Incorporating your five senses into studying and repetition of information are two important factors in learning. Read through each strategy below to have a better understanding of these factors.

I. Pay attention during class

You probably heard people around you say that you have to go to class in order to get good grades. However, the mistake I see some students make is they start doing other things such as sleeping, talking to classmates, listening to i-pods and even reading a newspaper(!) during class. This does not make sense to me at all. If you gave the time and effort in attending class, wouldn't you want to get something out of it? You can be missing out on future test questions when you do this. This is true because, from experience, I found that teachers focus on discussing the most important concepts that will be on the test. Attending class can also help keep you up to date with announcements such as cancelled exams or topics that you don't need to study.

I admit, keeping focused in class can be really difficult. There are just too many temptations (far more attractive than your balding professor...j/k) even in the smallest of classrooms. You will even be in greater trouble if your class is scheduled right after lunch which is a great time to take a nap :)

Because of the issues I mentioned above, I found that there are ways to keep me focused during class. First, sit in the front row. The idea is if your teachers can see you, they will more likely catch you doing something else and you may get in trouble. You don't want to be on the bad side of the people who grade you right?

Next, take notes and keep them organized. If you are doing something with your hands by writing notes (not doodling), you will more likely stay awake and not pay attention to that cute guy winking at you from across the room. Also, studies have shown that people can only retain a small percentage of information in their long term memory after only hearing it once. Think of your notes as your long term memory so that you can read it again when it's time to study.

II. Read your textbook.

Ok, so a lot of students probably do this already but I found that most of us read our text books passively (I was guilty of this too). To be able to get the most out of your reading, you will need to read actively. This works especially if your teacher relies heavily on material from the text book.

===Note===

Some teachers like to discuss material from different sources so they might have their own presentations and hand outs. If this is the case, then you'll need to focus more on those rather than reading your textbook.

Back to active reading: What do I mean by this?

Let me demonstrate. Let's say you need to read Chapter 1. Look at chapter 1's table of contents and flip through its pages first. Pay attention to the headings. This will give you an idea of how the chapter is organized and it will also prepare your brain by giving you the "big picture" of that chapter.

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