There's an exam tomorrow and you didn't prepare for it because you didn't have time or you put off studying for later? You can prepare for the exam in one day if you are disciplined and attentive. It is better to prepare in advance, for example, a week before the exam, but there are situations when this is impossible to do. In this article, we will tell you how to prepare for the exam in one day.
Steps
Environment
- Study somewhere that is fairly quiet and peaceful, such as a private room or library.
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Prepare everything you need. Before you begin studying, have everything you need ready, such as textbooks, notes, markers, a computer, a light snack, and water.
- Remove everything that will distract you.
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Turn off your phone. If you don't need your smartphone for studying, turn it off so that it doesn't distract you from studying the subject. This way you can focus solely on the material you are studying.
Consider whether you should study on your own or in a group. Since time is limited, it's probably best to study on your own, but sometimes it's helpful to study in a small group to better understand concepts and terms. If you decide to study in a group, make sure that it consists of people who are no worse prepared than you; V otherwise The effectiveness of working in a group will not be very high.
Learn to work effectively with the textbook. You won't remember the material if you just read the textbook (especially if your time is limited). When reading the textbook, pay attention Special attention for chapter summaries and basic information in bold.
- Find the questions that appear after each chapter (or at the end of the textbook). Try to answer these questions to test yourself and see what you need to learn.
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Create tutorial. It will allow you to better understand the material and quickly review it on exam day. Include the most important concepts, terms, dates, and formulas in your study guide and try to express the basic concepts in your own words. Formulating concepts yourself and writing them down on paper will help you better understand and remember the material.
- If you don't have time to create a study guide, ask a friend or classmate for one. But it will be better if you create your own study guide, since articulating and writing down the basic concepts will help you remember the information better.
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Prepare for the appropriate exam format. If you are pressed for time, be sure to consider the exam format when preparing for the exam. About the format of the exam, ask your teacher or look in the syllabus, or ask your classmates.
Find a suitable place to study. Nothing and no one should distract you - neither friends, nor any objects in your bedroom. Find a study space where you can focus on the material you're learning.
Lesson plan
- You can use the curriculum as you study the material. The information in the curriculum may be presented in a way that will help you learn the material. Use your study plan to look at the material you're learning from a different perspective and organize the information appropriately.
Create a lesson plan. Include material that will definitely appear on the exam, such as important dates, certain scientific concepts, and mathematical formulas or equations. If you don't know what will be asked on the exam, ask your classmates. To pass the exam, it is important to know what material you need to study (especially when time is limited).
Create a class schedule. Plan out the entire day leading up to the exam and determine the hours you will devote to studying the material. Don't forget to make time for sleep.
Create a list of topics to study. Review your textbook, study guide, and notes and write down the topics that will appear on the exam.
- At the end of the exam Not Tell your classmates how you answered the questions so as not to undermine your authority.
- Immediately before the exam, do not discuss this or that topic with your classmates. This way you will most likely only get confused. But you can ask them something you don't know.
- You shouldn't study all night long. If you don't get enough sleep, you won't feel very good.
- By studying the day before the exam, you will have to absorb a lot of information that you will need to remember during the exam. Remember that information that is being tried to be remembered in the shortest period of time is forgotten faster, which may negatively affect your future studies. Therefore, it is better to study the subject little by little and every day throughout the entire quarter or semester. This way you will better understand and remember the material you study.
People joke: “The only thing we really “learn” in school is how to remember information.” If you ask ordinary people on the street how to memorize things quickly, most of them will probably tell you: “Repetition is the mother of learning!” As it turned out, they are very far from the truth.
Below are 9 universal steps to mastering the art of memorization.
Before we begin, you need to find out what type of learner you are: an auditory, visual, or experiential learner? If you perceive information best by hearing, then you are most likely to effective method for you to understand and remember is to hear. As you might guess, visual learners are better at remembering information they see, while experiential types learn from events and experiences. Most of us are a combination of at least two of these categories. And we will indicate which method of memorization is most beneficial for your learning style.
Step 1: Preparation
To optimize your memorization process, pay close attention to the environment you are in. For most people, this means choosing a place with a small amount distractions. Although some people can speed up the process of absorbing information in in public places. Once you've figured out what your ideal learning environment is, you can get started.
Next, drink a cup of tea. Scientific research confirm that green tea is a natural catalyst for improving memory.
Mechanically speaking, our ability to reproduce information comes down to the strength between the neurons in our minds that are connected by synapses. The more you train the synapses (repetition), the stronger the resulting memory is.
