As was foretold, we've added advertisements to the forums! If you have questions, or if you encounter any bugs, please visit this thread: https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/240191/forum-advertisement-faq-and-reports-thread/
Options
How do YOU study?
joshua1
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So yeah, 1st D&D thread. Flame on guys.
With mid-semester exams approaching, once again I find myself searching for the *perfect* way to study. Each and every year i try and improve my methods, hoping to boost my test taking potential. So far one of the more effective ways has been to consume large amounts of caffiene and sugar, crank on some metal, and stare at my notes and attempt re-write them in a creative *new* way. Then rinse and repeat. Seems to sorta work, but always in exams I seem to break out in stupid. Oh well.
Previous methods of mine include, but weren't limited to:
Having a beer or two while studying -> often failed cause I drank more than two.
Listening to classical music -> failed cause that got as boring as hell
Studying outside -> Got sunburnt
Group study -> partially sucessful, but usually ended up talking rather than studying.
Absolute Silence -> went insane.
Thats me. Now for the Debate and Discourse part. Have you any, in your opinion, sure fire study methods? How do you study? Do you think there are methods that apply to everyone and anyone, or do you think we all need our own methods. Does rote learning work, and should we bring it back? Are exams stupid?
TL;DR - Study Sucks. How do you study?
With mid-semester exams approaching, once again I find myself searching for the *perfect* way to study. Each and every year i try and improve my methods, hoping to boost my test taking potential. So far one of the more effective ways has been to consume large amounts of caffiene and sugar, crank on some metal, and stare at my notes and attempt re-write them in a creative *new* way. Then rinse and repeat. Seems to sorta work, but always in exams I seem to break out in stupid. Oh well.
Previous methods of mine include, but weren't limited to:
Having a beer or two while studying -> often failed cause I drank more than two.
Listening to classical music -> failed cause that got as boring as hell
Studying outside -> Got sunburnt
Group study -> partially sucessful, but usually ended up talking rather than studying.
Absolute Silence -> went insane.
Thats me. Now for the Debate and Discourse part. Have you any, in your opinion, sure fire study methods? How do you study? Do you think there are methods that apply to everyone and anyone, or do you think we all need our own methods. Does rote learning work, and should we bring it back? Are exams stupid?
TL;DR - Study Sucks. How do you study?
joshua1 on
0
Posts
Also I don't find studying in a group works too well, but getting together after to quiz each other before the test helps a ton in my experience.
So I might be pretty much the worst person to ask about this.
But I want to reiterate perhaps the most important point: studying works so much better if you do it a couple times a week the two weeks before an exam, as opposed to a couple (or one) marathon session(s) the night(s) before.
But I'm the worst person to ask about it, ever.
Then again, I have the same problem as you.
The other thing that helps too is to do the large block of studying the day before the exam, but then to also do a fairly intensive study session in the hours before the exam. The problem is that, as more time goes on, the less you retain. If you go over your stuff right before the exam one more time in an organized way, you'll have much better retention.
Of course, this applies to non-Math courses. For Math/Physics/Engineering stuff, I just do as many problems as possible in the week leading up to the exam, and then do nothing for a full day before the exam to keep my stress levels low. This has served me fairly well so far.
Oculus: TheBigDookie | XBL: Dook | NNID: BigDookie
I usually get the best results taking notes, and then just going over the notes. And then once I have the key points fairly ingrained, I'll read the wall of text again. With the key notes already memorized, it helps further segment the wall of text and usually it will fill in the rest of the cracks in my mental picture.
Also a good way to measure how well you have it down is to pretend to, or really if someone will listen, explain to someone what you're studying. if it's fairly seamless then you have it down. if it's extremely fragmented and vague, well...
On the black screen
I usually study alone. I like to make a list of things to do (chapters to read, problems to solve, and so on) and mark them off as I go along. That way I can see myself making progess. It's motivating.
I once tried to put the notebook under my pillow while I slept. Didn't work.
Does that help you? Probably not. I think it works, though, because things you actually say stick easier than things you only read. To this day, I will start chattering with myself if I'm working on a math- or logic-related problem and there's nobody around to hear me.
Also, it's nothing like actually teaching a topic.
But I had good luck with the "explaining it to myself" routine, either out loud or interior monologue.
