[Gatto]

I am just curious how everybody studies, because I know different things work for different people.

I personally use tons and tons of index cards. I use index cards because writing things down helps me study, so I outline whatever I'm reading and everything I need to remember goes on an index card in the from of a question. The other advantages are that I can take the cards with me and study anywhere and I have them to look back on after the class is over. The problem is it takes hours and hours and I end up with so many cards.

 

[Scott_Tarlow]

I dont really study in the sense that you really don't need to study for Physics. I get assigned so many problems that it turns out the homework is studying. IE 15-20 hrs per class per week of homework.

 

[TheMarchingMule]

I don't really study...

Ironically, I learn best through repetition, but at the same time, I hate repeating things over and over, so I'm kind of screwed over that way.

I have tried doing index cards many times, but the time it takes doesn't feel like much a gain when I start to look through them.

I mainly tend to look over the subject matter as much as I can stand, and then rely on my limited memory, and hope my subconscious can help me through the rest.

 

[chesebert]

do your assigned reading/homework and study 3 weeks before your final.

gl

 

[skyline889]

I hate notecards so I read, do the hw, and read again and review notes before exams.

 

[moogoob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMarchingMule /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't really study... Ironically, I learn best through repetition, but at the same time, I hate repeating things over and over, so I'm kind of screwed over that way.

Lol same here. When I was in school (for graphic design) our course was extremely practical, as opposed to theoretical, so that worked out great for me. In addition, almost everything we learned was crucial to landing a job in one of the many sub-fields of the industry, so it was a bit different than many post-secondary programs. Mis-translate Chaucer in an English program? You get a bad grade. Take forever assembling simple things in InDesign? Nobody'll hire you, in favour of the guy who does everythign with hotkeys.

So to answer your question, Gatto, I studied by doing over and over until I could do at least three-quarters of everything with combinations of command, shift, option and click.

 

[Antony6555]

I take notes on a notepad. And I read those notes. That's pretty much it. I am a philosophy/religion major though.

 

[mulveling]

I too used notepads (or legal pads) in college as a computer science major, and now also in my career position. It's great as a temporary cache for important ideas & info, or for working through a problem. Big enough to hold the right amount of stuff, and for scribbling out pictures too. Not too big to be unwieldy. Fast, expressive, and easy. Could not, and would not use an electronic device for these purposes.

Index cards were just too small and fidgety for me - I hated them. I also try to keep notepad usage for info recall to a minimum; trying to jot down too much info will drown out the important stuff. You've got reference books/texts for your massive sea of info.

 

[DeusEx]

I don't really study, but I guess that's secondary school...

 

[El_Doug]

How do I study? I am the KING OF KINGS when it comes to crunch-time.

Allow yourself 14 hours of sleep 2 nights before the exam. Then after the day has ended, dedicate the entire evening, night, and all morning (read: all-nighter) to reread all of your notes, read the books, and do any practice problems, if applicable.

It works brilliantly for me (my gpa is 3.77), though it is a terrible system if you actually want to retain anything you learn

 

[Kirosia]

Depends on the circumstances. If a class depends mostly rote on memorization, I just read through the chapters of the text and hand write down all the definitions and important concepts. Then re-read that over and over. I did a similar thing for Financial Management, I'd do the first 10-20 core problems at the end of each of chapter, check my work online, then re-do the homework until I understand the formulas and such. I often do this stuff a day or two before the exams, since I work better under pressure. (Same with writing papers) And I should also mention the coffee and sweets tee-hee.

I'm a business major though, it's more about learning to do work right and just mentally "getting" theories and concepts. (Which you'd be surprised how many fail at)

 

[earthpeople]

Typically I will just skim the reading, do the homework, and if I come across something I don't know in the homework, I'll look through the reading again. If the homework was no problem, then I don't look at the reading again.

On a side note, I have a hard time doing homework, I often get sidetracked or just doze off. I never had to do homework or even seriously study in high school so it's hard getting used to doing homework again now that it counts for part of my grade.

 

[Figo]

undergrad: go to class, take good notes, read said notes one or twice before exam

law school: read everything assigned in casebook, follow reasoning chains in class, killself making outlines before exam

ugrad worked to a 3.9+, we'll see how 1L goes

 

[vcoheda]

regardless of the major, it seems that repetition in some form works well.

 

[Benaiir]

I put the notes I took into a text to speech app (for vista go to Control Panel---> Classic View ---> Text to speech).. Put on the good ol' cans and pump the volume.

Not sure if macs have it standard, but there's probably some 3rd party app for it.