03 January 2025
If you have exams coming up and are wondering how you can best prepare yourself in a new environment during your semester abroad in Switzerland, don't worry – with the right planning, you can do it! In this blog post, we will show you practical tips on how to organize your everyday learning and introduce you to tried-and-tested learning methods to help you.
We'll start with some general tips to help you get the most out of your learning environment and everyday life. Next, we'll introduce you to tried-and-tested learning methods to help you get to grips with the exam material more efficiently.
The Loci method is a technique to improve memory by mentally associating information with familiar places or objects. Here’s how it works:
1. Create a memory journey: Imagine a space or location you know well, such as your room. Choose distinctive objects in this space (e.g., desk, bed, window, chair, shelf) and establish a fixed sequence in which you visualise them.
2. Link learning material to the journey: Now associate the things you want to remember with the objects on your memory route. For instance, let’s say you want to remember the five largest countries in the world by area: Russia, Canada, USA, China, Brazil.
- Desk: On your desk stands a giant Matryoshka doll (Russia), overshadowing everything else.
- Bed: On your bed lies a huge maple leaf rug (Canada).
- Window: Through your window, you see a group of cowboys wearing hats and galloping on horses (USA).
- Chair: On your chair sits a dragon eating with chopsticks (China).
- Shelf: Tropical plants and massive cacao beans are growing out of your shelf (Brazil).
These vivid mental images help you recall the countries in the correct order.
3. Repeat regularly: Mentally go through your route and recall the images frequently. The more often you take this mental journey, the easier it will be to remember the material.
The SQ3R method helps to read texts systematically and improve understanding. Here's how to apply it:
1. Survey: Skim the text and read the headings, introductions and summaries to get an initial overview of the topic.
2. Question: Ask questions about the text, such as «What do I want to learn?» or «What information is important?» to set your focus.
3. Read: Read the text carefully and be sure to answer the questions and understand the content.
4. Recite: Summarize what you have read in your own words and recite the most important points out loud.
5. Review: Read the text again and see if you can answer all the questions.
A mind map helps to visually organize topics and better understand correlations. Here's how it works:
1. Identify the central topic: Write the main topic in the middle of a piece of paper or using a digital device. This may be the title of a chapter or a learning objective, for example.
2. Add branches: Create branches for the main points within the topic. Each branch represents a sub-topic or important aspect, e.g. «definition».
3. Add details: Add sub-points and use colours or symbols to make your mind map clear and attractive.
4. Make connections: Draw lines or arrows to represent how the points connect to each other.
With the right tips and learning methods, you can make your exam prep more efficient. Try different techniques to find out what works best for you.
