4 of my Favourite Study Methods

Welcome to another blog post. Today’s post is going to be about my favourite study methods. As a university student, I spend a lot of time studying and I’ve found the methods that work best for me. It is important that the methods used for studying are effective. You want to ensure you’re doing active studying, not passive studying.

What is active and passive studying?

Active studying is about actively recalling the material. Passive studying is just simply looking at the material. You need methods that allow you to engage with the material. All of these methods have some form of active studying in them. Let’s get to it.

Mind Maps

Mind maps are great for summarising lots of information. What I like about mind maps is how active it is in terms of the studying type. You’re using the material to copy information into words that you understand, and because of the mind map format, you’re able to draw links between different concepts which is particularly perfect for law.

Flashcards

Flashcards are perfect for active studying. I like to use flashcards to remember cases as case law makes up a big part of my law degree. You can also use flashcards for definitions and concepts depending on what subject you’re studying.

Past Questions

Answering past questions for me is the holy grail of studying methods. The way I go about this is I will answer questions without any material in front of me. I will then use a mark scheme and the material to mark my answers and see how I’ve done and where I need to improve.

Blurting

Blurting is another method that I really like to use. This method involves you writing down everything you remember about a specific subject or topic without anything in front of you. You then go through the material and see what it is you’ve forgotten. You would then focus your revision and studying on the areas you’ve forgotten and then go again. You then repeat.

Combining the methods together

It is important to note that these methods combine well together in a variety of ways. I feel like blurting for a past question is a good combination of both methods. Equally, creating a mind map and then creating flashcards based on that mind map enables you to revise everything you’ve put on the mind map. You can use flashcards as the way you revise before you undertake blurting. These methods work well together, and that’s why I like them.

And that’s it! I hope this post offered some guidance on to different study methods. It is worth noting that people like to learn differently. If these methods don’t work for you, that’s fine! Let me know in the comments your favourite study methods.

Thank you for reading.

Beth