More time studying won't help if the way you're studying is flawed.

Study Smart Using These Steps

1. Get an overall idea of what is going on before taking the details!
1. Write an outline for each chapter from the bold words, chapter summaries, and anything emphasized in the text.
2. look at example problems that have solved in your textbook.
3. Write down any equations, steps, or formulas used to solve problems.
4. study the pictures/graphics/figures in your text.
5. Highlight any area in your outline that doesn't seem clear to you. Write what questions you need to find the answers to in order to understand the information. 
2. Make connections between your textbook, class notes, and study guides if you have them.
1. Check your textbook notes outline against your class notes.
2. Highlight or put a star next to any area that your teacher talked about.
3. Add details from your textbook or from your class notes to your textbook notes.
   
3. Compress information.
1. Add any information from your class notes into your textbook notes.
2. Copy your textbook notes but with as few words as possible, emphasizing the main points you need to understand in the Chapter or Section. 
3. Group items together and use mnemonics to memorize (e.g., TEAM = together everyone achieves more).
4. Start slowly and deliberately, then build to "game speed."
1. Do each type of problem at least 3 times before practicing a different type of problem OR go through the stages of a process in biology or the structure and function in anatomy or whatever. For example, do at least 3 monohybrid punnet squares before doing another type of cross.  
2. Once you've learned those fundamentals, practice answer different types of questions quickly. You can use a stop watch to time yourself and then try to get faster.
5. Check.
1. Scan through information in your textbook or lecture notes or an old exam or a study guide. Notice whenever you encounter information that you either don't remember or weren't sure about. Quickly link that information back to your notes and immediately practice that information by repeating it multiple times or applying it to solving a problem at least twice. 
2. If your check is turning up more than three or four of these instances of not being sure, then it means you haven't done enough of steps 1-4. 
6. Once you've done steps 1-5, now it's time to do homework problems.
7. If you're still getting stuck, this is a good time to visit an SLC tutor to help get you unstuck.