Music to help you study better
IF you are a musical person, you can leverage your love for songs while you study.
First, instead of going for printed materials, work your ears and go for audio or video lectures. If you have an Apple phone or tablet, the place to start is the iTunesU app.
It has thousands of audio lectures from top universities like Oxford and MIT. If you don’t have one, look online on YouTube.
Second, when you have something short you need to memorise, use a mnemonic.
For example, if you study chemistry, and you need to remember that an electrode in which oxidation takes place is called an anode and that an electrode in which reduction takes place is called cathode, you can remember: “Red cat and an Ox” for “Reduction at cathode and anode for oxidation.”
Third, play music when you’re learning. Not stuff that you want to listen to but something that energises you. Nobody is sure how it works, but some studies suggest that even mild music in the background while you’re watching a taped lecture can help boost your memory and learning.
Finally, sing your exam notes. Yes, you may feel a little odd doing this but let’s face it: if you can remember your body bones by singing, “Toe bone connected to the foot bone, the foot bone connected to the heel bone, the heel bone connected to the ankle bone” then singing about countries, capitals, formula and history dates doesn’t sound so weird.