Study Habits
 

I have two days to cram about three weeks of stuff intot he cranium. (I slacked and was sick) What is the most efficant way to do it?
Saturday - All day
Sunday - All day - four hours for church
Monday - Exam 1 -MicroEcon
Tuesday - Exam 2&3 - Maangement & Ancient History
Wendsday - Exam #4 - Econ History

I am a history Magor - Business Management minor. I am a visual - conceptual "big image" learner - I need to get up and do something random every 30 min cause I fight minor ADD all my life. I can memorize well, but how to package this much - I dunno, anyone got some advice?

I have to take study breaks every 1.5 hours or so or else I go nuts...studying is tough and you have to find your own method that works well.
One thing that I do is I go through the major concepts and focus on what they do, and not their names. For eg, in bio Ill pay attention to a specific cycle in photosynthesis, and learn how it works, and then match the name to it.
What also helps me memorize a whole lot easier, is teaching someone, or going over it verbally just with a friend, or myself if need be. My friend is taking bio too (a year behind) so sometimes we get together and have these review sessions, and Ill dictate to her the material, which really helps me understand the info and drives it into my memory. Its a win/win cause she understands the basics, and I get it memorized. When exams come, Ill just "teach" it to myself. I find it works really well.
I dunno if any of these helped, but I tried. Good luck! :thumbsup:

Have really intense fun during your longer breaks. Go skating or play a really good round of counterstrike. Don't just doze in front of the internet!

What actually really helps me is to try to 'teach' the material to others. In order to teach a concept to someone, you usually need a good grasp on the concept and material, and it will help you remember it if you go through in it and help someone else learn it.

You can find some other classmates and see if you can meetup for a study session at the library and learn together [education, where socialism is very beneficial !]

Absolutely. Ask a classmate to study with you. First divide the material you want to learn. Then study the material assigned to you on your own. After a while, get back together with your friend and teach what you just learned to him/her. If something is unclear, discuss it. At the end have the 'student' explain it back to the 'teacher.'

When I was studying for my quals, the other students in my class and I sometimes did this sort of thing. We all passed.

I like to eat while studying :) . Then I like to talk about what I learned so it gives me confidence that I know I leanred the info.

thank god finals are over, now its time to head into another wonderful semester.

I think im going to try to study very small amounts throughout the semester, in order to not need to study that much (cram) for tests and finals.

Then again I say this every semester and have yet to completely carry though. I have like 2-3 hour breaks sometimes between classes and last semester I used those breaks to study... that helped alot.

Anyone else try this?

lucky, i still have to take finals next week

really? what kind of semester schedule are you on? Are you in college?

ooh college? i'm still in high school. sorry

I have heard that if you go over your notes after you take them (i.e. after class or at the end of the day) it helps with memorization/familiarization. Even more effective would be to rewrite/type your notes at the end of the day or week. I knew a guy who did this back in the dorms and he kicked ass in his classes.

One of my strategies for test taking is to first make sure I have all notes/handouts and organize them somehow, usually chronologically. Then I read through all the notes to familiarize myself with them. Then I rewrite my notes, writing down big topics and putting everything together. If the material can be memorized, notecards are best strategy, learning 5-10 at a time then adding to what you know each time.

I have a 3.65 right now as a senior bio student, so these strategies seem to be somewhat successful.

I find that I retain the information if I go to sleep immediately after reviewing the information. So I would say Study breaks followed by short periods of sleep. Of course I think everything should be followed by short periods of sleep. I really have memorized a lot of material by sleeping on it. The theory is you don't have a lot of distractions interfering with the brains attempt to retain the new knowledge.

i like to listen to music when i'm studying for a final exam

Four hours for church!?...Can't God give you a break for one weekend?

When I took psychology a couple of years back, my prof said that to really remember information after a long night of cramming, one should get at least two cycles of REM sleep, or about 3 hours.

Frowning Buda: maybe this is why your strategy works?

I find it VERY helpful to go through the material I need to learn and write down notes of all the important information. You need to make sure you understand what you are writing down or it won't do much for you. One of my professors said that writing something down is the equivilant of reading it 15 times. THat number seems a bit high, but even if it's only 3 times, how can you go wrong?

After I take notes on everything, I can just read over it once or twice and I know it.

I actually had to do a course on this sort of stuff.

Study in a room with no distractions like computer or tv.
Don't study in your room or any room with a bed.
Stand and pace back and forth.
Read aloud.
Chew gum.
Rewrite notes, summarize your work or highlight key points (use yellow and avoid pink at all costs)

If you're going to listen to music make sure you can listen to the same music during your exam. Hearing the same music you listened to while studying can trigger important info.

That's all I can remember on that sugject at the moment.