If you are already an expert at the
course material, then it doesn't much matter what your study
habits are: when you sit down to write a test you will just be
able to figure everything out and get an A. But, if
you're like I was when I was an undergraduate, getting good
marks takes organization and lots of hard work. I had to
figure this out the hard way as a student: I failed more than
one of my tests in first-year, but my GPA during my fourth
year was 4.0+. Admittedly, part of what helped me is
that after the first two years of struggling, I obtained
student loans and quit my bartending job. Being a
university student is like a full-time job, in my opinion, and
when I started treating it that way my marks improved. In any
case, here are some hints based on what I did as a student
long ago. I hope it helps some people.
Time Management
Create and diligently maintain a
detailed and thorough calendar with EVERY test, homework,
lecture, lab, tutorial and reading assignment on it, so you
never get surprised or take a late penalty.
Add to your calendar things like
professor/TA office hours, help-sessions, personal study
sessions that you arrange, work-outs at the gym, etc.
If you have big blank areas in your weekly 9-5 calendar,
fill the blanks with something productive.
Save
facebook/twitter/instagram/TV for evenings when you are
winding down, or maybe the mornings when you are still
waking up.
The ultimate goal of most
science courses is the final exam: you should start studying
for the final exam a month or two in advance.
Try to get an adequate amount of
sleep every night, so that you do not feel sleepy during the
rest of the day.
Health
Try
to get 35-40 minutes of brisk physical activity, 5 or
6 times per week.
Try
to eat from the four food groups:
Vegetables
and Fruit
Grain
Products
Dairy
Meat
and Alternatives (like nuts, tofu, eggs)
Study Groups - working with
Peers
Find like-minded students in
class that you can work with on study guides and homeworks.
When there is too much work,
divide and conquer! - first work on alternate problems
independently, then help each other! (Just make sure that
whatever you hand in is in your own words and that you
understand it!)
Make sure that you get lots of
practice starting questions from scratch, and doing every
step yourself.
Teach your friends what you have
done. If you can't explain your own work in words, you
haven't really understood it! (This is harder than you
think!)
How to prepare study material
Always go to class.Even if you
don't like listening to lectures, you should still use the
time going over material from that class.
During class have a pen and lots of blank paper and take
notes. Either take notes on what is being said or take
notes on the assigned reading, but make sure you are writing
stuff down. Make notes of things you want to look up or ask
about later.
Keep handouts, returned work and all your notes in an
organized binder - one binder for each course.
Check your email and print out the electronic handouts that
professors often post.
Leave your laptop in your dorm room. You can't bring a
computer or phone to the tests or exams, so get lots of
practice picking up a pencil and paper and actually writing
stuff out.
Good studying involves a lot of writing. Don't try to
save paper - use an open style, that allows revisions.
As part of your studying, review your lecture notes and
revise them - answer any unanswered questions using the
text, google, office hours, etc.
Assignments,
Reading Material
Start working on assignments and reading the materials the
day you get them.
Try to work on assignments or do the reading even before
the material has been covered in lectures!This ends up making the lectures much more interesting!
Past Tests and
Exams
The purpose of obtaining and going through old tests and
exams is to get to know "the system".
Each course and professor will have a certain pattern and
style.Knowing the pattern in
advance gives you an edge.
Don't count on lightning to strike twice - memorizing old
test questions rarely works!
The Night Before /
Day Of
The evening before a test is NOT the best time to
study - you should start studying in the first week of
classes!
On the day of a test, it can be good to spend some extra
time reviewing (short term memory) ... though this rarely
helps.
Think of a test or exam as a sporting event: you need to be
physically ready to focus and think. Cramming a bit of
extra knowledge in your head at the expense of making you
sleepy and careless will actually decrease your mark on most
tests.
During a Test or
Exam
Skim over the entire test from front to back before you
begin.Look for easy problems
that you have confidence to solve first.
If you start a problem but can't finish it, leave it, make a
mark on the edge of the paper beside it, and come back to it
after you have solved all the easy problems.
When you are in a hurry and your hand is not steady, you can
make little mistakes; if there is time, do the calculation
twice and obtain agreement.
Bring a snack or drink. [I always brought banana to
every test I wrote. About half-way through the test,
when I started feeling panicky, I would open that
banana. Life is not so stressful when you're eating.]
Don't leave a test early! You might spend the first
half getting 95% of the marks you're going to get, and the
second half getting the other 5%, but it's still worth it.
On the Last Day
before the exam, remember this quote:
"The most important thing to realize is that whatever study,
magic, prayer or anything else that you can do on the last day
is not going to make any big difference to the results.The time for worry and study was over
yesterday... Loosen up and relax.Leave
[worries] in the hands of the Almighty or fate if you do not
believe in the Almighty.Your job
now is to play your part well." - Dr. Ashok Malhotra "How to
Succeed in Exams" Copyright 2006