Studying

[Lila]

I was surprised there wasn't a thread for this. Anyway, studying. Do you study as much as you should? What are some ways to get yourself to sit down and study? What resources and techniques do you use to pass your tests? Are there any websites that help?

 

I, personally, am terrible about studying. I grip concepts very easily, so I don't feel guilty about not taking notes or studying hardcore. I've tried to study more lately, though, because this year is more difficult than past years and I want higher A's. I use StudyStack whenever I study.

[spyro76]

I haven't studied since 5th grade when it was a parent mandate. My average has never dropped below 96 and I'm a senior in high school. They tell me I will struggle in college. They told me I would have to study in middle school. They told me I'd have to study in high school. They told me I'd have to study really hard for APs. It's all crap. My average this past quarter was 98.4 and I put very little effort in at all. My AP physics average was 100, my AP calc was 98. No studying whatsoever. If there comes a time I need to study because I don't know how to do something for whatever reason I know how to study and I have the willpower. No matter how much people say I won't know how to study it's not exactly hard to do. I will (if I ever do) study the same way I learn, because that's what studying is. It's learning the material over again, perhaps for better comprehension, or maybe just to memorize facts and equations.

[EeveeSkitty]

I have to study, or I don't do very well (not badly, but not as well as I'd like). Plenty of people post online how they don't need to study or how it doesn't matter, but I suspect they're just naturally talented. I know a few people who are the same in real life as well. I do pay attention in class, but I simply cannot learn information that way. Studying is the only way for me.

[Gsea]

It seems to me that whenever I don't study, I do brilliantly on a test, and whenever I do study, I do absolutely horrible.

[philpot123]

I never study. I just... don't. My grades are fine, I've never had a problem, but I just don't study. *shrugs*

[Kestra15]

I studied, I got a degree. Job done.

[Foxpaw]

Certain classes that I excel at, I don't really need to study too much. I pay attention in class, take notes, and that seems to be enough. The meteorology class I'm taking this semester, for example, is mostly stuff I already know, so not a lot of studying is required.

 

A lot of professors will tell you what's going to be on the test. If there's something I don't now, I read over that info and my notes as a refresher.

 

 

I had a few harder classes, and any time I had problems studying, I had two key strategies:

A: Flashcards. You have the question/idea on one side, the answer/idea on the other. If it's not a solid answer, or it's you might have to write an essay answer on, you just put the topic on one side of the flashcard and key points on the other. If you can talk/write/remember the key points, you're good. If it's a specific answer, you write that on the other side.

 

B: This is the best one I've found: association. Remember things and the key to studying, I believe, is all about CONNECTING it with something else in your head. Anagrams, stuff like that. A real easy one I had was which type of pressure system had good weather and which had bad - high or low? Well, bad weather makes you feel down, and sad and low; good weather makes you feel good and high.

 

Obviously, some associations will be easier than others. I had to go stretch things a little in one of my bio classes, but the association is the key. Then, when you see a word/question, the key word will trigger the answer in your mind.

 

 

Of course, this is all meaningless once you get out of college. There are no multiple choice or essay questions when you're working. You just have to know what you're doing/what you're talking about (and sometimes not even that).

[earwig]

Anagrams

This. This this this.

I do it so much. Too often, maybe. I remember I had to memorise the first 20 elements of the periodic table. So I made an anagram for it. X3

 

It worked, surprisingly. If you weave in stuff you like, maybe favourite characters from a TV show or something, it becomes sooooo much easier.

[7Deadly$ins]

I study occasionally. Not extensively, just a bit of looking over my notes before the test. For math tests I usually try to do a few problems to make sure I know how to do it in practice and I'm fine.

 

I dislike all the people in my statistics class that whine about the test average (58%) because I've seen their notes, they're terrible. If you can't do the homework, so you end up not doing it, I'm not sure why anyone thinks they'd be able to do it on the exam.

[Felicityluff]

I study, but I usually don't need to. I don't even use any strategies; somehow, it feels kind of natural, the way knowledge absorbs itself into my mind. Instinct? Osmosis? O.o

 

To be honest, all I do is pay attention to the teacher's lesson in class, highlight and jot down a few quick notes for reference, and I'm good. I only study if there were a few parts I didn't quite understand or if I was absent that day. This school year, my grades have never gone below 95 for any subject except for World History, where I got a 92. Worst subject in my opinion.

