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“3 Steps To Quickly Absorb The Material In Any College Class And Ace Your Exams”

William Frierson AvatarWilliam Frierson
June 20, 2013


Nancy Thomason

Nancy Thomason

You have a lot of overwhelming information to absorb in your college classes. Mere rote memorization is seldom enough to ace university tests. In fact, the exams your professors give often requires you to show you can apply critical thinking skills to this information.

Improving how you attack your books and notes during your study sessions will make the difference between getting a mediocre grade of C or A which can make a big difference when you’re looking for a job or getting into grad school after graduation.  Often the students who get the best grades are not any smarter than you. They’re just more effective in test preparation and test taking skills.

Are You Constantly In A Time Crunch As A College Student?

You may be worried that you won’t have enough time to study before you take your university exams each semester. You are studying as much as you can to improve your scores, but there always seems to be more content to cover and not enough time. You feel you’ve read the information carefully, consistently went to class and took copious notes. However, you are not sure if your scores are improving with each additional hour or studying or just wasting time.

The feeling is demoralizing.

The goal of this test preparation module is to help you prepare and to improve your chances of achieving a passing score. You will learn a test prep technique in which you will allow you to quickly improve your test content knowledge and test score in a short period of time. This means you can raise your test score dramatically in less study time and effort.

Why So Many University Aren’t Getting The Grades They Deserve

Many people who study for their university examinations spend too much time studying, but get too few results. The problem is that their review is not focused. Research has found that if we study small bits of information, test ourselves on that information immediately after we study, and then immediately restudy what we have missed, we will learn better and faster than if we study for longer periods of time without testing.

Whether you’re preparing for your semester exams or preparing for career specific exams like the Praxis test for education students or NCLEX for nursing students, the following test practice method will improve your studying and competence on any university related exam.

How To Accomplish More In Your Study Time And Radically Improve Your College Grades Using The “Study-Test-Review” Technique

The “Study-Test-Review” technique will help you get more studying done in less time, improve your test scores in university classes and raise your grades. The advantage of this practice technique is that you can prep in relatively short blocks of 45 minutes. The more you study the better, but even studying just a couple of times a week will make an impact on your college grades and future success.

Follow These 3 Simple Steps To Achieve More Productive Study, Test Prep And Better Grades Instantly:

1.)    Break the content that you must practice into the smallest chunks that you can find. Each exam is radically different. However, for this example, let’s say your test has 3 major sections and then 12 subsections within each major part.

Treat each of these 12 subsections as a chunk. Examples of small study chunks are the following:

  • Vocabulary
  • Reading comprehension
  • Algebra problems
  • Geometry problems
  • Social studies

2.)    Choose how many 45-minute time blocks you can commit to each week. Write this down and stick with it: For instance, you could write “Each week I will study in 6 45-minute sessions.” Try to choose times when you know you will be well-rested. Make a calendar with the days and times that you will be studying.

3.)    For each of the study sessions:

•    Find a place where you can study quietly and not be disturbed for 45 minutes.

•    Study (15 minutes): Review the material in the module for this day. Study using whatever tips you have learned, but focus continually for 15 minutes. Only study the information in this module.

•    Review (5 minutes): Take five minutes and review what you have studied. Do this as if you were going into the testing room to take the real exam.

•    Test (10 minutes):  Complete a 10 minute test on the topic you have studied. Set your timer and time the test for exactly ten minutes. Stop working exactly when the timer rings.

•    Score your test (5 minutes): Score your test and review what you got right and wrong. Record your results.

•    Review (10 Minutes): Restudy the material with the results of your test in mind. Focus only on the material that you missed, and not on the material that you got right. If your score on this module is high enough to suit, you, do not work again on this module for a while.

Now that we have reviewed the “Study-Test-Review” technique it is time to get to work.

Look over your test booklet or test guide and mark out the different topics that you need to learn. Make a calendar and block out your 45-minute study slots. By working in short time blocks using the study-test-review technique you will increase your learning speed and be successful on exam day.

Author Resource:

The author Nancy Thomason is a test preparation expert. She has helped many college students pass teacher certification tests like the Praxis II test and nurse Licensure such as the NCLEX. Ms. Thomason helps college students study more effectively, improve their scores in university exams and raise their grades. As a leading contributor to Test Score Breakthrough she assists in the development of their study guides and practice tests for the Praxis II, TExES, GACE, NCLEX, FTCE, ASVAB, professional and graduate school admissions tests.

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