First off, keep the cat(s) OFF your study materials. That is critical. I don't know about yours, but mine hear the riffling of pages and immediately park their furry rumps in the middle of my stuff--homework, bills, newspaper, whatever. That's no way to get work done.
When I need to learn something new, I teach it to someone else. When I start to stumble over the details or can't quite get something straight, I know that's an area I need to brush up on, so I look it up and start over. For me, crunching things in my head just isn't enough--I have to speak it and explain it out loud, even if no one's there. I have given speeches in the shower and talked to my steering wheel when I'm prepping for a test--just to get the info "down pat."
I read it silently, read it outlout, write the key points down, mark my page close the book, hide the notes and try to remember what i just "learned" if i can't remember it, repeat the process. Harder stuff i made song out of, or use the little system like PEMDAS (parenthesis, exponent,multiplication,division,addittion,subtraction) to help remember it.
I drink a glass of wine while studying...oh wait you wanted GOOD studying habits.
What exams are they? If the exams involved problems to solve, I usually go back over the homework and make sure I understand the problems I had the most difficult time with.
Also Flash cards are my greatest study habit of choice. Even if its a history test, you still need to know dates of certain events and who took place in what, etc.
I use a combo of study methods that have already been said. First pass, i write an outline of all of the material. Then I make my husband sit down, and try to teach him what im getting tested on. The combination of writing things down, and telling someone else really works for me
Kevin just told me a good one, He takes breaks every 20 - 30 mins, he goes out to the hallway and starts playing with a ball and go over what he has read to memorise it!
He had an exam yesterday
although not always possible i found it best to study with someone else. we could quiz each other and you can learn so much from other people. if you have to teach them you get to say things out loud and thats great, and they have to teach you, its like getting a one-on-one lesson.
i also found that studying in the library where i couldnt be distracted by my computer, tv, cleaning, or anything worked so well. i hated going, but if i had a big test i made a big effort to get there.
Studying with a partner is a great idea. Be sure to have lots of pizza handy! LOL!
One thing that helped me was to write out questions, and put the answers along the side of the page. Then fold over the edge so you can see the questions but not the answers. Then just quiz yourself a few times. I learn a lot by writing it down, and so the questions become easier and easier to answer. Flashcards with the question on one side, and the answer on the other would be good, too. Then you can keep working on the ones that are still hard to remember, and put down the ones you know.
One thing to remember, is if you already know things, you don't need to keep studying them. Highlighters help with this. You can go through your notes, and highlight anything you are unsure of in yellow. Then just study the yellow notes. Next, highlight with a blue underline under those yellow notes that are still hard to learn. Next overlay pink or orange. Colors help me learn, for some reason. And then you don't waste time re-reading the stuff you already know!
Remember, some people are auditory (sound) learners, so saying things out loud helps them learn. Others are visual..reading helps them. I think I am tactile..writing it out helps me!!! If you know how you learn best, then incorporate that into your studies.
And if you get a test question that you have no idea of the answer, see if you can at least rule out one or two of the choices. Then you have better odds of guessing the right one! (Gotta love those multiple choice questions.) For essay questions, include everything you know or remember about the answer. Sometimes, even if you don't get it 100% correct, just showing the teacher how much you do know can help earn you points!