 

...Speaking of subjects, any math lovers out there? :B

 

 

I dislike all the people in my statistics class that whine about the test average (58%) because I've seen their notes, they're terrible. If you can't do the homework, so you end up not doing it, I'm not sure why anyone thinks they'd be able to do it on the exam.

This.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. ;.;

Edited November 20, 2011 by Felicityluff

[Orlageddon]

I remember that until 5th grade, I didn't have to look at a book and did great anyway. Then I got to another school and my grades dropped hard. I eventually learnt to study, but it was kind of a shock for me. Stupid younger Orl *smacks self*

It depends on the subject to me. The only subjects I don't study for, at all, are English and Czech, and I still get great grades. For math, it's enough to do homework. In most other subjects, I have to memorize things.

[dr.bieber229]

I have so many tests, but I don't study for them. Somehow though, I usually get A's on them. The only one I failed at was a map of Europe and you had to know where everything is, and I got 4 out of 15 correct . I suck with maps.

[PlutoIsHades]

I mostly look over my notes or do practice math problems. It helps me to make up mnemonics. I guess it's paying off, all my grades this past marking period were in the A range.

They still give us too many quizzes and tests.

[Horse2000]

I make clear and concise notes, add that is all I need to solidify my understanding. I have an average of middle-nineties.

[Nine]

I don't do large study groups, but yeah I study. I find I do better teaching and explaining things to other people instead of just reading over notes, though I definitely do that too. You kind of have to at this point-- if you don't have the dedication to actively do your best, your seat would be better used for someone who can.

 

I remember back in highschool how my teachers would force their preferred note-taking styles onto classes and grade notes. Thinking back, what absolutely nonsense that was. People should take notes for how it best suits them, not because "Ooh, Cornell notes make my paper look so neat and purdy." If I want to doodle cartoony representations of how the immune system works, then darn it all, I shall!

 

Don't worry-- the Macrophages always looked like Pacman and viruses naturally had evil, curly moustaches. I got my facts straight.

[spyro76]

If you consider helping other people to be studying then I suppose I do. I end up learning from it, but it primarily helps them. I've had a few ideas click through this method, but mostly it doesn't do anything for me besides reinforcement. And it's not a regular thing, it's just when someone asks for help, usually in physics. My teacher says I'm the first student he's ever had to figure out how to balance a force table theoretically without his help, which is really kinda sad, but whatever. (Since I had no clue what a force table was before I saw it: They're a circular board with notches around it to hold a chain in place. Three scales are attached to the chains and measure in newtons the force that is exerted and all three meet at a ring in the center. Our job was to create an equilibrium with the ring in the center of the board).

 

The easiest theoretical way of doing this is to have all the angles between the scales be the same. 360 degrees / 3 = 120 degrees in between each of the scales. Pick two of the scales to split into triangles and the third is the equilibrant. Since the apparatus is not accelerating the equilibrant force is equal to the resultant force between the two scales you picked. Break the angles up (make two right triangles) and you can figure out that the two horizontal forces are equal, cancelling each other, although that's kinda a given. Then you can figure out the vertical component, or just use the equilibrant force divided by two for each of the individual triangles.

 

I'm terrible at explaining through text, but it is an easy concept if you understand vectors. I solved for several different setups because that's what the teacher wanted. He even had someone stay after school (he was at a technology seminar when we were supposed to be doing this experiment.) the day before so that someone would have a clue as to what we were supposed to be doing. I can't decide if I'm proud of the fact that I got it and no one else did or disappointed in my classmates because it's really not a difficult concept.

 

The scales are these guys:

[TheDarkCynder]

I only study for my harder classes, like World History. I never study for Literature.

[SPQR]

I haven't studied since 5th grade when it was a parent mandate. My average has never dropped below 96 and I'm a senior in high school. They tell me I will struggle in college. They told me I would have to study in middle school. They told me I'd have to study in high school. They told me I'd have to study really hard for APs. It's all crap. My average this past quarter was 98.4 and I put very little effort in at all. My AP physics average was 100, my AP calc was 98. No studying whatsoever. If there comes a time I need to study because I don't know how to do something for whatever reason I know how to study and I have the willpower. No matter how much people say I won't know how to study it's not exactly hard to do. I will (if I ever do) study the same way I learn, because that's what studying is. It's learning the material over again, perhaps for better comprehension, or maybe just to memorize facts and equations.

This.

 

If I ever need to study (like for a AP European History class), I just scan over my notes and the textbook.

