Please note: The information on this website is to be used purely as a guide and the content is only as accurate as the resources I have referred to; all of which will be mentioned in the Acknowledgement section at the end of every page.
NV Top tips to study smart
1. Plan your work and then work your plan: Diving straight into a chapter is the biggest mistake you can make. Before you start studying any subject, decide how you will approach it. Do you have all the resources you need? Do you know the exam pattern? Are you going to make hand-written notes, typed notes or voice notes? Do you have any deadlines or coursework? Do you have any scheduled tests? Are you going to study by module or chapter or interest or simply the textbook index? Figuring out all this stuff makes sure that you don't do too much nor too little and that you know exactly what to do when. Trust me, this saves you a lot of panic attacks the week before the exam!
2. Don't underestimate past papers: These are life-saving resources. Your learning method will decide how you use them. Do you look at them before starting a chapter to get a hang of what is expected in the paper? Do you attempt a few questions after a chapter to see how much you've understood? Do you run an exam questions marathon the month or week before the exam when you're sure you know all the content really well? Psst! NV secret: I used past paper questions and mark schemes to form knowledge banks. Instead of testing myself, I preferred to know the correct answer and learn it. This also allowed me to gauge frequently occurring questions!
3. Don't overestimate homework: Before I get attacked by all the teachers in the world, let me make this clear: I am NOT advising you to skip HW. If you're the kind of student who is not burning the midnight oil and is slacking, then stop whining and do your HW because it's probably the only thing keeping your grades up. BUT if you're the sincere, hard-working, close to class-topper student who is already ahead of what is being taught in class, you have the privilege of deciding whether HW is worth doing. This is because doing EVERY SINGLE textbook question can be repetitive and unnecessary if you're confident about your knowledge. Don't do HW just to maintain the "teacher's pet" image.
4. When time is short, PRIORITISE: You have 2 days and 4 enormous chapters left- what do you do? Being a jack of all trades and master of none is not the best idea. That will get you minimum marks. You have to maximise the marks you will receive. So, read all 4 chapters and then pick those 2 that you think you can do best and do them brilliantly. It's scary walking into an exam hall knowing that you didn't study 2 chapters but it's relieving when you get your marks and see that the ones you studied, you did great. Had you tried to do all chapters, you might not have received the marks you did. Been there, done that.
2. Don't underestimate past papers: These are life-saving resources. Your learning method will decide how you use them. Do you look at them before starting a chapter to get a hang of what is expected in the paper? Do you attempt a few questions after a chapter to see how much you've understood? Do you run an exam questions marathon the month or week before the exam when you're sure you know all the content really well? Psst! NV secret: I used past paper questions and mark schemes to form knowledge banks. Instead of testing myself, I preferred to know the correct answer and learn it. This also allowed me to gauge frequently occurring questions!
3. Don't overestimate homework: Before I get attacked by all the teachers in the world, let me make this clear: I am NOT advising you to skip HW. If you're the kind of student who is not burning the midnight oil and is slacking, then stop whining and do your HW because it's probably the only thing keeping your grades up. BUT if you're the sincere, hard-working, close to class-topper student who is already ahead of what is being taught in class, you have the privilege of deciding whether HW is worth doing. This is because doing EVERY SINGLE textbook question can be repetitive and unnecessary if you're confident about your knowledge. Don't do HW just to maintain the "teacher's pet" image.
4. When time is short, PRIORITISE: You have 2 days and 4 enormous chapters left- what do you do? Being a jack of all trades and master of none is not the best idea. That will get you minimum marks. You have to maximise the marks you will receive. So, read all 4 chapters and then pick those 2 that you think you can do best and do them brilliantly. It's scary walking into an exam hall knowing that you didn't study 2 chapters but it's relieving when you get your marks and see that the ones you studied, you did great. Had you tried to do all chapters, you might not have received the marks you did. Been there, done that.