Study Problems

[house23]

All thru undergrad, I've been making textbook notes for all my classes (especially for ochem classes). I've been finding that it's getting more and more difficult to get the results I use to with the new courseload.

I've tried making flashcards and thought maps but it seems that any form of textbook notetaking is very time consuming and still results in subpar marks.

Do you recommend making textbook notes?
What sorts of study techiques do you use?
(I usually sell my textbooks at the end of the year so annotating the book or highlighting is not an option)

thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[justdoit31]

I make study sheets- I use the notes as my primary source of info and then consult the book (which I tend to use review books/monographs because a text is too long) to clarify details. My goal is to make 2-3 hours of lecture take one sheet of paper. Then I can review these up through the exam.

But some units need other things. I made a giant (posterboard) renal picture and added in all the transporters, diuretics, what entered/left, etc in each area.

I did flow charts for endocrine hormones and vitamins- just experiment with it.

 

[summerallwinter]

The harder course load and classes you take on, the more important it is that you study effectively instead of just studying a lot. Check and see if your school has any free tutoring or peer lead study groups. I would read the book once but don't take notes from text and don't make flash cards, both these things may work well but are pretty time consuming. Take good notes in lecture and look online for anything worth reading / practice problems worth doing. For extremely hard chapters I sometimes will make a study guide on Excel or Word but I usually then don't have time to use it much. You'd also be surprised what kind of resources you can find online. I'm not sure what classes you're taking but YouTube (KhanAcademy especially) has lots of good videos for chemistry, calculus, biology, physics, and there's other good channels for O Chem videos.

From my experience if you can really learn something you don't have to study near as much. Take the time to gain a solid understand of whatever subject your focus is, taking information from a myriad of sources, and you won't have to work on going over and over stuff and wasting time.

 

[missbones]

For me, the process of making flash cards or creating a study guide (especially this), or taking notes from textbook readings is more important than using or reviewing them after the fact because the material is burned into my memory by the mere production of these things.

I only use flash cards for rote memorization type exercises and even then its still rare.

I find the best study tool for me is to try and explain a particular topic or subject to someone else. Come test time my mind feels "imprinted" with the dialogue that I gave to the other person (normally my poor boyfriend) and I can either copy it down almost word for word or get the gist of the topic refreshed in my brain so that I can answer a test question.

 

[Earl Grey]

I take textbook notes. The thing is, always remember to reread them everyday. It doesn't take that long for me to read mines (it should be relatively brief since I hope you're not copying down passage after passage of text). I always reread them while I commute to school.

 

[SabC]

This:

For me, the process of making flash cards or creating a study guide (especially this), or taking notes from textbook readings is more important than using or reviewing them after the fact because the material is burned into my memory by the mere production of these things.

I find the best study tool for me is to try and explain a particular topic or subject to someone else. Come test time my mind feels "imprinted" with the dialogue that I gave to the other person (normally my poor boyfriend) and I can either copy it down almost word for word or get the gist of the topic refreshed in my brain so that I can answer a test question.

Plus this:

You'd also be surprised what kind of resources you can find online. I'm not sure what classes you're taking but YouTube (KhanAcademy especially) has lots of good videos for chemistry, calculus, biology, physics, and there's other good channels for O Chem videos.

YouTube is such an awesome studying resource! I found it incredibly helpful for chemistry just to have things explained slightly differently by another prof/person.

Most of my text books also have some kind of online accompaniment, albeit some better than others, with flashcards, outlines, practice tests, labeling exercises, animations, etc. Anything interactive or any way I can create a strong visual association seems to give me a far better return on my time than just reading wall after wall of text.