How do you study in PT school?

[emespt]

I just finished my first semester and did pretty well using a flashcard website/app (quizlet) to study. I love the app and being able to study the material in small chunks and take out cards as I learn them... but it is extremely time consuming to write out everything out and it cuts into my actual study time. I was curious how other people study for their classes. What works for you?

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[noyceguy]

I just finished my first semester and did pretty well using a flashcard website/app (quizlet) to study. I love the app and being able to study the material in small chunks and take out cards as I learn them... but it is extremely time consuming to write out everything out and it cuts into my actual study time. I was curious how other people study for their classes. What works for you?

Read the powerpoint, memorize the powerpoint. Write it out in a table, then practice writing it out from memory.

 

[Kuhdaytee]

I typed some flashcards during class. Having the professor read directly from the slides didn't help me learn, and they weren't good at explaining. If that's not possible, do you know if anyone else makes flashcards? A lot of my classmates also use Quizlet and we share the flashcards that we make, so you don't always have to be the one to make them.

You can also read through 5 powerpoint slides at a time, and then go back to the first one and write down/say out loud as much information as you can remember without looking at the details on that slide. Then read that first slide and see what information you got incorrect, or what you missed, and then do the same thing with slides 2-5. Learning the slides in smaller chunks can be helpful.

If there are any concepts that are covered in several slides, I would write them down on a piece of computer paper. It was easier to connect the information that way, instead of flipping between slides on my laptop.

Quizzing someone else is also helpful when studying alone gets boring.

 

[truthseeker]

writing on the cards IS studying

 

[Azimuthal]

A white board and oral recitation worked best for me. Study 4-5 items, move on to another 4-5 items, review the 1st 4-5 items, move on again, quick review of last 8-10 items. I kept stacking on the quick reviews as I learned more.

 

[jblil]

What worked for me was to study by myself first, then get together with 1 or 2 classmates and take turns quizzing each other. Oftentimes I would find they focused on a slightly different aspect of the topic than me and so it was very useful for all of us.

 

[starrsgirl]

I used flashcards a lot (I particularly love the Anki program). A couple of pointers on flashcards....
1) for a given lecture, give yourself a set time to make flashcards. Say 1-2 hours tops. If you aren't done making them in that time, you are in WAY too deep.
2) Don't make flashcards for things you already know or could probably reason out. Every lecture slide does not need a flashcard.
3) Before you start making the flashcards, quickly go through your notes (less than 5 mins ) and highlight/star/circle what you think the MOST important concepts of the lecture are. Those are your high priority flashcards. You can spend some more time on those topics.
4) keep the flashcards short/concise. You should have a specific question on the front of the flashcard for a specific piece of info on the back of the flashcard. "Describe X" is NOT a good flashcard. Try something like "What is the physiological cause of X?", "Which receptor does X affect". The more specific your questions, the better you can really master the material.
5) Modify the flashcards as needed. I will trash flashcards I truly master (Anki does this for me in a way). Or if I keep missing a concept, I will expand one flashcard into 2-3 cards to break down the material further.
6) When I go through the flashcards to study, I always make myself talk the answer out loud OR write it down. That extra application step makes a HUGE difference (versus reading the flashcard in your head, assuming you know it and then reading the answer). Find your own words and talk it out, then check your work.
7) Don't make the flashcards while watching TV or doing something else. Be engaged when you build them.
8) Anki and other programs let you trade flashcard decks online. I started trading decks with a classmate this semester and that gave me additional study tools (It was kinda like studying together via distance).

 

[emespt]

I don't consider writing out flash cards as actual studying since it usually just turns into mindless typing and I don't retain much. I think my biggest issue is everything looks important to me so they end up pretty lengthy haha. I've also tried using my classmates' quizlets but they tend to leave out a lot of information.

I see a lot of good ideas here that I am going to try out next semester, though. Thanks everyone!

 

[Kuhdaytee]

I don't consider writing out flash cards as actual studying since it usually just turns into mindless typing and I don't retain much. I think my biggest issue is everything looks important to me so they end up pretty lengthy haha. I've also tried using my classmates' quizlets but they tend to leave out a lot of information.

I see a lot of good ideas here that I am going to try out next semester, though. Thanks everyone!

