– then you will be better prepared to see familiar patterns in this strange new situation (the desert). If you really know your way around the ecosystem you were given (the forest) – know about its energy and nutrient flow, its inhabitants’ adaptive strategies, etc. And then on the exam, the professor doesn’t ask a thing about the forest, but instead puts you in the middle of the desert, acquaints you briefly with certain of its inhabitants, and asks you complicated questions about their relationships to one another. EXAMPLE: Suppose, for instance, you’ve learned a lot about a certain forest ecosystem in class.Why should you this? Questions sometimes pose entirely new situations, which you need to analyze – even though you’ve never seen that situation before. You should practice explaining the material and applying it to new situations.The things that your professor considers most important to the subject and which are most likely to appear on quizzes and exams are the things that have been emphasized in lecture and in assigned readings. When trying to learn the material, focus on the right stuff.If all you do is read your notes, the text, and the PowerPoint, then you'll gain only a passive familiarity with the material. Don’t just read over your notes and PowerPoints.Study to understand, not just to memorize words. Before the test you need to be studying with a higher level of understanding. Don’t wait until close to the exam to fill in this understanding. For topics which you do not fully understand, get explanations.Use other students, your text, and your professor. Use complete sentences add labels and notes to diagrams even if you think they're quite clear already try to organize things into categories to show relationships. Do it regularly as a part of a formal schedule or you won't do it at all. After lecture add to, or rewrite, your notes while the scribbles still make sense.
If your professor provides materials ahead of class (e.g., lecture outline, PowerPoint) get them and use them to guide your note-taking.įlesh out notes in 24-48 hour cycle.Finally, don't put it off until the night before the exam. Study the material weekly, not just before tests. Leave plenty of time between study and self-testing so you’re not just testing short-term memory and repeat until you know that you can always get them right. Well before an exam, take a subset of the material and study it as if the exam on that topic was tomorrow. Repeat study over several shorter periods over different days.