We’ve all been told to “Study hard for that upcoming exam!” or “Use the extra class time you have to study.” But how many of us know how to study in a way that allows us to retain the information?

There are hundreds of ways to study; it all depends on how you learn and what class you’re trying to study for. For example, it seems like no matter how long I look over the notes that I took, I seem to retain none of the information. However, whenever I play a game that corresponds to the information I’m trying to learn, I remember it so much better. This is because I am a kinesthetic learner, which means that I learn best when I’m doing an activity.

There are four main types of learning styles: verbal, visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Verbal learners retain information best by talking and having discussions, visual learners learn best with things like pictures and charts, auditory learners learn best by listening to information like a lecture, and kinesthetic learners learn by doing activities or projects. Finding out which type of learner you are is crucial to your learning process, and it’s going to help you retain as much information as possible.

Notes can be an important part of your studying process, but just make sure to put them in your own words. When you use someone else’s words in order in your notes, it can be hard to remember what you put down because you wouldn’t say it like that. They can also be hard to understand while you’re going back through them because you might not remember what your notes are supposed to be about. The most important thing when you’re going back over your notes is to make sure you’re not just reading them over and over; go through and highlight important ideas or add any additional information you may have learned. Something else you can do is add some connecting ideas to other topics so that you’re able to see how everything is connected. This method most likely won’t work well with all of your classes, but it’ll work well for classes like history or maybe even science. This method usually works best for visual learners because you can see all the topics mapped out for you to go over.

Another thing I do to study is a timed method. I review my notes for about twenty-five to thirty minutes, take a small five-minute break, then write down as much as I can remember for the same amount of time I studied for. After you write what you remember, you can go back through your original notes and see what you missed or if any of the information was wrong and if either of those things are true, then you go back and do the whole process again but with the topics you missed until you’re able to get them all. This method can change depending on what class you’re trying to study for. For example, in math, I would go over the formulas. How to solve them for the first twenty-five to thirty minutes, then while I’m taking a break, I would ask one of my friends or someone around me to write a couple problems using the formulas I just studied, then spend the last twenty-five to thirty minutes working through the problems. This usually works best for kinesthetic learners because it’s an activity rather than just mindless reading.

Something else I found helpful is if you try to draw a picture or make up a song or a rhyme that corresponds with the topic you’re studying. For example, in history class, I remember who the Mongols were and what they did because I remember a tiny Genghis Khan on top of a horse, and that tells me all I need to know about the Mongol empire. I also remember what osmosis is and what it can do to a cell because of rhymes and songs made up by my biology teacher. This works well for auditory, visual, and kinesthetic learners because it’s an activity that you listen to or draw for you to see.

Another way you can study is by doing it with another person. For example, you can go over to each other’s houses or meet up at the library so you guys can study independently for a certain amount of time, then come together and discuss what you both got from it. Or you can both study different topics for some time, then come together and share your notes. This works well for verbal learners because you’re having discussions with another person about the topics you’re learning, and it gives you a different perspective.

So, in conclusion, while there are multiple ways of studying for a class or exam, there are certain ways that are better depending on your learning style. Remember that not all of the study methods listed will work for every subject you’re taking; some will work better than others. The best thing you can do is practice studying so you can become a pro at it. Happy studying!