For a school making, ‘A bright student’ is not something that can be achieved by asking him/her to spend endless hours studying, as it is quite frequently believed. However, studies reveal that the top scoring students study less than their peers do or rather, but they learn more efficiently.
Teachers can teach all students how to use their study time more efficiently by disclosing the tried-and-true methods. Most of the schools in Bangalore teach using these methods. The majority of highly successful learners have learned to prevent multitasking. These students study for shorter periods at a higher intensity, without any interruptions from any social media, and many more as opposed to, studying for a long time at a low level with lots of distractions. Their learning is more productive and results in better academic improvements. This is one of the best methods and is used by Harvest International School, which is one of the top schools in Bangalore.
1. Pre-test
Pre-tests are mock tests given before the final test. If a student is scared to write a test, he/she will be able to come out of that fear by writing these small pre-tests. Learning improves when students practice answering questions, even if they go wrong in the pre-tests they try to learn from their mistakes. A proven study shows that students perform well in the final tests if they are given pre-tests.
2. Spaced Practice
It has been demonstrated that spaced-out study sessions or concentrating on a subject, for a brief period on various days improves retention and recall, more than intensive practice. According to the books, spaced practice can be challenging because it requires work, to re-learn information that is forgotten and in the initial stage, this can be frustrating for some students. Schools in Bangalore have teachers who are highly trained to perform this task quite well.
It works well to make flashcards that can be used for self-testing and spaced practices. While reviewing the flashcards, students should divide the flashcards into various piles. The cards they can quickly answer should be put in a pile. This pile should include concepts they can understand well and can be revised only once in 3 days. The cards they can only answer partially should be reviewed in another pile, which they have to work on for a short period, to get better at the next round.
Finally, the cards, which the students could not answer correctly, are the most important ones. Most schools in Bangalore concentrate on these cards to get the student ready for the next assessment.
3. Self-Quizzing
Sometimes tests are considered as undesirable by the students, as they bring in fear and anxiety in some and health issues in others. This is why most schools in Bangalore use a methodology called self-quizzing.
Here, students create their own tests as they master new material, keeping in mind the kinds of questions that might come in a quiz or an exam. They should include these tests in their study sessions and answer all the questions, including the ones they think they understand completely.
4. Mind Mapping
Leaning visually can be more interesting than reading for a long period of time. Many studies have proven that students understand better when concepts are visually depicted. Concepts can be visually organized in a diagram using the mind mapping approach. One can start by writing a word in the middle of a blank page. Next, compose the main points and terms and link them to this major topic. As the subordinate and other related topics come to mind, they can be listed to start branching out further and so on.
5. Textbooks
The schools in Bangalore recommend several reference books that contain answers for each topic. It is usually advisable to read the textbooks that the school recommends since it helps to grasp the idea and get the gist of the content offered.
This understanding will provide the knowledge to the students, which are required to respond to the questions on their terms. Additionally, the examiners always give higher marks to answers with clear information and specific definitions rather than to the ones with generic responses.
Textbooks are the main piece of content that should be concentrated on, rather than looking up information on the internet. Not everything posted on the internet is correct, even if some teachers expect an answer based on research, they mainly ask students to explore more textbooks so that it will help them to gain more and better knowledge.
Conclusion
All the above five methods are helpful for a student to study effectively and score good grades. These methods are used across some of the schools in Bangalore to maximize the learning experience of the students. Harvest International School is one such school, which includes all of these methods in its teaching-learning process.