As we get older, toxic chemicals cause damage to our neurons and synapses, leading to memory loss and even Alzheimer's disease. Green tea contains substances that block toxins and make your brain work properly for much longer.
Step 2: Make an audio recording of what you want to remember
This is especially useful if you are trying to remember information from a lecture. Use a voice recorder to keep track of all the acquired facts, and listen to the audio recording at home. If you're trying to remember words, write them down as you read aloud and review them several times in a row. Obviously this is the most useful way for hearing learners. An audio recording will ensure that you get more context from the lecture, which in turn will help you learn the material much faster.
Step 3: Write the information down on paper
Before you start, try to remember the information yourself, and then write it down in your notebook and rewrite it again. This will help you become more familiar with the material you are trying to remember. While recording, listen to your tape recorder at the same time - this way you can retain more data and small facts.
This method of memorization will be most effective for experiential learners.
In this article, you will learn how to better remember information using reliable methods that have already helped many people with their studies, reading and learning in general.
Whether you're reading non-fiction to study a specific topic (say, investing or internet marketing) or to study for exams, there are a few rules that will help you consistently increase your ability to remember and recall the material.
Use these rules every day and increase your learning potential.
How to remember information better:
Rule No. 1: Quick reading first, detailed reading later
Usually people try to remember all the details from the material they read in one sitting, but The best way Learning complex information means dividing the reading process into two or three stages.
First, skim over the text you need to read (two or three pages will be just right), reading superficially. Don't force yourself to remember anything the first time you read it.
Now go back to the same material, reading slowly this time. Pronounce difficult words aloud. Underline difficult words or key concepts.
If you still feel puzzled, go through the material a third time. You will be amazed at how much information fits into your head!
Rule no.2: Take notes
Studying new material(in a lecture, webinar, just reading something), take notes.
After some time, copy your notes into a notebook, collecting and summarizing all the information. You will notice that you probably wrote down some information or material that seemed very important to you during the lecture, but is no longer of interest.
Build on concepts you have written down but not clearly explained by writing down your thoughts. Look up keyword definitions and external resources. Write down the information you find in a form that is convenient for you. This will cement the information in your memory.
Rule no.3: Teach others
We remember best when we teach others. That's why study groups can be very effective if used correctly. Instead of using your group only to complete some tasks, ask your partner to “chase” you through the material you have covered, to force you to verbally repeat what you have learned.
Find someone in your class who is struggling academically and become an informal mentor for them.
If you can't find such a “student,” tell your partner or roommate what you learned in class. Don't repeat material you already know well.
Choose information that you have trouble understanding and force yourself to explain it to someone over lunch or while walking the dog. This will allow you to truly understand the essence of the material you have been learning.
Rule #4: Talk to yourself
Believe it or not, listening to your own voice will make it easier for you to remember new facts. Record yourself reading keywords and definitions out loud and listen to them later. This trick will make your self-study more effective. You'll use multiple senses at once—auditory, verbal, and visual—plus you'll be more attentive, since reading aloud requires concentration.
There is another funny trick. It consists of making a “phone handset” out of flexible PVC pipe that you could hold to your mouth and apply to your ear while reading aloud. Believe it or not, the concentrated sound of your own voice passing through this “phone” will be easier to remember than your normal voice while reading material out loud.
Rule #5: Use visual cues
Many of us remember everything through the visual channel. You can actually imprint an image of a formula, definition, or concept in your mind and be able to easily recall the information you need during a test or when needed.
Use this function of your memory by drawing pictures on flash cards or using different colored markers when writing down the information you need to remember.
For example, if you need to remember the Latin or Greek root of a word, you can draw pictures that symbolize the meaning of these words. The Latin word "aqua" means water, so you can write "aqua" with a blue marker and draw a drop next to it. The Latin word "spec" means to look, so you can draw glasses nearby.
Flashcards are also a useful tool for visual memory, especially if you use pictures and colors to make them. You may actually remember a word or formula simply because you remember how you agonized over whether you should write the definition in orange or green. Color may cause your visual memory, which will help you gain access to information.
Look interesting video about visual notes that help you quickly remember information:
Rule #6: Use a shocking stimulus
Have you ever had the feeling while studying that you were simply unable to remember? important information?
Believe it or not, using some shocking physical stimulus will help you understand and then remember complex material.
