establishing a productive relationship with your teacher. If you read your lecture notes before hand you will be able to contribute to the class and gather questions to ask that will help everyone.
Showing this level of engagement will come across very well to the teacher and they will see you as a student who is thankful for the education. You can further this advantage by speaking to the teacher and asking questions outside of class, specifically when it comes to the exam period.
Say Thank You at the End of Class
Simple one, but just say thank you when the class is done, it means a lot to someone when their work is appreciated.
Lecturers prepare (at least they should) per lesson, and their effort and planning being appreciated is great.
Becoming known as the student that is thankful will make the lecturer want to help you when you need it, easy!
How to Speak to Your Lecturer
Granted, you could just reach out to your lecturer in the first place, but you should certainly do the above anyway.
Using the above techniques you should be able to fashion many occasions and reasons to talk to your teacher, bank up some questions, speak to them after class, just get familiar with eachother, it's all important leading up toward the exam.
Through this, you should form a natural rapport with the person, they are just people like you after all. They've probably studied similar things to you and they have study techniques that obviously worked because, here they are!
They can Give Study Tips and Advice
Now you've managed to forge a productive professional relationship with your teacher/lecturer, I'll point out the fantastic benefits of that.
At the Start of Term
The first thing you need to do, is try to get access to the content of the whole term early on. Doing this allows you to study in advance but also become familiar with the content generally, which is really important when it comes to the remainder of the course and the exam.
If you have any questions about how the course is structured, or what assessments you may cover, just have a friendly chat about what's coming and when.
Try to get any of the questions you have out of the way early on, it's a great time for trial and error because you don't have too much work to overwhelm you and you have time to recoup if you need it.
During the Term
Keep practising the points above throughout the term, try your best to stay on top of things week to week, be sure to study consisntelty throughout the term.
It's always best to study small amounts consisntelty rather than large amounts inconsistently. This is the way courses are designed to be studied.
Usually you will get some assignments during the year, if you do, be sure that you continuously ask for guidance on these.
If the module total is split between say 80% for the exam and 20% for the coursework, you have an fantastic opportunity in front of you.
Usually, coursework is assigned only a few weeks in to the course, meaning you can only be assessed on what you have already been taught, and it's less than the full amount of the module.
If you form a good relationship with your lecture you can take the coursework to them and have them mark it in advance and offer feedback, getting top marks for your coursework at this stage is a REAL advantage and it leads to you getting top marks over all.
Ask them what they are looking for, examples of past work, whether you're on the right track etc etc. Anything you can do to improve your mark is worth it for sure, again if you put in the effort to go to them and ask they are likely to help you.
If this means you have to create multiple drafts or changes before your submit the final piece then so be it, it will all be worth it when you secure as much of that 20% as possible!
During the Exam Period
Here's the real treat, my best advice for anyone is to attempt past papers and take them to your lecturer in person (also over email)
Now as I've said before, the lecturer is the author of the exam, architect of the content and marker of your performance - but they are also a useable resource to you.
They want their students to do well but it's hard to do that if the student don't engage, so YOU need to engage!
When it comes to past papers, here's what you should ask them:
How would I get all the marks for 'this' question?
How would you answer this question?
How should I answer the question (bullet point, sketch, paragraph etc)
What things would not get me a mark? (even when you think it might)
If you can ask the questions in person and gauge their genuine and authentic response, even better. What tends to happen, is that you end up getting a few hints toward what is important and what you should study. Obviously this is gold dust to any student.
Make sure you get familiar the past paper before hand and make sure you've actually attempted it, they won't like it if you show up and just say 'help' having not attempted the paper.
Try your best to do as much as you can, have it marked by them, gather advice on how to improve and repeat until you do really well - THIS is the reason why the top students are TOP students, have you ever noticed that they are usually very friendly with the lecturer?
But it doesn't stop there, your lecturer was also once a student and they have gone through the same process as you.
They had to find ways to study back in the day when the internet wasn't around (true for some, not for others)
Meaning they probably had an even harder time in the journey of improving their study skills, they couldn't read blog posts like this to suggest ways to improve!
Take advantage of their experience and ask them the following:
Do you have any study techniques you recommend for learning this content?
Do you have any good study skills that you always use?
How would you recommend to study the course, past papers, analogise the content etc?
Ultimately, the lecturer is a goldmine of information and technique, if you can get friendly with them, the advantages are huge.
Improving your study skills begins with studying in a way that allows you to target your efforts to the right area, it's ineffective to just study longer or study harder toward something that doesn't get you to where you want to be.
Using your teacher as a means to zone into the correct areas of study are a great way to boost your exam mark.
A Note on Study Motivation
Here's an interesting thing that may happen. When you get friendly with your teacher you may feel a welcoming obligation to do well in their course. This might actually be beneficial for you too.
Study motivation is hard to generate in most cases, but if you can add the angle of performing well for the happiness and confidence of someone else you may end up finding it easier to study, in their module at least.
Getting motivated to study depends on a number of things, but this is a unique method that many don't use or think about simply because they do not talk to their teacher, at all!
I can't reiterate this enough, but the advantages of having a professional relationship with your lecturer is extremely beneficial, it's the reason why most top students are...top students.
Studying in a more effective way takes time, but this should be one of the first things you should work on. Not only just for one module, but for all modules you do!
Use this study technique and you are sure to see an overall boost in performance, specifically the tip on past papers - do past papers, have them marked by your teacher, get advice, try again...repeat. By far the most significant routine you can adopt.
Promise yourself to at least attempt this technique, give it a shot, even if your teacher seems a bit unapproachable. It's worth a shot!
Good luck on your studies, best of luck in your exams.
Do you have a productive relationship with your lecturer/teacher?
- Yup - I ask questions all the time, they help me a lot!
- Nope - I barely speak to them!
If you have any questions for me or other readers, pop them in the comments below. Hit the <3 icon if you enjoyed the post! (doing this also follows the post, if you have an account, which I invite you to get!)
Thanks for reading
PutSimply
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