Before I go into this, let me just say that these are my tactics - they might not work for some people, but they work for me so that I can ace my exams with minimal effort (in terms of the night before). With that, lets begin:
At the start of the term (if possible, the start of the year is better)
prepare for the upcoming term
make a list of topics you will cover
look at your calendar for possible times that you can study those topics
anticipate what will come up in terms of:
the difficulty of the topics
the upcoming tests
the other obligations that you have which will take time away from studying e.g. sports, plays
if you cannot ask questions, look at curriculum
ask your teachers what you will cover
ask your older friends
As soon as I have my curriculum
make the notes - emphasis on just highlighting from textbook and transferring info into your own notes - this helps you to understand what’s going on and can grasp the big picture of how everything connects
Active recall - testing yourself is the only way to get better
past papers - statistically this is the best way to improve your mark
decide on a topic beforehand
schedule a time to study that topic
go through a few past paper that deal with the same topic e.g. all the organic chemistry questions from the past five years
flashcards - this is another way to test yourself
write a question on the one side
the answer on the other side
digital flashcards are more easily accessible for me as an app
feynman technique - teach others
explain an idea to someone without using jargon - this will show whether you understand it or not
when someone asks “why does X happen” and you don’t know why, that’s something you should study
Spaced repetition - test yourself at particular intervals - by allowing your brain to forget X, your brain will need to work harder to remember X again. When your brain works harder the first 5 times or so, it will be easier to remember it again in a test
Interleaving - jumping between topics;
study organic chemistry in the morning - this is the starting topic
study the nervous system in the afternoon - this is a new topic
study organic chemistry again in the evening - you would have forgotten some information
study evolution the next morning - a new topic
study organic chemistry the next afternoon - you would have forgotten less than what you forgot the second time you studied
2-3-5-7 - this refers to the days in which you study before the test
mark a day 2 days before the exam - A
mark the day 3 days before A i.e. 5 days before the exam - B
mark the day 5 days before B i.e. 10 days before the exam - C
mark the day 7 days before C i.e. 17 days before the exam
study for the exam at those intervals - this helps your brain to work harder, which will result in you remembering the information better in the long run
you can also just do my version of this - studying 7 days, then 5 days, then 3 days, then 2 days before the exam (it only works for certain subjects)
On the day of the exam
don’t open a book - you’ll forget things (trust me)
make sure you had a good night’s sleep (it helps to not be unfocused during the exam)
avoid panic-filled places (this will lead you to panic as well)
When you write:
read the questions carefully - make sure you know exactly what they are asking you to do
make sure to link it to the question
don’t rush, but budget your time - if something is 1 mark, spend 1 minute on it max; if something is 4 marks, spend 4 minutes on it max
be calm - if you’ve prepared, you should be fine
And that’s a wrap. These tactics usually lead me to getting between 75 and 83 on an exam, with the occasional 90.
My averages for the last two years:
gr10 - 81,4
gr11 - 82,1
Hopefully these tactics help you as much as they helped me. Share it with a friend if you found them helpful :)
Love,
Tim