While younger siblings are off enjoying the school holidays, for older students, the holiday is yet to arrive.
But as many people who have been to university can testify, there is very little relaxation to be done during the Easter break.
On the other hand, procrastination abounds while you ignore the inevitable exams and coursework deadlines looming ahead.
For some, this may be the last chance of freedom before finals and the customary job-hunt ensue.
While we defer to your greater knowledge in your degree subject (We’d surely get a first in storage solutions if they invented the course!), we have all sat exams at one time or another and some of us now have children that we have to motivate to do any work at all. So that makes us qualified to administer advice. Sort of. But hey, when do we ever need an excuse to give our tips away?
ONE: Make (and keep) your notes during term time!
You should have done this already, and if so, great.
If not, you’ll have a way to download all your handouts from your online learning environment, whatever it happens to be called these days.
When you’ve got them all to hand and printed, use a highlighter for the most pertinent quotes and passages, and bookmark particular pages with the humble paperclip. If you’re really organised, sort out all the papers into lever-arch files.
Are you a paperless reviser? In that case, organise your documents into folders on your laptop for easy reference along with your typed up notes. Make comments or copy and paste the essential passages into a separate document you can access easily.
TWO: Create audio notes on your phone
One really passive way to get your notes in your head is by recording them on your phone and then listening to them on the bus, driving, washing dishes, out walking or if you want to give your eyes a rest at the end of the day. Even if you are predominantly a visual learner, it’s good to mix different learning styles.
THREE: Make some revision cards
This is an oldie and a goodie. If your subject relies on memorising lots of information, test what you’ve learned with study cards. For example, linguists need to remember mountains of vocabulary, so writing the English word on one side of the card with the foreign language equivalent on the other, you can actually have some fun while learning.
And there are apps that will do this for you, allowing you to create your own topic lists, so no paper? No matter.
FOUR: Teach someone else
This requires you to have a group of study buddies nearby, or at least a friend who is kind enough to listen to you talking for hours on end about your degree subject.
Bribe them with a drink of their choice and devise some mini-lessons on the modules you are having difficulty taking in.
Teaching doesn’t make any sense? Oh, but it does. When you have to make the effort to teach someone else your subject, or even something you have only just learnt, it forces you to process, break down and simplify the facts. You find patterns you never would have come up with otherwise. It stops you being lazy as you have to learn your subject properly. What’s more, it cements the knowledge in your brain while you’re actively talking about it.
FIVE: Make revision into a team game
Who said revision has to be a solitary experience?
If you are able to meet with friends, turn studying into a social outlet.
Invent gap-fill exercises for each other by modifying your lecture notes, or devise a quiz. If you can’t physically meet up during the holidays, then how about using a quiz app to make one instead?
These five tips certainly beat procrastination. Even if you do just one, you’ll be streets ahead of some of your coursemates.
Why not take us up on the challenge?
Rent A Space doesn’t make study buddies, but if we did, well, you know how the ad line goes. But what we really excel in is storage. Once you’ve passed your exams, you may have to pack up some of your belongs, and that’s where we can really help. Give us a call!