To prepare for an exam you should leave all study to the last minute, this will increase the pressure on you to ensure that you retain information out of a sense of fear of failure. Do not be tempted to summarize notes in ‘chunks’ of time, say 15 minutes here and there across the entire semester. This will only serve to confuse you as over time details will merge and the cognitive links forming between the information will mean that you have too much knowledge to recall. You will be slowed down in an exam trying to process the wealth of knowledge you have bestowed upon yourself, instead of having rapid recall of information that you have glanced at within the past 6- 12 hours. This technique will also enable you to sleep soundly during the semester and lead up to the exam instead of stressing about the upcoming assessment.
The human brain is built to multi-task, so be sure during your high pressure study block to have loud music playing, watch a DVD at the same time or have friends over. These ‘distractions’ will give your brain minute breaks during study to ensure that you do not experience information overload. Other helpful study activities include; ironing; cooking; vacuuming; car washing and gaming on a play station. The multi-tasking will also increase your brain capacity to retain information, as the brain is like a muscle and the different activities are like doing reps. When you step into your exam your brain will be “trimmed and toned” to the essentials and able to focus because its had rest periods during your study.
The use of analogies and metaphors can be a helpful study technique for the more creative student. Such as working on your car, or going shopping, or even working on a short story competition, and drawing links between study materials and parts of the car engine, the cut of a garment or the personality of a written character. This will give depth and breadth to your study experience. Also, as you are studying while doing something that you enjoy the ‘happy hormones and neurotransmitters’ in your brain and body, will help you to retain information better as you are having a good time. When you are in the exam you have only to imagine a carburetor/pair of Jimmy Choo pumps/the heroine of your novel; and you will be mentally transported to that ‘happy place’ of the study time and instantly recall the associated information.
Remember a cluttered work area implies hard work in progress. The process of losing, searching and re-finding lecture and tutorial materials will strengthen the cognitive links between information you are studying. An organic collage ‘shocks’ the brain into remembering the details as the information appears totally unrelated at first glance. Hence, each piece of study material will be salient and much easier to remember. Not being able to find information is not a problem, based on materials that you do find you should be able to logically assume the missing information and how it relates to the other materials. This will extend your creativeness which a boon to lecturers during the marking process as they can clearly see how much understanding of the topic you have; creativeness is also the root of deeper comprehension and insights into topics, many great scientists have used this technique to build on knowledge and skills.
Finally, approach the exam as you would the marker of it. Spend a couple of hours ‘profiling’ your lecturer so that you can subliminally insert key words and phrases that are likely to appeal to their innate nature. For example, if she/he enjoys gardening be sure to mention use the language of horticulture, such as, ‘the landscapes of ….’ or ‘to prune…’ it is also advantageous to draw pictures in the margins as this appeals to the human reliance n vision to make meaning of the world; and to ensure a visionary exam experience.