Studying for Fall Midterms 2020
- SASS
- Oct 7, 2020
- 3 min read
Before Studying
Compile notes, quizzes, homework assignments, slides, and study guides. Know what material will be on the midterm, and when the midterm will be.
Create a schedule. The general consensus is that you should be studying 8-12 hours for a midterm, depending on how well you know the material and how much you have prepared beforehand. If you are studying 5 days in advance of an exam, study just 1-2 hours a day and you will have studied a significant amount of time.
DO NOT start studying the night before. There are two reasons for this: your short-term memory is not as reliable as you think, and losing sleep to read information you are likely to forget is a recipe for bad performance on an exam.
While studying 1-2 hours a day seems uneventful and many unproductive, after a week or two, you will see that you have a much better understanding of topics.
Clean your study area. To study efficiently, it is preferable to have as little clutter as possible.
While Studying
Write a list of what you will go over during this study session. These can be based on how the course works chronologically (i.e. review week 1+2), or the specific assignment types of the course (i.e. review quizzes today, review homework assignments tomorrow)
Mark/highlight concepts/questions that do not make sense. Keep an extra post-it note on the side to write topics that you need to revisit or need to go to office hours for.
Do practice problems. Often, the quizzes/assignments in the course reflect questions that will be on the exam. Go over these questions, and, if you have time left over, go to the textbook/assigned text and practice with those questions.
DO NOT passively re-read the text. While you might understand the concept while reading, not interreacting directly with the topics is passive and is not productive for studying. Re-read the textbook when needed, such as when you're confused on a topic, but focus on doing practice problems.
Study with friends. Studying with friends will allow you to communicate a process to other people, thus strengthening your own understanding of the information. Also, studying can be quite isolative and lonely, so having other people to study with can energize you. However, make sure to stay on topic while studying. If things get off topic, you could end up wasting a lot of time.
Get rid of distractions. Place your phone outside of your view. Close Skype, Discord, Instagram, or any other social media app. It is easier to say "I will not get distracted because I cannot get distracted," than trying to convince yourself to not get distracted.
Drink water, study in moderation, and stretch. This goes without saying - make sure that your body is physically energized before studying. Keep a water bottle near so that you don't have to move out of your study area to get water. Sitting down for multiple hours is not good for your health or your energy, and thus this affects how well you study. For a break, walk around, stretch, or work out. Do not study for hours on end - at a certain point you are more unproductive than you are productive. Take a break once in a while, reenergize, and get back to studying.
Asking for Help
Know when you need help. Some topics simply do not make sense, and trying to force yourself to understand it can be more time consuming that reaching out to a teacher or peer tutor. Know that office hours and peer tutor appointments are some of the best resources at the OHS, and that they often leave a positive impression on your teacher, since you seem to be proactive and engaged. Many students are too ashamed to go to office hours, but there are numerous benefits to going to office hours. Teachers/tutors will not judge you based on how you are doing in a class; they are here to help you do well in this course.
If you have trouble committing, write an email to your instructor in advance outlining the following: 1. you will be going to their office hours 2. the topics that you would like to go over. Writing an email holds yourself accountable, and you will be more likely to attend.
Make sure you have questions in advance to seeking help. These can be general, like "how would you recommend me study?" or specific, like "I am stuck on this question, could you help me out?". This way you know what you have learned from going to office hours, and you know you are making progress.
On Test Taking Day
Get enough sleep and eat a decent meal. This, again, goes without saying. If your body is not physically able to take a test, your mind will not be able to either.
Prepare materials. Charge your calculator, refill your pencil with lead, prepare scratch paper.
Take a deep breath. You've got this!
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