Jane Tan – University of California, Berkeley (PhD Mathematics and Science Education, School of Education)
Academic Head, Improve Grades Singapore Tuition Agent
How To Study For Secondary School
Holistic education is important – yes – but but nobody really cares about that if you end up with bad results.
By developing good study habits early on, you can make your secondary school journey exciting, meaningful, and enjoyable.
It is entirely possible to steer your learning towards the right direction, while enjoying your time in school by being better prepared for life in secondary school.
1. Quality content. Top students have found that it is not about the quantity, and it is the quality of what you study that helps you do well in exams
2. Consistency. It is also very important to be consistent. Studying is like working out – and you are in fact working out your brain to make more synaptic connections. Learned a new topic today in school? Put this in your notes. Study it yourself at home, then prepare your notes and comments. This helps you to understand the concept – otherwise you would not be able to prepare the notes – and helps you reinforce the learning you did that day into your memory
3. Start small. If you find it overwhelming to study so much content at one sitting, you can try studying for 30 minutes a day, and then increase the duration and intensity once you get used to the pace
4. Homework. When you are given homework, complete them first. Once you have them out of the way, you will feel a sense of accomplishment because finishing a task will trick your brain into giving you a good feeling, like how you finally get to have some rest after an intense gym workout
5. Active recall. Try to use active recall and learning, rather than passive reading
6. Weak areas. Target your weak areas first, especially your weaker subjects
7. Notes. Collate everything into soft-copy notes that you can access at any time. If you study better with hard-copy notes, you should still make soft-copy notes and then print them out to study. This prevents a situation where you can potentially lose your precious notes at a time when you need them the most
8. Ask. Sometimes, you will come across concepts that you have difficulty in understanding. Pay full attention during class, and ask questions if you have any. Many students are afraid of asking questions, but please do speak up because others can learn from your questions as well. You will also remember better, when the teacher answers a question that you yourself asked
9. Split up your studying. Effective studying comprises 3 main steps: memorizing, practicing, and recalling. Spend about 30 to 60 minutes around 2 to 4 weeks before exams to do all three steps during your intensive revision. Always space out your learning. Start studying early – a minimum would be 4 weeks before the exam, and the barest minimum would be 2 weeks. This ensures that you never have to do a last-minute scramble to memorize one whole subject in 1 or 2 days. If the studying involves memory work, then pulling an all-nighter will never work, and you risk having your mind go blank when you panic
10. Set up a realistic study pace. Prioritise. Which assignment is more important? What do you have to do next? When you prioritise, things will get easier. Do not mug. Consistency is key. Plan accordingly, so that you can revise everything thoroughly with the least amount of stress. Revise on what was taught in school today, because that helps consolidate the information and you will remember it better. You will also realize what you do not understand, and ask for explanations as fast as possible. Do not procrastinate and leave things to the last minute. If your homework or revision schedule piles up, it gets really hard to get through them. If you manage your time well, you will almost never have to spend all night doing your school work
11. Take breaks. Research suggests that long and continuous hours of studying is not the most effective way to get maximum results from your learning. For every say 45 minutes that you spend studying, you should take a break of between 5 to 15 minutes to rest your mind. This break time can be used to do something you enjoy, have a drink of water, move around a little
12. Stress. Moderate amounts of stress is not necessarily bad because it motivates you to work. The key thing is learning how to work effectively even with a large amount of stress. Do not switch off when there is a lot of work to be done. Work through it calmly and systematically
13. Acknowledge that you might not be getting straight As. Identify which subjects you are confident of getting good grades, and focus on obtaining maximum marks for them – while still putting in strong efforts to do well for all your other subjects
14. Spend less time socializing. At least once or twice a week, make sure you set aside time in the afternoon from say 3pm or 4pm onwards to study for a 3-hour period. You can then eat dinner, slack the rest of the night away, and go to sleep by 10pm. This sequence relaxes you, and helps you to cope with the stress while being able to catch up with and complete your school work
15. Sleep. If you do not have urgent revision or outstanding homework, try to sleep early. Sleeping by 11pm to 12 midnight is a good habit to develop. Aim for 7 hours at least, or 6.5 hours at the bare minimum. There is not point sacrificing your physical or mental health. Don’t pull all-nighters when consolidating knowledge. Research has shown that lack of sleep reduces the formation on long-term memory for academic content. You will probably just forget what you “learned” right after the test, and will have to go through it again and again for every subsequent exam. Your upper secondary curriculum builds on what you had learned in lower secondary, so it is important that from the start, you are able to actually understand and have a strong grasp of the content that you are taught once you start secondary school
16. Listen during lessons. Follow the lesson as much as you can, so that yo udo not have to go home and read the material all over again by yourself. If your teacher is “useless”, “unclear”, or “too fast”, try to read the material during the lesson by yourself, and make your own notes during the duration of the lesson. This helps you to make use of the time within your lessons to gain the most out of everything. Imagine if you are determined to spend your time productively: you could catch up on a huge amount of work, and this by itself gives you a very strong sense of achievement and pride, while lowering your stress levels. Even if it is only an additional 10 minutes a day, that will be 70 minutes in a week – more than an hour of productive time!
