Have you been struggling to get better grades in school and the risk of poor scores in your final grade is scaring you out? Are you in need of ways you can improve your grades? Look no further.
This article comprises 12 ways that you can use to take your grades from bad to good or good to better.
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12 Ways How to Improve your Final Grade
The following are ways you can use to improve your final grade:
Manage your Time well
One reason why you may not be getting good grades in exams is the lack of proper time management. Therefore, to improve your final grade you will need to make proper use of time.
This can be done by creating a study schedule that should help you keep off all distractions. The schedule should have more study hours and be followed strictly to avoid procrastination.
Do Homework
To pass your final exams you must be able to complete all homework that is issued by your teachers. Most of the questions you will find in the exams are from the work issued by instructors.
Therefore, you should not get someone to do your homework. Do it yourself so that you can understand the questions and answer them correctly.
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Write Good Essays
Essays are involved in almost every subject taught in school. Therefore, it is not negotiable to perfect your essay writing skills. Practice makes perfect and so you should write as many essays as you can to get better at it.
To write good essays you need to first analyze the question and answer it using evidence in well-organized paragraphs. Essays should convey the message put across clearly and be plagiarism free for them to earn you good grades.
Study Well
Not studying well can be the root of bad grades in school. To rectify such situations, you will need to study better. To do this, always pay attention in class.
What teachers teach in class is what they test in exams. To grasp everything that they teach, your concentration levels need to be high. Also, you should take good notes.
Whether in class or not notes should be written in a way you can understand because they play a big part during revision for exams.
When you have a bunch of stuff to study, always make sure that you break it down into manageable sizes that will not discourage you to learn. Additionally, always ask for help when you need it.
Join Discussion Groups
Sometimes studying alone can be disadvantageous if you want to grasp more information. It can be overwhelming and therefore not effective to improve your grade.
Studying in groups is the perfect alternative. Through groups, you can easily retain information because you will try to put it into your own words and explain it to group members.
This can be equated to teaching the others in the group which boosts understanding and remembrance.
Ask the Professor Questions
Asking professors questions is one part of learning that most students ignore and end up scoring poor grades on tests. By asking questions, you will clear doubts on areas that you are not sure of.
Also, your ideas will make more sense because you will gauge the information you had before with the explanation of your professor. As a result, you will be able to retain information better which can come in handy in your final exams.
Additionally, through questions, you can direct your learning on areas you are not good at because you will be motivated to ask your professor more questions.
Pass your CATs
Most institutions usually combine all exams done within a semester to calculate the final grade. In this case, you must pass your Continuous Assessment Tests.
Many people ignore cats because they know that the main exams offer them chances to redeem themselves. This is a myth because your CATs show how you are faring in a course.
If you are passing them, there is no magical way to do well in the main exams. Performing in CATs not only enhances proper preparation for the main exams but also puts you in a better place of scoring a good final grade.
Pass Midterm Exams
Midterm exams are also included in the calculations of the final grade by many learning institutions.
Passing the midterm exams not only shows that you are making good progress in the course but also puts you in a better position to improve your overall score.
In all ways don’t miss your midterm exams unless with acceptable reasons.
Also, people may view this as a theory but passing midterm exams sets the tone for the next exams preparation. If you pass them, you will be motivated to study for the rest of the semester thus increasing the chances of getting better final grades.
However, if you fail them you are likely to be demotivated to study for the rest of the semester.
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Find the Right Learning Style
Just because some of your friends study for a few hours and pass exams, that doesn’t mean that there is something wrong with you if you have to study a lot to pass exams.
As a student, you should know your level of understanding and retaining information. This varies across courses because you are better in some than others.
The courses that you understand easily should be given lesser study time compared to those that you find hard to understand.
Create your timetable based on your capabilities without copying what your friends have done.
Adopt a Positive Mental Attitude
When you do not get the grades that you feel you deserve, it is obvious that you will feel disappointed. This disappointment should not slow you down from the hard work you have been doing because your grades will not get better.
It should serve as a motivation that you have not achieved your goal for the first trial but you will in the next.
Always take control of your situation and accept that your grades are not where they need to be and put in more work to improve them
Stop Procrastination
Procrastination is the root of failure for the modern-day student. With plenty of distractions especially from video games and social media, you find yourself postponing study time to later dates and eventually running out of time.
As a result, you are not able to cover class work effectively and end up not passing exams. To improve your grades, you need to do away with procrastination and give your school work more priority and time.
All distractions must be prevented. Following a strict schedule and ensuring that your study room consists only of school-related materials can help beat procrastination and improve your focus on your studies.
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Improve your Memory
If you have been studying well and not getting better grades because you cannot remember what you studied during the exam, you need to improve your memory to save your final grade.
It is a very hard task remembering everything you study especially when you have many courses to handle in a single semester. However, you can improve your memory by doing the following:
Making sure that you understand the information first. You cannot remember something that you have not understood. It’s ok to repeat something severally until you understand it.
Linking what you have learned with something that you already know is a perfect strategy for ensuring you do not forget it. Isolated materials are harder to remember compared to connected materials
Reviewing what you have learned before you go to sleep is a good way of boosting your memory because research shows that your brain processes and stores information while you sleep.
Joseph is a freelance journalist and a part-time writer with a particular interest in the gig economy. He writes about schooling, college life, and changing trends in education. When not writing, Joseph is hiking or playing chess.