Tips for Studying History

One of the best ways to structure historical events, and to understand how these events have influenced each other, is to make a timeline.

Since a timeline shows several events, it can give us a quick idea of the duration of an event and show us its position in relation to others (before or after). It also gives an idea of the time between them.

Making concept sheets allows you to structure information from chapters and subchapters. If you go to the effort of making them yourself (instead of copying a friend’s concept sheets), you will be able to memorize the information more easily.

There is evidence that ambient noise and listening to music with lyrics decrease concentration during a study period, since the brain attempts to decode words being heard and words being read at the same time. However, listening to either classical music or jazz does not impede memorization.

You can enhance the appeal of your lecture notes by adding colour, titles and subtitles, creating diagrams from study concepts or displaying your notes on the wall in your room.

Recite your notes aloud, record concepts and then listen to them or explain your notes to someone.

Move while you’re studying! Simply walking while you’re studying promotes your concentration. It may also help to rewrite your notes by hand.

You should also give your brain a little rest. This enables it to store the information in long-term memory. You need to study the same material several times, not just for a long period of time on one day (the night before the exam). Take one or more breaks during a single study period. You will experience greater concentration by studying for several 30-minute periods rather than for one very long period of time.