Any study suggestion ? I keep failing quiz / exam..even though I understand

[bensupport]

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I'm confused as hell. I understand materials take good class notes able to recall but bam during exam everything goes out the windows. I'm unable to comprehend simplest question during exam and afterwards I'm like dam that was easy. I make careless mistakes on quiz even though I know the answer.

Any suggestion ? Must be something wrong with my study habit or my ability to comprehend.

What should I do ? Fyi, I'm non trad returning to school.

Just not sure what proper steps to take .

Fyi, have no problem with hw, labs, etc.. just quiz/ exams , brain just goes dead ( especially critical thinking )

B

 

[QofQuimica]

I'm confused as hell. I understand materials take good class notes able to recall but bam during exam everything goes out the windows. I'm unable to comprehend simplest question during exam and afterwards I'm like dam that was easy. I make careless mistakes on quiz even though I know the answer.

Any suggestion ? Must be something wrong with my study habit or my ability to comprehend.

What should I do ? Fyi, I'm non trad returning to school.

Just not sure what proper steps to take .

Fyi, have no problem with hw, labs, etc.. just quiz/ exams , brain just goes dead ( especially critical thinking )

B

Are you having this problem in general, or only in one specific class? We would give different advice if it's a general problem rather than a certain class. If it's one specific class, it would help us give you more appropriate study tips if we knew which class it was.

 

[NTF]

This is could be so many things from the simple (test time management, study habits) to the complex (learning disability, severe test anxiety) and I'm reluctant to have you waste too much time on a forum getting scattershot advice. Most schools have academic counseling services. See if your school has any and avail yourself of their expertise. Also I'd try to meet with your professor during office hours. He/She may have good tips on how to approach the coursework (additional resources, study aids, mneumonics) or just help you diagnose the problem.

Plus, it's always a good idea to get help early and often in a class. If professors see your consistent effort to improve from the beginnning they're more likely to go out of their way for you and perhaps cut you slack in grading if you show an upward trend.

 

[bensupport]

its general issue.. I'm just not sure why...I'll pick up things, learn things from books, read before class, after class, create my own review sheet, own exams..do it all..then during quiz and exam goes right out the windows...

I think it may be test anxity, my heart will start racing, nervous, etc...

 

[bensupport]

I'm pretty quick learner on my own, I can understand something right from reading text book and instructor but just suck when it comes to applying the concept in various way..

Any suggestion on how to improve analytical skills or does it simply mean I lack fundemental grip of concept ?

 

[mooshika]

I'm pretty quick learner on my own, I can understand something right from reading text book and instructor but just suck when it comes to applying the concept in various way..

Any suggestion on how to improve analytical skills or does it simply mean I lack fundemental grip of concept ?

Barring any extenuating learning barriers, practice. This is a skill most tested on the MCAT. And in my experience it comes from practice. Some may have a better natural ability to do this than others, but I believe everyone has to practice this especially with new material. I was the same way. Practice helped immensely.

 

[anavistas]

Solve the end of the chapter problems and take some old exams. Just studying the concept doesn't do any good for you, you have to be able to solve problems in the pre_req coursres (I think you mean math, phys, chem
).
Most of the times you think you know the concept, but you wouldn't know untill you start solving problems or answering questions. I think the reason you remember answers after the exam is because you don't think fast and need more time to analyze, so after the exam when you've had enough time you just find them out.

 

[fizzgig]

do your best to locate cold tests. these are the best. work them in the time limit like a real one, check your answers, go to the prof if you still dont know why stuff is wrong. if there are absolutely no old exams around talk to the prof about this general issue and ask for advice, and maybe ask if there are certain problems that he/she can point you to. gather a reasonable number of those to be testlength, and work em like a test, same idea.

 

[jl lin]

Solve the end of the chapter problems and take some old exams. Just studying the concept doesn't do any good for you, you have to be able to solve problems in the pre_req coursres (I think you mean math, phys, chem
).
Most of the times you think you know the concept, but you wouldn't know untill you start solving problems or answering questions. I think the reason you remember answers after the exam is because you don't think fast and need more time to analyze, so after the exam when you've had enough time you just find them out.

ITA 👍

 

[gman33]

Different advice is going to be needed depending on the type of material you are having trouble with on exams.

If you are talking about classes that have problem based exams (chem, phys, o chem), then you really just need to do tons of problems that simulate the test environment. It's not about just understanding the material, it's about being able to solve problems under timed conditions.

For classes like bio or med school type classes, you need to memorize tons of facts and apply that knowledge. Sometimes the questions are just asking straight facts, other times you need to put a few things together to answer the question.

Give some more info on the classes or the types of questions you are getting wrong if you want more specific advice.

 

[bensupport]

Lets take my bio class for example, today on quiz I got 80%..10 question quiz, missed two, and sad part is I knew the answer I just wasn't able to think quick enough to write down correct answer.

Not able to think quick is holding me back. I have test next week which I will study my butt .

Read and Recite each chapter and concept , go over lecture notes, etc...

for chem, I plan on doing what many of you have said, doing all the problems back of book and finding some on the net.


