EPTHow to study??? - Page 2
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ampson
United States2355 Posts
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Warpath
Canada1242 Posts
I usually force myself to 'do' stuff over and over again in different applications until I'm sure i completely 'understand' what I'm studying, and not that just i memorized the steps. In my case, program like a dozen iterations of brickbreaker to learn XNA coding etc | ||
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BadgKat
United States156 Posts
I'm a nuclear operator in the US Navy. I was top 10% of my Power School class http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Power_School#Curriculum and put in only 5-10 extra hours a week when most of my class mates had to put in 25 to 35. This technique was the most valuable learning tool I found. I taught this to my wife before a her chemistry final this last semester, she'd gotten a C on her mid term. She used this and earned an A on her final. I can't speak highly enough of the technique. | ||
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omnikaush
United States49 Posts
1) When you are given a reading to read, you should almost always read it. The exceptions being when the reading is almost exactly the same as the lecture material or when the reading is not related to your course material and will not show up on your exams (this is rare, but possible). When you are doing your readings, make sure you really understand them. Don't get distracted while you're studying (e.g. don't study while trying to watch tv or something.) If you come across something in the reading that you don't understand, take the time to re-read the passage and look it up online (if necessary). Remember, if you don't understand your readings, you will have a hard time on your exams. 2) Take the time to do your homework well. Even though homework is worth a lot less than exams, it is crucial to help your understanding of the material. In many instances, exam questions will be modified homework questions. Also, use the grades you get on your homework as a barometer of how well you understand the material in a class. Low homework scores are an indication that you need to put more work into the class. 3) When studying for the exams, prioritize things in this order: Lecture notes, homework, readings, outside materials. Lecture notes are by far the most important thing you should consider. Your professor probably did not write your textbook, and may have not written your homework (and he/she probably doesn't grade it), but your professor has full input into the lectures that you receive in class. Therefore, you should really pay attention in lectures. 4) Show up to class (this almost goes without saying). This helps the studying process immensely. 5) When you go home (or to your dorm) after classes, take the time to pull out your notes and go over them. You don't have to do anything crazy. Just skim through them and try to see if you did not understand something that was presented in lecture. If you run across something that you just don't get, try to look in your course textbook(s) or Wikipedia for guidance. I guarantee that if you do this every day after your classes, you will have a much much MUCH easier time studying for exams. 6) Get sleep before an exam. Yes, there are instances where we have to study late into the night for a particularly difficult exam. But sleep is essential for consolidating memories/information. Proper amounts of sleep can help you recall information more quickly and completely. | ||
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Mjolnir
912 Posts
Studying is different for everyone, and can really depend on your courses. I've always found that flash cards and flow charts really drive the info home in a big way. Flash cards help because you first have to pick what's important, then record two aspects of it (front side and back side) which divides the initial idea into two parts (i.e. makes you deconstruct it). Then you have two ways to essentially memorize the data. Couple that with a flow chart which is less memorizing and more about critically linking ideas. You have to recall them, recall an order and find associations between them. Then you're left with a very visual method of interpreting what you know (or don't know). Then there's always the old reviewing of notes, asking and answering questions, etc. etc. Oh, and ultimately, I hope like hell that you enjoy your subjects or else studying is boring; bit if you like what you take, it's a breeze. | ||
Daigomi
South Africa4316 Posts
1. Read through the work and highlight. (1 week) 2. Use the highlights to make comprehensive summaries. (4-7 days) 3. Read the summaries and highlight key words. (1-2 days) 4. Study the summaries and quiz myself on them until I can pretty much recite them from memory. (3-4 days) 5. Do exercises/past exams/mock tests until you get close to full marks. (1-2 days) It's not really an "exam studying" technique as it is a "university studying technique." All in all, it takes roughly 3 weeks of dedicated studying per subject, so for my business administration degree we have 5 courses a semester, which means you basically start "studying" for the exams 4 months before the exam. What actually happens is you spend the first month reading all the prescribed readings and highlighting, then you loaf around for a week or two, and then you spend 2-2.5 months preparing 4-5 hours for exams. | ||
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Dee-Kej
Sweden191 Posts
Oh, and if your class/course/program isn't very well-organized or you just don't hang with the others you're studying with - start a facebook group. It depends on what kind of people you're dealing with, but for me and my class it was easily the best thing we could do. We're almost 70 people in the same fb-group trying to study for the same exam, asking eachother questions and tips whenever we need it. Also a good way to keep track of other school/uni-related events and such. | ||
