Top tips for studying history:
- Start studying early. It's hard to learn all you'll need to learn in one night.
- Make a timeline for the period of history you're studying, using your class notes and textbooks.
- Look over the timeline, going back and forth several times, getting a feel for the ebb and flow of events.
- Draw a blank timeline. Fill in the major events without looking at any notes or books, then consult the original timeline to see how much you got right.
- Keep drawing new blank timelines and filling them in until you get it all right.
- Make a list of key people and places for each event on the timeline.
- Look at the big picture. Make yourself aware of the texture of history: Why was event X at time Y important? Why are you learning this in the first place?
- Think in terms of change over time. What was fundamentally different at Time B from how things had been at Time A?
- Think about major transitions and periodization. For instance, why do we talk about the preindustrial period and the postindustrial period as being so different from each other?
- Consider forming a study group with other students in the class. Working together will help all of you understand the material better.
- Review all the material at least once after your main study session.
Information compiled by the Office of Academic Learning Resources Student Staff.