Preparation is a great way to help you with your studies it's always best to prepare ahead of time, by creating a good study environment and by having a study schedule.
What helps me as well is whenever we are doing a new topic, I make it a priority to go over my work again spend at least 1hour with your books and revise over the work you've done during the day.
You and your peers can form a study group to help each other especially in some of the topics that you might not understand but your peer/friend does that way you get encourage and get the opportunity to get different views about the topic.
Remember guys the earlier you start working on something, the earlier you will see the results!