PRINT the following information and read it carefully.
1. Look over the tests you have already taken in the course to predict
what you will need to prepare for. Your aim is to determine both the
content of the questions and the type of memory/intellectual skills
you will be asked to use.
Examples of these skills include:
Remembering specific facts.
Comparing, contrasting, and otherwise
interpreting meaning in the information studied.
Applying principles and theories to solve problems
(that may not have been covered explicitly in the materials).
Predicting possible outcomes given a set of variables.
Evaluating the usefulness of certain ideas, concepts,
or methods for a given event or situation.
2. Overview all the work to be done and schedule time to do it. On the basis of your
familiarity with the test, make a list of all the tasks you must complete to prepare for it. Given what topics you expect to be most important on the test, set priorities among your study tasks and plan to do the most important ones first. In scheduling your test
preparation work, keep as much as possible to your own routines.
Avoid the “escape syndrome”. If you find yourself fretting or talking about your work rather than studying, relax for a few minutes and rethink what you are doing - reappraise your priorities and if necessary rethink your study plan to address your worries and then
START WORKING.
3. Deal with unread materials - succinctly.
Approach your unread materials keeping in mind all of your study plan,
how much time you have to catch up on your reading, and what it is you
need to pull out of the reading.
Preview the material, dividing it up into parts looking for the organizational
scheme of the work. Decide what parts in the reading you can omit,
what parts you can skim, and what parts you want to read.
Set time limits for each part, and keep to the limits.
Use the following techniques to help move through the reading:
Skim all the reading material first (except the parts you have decided to omit) so you will have at least looked at everything before the test. Take notes on what you skim.
Read, emphasizing key sentences and concentrating on understanding the ideas expressed. Try editorializing as you read by asking yourself questions regarding WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and HOW about the information.
Recite the material to yourself immediately, self-testing at the end of each part to enhance recall even without later review.
4. Review actively. Integrate notes, text, and supplementary information onto summary sheets by diagramming, charting, outlining, categorizing in tables, or simply writing paragraph summaries of the information. Try to create a summary sheet for each study session, or for each main idea, or for each concept. Use as many of the suggested ways possible, bringing all your senses as well as your sense of humor to bear on these summary sheets to make them really personally meaningful.
The more of yourself you put into these sheets, the better you will remember the information.
Practice doing what you will be doing on the test.
If you will be solving problems, then that is what you need to do while
studying. Answer unassigned problems or questions in the text or
anticipate test questions by thinking frequently,
‘If I were making up this test, I would probably ask…’, and then answer your question. Remember, the single most effective way to prepare for any test is to practice doing what you will have to do on the test.
It is frequently useful to use a Virtual Peer Study Program
or to attend sessions at the Virtual Classroom if available. You may also post
questions on the Bulletin Board. (Look at your Class Web Site)
Use these forums to clarify any questions you have about the materials and
the test. Do not expect review sessions to repeat any lectures nor
to present any addition information. The purpose of these sessions is
to give you the opportunity to ask questions about the information to further your understanding.