According to a study conducted on the topic: “How to remember better,” putting your hand in a bowl of ice water while studying will help you remember and then recall the information you need. This happens because negative stimuli activate the part of your brain that deals with memory (presumably this is to help us remember negative experiences better so we don't repeat them, but it works just as well for normal memory retention).
You can use ice water, something hot, or mild pain to help you remember difficult information. Try pinching your arm while holding an ice bag, or holding a cup of hot tea while studying to stimulate your memory. The main thing is not to really harm yourself!
Rule #7: Chew gum
Teachers may prohibit gum chewing in their classes because they don't want to have it ripped off from under their desks, but the act of chewing gum can help you study better and do better on tests.
One study looked at the effect of chewing gum during a test in graduate students. A study found that chewing gum helped students finish a test 20 minutes earlier.
Another study was conducted on eighth-graders taking an annual math exam. The results showed that students who chewed gum scored 3 percent higher on the test than their peers who did not chew gum.
How does chewing gum help you remember information better?
Chewing gum stimulates blood flow to the brain and helps you stay alert.
Which chewing gum works best?
It doesn't matter whether you chew gum with or without sugar. It's the taste that matters. Switch to mint-flavored gum, as mint acts as a mental stimulant and will help you feel calm and focused.
Rule #8: Participate in class even when you feel uncomfortable
Having trouble with a certain concept?
Most of us prefer to sit in a corner somewhere and remain unnoticed in the classroom until all the material is sorted out for us. But this habit will always interfere with your learning process. Raise your hand, ask a question, or volunteer to participate in a discussion about a topic you are having difficulty with.
Don't you attend group classes? Find someone who understands the topic you are interested in and ask for advice or help. Let it bother you that you don't understand something.
The discomfort you feel while performing these activities will increase your memory abilities. You will receive answers to your questions and will easily be able to recall the material later, when you need it most.
Rule #9: Highlight and paraphrase what you read
When reading a text that is difficult to understand, it may seem to you that the letters are already floating before your eyes. Underline and highlight key words and concepts as you read.
Say the words or concepts out loud as you highlight them, and then write (and paraphrase) the material in your notebook. This will help you digest all the information rather than just skim through it.
Rule #10: Make up rhymes or songs
You won't need to do this trick with most material, of course, but you may find it useful to come up with poems, rhymes, or catchy songs to help you remember particularly difficult formulas.
You may find it easier to remember the formula if you come up with a musical setting for it.
How do formulas help you remember information better?
Many formulas do not make any sense to us. They look like a list of random numbers and letters, or they seem like a bunch of random instructions that lack a cohesive element.
If you turn a formula into a song or poem, you will become aware of what once seemed irrational, and this comprehension of the material will allow your brain to better perceive the information and store it in a way that it can be easily accessed later.
Rule no.11: Look for associations
Likewise, the association method can help you find connections between dates or individual facts that you need to remember in a certain order.
Find a way to connect the date and name so that it makes some sense, using numbers or words. You've probably done something similar before, when you needed to remember a password or phone number.
Find a way to connect the number to the name in a way that makes sense to you and the question of how best to remember information will not be so pressing for you.
Rule no.12: Take breaks while studying
If you study consistently over a long period of time, you may notice that your productivity drops the longer you study. Research shows that you should take a 10-minute break every hour while studying to maximize productivity.
Why should such a break consist?
Be sure to get up, go to the toilet, drink something or have a snack. It is best to leave the room you are sitting in and move around a bit to improve blood flow. If you have the opportunity, jump or stretch to get an adrenaline rush and perk up. After that, you can get back to work.
Rule no.13: Find a practical application
Having trouble remembering a formula or theory?
The problem is that you probably haven't found practical use for this concept in life, so your brain still doesn’t want to remember it.
Imagine how this formula or concept could be used in practice to solve a real-life problem. If possible, act out or mentally imagine the impact of this problem in a practical way. This will help you understand the formula or concept and, if necessary, easily recall it.
Rule no.14: Create a Physical Image
Some concepts are hard to understand until you see them. physical image or illustration of an idea.
For example, you can appreciate the importance of microscopic analysis by looking at an image of a DNA strand or the anatomy of a cell. If you can't create a physical image or picture, find an image online. This will help you visualize the problem clearly.
Rule no.15: Read important information before bed
Our brain continues to work even when we sleep. Read your notes again before going to bed so that your brain can better absorb the material while you sleep.
