If you are a super-genius, 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 me,
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
Make a daily and weekly schedule
which includes study time for each of your courses, and
stick to it for the whole semester, beginning on the first
week.
Organize your time so that
"all-nighters" never happen!
Spend plenty of time studying,
beginning several months before an
exam.
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.
Do the assigned reading, or at the very least, skim it.
Keep up with all assignments.
During class, try jotting down notes about what the prof is
saying; make notes of
things you want to look up or ask about later.
Keep all the materials for each course well organized; ie in
a
single binder.
Dont' rely too heavily on your laptop. 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. It can all be recycled later, when the
course is done!
Assignments,
Reading
Material
Start working on assignments and reading the materials the
day you get them.
Make a schedule so you never take a late penalty or fall
behind.
The trick is 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 prof 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 (it
is just the most popular) - 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.
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
