5 Tips to Improve Memory in Test Conditions

It’s test day. You’ve prepared well, read over your notes 400 times and are convinced that you’ll score a top mark.

“You may start writing”

Your teacher says these words and you can’t remember anything that you’ve studied. Memory blank. This has happened to most students and is one of the most horrible experiences to have at school.

Here are a few tips to make sure that it never happens again:

Understand the context behind what you are reading

If you understand why, where and when something happens instead of only understanding how it happens, you will grasp the concept much more deeply and really understand it. This is called understanding context and it will help to jog your memory when you are in the middle of a test situation.

Grab a piece of paper or even a white board (my fav) and write down what you are learning. Draw pictures to illustrate processes and write down big words that you need to remember. By doing this, you will be more engaged and you will find concepts much easier to remember!

Talk to yourself

You may feel silly, but it really helps! Read your notes aloud, read what you are writing down aloud, you can even explain the diagrams that you are drawing to yourself. By not only seeing your notes, but also hearing them, you will increase your chances of taking in the information and remembering it! This will especially help auditory learners.

Teach it to an imaginary class

Again- you will feel silly, but by explaining it to either an imaginary person or to a real other person (your mum/dad/dog), you will be sure that you really understand the topic and can tell other people about it- like you will do in your test. If you find you are unable to explain a topic to someone, you’ve found your weak spot!

SLEEP

Sleep is lovely and that’s why you should get more of it!! Seriously though, sleep will help you concentrate better and understand what they are asking of you. It will also ensure that you are in a good mindset when writing the test- which is one of the most important things when it comes to writing exams and tests!