17. Don’t be a perfectionist. Stop worrying about your homework or exam preparation even before you start them. Just go ahead and do it. If the method does not work, then the results will tell you the areas that you need to improve upon. Don’t be paralyzed by the fear of starting anything. Have faith in yourself and your ability to study correctly
18. Revisit your weak areas. If you are struggling with a particular concept or topic, it is a good idea to take a short break and come back to this topic later after you have worked on other less complex topics, instead of feeling disappointed, discouraged, or frustrated
19. Discover your learning style. We all learn differently. Some of us prefer visual, auditory, practice-based, reading-writing – or a combination of these. Visual learners learn best through pictorial representation of information like charts and diagrams. Auditory learners like to hear out loud. Students who are practice-based prefer to learn through repetition. Learners who prefer to read or write would absorb information better through their efforts to write or read notes. Find out how you enjoy learning – and adapt your study schedule accordingly
20. Test your memory. Challenging your brain by testing your memory can be very effective in finding out how much you really understand and are able to apply. To do this, you should write down as much as you can remember about a topic without referring to your textbook or notes. Through this, you can find out where your knowledge gaps are, as well as whether you really have a good grasp of the content as you think you have
21. Stay organized. This goes a long way towards helping you perform better in school and throughout life. When you have an untidy desk, it can be difficult to keep track of your homework and what you need to study for your exams. Keep your study area neat, conduct weekly decluttering sessions to get rid of anything that you do not immediately need, use a planner to write down assignments and check them off once you have completed the task. The feeling of accomplishment – no matter how big or small the task is – is always motivating and exhilarating
22. Reward yourself. When used correctly, rewards can act as incentives and also as powerful motivators. You should pat yourself on your back each time you achieve milestones. Whether they are big or small, you need to feel that your efforts made a difference in getting you nearer to your academic goals. Whether the reward is giving yourself extra time to take a nap, or a day off from studies, you will feel rejuvenated after you have rewarded yourself
23. Mindset. Sometimes, the harder that you think something is, the harder it actually is. Meaning if for example you think that running 5km every day is very hard, then you would want to avoid it as much as possible. But if you decide that you want it to be a positive effort, it will be a lot less painful than you imagined. When you are feeling positive, stress-free, well-rested, your attitude toward solving life’s problems changes. Take things one day at a time, one task at a time, one topic at a time. Studying can be like a sport. The more that you practice – even if it is the exact same or similar movements – the better you will get at it
24. What is the learning point? It is much easier for you t grasp and digest information when you have been able to figure out what has really been taught to you. What are you supposed to get out of this chapter? Try to come up with 3 to 5 questions around this new content, to test yourself that you have really understood it. Then think about other things, while passively thinking about this topic at the back of your mind. Let it sink into your subconscious mind. Then come back, and reattempt some questions. Move on, and come back again after some time. If you got the answers wrong, or had forgotten some aspects of the content or chapter, re-evaluate what you got wrong, and why
25. Read up in the topic before it is taught in school. This will help you to focus on what is taught in class, because you will know which parts of the topic that you don’t understand. This is a good way to know what to ask your teacher for clarification
26. Take moments to breathe. It is very important to be able to step away, and relax. Do not blame yourself too much if you are weak at something. We can’t possibly be equally strong in every subject that we take at secondary school, junior college, polytechnic, or university. Take care of your physical and mental health. Drink water, eat right, exercise (just a short, brisk walk would do), so that you can clear your mind
27. Balance. It is really important to not focus too much on just one thing. Everything should be done in moderation. Do not skip CCA, even if you think the skills you gain from CCA are irrelevant, because CCAs are where you are able to make new friends and learn different perspectives – as well as gain leadership/socializing/people management skills
Finally, keep in mind that thousands of students have gone through what you’re going through and came out fine.
Just work hard and you’ll be okay.
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