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Students are being warned to avoid the distractions of social media and text messaging if they want to succeed in their upcoming Year 12 exams.

Researchers at the University of Western Australia have compiled a list of the top 10 study tips based on strategies that have worked well for previous students.

Some of the tips include studying in short bursts, working on your weakest areas of knowledge first and creating flow charts and mind maps.

Head researcher Siri Barrett-Lennard said parents should ensure distractions like social media are avoided as multi-tasking can be detrimental.

“There is quite a bit of research around multi-tasking and the difficulties of multi-tasking when you’re trying to take in information for your studies,” she said.

“That might mean for example having your high school student give you their phones while they’re focusing on their studying so they are not being distracted by Facebook, emails and phone messages coming in.”

Ms Barrett-Lennard said there were three priorities students should keep in mind.

“The first is to plan ahead, so plan for success, the second is around the notion of practising, so being active and focusing on one thing at a time, and the third is around how you actually act on the day so just being cool under pressure,” she said.

“The same tips that apply to doing well in your high school exams also stand you in good stead when you’re studying at uni.”

Another aim of the list was to encourage students to maintain their wellbeing during stressful exam periods by “studying smart”.

“The research tells us if you study for about 20 minutes that’s when your memory starts to flag and your attention will waver, so if you mix it up with 20 minutes of study, five minutes of break and do something active during those breaks,” Ms Barrett-Lennard said.

However, researchers also wanted to emphasise to students that their exam results were not a measure of who they were as a person.

“Of course having good marks helps you get into uni, but once they’re at uni no-one cares who got what marks in high school, so just keep things in perspective,” she said.

The WACE exams start on Monday and run until November 28.

UWA’s top 10 tips:

1. Plan ahead by working back from each exam deadline to construct a realistic study timetable.
2. Develop a strategy to concentrate on your weakest areas of knowledge first.
3. Practise answering past exam papers in mock exam conditions.
4. Convert class work into flow charts, mind maps or diagrams.
5. Use memory techniques to convert information from short term to long term memory.
6. Explain the topic to friends or family members to identify subject knowledge.
7. Maintain a work/life balance by studying in short bursts.
8. Check exam times, locations and requirements ahead of time.
9. During the exam, tackle the easiest tasks first.
10. Afterwards, unwind and don’t worry about the exam.

Find more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-30/students-given-tips-to-cope-with-exams/5855892

CLUES, distractions, exam, media, social, students, tips