What are the best ways to study for exams?

Gain motivation.

No computer or phone. Leave that crap behind and go to the park or your library. I had the same problem. I had to leave the house without any gadgets to get anything done.

often?

Flash cards work well for me. (Of course, that depends on the subject.)

It also depends on how you learn. I’m a visual learner, so I find that reading a text (so my brain “sees” it) and then re-typing it (so my fingers “learn” it and my brain “re-learns” it) in my own words/summarising the key points works well for me.

Also, don’t discount talking to yourself. Studies have found that when children do this, it’s an effective means of learning because you are, in effect, teaching yourself. So talk to yourself, explain it to yourself. Or explain it to someone else. If you can’t explain it so that someone else can understand it, you don’t know it well enough.

(It would be really helpful to know what subjects you’re studying for, though.)

my subjects are english, maths, history, art and human biology
flash cards sounds like a good idea, thanks :)

Not infront of a computer would help , and start right away . Even if you don’t have to start for a while , whats the harm starting now you can have free time at the end .

JP is right. I’m supposed to be studying right now. Hopping online for a sec turns into 45 minutes lost, every single time. When I studied for the LSAT, I had to go to the library and study WITHOUT A COMPUTER. It worked. The worst part for me, these days, is that we are required to use a laptop in my program. I takes notes with it. I wish there was a way to disarm its internet capabilities for, say, 4 hours a day.

Actually, it’s quite simple! (easy for me to say, as I am not the one doing the studying) if you’re having a difficult time retaining all you have been study, read it aloud. It is a proven fact, that you will retain 82 to 96 percent of what you have read, if you read it aloud! It is said, “You MUST hear yourself speak the each word!” Also, make sure you’re getting ample sleep, and DON’T skip meals. It’s hard to concentrate on an empty stomach. But don’t eat a heavy meal, you’ll only get sleepy. Good luck!! BTW,
Welcome to Fluther!

Flash cards are great.
@sccrowell‘s idea of verbalization works really well for some people, too. One of my daughters would call me and tell me what she knows about a subject. For one subject, I got a weekly update on lectures and the reading material.

If you’re not familiar with the Cornell Note Taking Method, it’s very helpful, especially in rewriting notes for review.

i find a yellow highlighter to be my best friend when trying to study for a test or giving a lecture. I highlight the important bits of my notes and then read them over and over. sccrowell’s idea of reading aloud would work well with that; the combination could be very effective.

I also think the idea of getting away from distractions (Fluther much?) is a great one.

Just think about all the work you have done up to this point and how if you do not study hard for your exams you are throwing all of that effort away.

how is that for motivation! :)

The most important thing is to keep up with your studies so that your preparation for the final is merely a refresher of what you have already learned and understand. If you have not kept up with the material, you can “cram” details in some subjects like history but subjects where knowledge grows in complexity and requires an understanding of prior concepts or formulas such as mathematics, cramming will not be significantly effective (you can cram formulas without understanding what the formula actually means but you can count on the test containing questions/problems in a manner in which your understanding of the formula will be required).

As others have said, reviewing your highlighted points in reading material and your lecture notes (highlight the most important point in these as well), as well as “cramming” appropriate detail via flash cards and verbalization (as that smart and beautiful jelly @sccrowell suggests) away from other distractions should do the trick. If, however,you were assigned to read —For Whom the Bell Tolls and did not do so and can not in time for the exam, you can try reading cliff notes or excerpts on the internet and pray like hell, but again, test givers are savvy to that and will pose questions that will expose those that failed to do assignments and/or submitted homework copied off other students. Good luck to you.
See ya….Gary/wtf

I took a class on Learning and Memory in college. During this class I learned some essential study tips.
(sorry if there are any typos, i’ve copy and pasted this from posts on other sites I use)

Here is some of what I learned:
– Use various methods of studying including writing down questions and answers as well as reading them out loud
– Don’t study everything in topics, you need to mix it up. This may seem contradictory to common sense but it is better for your memory. So if you are studying Bears, don’t study habitat separate from mating habits, mix it up.
– You absolutely need to use retrieval methods. This means you can’t just read it and retain it. You have to use notecards or write out the questions and answer them without looking at the answers at first. You won’t retain anything for any period of time without using retrieval.
– Split up your study time. For example if you have only 4 hours to study it is better to study one hour each day than to study all four hours at once or splitting into two sections (although two sections is still better than studying all at once)

Other Tips:
– If you were drinking soda when you study it is best to drink soda when you take the test. If you always sit in the same spot in class, take your test in that spot. This is called state dependent memory.
– Get some sleep and eat breakfast. This honestly helps. It is more brain power.
– Use devices to help you remember (mnemonic devices). If it’s a list of five things you need to know then use the first letter of each item and make a word with it. This helps tremendously.
– The brain becomes less able to learn after 20 minutes of sitting so take several movement breaks
– Sitting in the front rows of class gets you better grades. They did a scientific study on this.

What I do:
I use notecards. It takes forever (2–4 hours) to write them all out but it is worth it. The time it takes to write them out actually helps you retain the information. Then I mix them up really good.
After that I split them up into sections of ten. I study ten at a time until I have them memorized. Then I study the next ten. Then I’ll combine those two and study that twenty. Etc.. until I am finished. This is the first time then after that it usually comes easy and I can just go through the whole batch. This works so well! When I sit down at a test information spews out of me. It’s great.