That was my issue at first too. I made too many flashcards, and the answer would be everything that was on the slide. It was time consuming, I hated studying them, and I wasn't learning because I typed word-for-word what was on the powerpoint.

What helped was reading through the power point and getting a good idea about the main concepts, like someone else pointed out. Then if there were details that I had trouble remembering, I would include those on the flashcards because I knew I had to memorize the little details. Also try re-writing your professor's notes, so you're not copying the information exactly. That'll make you focus on what you're typing, rather than mindlessly making cards.

I used Anki on my phone, and you can import your Quizlet flashcards into them. Anki was great because instead of going through every single flashcard every time, it'll bring up the harder flashcards more often and not quiz you on the ones that you know already. It saves a lot of time!

 

[Azimuthal]

I'm not going to lie, I was one of those guys who waited until some classmates made flashcards and I would photo copy the ones I wanted in groups. Some of my classmates literally dictated the entire lectures and would study off those notes. I asked for a few of them when I knew I missed something, but wow, I just can't.

 

[NewTestament]

Some of my classmates literally dictated the entire lectures and would study off those notes. I asked for a few of them when I knew I missed something, but wow, I just can't.

Your classmates didn't know how to properly take notes of the major concepts of a lecture? Wow. That's incredibly inefficient. It's usually pretty obvious which points the professor wants the students to remember.

 

[Azimuthal]

Your classmates didn't know how to properly take notes of the major concepts of a lecture? Wow. That's incredibly inefficient. It's usually pretty obvious which points the professor wants the students to remember.

It was more that they didn't care. Those type A's will be type A's. They wanted everything. Of course, it came in handy once in a blue moon when challenging misstatements made during lectures after exam results came out. I never judged them or their methods, that group held the top 10% of the class rankings. That impressed this old man.

 

[DesertPT]

I used flashcards a lot (I particularly love the Anki program). A couple of pointers on flashcards....

Starrsgirl's flashcard strategy also works well for me. However, flashcards are not the best strategy for everyone. Some people hate them. Some people in my class love whiteboards, some do better just reading the powerpoint over and over, and some do best going through the lectures and talking out each slide with a classmate, then quizzing each other. Some people love group study, some hate it. Don't assume one thing is best for you without trying it. Personally I do a bit of all of the above. If you find something that is working for you, don't feel like you need to change it.

My study strategy varies a lot by class too. Some classes you have to memorize word for word 100+ slides each week to do well. Others you can read through 6 weeks of lectures once the night before the midterm and get an A without breaking a sweat. And most classes fall somewhere in between those two ends of the spectrum. You have to consider what is going to be the most high yield in each class as well. In some classes you receive a large percentage of your grade from presentations and other busywork, but in a lot of classes it strictly exams. I don't sweat the exams as much in presentation-based classes obviously, but I feel like sometimes a lot of my classmates study and stress over quizzes that are worth 5% of a class as much as they do over exams that are worth 40%. Developing the ability to guess what will be high-yield for each professor with a good degree of accuracy, both on the course scale and on the individual lecture scale, will help you greatly.

In my program we have to take all of our exams on iPads, so consequently everyone has an iPad in class all the time. A couple people prefer laptops, but downloading powerpoints into an app like Notability or PDF Expert and taking notes using an iPad with a bluetooth keyboard seems to work great for most people. I personally love it and am glad my program has mandatory iPads or I probably never would have bought one. All the tests are taken electronically (no more stupid Scantrons, hallelujah!) so you get your results instantly when you finish, I can draw diagrams, labels, etc. on the powerpoints and then type notes in the blank spaces quite efficiently during lectures, battery life is much better than a laptop so I can go back and forth between class and library all day without worrying about plugging in, everything backs up automatically to Google Drive so I can access lectures on my phone when I'm on the go if necessary, or on my computer when I'm at home, and my flashcard making app and several other helpful school related apps are right there on the tablet too. Most of the same things can be accomplished with a laptop, and some people just prefer paper notes, but for me the tablet + keyboard approach has turned out to be the most convenient, portable and efficient option. Not saying you should rush out to Best Buy today, but I think it's something more students should look into that I wish I had thought about sooner.