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Challenges
Tam
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
To keep a sob story short, I have recently realized that I have sort of a one-track mind and I need to put away many of the things I like so I can concentrate on what is important.
So, I need to:
Learn to retain scientific concepts, facts, formulas -I seem to get them, but then they fly out of my head.
Is this done through constant reading and relating of material? Do I need rigorous practice?
Develop test-taking abilities. I get nervous to the point of puking before any test, no matter how easy the subject matter.
Control distractions- like I said, I put away most of my entertainments and hobbies, but the internets is integral to research, so I need to learn to control my urge to blow 50 hours on forums and Hulu.
Also I would greatly appreciate any advice on getting into and surviving in Dental School.
So, I need to:
Learn to retain scientific concepts, facts, formulas -I seem to get them, but then they fly out of my head.
Is this done through constant reading and relating of material? Do I need rigorous practice?
Develop test-taking abilities. I get nervous to the point of puking before any test, no matter how easy the subject matter.
Control distractions- like I said, I put away most of my entertainments and hobbies, but the internets is integral to research, so I need to learn to control my urge to blow 50 hours on forums and Hulu.
Also I would greatly appreciate any advice on getting into and surviving in Dental School.
Tam on
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Posts
Read about it, then apply it in some way. Structured problems are best.
Read about it, then apply it in some way... twice.
Read about it, then apply it in some way four times.
See where I'm going with this?
The easiest way to prevent distractions is to find someone to study with so you feel more guilty about slacking off. This is how I survived my third semester of college.
So rigorous practice and a study partner. The second one's going to be harder as I don't live on campus and I don't have a lot of friends.
Yech, that sounds bad.
Test taking abilities:
1) Tests are nothing special, they are simply tasks you are asked to perform. Some are easy, and some are difficult, but the key is to look at them the same way you look at a homework assignment or a shift at work: You are not given a test with expectation to fail it, you're given it and expected to succeed. As long as you've listened, read, and done your homework (studied, etc) you should be fine. Remember this, and go into the test thinking: "I'm going to do what's asked of me."
2) Tests have information in them. Read the test intelligently. If you see a question which references another question, the test may be giving you information which you were previously questionable about. For instance, if a test asks you to define term A, and then uses term A in a question later in the test, you can use this to go back and check your work.
Also, the answers themselves can reveal alot about the question. Consider the following:
(#) Which is true about the neurotransmitter Glutamate?
(a) It is the only neurotransmitter released from axonal varicosities.
(b) It is a primary agonist.
(c) It is a primary antagonist.
(d) Glutamate was with your mom last night.
Looking at that question (even if d was a serious answer), even if you know NOTHING about the brain, or neurotransmitters, or any of those terms, we can see that answers (b) and (c) are very close to one another. If we knew enough of the source material to know that agonists and antagonists were opposite each other, and we remembered that (a) is inapplicable for many general reasons spread about the chapter, we could definitely narrow the choices down to these two, since it has to be one or the other. This is obviously a very specific example, but it happens in a LOAD of tests. You'll have two answers which are wholly incompatible, but of which one must be true.
Remembering that the test is not out to get you will help you with that, because as you become less afraid, you become more capable of looking at the test from a logical and analytical standpoint. Taking a test is sometimes just as much about knowing the test itself than the material on which it is testing you.
3) This is especially true of science tests of any sort: UNDERSTAND WHY. If you go into a test understanding why it is that what you know to be true is true, that is, what causes it, when you go into the test you are much more likely to recall it. As well, and the real beauty of it is, if you know why something happens and you forget what the something is, you can not only usually go back and figure it out by intuiting it from the beginning, but you can extrapolate your knowledge of why things happen to encompass other things. In this way, knowing just one thing well can answer you more correct questions than knowing ten things in a suboptimal way.
The way your memory works is based on your emotional attachment to the memory. Basically, the more it means to you that you remember something, the more likely you are to remember it. By learning more than the simple definition of the term (the origin, why it was first coined, why they used that term in particular, what it means in english), you are not only taking longer to commit it to memory, but you are essentially letting your brain know that you very much care about the knowledge's safe trip to your memory storage. Not only this, but you'll remember it for longer too.
Again though, learn to approach these tests confidently. That's the first step to any of this.
Shogun Streams Vidya
2.Conceptual knowledge rather than mnemonics and data regurgitation is key.
Do I have that right?
As it stands, I've started reading beyond assignments and finding things more and more interesting, especially thermodynamics.
Also, I talked to a few people and they are telling me horror stories about organic chemistry. Is there anything specific to this subject I need to watch out for?
It took me a LONG time to figure out the best way to study for myself. When it comes to memorizing things, I found the best way to do it is with straight out repetition. I would write something down twenty times until I thought I had it. Then I would test myself. Then just to make sure I would do everything I memorized onto flash cards. This method is very tedious, but it can be effective it you stick to it. It's all about discipline.
One of the most effective ways to memorize things is by mnemonics. Figure out what kind of learner you are (visual, aural, hands-on) and create mnemonics with the things you are memorizing. No matter how stupid and silly the mnemonic seems, it WILL help you. An example of a truly stupid mnemonic that helped me in Japanese was this: I wanted to learn the Japanese word for carrot, ninjin. I knew that carrots are good for peoples eyes. Ninjas have really good eyes. "ninj" = ninja. "A NINJa went IN to eat a carrot."
Yes, it is really stupid. but it really does work! You don't have to tell your mnemonics to anyone else so go crazy with making them silly or even dirty. They can be your secret.
Invest real time in learning how best you retain information. There are many different types of people in this respect. some people can pick up information by simply reading it from a book, others need to apply it. Some people need to quiz themselves over the information, some people need to diagram it.
I learned to diagram things as much as possible, which can be extremely effective in retaining large amounts of information that is interconnected, ie endocrinology. I also use repetition. I rewrite the information over and over and over again until i can reproduce it from memory without fault. it can be a pain in the ass and a big time eater, but it works.
I also learn visually, so when i diagram, i tend to retain better than just writing.
Flash cards were an absolute waste of time. by the time i finished making them, i could have mostly finished memorizing it another way.
Taking well-organized notes on a chapter is also important. it will help solidify the information in your head and help to connect everything together. This worked with every science subject for me - chemistry, physics, biology, and upper-div classes.
for me, confidence in a test comes with thorough preparation - I really only get nervous in a test if I haven't prepared for it, or I start to think how screwed I would be if i didn't do well on it (ie MCAT, which I ended up doing ok on anyway). Try to remove yourself from the mindset of being completely absorbed with your performance on the test and just focus on the problems.
If you have taken DAT classes, or know about them, a lot of the information you learn there can help you with test taking. In other words, you learn to find the answers in the questions, and learn how to spot what the question is really asking rather quickly.
Try to hit the easy questions first. If you see yourself tripping up over a question, skip it and come back to it.
Memorization and proper test preparation will help you ace almost any test.