Doe it help if I created my own test and test my self under time constraint ? Is it worth the hassle ?


Ben

 

[njbmd]

Trying to nail down exam problems in isolation is like trying to do your own appendectomy. It's not going to work for you. See your professor and go over the quiz, exam and material even if you "believe" you "know" the material. Your test scores are proving otherwise because your performance is poor. Your professors are educational specialists in their respective fields and thus are your best resource when it comes to figuring out your problems with individual subjects especially the ones that they are teaching.

Many students get so caught up in recopying notes, outlining and other clerical things that they forget to actually master the material. Mastery means that you can integrate the material into you own knowledge base which again, your test performances would indicate that you are not able to do this.

Your next step is to head to your college or university counseling/study skills center and allow them to analyze your study skills, note-taking skills and test-taking skills. If your school doesn't have one of these centers, find a commercial one and pay them or go to another school in town but most schools have these centers.

It never fails that the people who come to my office hours regularly are the folks who are at the top of the class. Why would you keep doing what isn't working for you???

 

[anavistas]

Specifically about Bio you have to be able to link different concepts and there are some nuances you wouldn't ever notice if your attention is not drawn to it. There are some good test books out there (EK for example) , you can take one and answer the questions, it will help tons in understanding the concept. I was in the same boat, we had a tough Bio professor and his exams were hard and needed you too apply several different concepts for answering some questions, my understanding after taking several of the old exams was a lot better. There are just things that are not written in the text book and you wouldn't normally find them out. If you need an online resource just pm me. Another thing is that people's way of thinking doesn't change much over time, if a professor loves a concept or some types of questions he would ask them repeatedly. After taking some old tests you would know much about the personality of the test-writer that for example you would know if he/she would prefer the correct answer to be A/B or D/C or the level of deception in the questions...how he would want to mislead you... which doesn't help in undesrtanding the subject but helps improving your grade.
By the way all I said is if you were really failing but getting 2 wrong questions is not that big an issue, it might be just chance.

 

[gman33]

Getting 2/10 wrong, isn't that big a deal. Maybe you knew more than 80% of the material, but in that small of a sample, a big part of your grade comes down to chance.

However, you said you knew the material, but it was more of a time issue.
That may be related to your understanding as well. In questions that require second or third order thinking, if you understand the material really well, the answers will come quick. If not, it may take a while to come up with the connections.

As others have said, get your hands on old exams. It will help to see what kind of questions are being asked. Focus more time on that material.

 

[bensupport]

What is the best method for properly digesting information. In other words, certain bio section I may end spending couple hours studying but after few hours material goes out the windows. I'm constantly reviewing notes just to digest material.

I tend to prepare 1 week prior to exam,

read all notes again, lecture power points, create custom study review sheet and sample test on my own.

Am I doing something wrong or change method ?

Apperciate everyones time.

 

[gman33]

The best method is the one that works for you.

Personally, I need a lot of passes through the material before it starts sticking. With each pass, I try to learn more details.
On the first pass, I just try to learn very big concepts.

Say you are trying to learn the Krebs cycle. There are a whole bunch of steps and extra enzymes etc. Only try to learn a couple of them the first time. Maybe the first and last step and a couple in the middle. That way you just learned a simplified version of the material. After you have that done go back and try to fill in a few more steps.

Basically, I'm saying to build a foundation on which you can build on in future study sessions.

Another approach is to use mneumonics. Something called the "journey method" is good for this kind of stuff. Takes practice, but it helps some people. Google it.

Besides that, go see if there are resources at your school to help with study skills, etc. These people are usually very helpful and they are there because of all the tuition you are paying. Foolish not to take advantage. Also, you can try some group studying. This works for some people.

 

[vanslix]

I'm pretty quick learner on my own, I can understand something right from reading text book and instructor but just suck when it comes to applying the concept in various way..

Any suggestion on how to improve analytical skills or does it simply mean I lack fundemental grip of concept ?

I'm somewhat similar when it comes to standardized tests. The solution is somewhat simple, though. Take practice exams ad nauseum. You may need to look for books outside the recommended reading or ask your profs.

 

[fizzgig]

ok bio is a bit different since it's seemingly less problems solving, but to go back to the advice of 'find a way to create the test environment'... when you make study sheets, go over notes, make fake tests even, look at how they are like/different from the test.

i remember in college the bio tests, since they were just a bunch of facts and the profs wanted to make sure you weren't just a good guesser (but wanted the ease of multiple choice) we had multiple choice that were full of that

a, a and b, a b and c, d, e, all but d, all of the above aaauuugh!

you could think you knew but those well worded slightly variant answers could sink a ship quickly.

so anyway, if your tests are like that, just going thru facts in your head (the right ones, not thinking out or knowing how to discount slightly wrong ones) may be lacking. if it's fill in the blank, make sure you can come up with everything without a prompt, that kinda thing. analyze what it is about your tests that makes them so hard. if you are literally just BLANKING on material, just doing anything under strict time limit to get over that time anxiety might help. otherwise look for what kind of factual or analytical failure you are having that the time limit is exacerbating.