Don't read anything that makes you anxious or upset (you risk disturbing your sleep). Instead, use this trick to reinforce concepts and information you'll need later.
Rule no.16: Practice breathing exercises
Stress suppresses your ability to concentrate and makes it difficult to access information you've already learned.
This is why you can easily understand a concept in class, but then get stumped while writing a test. You know that information is somewhere in the back of your mind, but you just can't access it. This happens because stress turns off your ability to concentrate on anything, leaving you with only the fight or flight response.
To combat stress, do this for three to five minutes.
Find a quiet place, set a timer, close your eyes, and then focus solely on your breathing. Inhale as deeply as possible, hold your breath until you feel slight discomfort, and then exhale slowly until you feel complete relief.
Repeat in this manner, without worrying about anything and focusing all your attention on how good it feels to simply breathe, until the timer rings.
Try the above methods of memorizing information and find the most effective ones for you.
Good luck in learning new information!
It is a rare adult who is not professionally involved in scientific activities who does not panic if he has to quickly memorize a large amount of information before an exam or requalification.
He has already forgotten how to do this, so he is nervous, which creates even more inconvenience for himself. Meanwhile, there are many ways to effectively remember information.
Let go of negative emotions
What should you not do when trying to learn to remember a large amount of information?
Under no circumstances should you immediately tune in to the negative; share with relatives and colleagues that this is not necessary, boring, and will never be useful at all. In this case, the memory will be firmly blocked, and you will not be able to remember anything you read.
On the contrary, you need to convince yourself that this information is extremely important.
If you have no idea what you have to learn in short term, you should first figure out what it is. To do this, it is better to read not reference books and professional literature, but materials that provide new information more easily.
Each person has his own individual characteristics, its time of increased working capacity. It is easier for one person to read and remember in the morning, for another - at night. If you correctly determine the time of your activity, you will quickly be able to complete the task.
How to remember a lot of information in a short time - a universal technique
- Negative information is remembered better than positive information - this can be used when preparing for the test.
To use this method, you can activate yourself with the following messages:
- only a complete idiot would not be able to learn such necessary information;
- You can’t be an impenetrable idiot...
After self-flagellation, information is remembered much easier.
- The greater the amount of material that needs to be worked through in a short period of time, the more important it is to understand the essence of the issue. Only in this case the information will be firmly fixed and will not be forgotten as soon as the necessary page or monitor with the text is not in front of your eyes. In this case, it will only be enough to know where to start and make a plan - all the other information will come to mind on its own. To quickly master definitions, it is better to learn them out loud and retell them to someone. It is not necessary for your counterpart to understand this issue - you can find simplified definitions by trying to retell the information to a mirror or a pet.
- It is easier to read and memorize voluminous material in blocks. Moreover, each of the individual blocks is stored in different places- moving around a room or space. In the future, it will be enough to remember the environment in which you had to study, and everything you read will appear before your eyes.
- Another method is to gesture while memorizing, emphasizing particularly important definitions with certain facial expressions. This is a bit like a child's game, but it is during this game that the brain better perceives the information received. You can imagine yourself as participants in a popular talk show or presenters who seek to “drill” their “truth” into their opponents.
- People perceive information differently - for some it is better to see, for others to hear, but for others, if you don’t touch it, they won’t be able to master the material.
You can make the memorization process easier for yourself using the necessary images:
- auditory learners record material on a tape recorder and listen to it repeatedly;
- visuals - illustrate definitions - sometimes in comic-cartoon form;
- kinesthetics - write down particularly important information on paper and bring it close to their eyes to quickly learn.
- This interesting method is called verbal execution. The text needed for memorization is reread and rewritten - writing out only the first letter.
It turns out to be a kind of outline or one-letter plan. At first, you will have to use the main notes to reproduce information, but then it will pop up when you look at the letters, and then you can completely abandon the notes.
- You can’t master new knowledge in a hurry, you can’t learn everything at once. It is necessary to take short breaks during classes, during which active actions will be carried out. You can do anything - sing, dance, do several sports exercises, run, walk down the street. A break of 15 minutes is enough to improve mental activity and speed up cerebral blood flow.
- There is another effective way to remember information, which not everyone takes seriously - to study in your sleep. The method does not consist of putting a book under your pillow or falling asleep in front of a computer with the necessary information displayed on the screen.
You may not believe it, but this way you can remember even information that you couldn’t cope with while you were awake.
