I have totally forgotten how to "study"

Piper22 · 28/03/2022 22:11

Have you thought about reducing it to 20 minute ‘bursts’? So setting yourself a small, achievable target and then allocating yourself 20 minutes to achieve it. After 20 minutes go away and do something you find relaxing or energising (depending on need! for 10 minutes- 15 minutes and then repeat. I find this approach so productive.

Easilydiscardthisone · 28/03/2022 22:11

Oh my god I am exactly the same and I also have some professional exams in May and haven’t sat an exam since my A Levels - I deliberately chose uni modules that were coursework only!

I’ve started this evening and decided that the best way I can do it is to make a PowerPoint presentation with the info as if I need to present it to a board meeting.

FishFingerSandwiches4Tea · 28/03/2022 22:16

If its open book make sure your notes/books are thoroughly organised so you don't waste time if you want to double check something. Anything you know you're going to struggle to remember highlight key words/sentences so they jump out.

A lot depends on how you learn too. I like to make summary lists of important points as the act of handwriting them helps me to remember. Others use mind maps/topic webs. Could you look at previous exam style papers or questions?

Good luck!

Hawkins001 · 28/03/2022 22:20

@Penzinola

Just that really. I have professional exams to take in May and I haven't done an exam since my last year of University which was a good decade ago now. I have always been absolutely crap at studying for exams anyway - I used to stay up all night the night before and just wing it in the exam and for some reason I managed to get good grades by doing this. This will definitely not fly with these particular exams which are very technical and rely on my actually having absorbed factual information rather than just making it up.

Please remind me how one studies for an exam! Any tips?! I've left it late to be honest, I should have started doing it already. It's an open book exam but there is a lot of information, and I have ADHD and get easily overwhelmed.

These may help

How to study for exams effectively

Make plan of study. : This is important to prepare for exam in a short time or over long period. ...
Understand and study. : This is a big mistake most of the students make. They think studies is to mug up books and write out in the exams.
Revise. : Revision is the key of preparation for exams. What ever be the level of reading, without proper revision reading vast subject is waste of time.
Practice diagrams. : Diagrams are important part of an answer in subjects like science and mathematics. They communicate more information than mere writing.
Practice formulas: Formulas help to solve the problems of physics, chemistry and mathematics faster. ...
Practice problems: In mathematics and science subjects like physics and chemistry, there are many problems to solve. Practicing them helps you solve them correctly in the exam.
Refer to previous question paper: Going through previous years question papers for an idea is important. It help you know how the question paper pattern is going to be.
Make a team: This is quite important but may not be possible to all. ...
Time for travel before exam: Many tend to read books while in the bus for exam. Though this is not bad, it is also important of what we read.

Original poster

Penzinola · 28/03/2022 22:20

I really don't know how I learn, that's the thing. My A levels were all in creative subjects that I didn't have to remember stuff for, as was my degree. The only thing I ever really had to "learn" stuff for properly was French, but I loved it and had a natural aptitude for it so it went in easily.

OP posts:

Cornishmumofone · 28/03/2022 22:27

ncase.me/remember/

Hawkins001 · 28/03/2022 22:29

Id break down the main components of what the exams will entail then research about the individual information for the different parts but write notes in your own words sorts like a research journal. Then as you read different perspectives of the same information some of it may start to become remembered.

FinallyHere · 28/03/2022 23:14

Explaining things to someone else is the best way that I know to really engage with material. Each time you get to a bit that you can't explain... go back and find out, then try again.

This is not really very different to doing past papers. Give yourself the amount of time you would have in an exam to answer a question. Answer it in exam conditions, then allow yourself some time to supplement your answer with things to make it pretty good.

Leave it a while then try it again in exam conditions.

When you run out of questions, make some more up yourself.

This all helps to to distinguish between things you know and things you don't know. Find out what aids your memory needs in order to remember each set of things you do not already remember.

Some people like mind maps, or a PowerPoint presentation as suggested above. Add colours, arrows etc. then hang the end result somewhere where you see it a lot. The 'fridge door and back of door to loo often work quite well. Once you have the hang of something (ie you can reproduce it under exam conditions and apply it appropriately to a range of questions) you can promote that area to things you know and tackle another area.