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SpaceFighting
New Zealand690 Posts
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dsxrflol
42 Posts
my biggest problem is for sure to sum up all the stuff i need for one exam/course, its quite hard for me to get all the information out of a lecture and turn it into a page with only the important and needed infos without forgetting anything. but just reading a lecture which has 500 pages from where i dont even need half of it is just a waste of time | ||
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Auren
United States82 Posts
1) Like someone mentioned before, you should break up what you're studying into chunks. For example, my professor suggested to study say, math problems for 20 minutes and then take a 5 minute break and do /anything/ else followed by another 20 minute chunk. Essentially, you still need to put in a lot of time to study and learn the material but if you just sit down and go for 4 hours straight and study, will it work? probably, but you aren't being very efficient with how you're studying. If I remember right it, it has something to do with how the synapses in the brain work or something... sorry it's been several years now. 2) Pretty sure this has to do with how the brain works as well, but in general you are far more likely to remember what you read at the beginning and what you read at the end. You will likely still remember stuff from the middle but not as clearly. So basically, whether you're reading notes, flashcards, or whatever mix them up so the order you read things changes. Couple things that worked for me: 1) If I was trying to memorize something, like a definition of a term, it helped me a lot to say it out loud about a dozen or so times. 2) By far the biggest thing that helped for me was to study with someone and essentially "teach" the material to them. 3) Math problems and anything involving formulas.. simply do several practice problems and it should be immediately apparent if you understand how to do them or not. As an aside to the guys posting your gpas, I know when you're writing your resume you're supposed to write it as say 3.9/4.0 rather than a simple 3.9 because some places use different systems. A 3.9 looks a lot less impressive when the reader assumes it's out of 5 :p | ||
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enigmatik
United States86 Posts
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dsxrflol
42 Posts
On December 18 2011 02:03 Auren wrote: Just to add a couple of general things some of my professors told me in college: 1) Like someone mentioned before, you should break up what you're studying into chunks. For example, my professor suggested to study say, math problems for 20 minutes and then take a 5 minute break and do /anything/ else followed by another 20 minute chunk. Essentially, you still need to put in a lot of time to study and learn the material but if you just sit down and go for 4 hours straight and study, will it work? probably, but you aren't being very efficient with how you're studying. If I remember right it, it has something to do with how the synapses in the brain work or something... sorry it's been several years now. 2) Pretty sure this has to do with how the brain works as well, but in general you are far more likely to remember what you read at the beginning and what you read at the end. You will likely still remember stuff from the middle but not as clearly. So basically, whether you're reading notes, flashcards, or whatever mix them up so the order you read things changes. Couple things that worked for me: 1) If I was trying to memorize something, like a definition of a term, it helped me a lot to say it out loud about a dozen or so times. 2) By far the biggest thing that helped for me was to study with someone and essentially "teach" the material to them. 3) Math problems and anything involving formulas.. simply do several practice problems and it should be immediately apparent if you understand how to do them or not. As an aside to the guys posting your gpas, I know when you're writing your resume you're supposed to write it as say 3.9/4.0 rather than a simple 3.9 because some places use different systems. A 3.9 looks a lot less impressive when the reader assumes it's out of 5 :p the part you've written with the time invested into learning is very interesting. i got a script right here from my professor for international law. he created one with general infos about being a student. one part is about time management while learning. the script says that your attention is going to decrease after 50 minutes and then it continues even faster so you should stop learning after this time and just do something else for about 20 minutes. i dont know if thats true or if that is the most efficient way but i'd just like to know if any of you guys have ever heard about that. | ||
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Phant
United States737 Posts
Go through the lecture notes once, go through your homework, then go through your lecture notes again. Do not solve any additional problems / questions (you already solved them anyway) and ask your professor for clarification on any fuzzy topics. With this method I never had to study for more than 90 minutes for any given test. | ||
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Divinek
Canada4045 Posts
The way that's always worked for me is just turn all the material into questions, like OH GOD WHAT CAN THEY ASK ME ON THIS. And then turn the questions into a test/flash cards and learn it both ways (read the question know the answer, read the answer know the question) | ||
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dsxrflol
42 Posts
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