How to remember information - basic methods
- Cramming is not suitable for everyone, and the material is absorbed in a short period of time;
- Retelling is effective, but it is difficult to cope with this method alone;
- Notes are effective, a great way to organize information and make a plan, promote memorization;
- Repetition in the mind is only possible with good memory;
- Game - memorization using images;
- Geography is the reconstruction of information using a specific place and time.
Among these methods, there is always one that will help you get further high level knowledge.
Why is it that we sometimes cannot remember information and reproduce it later? Scientists disagree about how our memory works. However, there are several practically universally recognized mechanisms that make memorization easier, more reliable, and easier to reproduce (recall) stored information. These mechanisms can be called the laws of memory. Here are the main ones:
Law of attention. Complaining that you can't remember something? Was any effort made to remember? Maybe while memorizing you were also watching TV? For good memorization, concentration on the material is necessary. The following are several factors that negatively affect the retention of information in memory and which should be eliminated if possible:
Extraneous thoughts
Distractions (noise, radio, TV, calls, ...)
Fatigue, irritation
Rush
Law of brightness. Everything that is bright and unusual is remembered best. During the day you meet many people, but in the evening you can only remember those of them who stood out in some way, were different from others. Therefore, before memorizing, it will be useful to try to give the information a bright, unusual look.
Law of significance. According to the importance for a person, information can be divided into three groups. The first contains vital information (diet, knowledge of dangers,...). It is remembered effortlessly and almost forever. The second group includes information that is interesting and subjectively important for a person. It is also relatively easy to digest. The third group includes all other information. It is the worst absorbed. Unfortunately, the vast majority of such information is available. This leads to several laws that make memorization easier:
Law of interest. As already mentioned, information related to a person’s interests (second group) is easily remembered. Therefore, you need to at least temporarily interest yourself in what you are going to remember.
Law of motivation. You need to convince yourself of the importance of the information you remember. Imagine what benefits memorizing it will bring you: faster promotion, winning a quiz, etc. Then the information will temporarily move to the second group and will be remembered much more reliably.
Law of activity. Information with which you perform some actions is remembered better. So try to do something with it: calculate something, compare it with something, etc.
The law of understanding and comprehension. Trying to remember something without understanding it is almost a hopeless task. By understanding and comprehending the information, you will greatly help your memory.
Law of previous knowledge. The information you remember interacts with what is already stored in your brain. Associative connections are established, comparisons are made, common features are identified, ... Therefore, the more information you have on any topic, the easier it is to remember new information on this topic. And in general, the more you know, the easier it is to assimilate new knowledge. So to remember better, remember more.
Law of setting and installation. You need to tune in to remember. First of all, decide for yourself how long you need to remember the memorized data: a day, a year, your whole life. This will help the brain place them correctly. Before memorizing, skim through the material you want to memorize. This will prepare the brain to remember it and allow you to appreciate the complexity of the material. It is very useful to remember the material you know on this topic before memorizing. And to improve your recall, imagine a situation where you will remember this, an exam, for example.
Law of memory brakes. There are two processes that inhibit (deteriorate) memorization. Proactive braking: Previous memorized information impairs the memorization of subsequent information. Retroactive braking: subsequent memorized information worsens the memorization of the previous one. The presence of these processes is due to the fact that even after the completion of the perception of memorized information, the processes of its assimilation and placement continue in the brain. In this regard, we can give the following recommendations by memorization:
Remember important information in the morning or evening. At this time, the influence of braking processes is minimal.
Take breaks while memorizing. During breaks, you cannot receive any other information (read, watch TV, listen to the radio). This will reduce the influence of braking processes.
Do not memorize the same type of information one after another. This is not how you should learn mathematics after memorizing historical dates. In both cases, work is done with numbers. This will make it difficult to remember.
Do not do anything difficult for you immediately after memorizing. The brain will focus on complex activities and will not be able to correctly place the memorized information.
The following two laws make it easier to remember information.
Law of the time layer. Information is stored in memory in layers. There are many types of these layers, and one of them is the temporary layer. All information memorized at approximately the same time is stored nearby. Therefore, if you need to remember something, try to remember what you were doing on the day when you received the necessary information.
The law of the thematic layer. Another layer of memory is thematic. All information on similar topics is stored nearby in the brain. Therefore, when trying to remember something, try to remember information that is related to the topic. For example, if you forget the name of a city, remember the names of several other cities.
I hope that the laws described in this article will allow you to more easily and reliably remember everything you want. Happy memorization!