[HawktalonOfRiverClan]

I get my parents to help me study for harder classes. Last year, when I took US History II, my dad used really bad accents to help me remember the dates in WWII. I will never forget when Benito Mussolini came to power because of it. But some classes, like Science and Spanish, I never study for. My averages in both classes are above 90.

Edited November 20, 2011 by HawktalonOfRiverClan

[earthgirl]

Well, I hated studying while I was in school. Especially since there was a subject I wasn't quite interested in which was the case of most subjects.

 

To me, the process of studying had to be learning a lesson word by word and in order to learn it I have to transcribe from the notebook to a paper, then read it once more... There were so many names and details all over that I had to remember. -.- I used to have pretty good grades, though.

[UnlimitedSynth]

When studying I usually make a lot of notes and drawings. I don't usually have to study a lot to get good/decent grades, I just have to listen when the teacher speaks. I love maths. Usually the only thing I have to study are the important historical dates, usually they just seem to sail straight over my head.

[Foxpaw]

It worked, surprisingly. If you weave in stuff you like, maybe favourite characters from a TV show or something, it becomes sooooo much easier.

 

YES! I thought I was the only one who did that. In Psychology, someone would ask me how I remembered some part of a theory, and I'd say something like 'Um, do you watch... -tv show-?' (I still remember a character from Supernatural representing the bottom parts of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. ). Usually results in blank looks. lol.

 

And of course, I will always have Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally for math.

 

 

The only one I failed at was a map of Europe and you had to know where everything is, and I got 4 out of 15 correct. I suck with maps.

 

I stay away from geography as much as possible now. That subject was the bane of my existence. Names, dates, locations. None of it ever stuck. A map test of African countries scarred me for life.

 

If you consider helping other people to be studying then I suppose I do...

wut. Joking, some went over my head but I think I have the basic idea. But I get the part about explaining it to others. I remember reading a book where the character talks about how once you reach a certain level of understanding, the best way to learn more is to start teaching other people and helping them understand. Makes sense, cause then you have to remember what you're talking about and learn to talk about it in a clear, concise way.

[Nerendier]

I haven't studied since 5th grade when it was a parent mandate. My average has never dropped below 96 and I'm a senior in high school. They tell me I will struggle in college. They told me I would have to study in middle school. They told me I'd have to study in high school. They told me I'd have to study really hard for APs. It's all crap. My average this past quarter was 98.4 and I put very little effort in at all. My AP physics average was 100, my AP calc was 98. No studying whatsoever. If there comes a time I need to study because I don't know how to do something for whatever reason I know how to study and I have the willpower. No matter how much people say I won't know how to study it's not exactly hard to do. I will (if I ever do) study the same way I learn, because that's what studying is. It's learning the material over again, perhaps for better comprehension, or maybe just to memorize facts and equations.

I was pretty much exactly like that. Then I got to college, where teacher's don't sugarcoat everything and are happy to fail you. Depending on your major, you will need to study. It's as simple as that. If you don't study in university, especially for the serious majors, you will not pass. That is all. AP classes are a joke. That is all.

 

It is always best to study in groups. Find a study group and make it a weekly thing. You learn much better with others, this is well documented and tested. Make flashcards. Find a quiet place in the library and use their computers as they are less likely to distract you with potential videogames or whatever. You might even want to buy earplugs if you can't focus with music. It may not always be possible or necessary to study daily, but at least try weekly, not just before exams. The purpose of college is to learn things that will be with you for the rest of your life, not just to get a grade like it is in many cases in high school. You're wasting your time and money if you are just doing something for a grade in college.

[7Deadly$ins]

Well, the thing with AP classes is that they vary drastically in my experience. They are structurally designed to prepare you for the AP test, and everything else is pretty much left up to the teacher and the school board.

 

For instance, my AP Lang class was the hardest I have ever worked in my life. The work load was crazy, and it was much harder than anything I have since experienced in college. Other teachers in my school were frank enough to admit that her class was harder than any other class in the school, and likely harder than I would ever expect to work in college. The stuff I did for my freshmen English class (the class AP lang is SUPPOSED to replace) was probably equivalent to about a few weeks in my AP class. It was a good class that had me really learning a lot, but I was also more stressed than I have been in my life and the work load was, quite frankly, way more than should be expected of high school Juniors.

 

Comparatively, the other AP classes I took were, indeed, a joke. I still learned a lot in them. The AP Lit class I took the next year... was probably about a month's work in the Junior class.

[senyi]

I don't study much (to my mom's dismay), but when I do, I use flash cards or take notes from the text.