<p>So unfortunately, I was one of those kids in high school that never picked up anything to study for an exam and still managed to pull a 95 average. This was great until my first semester of college where I found myself stumped on which study techniques worked best for me. I learned this the hard way.....a 3.0, and supposedly I want to goto med school?? With that GPA? I think not.</p>
<p>Anyways, I saw a vast improvement in my grades as the semester went on and especially towards the end.</p>
<p>I still want to brush up on things, however. Can anyone recommend any books? I know studying is really unique to each individual, but at least I can try some different strategies out.</p>
<p>When I was looking for study advice, I started getting a bunch of books geared towards college freshmen. They usually have a few tidbits of knowledge. I have “College Survival” by Greg Gottesman, “How to Succeed in College” by Robert DiYanni, and a few more that I’d have to dig out of my bookcase.</p>
<p>Most colleges have study workshops where you can go and learn how to make efficient notes and listen properly. Also many schools will allow students to record the lectures so after class they can copy out notes at their own pace.Its best to seek the advice of an academic advisor on where workshops are being held and getting permission to record professors as you MUST ask them before you start recording their material.
There are always tons of resources around the school to help with studying, maybe even consider a tutor.</p>
<p>I hate “active reading”…it does NOTHING for me.</p>
<p>I always do flashcards. Just the act of writing down terms/names/dates helps me remember them, and then I can flip through them constantly throughout the day.</p>
<p>Otherwise, just take really good notes. If a professor mentions ANYTHING twice, or says “something that I think is good to note” or anything like that, highlight it. Take 2 colors (at least) with you, and highlight things you think you might need help with later.</p>
<p>Go to office hours a week or so before the test and ask the professor what he/she thinks is most important for you to study. You’d be surprised how much they’re willing to tell you.</p>
<p>Good study methods will depend on the subject you are studying. Studying history is very different from studying math.</p>
<p>
Interesting. In my 5 semesters of college I have not taken a single class that expected me to memorize a nontrivial amount of names/dates/terms (admittedly, I have not taken a language class). What classes are you taking? I am honestly curious. I do not mean to judge you.</p>
<p>Do they give exams in history classes at other colleges? I haven’t seen those in college. Most of our history classes require a number of papers (2-5) but no exams. No one here would sit down and memorize a big amount of history data.</p>
<p>If you look back at my previous post, the word “trivial” referred to the amount of information to be memorized (I can remember three new terms per week without writing flashcards), not the importance of it for the field.</p>
<p>I had a final exam in my history class this quarter consisting of 10 short answer and two essay questions. Flashcards probably could have helped, but for me at least they would have been overkill. Since there were choices of questions, you didn’t have to know everything. The short answers just required general knowledge about a specific topic/example, and the essays required categorization/synthesis of several examples (that you came up with yourself). Knowing location and era were much more important than specific names and dates.</p>
<p>I find flashcards to be useful, especially in the foreign languages. I use them liberally for languages. In my view, flashcards are less helpful and sometimes even detrimental in subjects that are heavy in cause and effect. Isolating incidents in history teaches you the individual events, but it is difficult to understand the entire picture, which is what you are ultimately trying to do. </p>
<p>Telling stories is a great method to study history, science, economics, and many other subjects. </p>
<p>If you are proficient enough at a subject, teaching and tutoring is an excellent way to reinforce your own knowledge. If you are good enough to teach it before an exam, you will know you are well prepared.</p>
<p>I must admit, I had to write down and read to myself the unit conversion for spherical coordinates to memorize it. I didn’t memorize the Jacobian though.</p>
<p>Psych (3 of 'em so far), Chicano & Latino Studies, history, etc.</p>
<p>Yes, we had exams for history. Our teacher gave us a study sheet with 50 people and events. Of those 50, he put 7 on the test. Of those 7, we had to write out what happened, where it happened, when it happened, and why it was historically significant. We then had 4 essay questions, 2 of which would be on the test and 1 of which we’d actually have to answer.</p>
<p>I suppose to be more succinct, I’ve taken mostly classes in the social sciences. Lots of terms and concepts to remember. And I was able to fit a good deal of context onto my history flashcards, since we were required to know why the event/person was significant.</p>
<p>Maybe I am just not the memorizing type of student. I cannot remember actively memorizing a good deal of information for my psychology or history classes… Or maybe I failed to memorize that I did memorize information, who knows I might be a math major, but I certainly (have to) take classes outside of my major!</p>
I might be a math major, but I certainly (have to) take classes outside of my major!</p>