By Shreya Deo
Science. You either love it or you hate it, am I right? But knowing how to effectively study serves as the bridge to connect what you have to do and what you want to do.
Just reading a chapter, watching an Amoeba Sisters video, or listening to your teacher explain it to you are very important building blocks to gain an introductory level of understanding of the topic, but are often the most boring to students today. We are often distracted by external factors and don't get work done. To tackle this, I have come up with a few techniques that I use solely for science (in my case, biology) to master the subject and score well on tests.
Mindset
Mindset is key to mastering a subject, whether it be science, math, social studies, or the arts. We never start of perfect at a subject. There is always a graph that everyone goes through. We start of average, then we suddenly dip for what seems like the longest time, and then, for the few of us that get back out of it, we start to learn to effectively master the subject. In my case, when I go back and look at my grades from elementary, I often think "How was I so average?" My scale went from having low A's throughout elementary, to a few B's, and how to having all A+ in 9th grade. This timeline can either make or break you. If you have the habit of thinking "I'm bad at math" or "There is always someone who scores higher than me," you will never get around to taking action and trying to improve. (Quoted from my parents :) However, what I do is probably not the best method, but setting a benchmark for yourself is a great way to start. Setting a score to want to get on a future exam, or setting a goal of reviewing two pages of notes and understanding them per day is manageable and helps keep you on track.
Repetition is key
This is one technique that I tend to use leading up to every biology test. It is a very simple, yet effective technique that has been proven to help students memorize a subject. For most of us, we know by now that most science subject simply cannot be taken in their literal way, and they have to be memorized. There is simply no way to interpret the word "bacteriophage" (Like, what the heck was that supposed to mean?) Repetition is the best way to get information to stick in your brain for the upcoming test or quiz. Repetition can be done in many different ways, like typing information and active recall, but I simply re-write and summarize the notes as we get closer to test day. Even though this takes longer as you are handwriting the information, handwriting has been proven to help with memorizing. I first write the notes we get in class, then a few days later, I re-write the notes on another paper, except I shorten them, then the next week, ill re-write and shorten the notes once more. By the end of this process, I will have three sets of notes, ranging from descriptive to summarized, while also having retained the information. This has helped me a lot, but the downside is time. If you find that typing helps you remember information, that is definitely faster.
Be the teacher
I use this technique the day before the test. (Not because of procrastination, but for the purpose of having the information fresh in my mind for the next day since I have biology first period) This technique is also quite similar to the first one in terms of the method, but it should take you about 20-30 minutes, depending on the length of the unit you are being tested on. All it takes is either a whiteboard or a piece of paper. Now, as you go through the notes for the unit, you act like you are teaching a class, by vocalizing the notes and writing them out at the same time. By the end, you will be much more confident with your work, and have everything down.
Personalize the topic
This technique doesn't require any additional time outside of studying but can instead be integrated into your study routine. What I mean by personalizing the topic is integrating your own thoughts and perceptions of the topic while reviewing it. What I did for one of our units going over transcription and translation was relate the function of the enzyme helicase to a helix. Since helicase unwinds the DNA, I pictured a helix of stairs with a person named helicase going down them. It sounds silly, but it is a great way to remember things that don't always make the most sense.
Draw it out!
I know what you're going to say- Drawing isn't my thing. But sometimes, even the most childish drawings help contribute to a photographic memory. For example, when we were on the photosynthesis unit, I drew a diagram of the cycle to help be visualize it better during the test. Sometimes, diagrams can help us understand something even the notes couldn't help us do.
Conclusion
Science cannot be interpreted. The only way to get around it is to memorize it. So why not make the process of mastering the subject a bit easier? Try these techniques out the next time you have a science exam, and please let us know the results. If you do anything differently, please share it with us, we would love to learn more ways to help others throughout their student life!
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