Study Before Bed/Review in Morning

• According to the VocabMaker website, if you study right before going to sleep, the information you have studied will stay fresh in your mind while you rest and the chances of you retaining such information the next day will increase. According to Psych Web Resources, the brain is very active during sleep and many students report that after a night of intense studying, they dream about bits and pieces of it as they sleep. Furthermore, Psych Web Resources states that adrenaline aids memory formation, which could make this trick a strategy for final exams and midterms. There's often adrenaline from stress when studying for such important tests.
  
  

Vocalize

• Although some can simply remember and retain what they read, others may need to do more. One trick for remembering important items that might show up on a test is to sing it to the tune of a popular song and then practice the song until such material is memorized. For example, according to the HighTestScores website, the popular song "Mary Had a Little Lamb" can be altered so it helps students remember the various grammatical forms of "to be." "Pop Goes the Weasel" can be altered so students can better remember the quadratic formula. These songs are catchy and easily recognizable. Modifying them so that they're also educational and informative can help students memorize certain material easier.
  
  

Flashcards

• Making flashcards is a fun, simple way to remember keywords and their definitions when studying for a test. To make flashcards, simply purchase some index cards and write the keyword on one side of the card and its definition on the other. Flashcards can also be used to help study math formulas (formula on one side, name of formula and what it solves for on the other) and historical events (event on one side, date on the other). Then, practice. Run through the flashcards so that you can see only the word and try to define it, then do the opposite. Running through the flash cards can be completed in minutes, so practicing with them several times a day is ideal. Eventually, students can remove the terms they already know from the pile so more focus is given to unknown terms.
  
  

Cheat Sheets

• For some, the best way to learn and retain material is to write it down. Cheat sheets can serve that purpose. Contrary to their name, cheat sheets aren't used to help students cheat on tests. Instead, they're an outlet for a student to write down anything that might be on the test. Cheat sheets should be concise, so they can be easily stowed and looked over at a student's free time throughout the day. For example, students might write a term on the left side of a cheat sheet and the definition on the right side of the sheet. This allows students to cover one side of the sheet and quiz themselves on the material. Furthermore, the combination of writing important things down and then quickly, but frequently, reviewing it can help students better retain the information.