Exam season can be stressful for students at times. The amount of time and effort you must have put into preparation will most likely determine how much tension you will feel as the exams approach, but feeling tension as the exams approach is unavoidable. There may be little tension for those who have begun to prepare ahead of time, but it will always exist.
The reason for this is that as students, we are usually either dissatisfied with how much we’ve read or we are afraid of forgetting what we’ve read. While how you revise for exams is important, what is more important is when you started preparing, how much you prepared, and how you prepared. However, the focus of this article will be on revision tips for the exams:
Concentrate on your lecture notes
While it will be tempting to read so many textbooks to satisfy yourself that you are well prepared, this is not a good idea, especially since the exams are already approaching. It is critical that you focus on going over the notes you must have taken during lectures because the lecturer or examiner will most likely limit himself or herself to what he or she taught you in class.
Revise and share with others
Our excuse for not agreeing with this is that we haven’t finished reading yet, but students rarely finish reading. What you already know is sufficient to share with your study group or any other course colleague. Solving problems and discussing potential questions with others is a sure way to boost your course information’s ranking in your brain’s index for easy recall, because the body movements and gestures of your reading partners will aid in your memory.
Repeatedly skim and scan through your course materials
This helps your brain search for and bring to the forefront pieces of information about the subjects it has previously processed. In other words, by going over your notes and materials again and again, you’re telling your brain, ‘Hey, I’ll need this information soon, prepare it for me.’
Answer as many questions as possible
If you can obtain past and previous exam questions, that would be fantastic because going through and solving them will give you an idea of what to expect in the exams and how the questions are likely to appear. If not, pose tasking questions to yourself or ask someone else to do so for you, and then attempt them. This helps you get a sense of the exam situation before you write it.
Write the exam in your mind and examine all case scenarios
Every human being possesses the incredible power of imagination. Every man has the ability to imagine and visualize things in his mind. Using your previous exam experiences, imagine yourself writing the exams and going through the entire process of collecting exam questions, writing your name on the answer booklet, answering the questions, being asked to stop and submit your papers, and so on. This, believe me, helps to alleviate exam anxiety.
Examine your notes at least a day before the exam
This assumes you’ve been jotting down key points during your study sessions, which is highly recommended. Now is the time to go over those points again in order to recall the information you previously stored and processed in your brain for easy recall in the exam hall.
Sleep well
It is impossible to overstate the importance of sleep in learning. Sleep is also extremely important for your brain. In fact, as you sleep, one-fifth of your body’s circulatory blood flows to your brain. During sleep, the brain undergoes a highly active period of restructuring that is critical to how our memories function. It is critical to get enough sleep while revising for exams so that what you’ve learned can be properly consolidated.