Being able to recreate the diagram or whatever in your head while enjoying a walk (or run) is a good sign that you do understand it and gets you out in fresh air too.

Another technique that has worked well for me is to find a small group of like minded people. Work through questions, discussing as you go. This helps to make sure that you are seeing the right connections between the information you have and the questions or problems to be solved. It's amazing how it is possible to just miss out a whole area of info. Having a group to discuss means you can all fill in any holes you may individually have had.

Finally, my mother taught me to stop studying 24hrs before the exam, and take some time off to relax and let the brain be rested and ready to tackle any exam. Imagine my surprise when, well rested and well prepared , I did better than when I had stayed up all night to crammed the night before an exam.

Good luck.

Original poster

Penzinola · 29/03/2022 10:04

Thanks so much for all these really useful tips. I've had my head in the sand about it a bit but really need to pull it out now!

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 29/03/2022 17:09

Do practice papers and then go through the mark schemes.

If you have ADHD this is possibly an entirely new skill for you rather than being something you've forgotten.

It comes down to there being a formula that you need to reproduce on the day and IME the best way to get good at this is practice a lot.

bottleofbeer · 29/03/2022 20:38

Read for an hour, rest for an hour. Make associations with the things you need to remember, a daft song that rhymes with words you need to remember.

Sleep.

Mind maps.

Original poster

Penzinola · 29/03/2022 21:08

If you have ADHD this is possibly an entirely new skill for you rather than being something you've forgotten.

I don't think I ever really knew how to do it, you're right. At school I was clever enough to wing the subjects I didn't like enough to pass (maths and science), and the ones I did like didn't require me to put the work in because I was naturally good at them. Then my degree was, again, in a subject I already loved that came naturally to me.

It's not that I don't enjoy my work related to this exam, because I do, but it's a lot of complicated models and theories to remember, and I've never had to do that before.

OP posts:

BertieBotts · 29/03/2022 21:17

To be honest the fact you've passed a degree with ADHD means it's highly likely you are of very high intelligence, most likely over the 95th percentile. That will get you by to a certain level, but by the time you're coming to qualifications like these it doesn't any more, that's how I understand it anyway. There is some literature about how "twice exceptional" (however wanky the term is, it's useful for searchability) individuals manage ADHD long term and the burnout/crash period is usually postgraduate study.

Original poster

Penzinola · 29/03/2022 21:21

I've done an MA but again that was a creative subject with no memorisation or scientific/method ical thought required

OP posts:

bottleofbeer · 29/03/2022 23:00

I don't think i ever did 'study' as such? Maybe I did, but not in the way I imagined 'study' to be?

I did well, I sometimes find it odd that I even remember things, but I clearly did learn and understand. If I'm asked a question, I can answer it confidently yet I'd swear I cruised and did the bare minimum.

Impostor syndrome probably.

JenniferBarkley · 29/03/2022 23:15

It's all about question practice. Give yourself, say, a day per topic. Start by very quickly reading the notes - don't worry about understanding everything, just get an idea of the broad picture. Then start past exam questions on that topic. At first you'll be slow and need the notes but you should get better and better as the day goes on. When a question is hard don't get disheartened and run away from it, just plough on. At the end of the day make a one page summary of the key things you need to know for that topic, definitions etc you need to memorise, to look over the day before the exam.

newtb · 29/03/2022 23:15

Do practice questions and if any are multi choice and you have examples do them repeatedly until you get them right.

Also, for a 3hr exam it's 1.8 minutes per percentage so calculate the time for each question/part of a question.

When I last did professional exams we were told to regard it as a mark-grabbing exercise. Never ever go over your time - you can always go back.

We were also given silly tips by our tutors - with 3000 candidates 90% were +/- 5 of the pass mark - to put off some of the others, such as asking for graph paper in the law exam. My last exam was in the coop ballroom in Manchester, with a sprung floor that hadn't been made fixed and one bloke was joggling his foot in the next row which made my table wobble, so I put my hand up to ask them to ask him to stop.

Good Luck!

I have totally forgotten how to "study"

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