Embarking on a journey of academic excellence requires more than just conventional study habits. To truly excel in your studies, it’s essential to explore and adopt various study methods that align with your learning style. So, get your comfy loungewear set on and prepare to see your study techniques transform!

Active Learning Strategies

Active learning strategies are educational techniques that engage students in the learning process by encouraging them to actively participate, analyse, and reflect on the material. Unlike passive learning, where students are mere recipients of information, active learning involves hands-on activities that promote deeper understanding and retention.

Engage with the material actively rather than passively. Techniques such as summarising information in your own words, teaching concepts to others, and creating flashcards can deepen your understanding and improve retention. For people who benefit from putting on their favourite gym set and getting out the house for a walk during their studies, a more active approach in terms of revising can also be beneficial.

It is the same concept that you learn how to play a sport by actually doing it rather than hearing about it. Physically getting involved and seeing how the game is played out is extremely beneficial rather than just hearing about it.

Here are some effective active learning strategies to enhance your academic performance:

1. Summarisation
2. Teaching Others
3. Concept Mapping
4. Problem-solving and application
5. Interactive discussions
6. Self-quizzing and flashcards
7. Role-playing and simulations
8. Experiential learning
9. Case studies and problem-based learning

The Feynman Technique

The best way to get the most out of yourself and gain a thorough understanding is to apply the Feynman Technique.

In addition to winning the Physics Nobel Prize, Richard Feynman was a master at simplifying difficult subjects. His most important lesson was that jargon and complexity frequently conceal a lack of comprehension.

Feynman’s learning method consists of four essential steps:

Choose a topic to study.

1. Educate a child about it.
2. Examine and hone your comprehension.
3. Sort and arrange your notes, then go over them frequently.

This is quite funny because the number of times during my studies I asked someone to explain something to me like I was a child is crazy. Sometimes it’s easy to process words and information if they are stripped right down to the basics.

The Cornell Method for Note-Taking

One common technique for taking, organising, and summarising notes is the Cornell note-taking method. Generally, this approach leads to increased overall understanding.

Professor Walter Paul of Cornell University created this note-taking technique in the 1950s. It requires very little preparation, which makes it ideal for classes where notes are required, like during a lecture.

The page is broken up into four sections, sometimes just three:

1. At the top of the page, one block
2. Two rows
3. At the bottom of the page, one block

The smaller column on the left is devoted to keywords and questions; you can use this area to jot down suggestions and questions related to the subject matter, as well as to create an outline that will assist you in identifying the locations of each item of information that you have recorded.

At the bottom of the page, you write a small paragraph of the content for the whole page.

This technique is good as it summarises intentional note-taking and revision-ready notes that can be taken and referred to countless times.