10/19/12

Studying

In honor of mid-terms next week, I’ve finally sat down and written out exactly how I study. It took me forever to adjust to studying in college, and figuring out what worked for me, but I’ve cracked the code. Idea steal away!

Scheduling:

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I have a planner to keep track of due dates, but to-do lists are the easiest way for me to completely visualize what I need to do. I take a notecard, and write the week on the top. The left column is chapters I need to read. That way I can cross them off once I’ve read them, and highlight ones I need to go back and reread for whatever reason. On the right side I put whatever is due that week, so I know at a glance what homework needs to get done. Before this I’d spend a lot of time in the library thinking I had nothing to do. Seeing it written straight out in a list helps tons.

 

With homework:

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Just sit down and do it. In most of my classes, homework is assigned but not turned in or graded so it’s hard sometimes to motivate myself to do it. But it helps make sure you can apply the stuff, like you’ll have to prove on the test. If I’m just doing homework, I’ll have my laptop open with music, or Netflix on and opened to google so I can look up questions I have quickly. It helps to remove your kitten from your desk sometimes too.

For tests:

 

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1. Go through and read the chapter. Either highlight or make notes on important points in the chapter. Typically, there will be a summary paragraph or summary table that sums up each section of the chapter for you, but still read each section just in case. Also, try not to highlight if you’re planning on selling your books back. Most places won’t take them, or will reduce your sell back price if you highlight or make permanent marks.

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2. Make notecards. I go to the syllabus, and make a card with the things that we’re supposed to know for the test if it’s given, or what each section is covering plus the date of the test. Then for the actual study cards, I write the title of the chapter on the top, then make notes just on what I’ve highlighted, so I have a condensed form of the important stuff. I also circle what chapter number I’m on.

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3. In my books, I take flag post it notes and mark what chapters the test is going to be over so I can quickly access them.

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4. I paperclip all the notecards for that test together, with the exam topics on the front. In between classes, or in my downtime, I’ll read through them.

5. Most of my books come with online study help, so I’ll use that to make sure I learn everything that wasn’t covered in lecture. If yours don’t, Quizlet is a great site to help memorize terms. I’ll also ask around and see if anyone has had my professor to find out what the tests are like, and if there will be anything I need to focus more time on.