Pluto was a planet and I'll never forget
It works well enough. when I actually study I do well. This is also my method for writing papers.
Anyway, one tidbit I'll offer is that listening to music I know is terrible, I always want to sing along. If it's loud, if it's quiet, it doesn't matter, I'll follow the song rather than the stuff I'm reading. I also hate perfect silence when studying.
So- put the radio on quietly, a station which doesn't play music you hate but also won't constantly play songs you to which you know the words. Or study somewhere with an acceptable low level of background noise that you won't find yourself trying to follow along with
http://newnations.bandcamp.com
Also, I need the TV on when I write/study. I have no idea why I just cannot study/write/read without this background noise/light.
With anything involving math, you just do as many problems as you can and then you study the solutions to your problems afterwards as a refresher. If you know that you can do any type of question you would reasonably see in that course, you're probably good.
Maybe I'll review a couple things that aren't sticking while I chomp down breakfast (You do eat breakfast before a test right?)
Then, right before the test I just close my eyes, focus on my breathing and think about nothing but that.
Works like a charm for me, your mileage may vary.
You mess with the dolphin, you get the nose.
Assuming you have a good teacher, just hit the homework hard and learn it inside out and you should do fine. The real problem with language classes is if you get behind, because everything just builds on top of itself.
You mess with the dolphin, you get the nose.
I'll just have to get help from my male friend that looks like a girl. That's kinda similar.
You mess with the dolphin, you get the nose.
However, for the occasional class I do have to take that requires studying, I usually employ the "flash card" method. I also find that designating a study partner helps. It won't end in talking if you refuse to leave until the shit is memorized and learned.
That's how I roll.
Aside from that, I just pray the topic is interesting and read away.
Unless it's math. Then I do as many practice problems as I can get my hands on until I completely understand the process. I do prefer that, since it seems like more of a conclusion. If you can do a problem without messing up, making sure to navigate around the twists and tricks they might try to throw at you, then you're done studying. It's a lot easier to tell when you can do that than to tell when you've committed to memory the important bits out of chapters and chapters of information.
Also, this.
It's a shit analogy but it's the only way I can explain it.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
I am the exact same way. I usually attribute it my to subconscious though. I rely on it to retrieve general knowledge when it is needed, so when I over study I rely to much on the part of my brain the isn't meant to store information permanently and it reaches a limit and/or dumps the whole lot.
The subconscious to me is like those teeny tiny however many kilobyte procedural games. Everything you need is right there, in a neat set of processes used to abstract important information into usable knowledge.
For everything else, I write and rewrite what I need to know, usually while listening to some good music (read: mewithoutYou, Of Montreal, Death Cab, or if I'm writing a paper, Jay-Z) that will keep me awake but won't distract me.
The most effective way I've found to study is to get together with someone who really doesn't understand much about something you have a fairly good grasp on, and then teaching them all about it. For me, there is nothing more effective.
From that point on I'd work in the library and I'd just set off doing the problem classes (the work from the weekly or fortnightly classes in which we were given questions relating to the course as an aid to making sure we understood). Once I'd completed every question the lecturer had given us I'd start on doing past exam papers. Notes and text books were only used as and when a question required me to look something up.
I worked from nine until at least five (sometimes I worked until the library closed at about ten if I was getting behind). I worked at a table with my friends but I had my MP3 player so I could effectively shut them out if I wanted. When a friend can't do something explaining the answer to them is a great way of learning, as the exam draws closer I spent roughly a third of my day helping others (it's a tactic which might be a little counter intuitive as really you want everybody else to do badly in their exams). Just before the exam I'd give my notes a full read through to ensure that there wasn't a section which had escaped my notice somehow.
As I went along I also wrote down all the little facts and formulae that weren't going to be provided in the exam. I'd write a few copies of this sheet the night before the exam.
To avoid insanity, I'd go for a coffee a few times a day. But yes, the revision periods sucked, but my technique worked as I got a first.
The problem with this is that id doesn't transfer to work outside of science type exams. I used to struggle with motivating myself to write essays or lab reports (I eventually accepted I simply could not work at home and so would sit in the computer room listening to music and doing my best to avoid the distraction offered by the internet).
Like when we have a few days off for studying for finals.. I never manage to study until the very last day, even though I try very very hard to study.. I don't understand why I never can. I try, but it just never happens, and I waste entire days.