It is not possible to cram the entire semester’s course material in a few days and succeed in the exam. There are strategies to study effectively and stay on top of your academic coursework while understanding the core concept of all the subjects. Studying in an Australian university is a new experience for international students because the classroom environment, learning methods and exams pattern are different from their home country’s.
After familiarising yourself with the testing methods of the professor whose course you are taking, you can make better study plans and get higher grades. There are some things you need to pay attention to from day one of your semester and only then you will be able to study well when the exam is close.
Setting Clear Goals and Priorities
Before making a study schedule for your exam preparation, you need to take a good look at all the subject coursework and assess realistically. Which topics need more attention and which ones are easier for you? Find out the type of exam it is going to be, (open book, oral, short answer, multiple choice, essay, etc.) which topics will be covered, how long the exam is going to be and what will be the weightage of your exam score in the total GPA for the subject. It is advised to do all this preparation 2 to 3 weeks before the date of the exam.
Your exam will test your knowledge of the subject, the ability to analyse it and ability to apply the learned concepts in real life. Keeping this in mind, see which topics you feel less confident about and make them your priority.
When you are setting goals, remember to set SMART goals. This is a productivity strategy that stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time bound. If your study goals are designed according to this, you will have no problem taking action and cutting things off your to-do list.
When this timetable is ready, remember to keep a copy in your phone and stick it above your table so that you don’t get distracted by party invites or procrastination. Every small step counts!
Setting a Study Schedule and Time Management
You can only manage a huge amount of work by becoming less overwhelmed with it. The strategy to reduce this anxiety is to make realistic plans to tackle the curriculum. When you are making this plan, you have to remember your concentration limits- you can not saturate your brain and expect to retain all that information. Divide your time for each topic accordingly.
Don’t try to just memorise the topic, review the topic regularly and do not view your productivity by the amount of time spent on the topic. Instead, focus on the number of topics covered. Keep a good amount of breaks for recreation and don’t keep pushing yourself if you have lost attention, stop and recollect your focus. Do not keep following the same plan if it is not efficient. Review it and see what is not working.
When you start studying a subject, review each topic in a vague manner- like skimming through the main concepts in a shallow manner. Then on the second go, go into depth of the topics and study the sub-topics in detail.
Reviewing and Summarising Notes
If you have attended all the lectures and tutorials, you will have your notes neatly organised when the time for exam preparation comes closer. Now you need to revise these actively and convert the short term memory into long term memory. For this, you can follow these techniques
Using Mnemonics and Active Learning Techniques
Active learning means engaging your brain again while reading the notes that you write. When you are going through the notes, you can do the following in order to recall the information accurately:
- Summarise or paraphrase each concept on the side of your notes
- Convert the information you are absorbing into graphical representation like mind maps or flow charts. This will help you make logical sense of the concepts and remember it for a longer time. Stick them on your wall so that you can regularly revise
- Alternatively, you can also record your own summaries and relisten to them on the go
- Mnemonics are a fun way to remember difficult and lengthy formulas. For example, for Chemistry, Cats have paws, which stands for Cations are pawsitive. This will help you remember that cations are positive ions and will not confuse it with the similar sounding word, anions.
Using Flashcards and Practice Questions
Flashcards are extremely useful to keep revising and learning and testing yourself. To make the best use of this learning tool, you can write down a difficult concept on one side and its definition or description on the other side. Test yourself frequently to check if you remember. Check out this amazing app that has a multitude of study tools to help you test yourself and save your notes.
In your textbooks at the end of each chapter, there are practice questions to test your understanding of the concepts. Usually, these come with answers and you can check your progress like this.
Utilising Past Papers and Previous Exams
Some professors do give out the past papers of the course so make sure to practise the questions from these. It will help you solidify your understanding and feel more confident. If you just keep studying and absorbing information without putting it to the test, you will feel lost on the day of the exam so do not miss out on this important component of your exam preparation.
When you are practising these questions, make strategies for dealing with different kinds of assessment questions. For example, try to learn how to eliminate wrong options in MCQs, for problem solving questions, always make a note of given and missing data.
Joining or Creating a Study Group
With a study group, you can achieve a lot more than studying alone (depending on your study style, it can also be the opposite). When you join a study group, you can do the following:
- Take turns to lead the group to cover different topics
- You can also exchange your own flashcards with friends and test each other’s knowledge
- Dedicating a certain time to study a difficult topic with them will also keep you accountable if you find it hard to stick to schedule
- Develop and discuss ideas as you come across different learning methods and improve your communication skills at the same time
- Group discussions also spark creativity and you can look at troubling topics in a new way
Stress Management and Relaxation Techniques
Before the exam:
- During the preparation time, the pressure to cover all of the topics and carry out your daily responsibilities is very stressful so create an effective self-care routine to unwind at the end of the day so you can be energetic
- Exercising regularly is an excellent way to sweat out your anxiety
- Exams seem like the biggest hurdles in life when you are in college but every obstacle gets magnified when we keep fearing it. Keep things in perspective and look at the bigger picture- you can overcome this like you overcame difficult phases before this
- Remember to reward yourself when you complete tasks. This will keep you motivated. You can even have a short trip with your friends if it doesn’t interfere with your studies. It will help you unwind and get some space from the stressful atmosphere at the campus.
Exam day:
- In order to be focused during the exam, you need to sleep enough the day before so do not keep any last minute cramming for the night before the exam
- Have an energetic meal before you going to the exam venue
- Keep all the stationery material ready the night before the exam
- Stressful energy from other worried students can affect your confidence so keep your distance from them
- Practise deep breathing techniques to stay calm when a question overwhelms you
- To manage your time well during the exam, you need to see the total time available to you and then give the most time to the question that has the highest weightage in the exam
- Start with questions that you know so you can build some confident
Seeking Help and Support if Needed
Exams can be a very stressful period and if you are not able to manage your time and study well despite trying everything, you should contact your university’s counselling services. Besides these services, there are also online talk therapy websites and apps that let you discuss your problems.
More effective than therapy sometimes is a good support system. Supportive family and friends can remind you about everything you have overcome before and help you see the bigger picture when you are drowning in stress. This can help you feel grounded again.
You can also sign up to get a tutor and help with your academic work if you are finding a subject particularly difficult.
