Study habits

[deus ex machina]

Question for all: How do you typically find yourself studying for school? What works best for you, generally?

I generally make flashcards and cornell notes I never use. The process of going transferring concepts from medium to medium usually activates the necessary connections need to organize material in my mind. I like drawing diagrams I can internalize and "see" in my mind, which connect as many concepts related to whatever I am studying as possible. I generally do a lot of planning on what, and when I will study but then I don't actually study until the last moment at which point I am generally smoking a blunt and trying to do flashcards by having my roomate ask me a generall flash card connection and then Ill try to connect as many concepts as possible to the question in hopes of establishing clarity and a logical cohesiveness between said subject of study.

Unfortunately for my gpa I cannot pull myself to studying gen ed shit that absolutely bores me. Cultural affairs, and pluralism in society, for instance seems like a waste of mental effort to me. Luckily these classes usually require rote memorization which can be distributed over a couple half hour study sessions and then bullshitting (essays, short answer etc) or just picking the most logical answers (multiple choice). I generally try to exert as little effort as possible in such classes, but unfortunately I need to graduate with a decent gpa, unless I just decide to be a career student of course.

[s'box]

Never used flashcards or any of that sort, most of the time I find that unless im doing something with it as im writing it down it just bypasses the memory and concious mind entirely and goes from the eye to the hand and thereby doesn't do a damned thing. Taking notes is equally as useless process wise, usually though I scrawl enough so to look it over later and I've passed tests easily just based on maybe a page of marginally legible scattered notes.

Generally what works best is simple reading through everything, and occasionally i'll jot things down in a sort of chart form to connect everything outside my head.

But I suppose it actually doesn't come up much as most of my classes aren't the studying test sort, full of art and project based

[Edmond Zedo]

I am generally smoking a blunt
Wrong drug for studying, man! Makes you stupid. If you want legal chemical help, take a dose of decongestants with a cup of coffee. prescription or illegal: speed.

[Nemesis]

I never study for school. Never have, never will.

[Pooja]

you say that now, but you're just in high school... wait until your Biol 398 professor decides to give "pop exams" every week...

[Eileen]

For subjects requiring me to memorize lots of information, I'm definitely on the flash card train. I've never been a great note-taker. I write down way too much information to be practical for studying. I wish that I'd been taught a good note-taking strategy in high school.

Most of my classes in college were more essay and artifact-driven than test-driven, so studying wasn't necessarily a big issue. I just had to learn to be good at spreading out my information in front of me and grabbing what was most useful for my purposes.

[Kilby]

I never study for school. Never have, never will.

~Nemesis sits down in his desk...the girl to his right gives a slight smile and a giggle; unaware that she likes him, he checks his fly in his insecurity...the test is being passed out; someone in the northeast corner of the room is looking for a pencil in their bookbag...the collective breath of the class is short and heavy... stress hangs on all their shoulders, all except Nemesis... he laughs to himself, cracks his ankles and his knuckles, and envisions the A that will be scribbled on test after it is graded...oh, what was that! doubt has entered the room... it shuts the door quielty...am I really ready for this test? He thinks of the INTPC thread about studying; they are wrong, I can handle it...

pencil steady, brain high-powered on mom's spaghetti,
but he didn't study, a flash of guilt and his face turns ruddy.
receive the test but he had too little rest and it's like a pest,
snap back to rationality, oh he's so mad but he won't... hit the books,
teacher gives him one of those looks.
but don't panic, too late to get advice from lexiphanic,
he's like a mechanic without a wrench, salt without a pinch,

multiple choice, just follow the voice in my head, but this time it's dead.
no database in his brain on which he can rely,
am I gonna fail this test?! thought while holding back the urge to cry.

~I don't do flashcards, I feel like I waste time making them...read, read, read and do these three reads with mental concentration, think it over in your mind, no need to write it down with graphite and pine.

[Eileen]

~I don't do flashcards, I feel like I waste time making them...read, read, read and do these three reads with mental concentration, think it over in your mind, no need to write it down with graphite and pine.

Oh, half of the studying process to me is making the cards. There's just something about writing it down that helps me remember.

[Kilby]

Oh, half of the studying process to me is making the cards. There's just something about writing it down that helps me remember.

yeah, it seems like people either love it or hate it, although of course those in-betweeners are out there regarding flash cards. I like to actually go through my notes and underline key things and let the other information sit around it. I think my notes are outstanding to be quite honest, and they are just messy enough to where they can't be read by the guy who is trying to see what I wrote because he came to class late. It annoys the hell out of me when people talk to me or do anything to me during a lecture. I just give them a "pay attention, dammit, the teacher is talking" look and they slouch down in there chair.

[Eileen]

yeah, it seems like people either love it or hate it, although of course those in-betweeners are out there regarding flash cards. I like to actually go through my notes and underline key things and let the other information sit around it. I think my notes are outstanding to be quite honest, and they are just messy enough to where they can't be read by the guy who is trying to see what I wrote because he came to class late. It annoys the hell out of me when people talk to me or do anything to me during a lecture. I just give them a "pay attention, dammit, the teacher is talking" look and they slouch down in there chair.

What's your note-taking method? Mine is basically "scribble down what seems important and doodle in the margins."

[Darren]

Question for all: How do you typically find yourself studying for school? What works best for you, generally?

.

1. I find lectures to be utterly and absolutely a waste of time... not because I'm insanely intelligent (though I'm not bad in that department), but because I never learn anything in them. I need to engage the material, poke it, prod it, argue with it, put it into my own words, ask questions about it. No time for that in lecture.

2. My main method of study (for a grad degree in econ) was to read over the notes (which are very intensely mathy) and summarize in English what I think is going on (that is a relatively brief process and needs to be supplemented with some math problem solving type activities too).

3. I also found the homework assignments in grad econ to be a massive waste of time. Hard, yes. But mainly as 40-page exercises in algebra problem solving.

Your mileage may vary.

[Nemesis]

~Nemesis sits down in his desk...the girl to his right gives a slight smile and a giggle; unaware that she likes him, he checks his fly in his insecurity...the test is being passed out; someone in the northeast corner of the room is looking for a pencil in their bookbag...the collective breath of the class is short and heavy... stress hangs on all their shoulders, all except Nemesis... he laughs to himself, cracks his ankles and his knuckles, and envisions the A that will be scribbled on test after it is graded...oh, what was that! doubt has entered the room... it shuts the door quielty...am I really ready for this test? He thinks of the INTPC thread about studying; they are wrong, I can handle it...

pencil steady, brain high-powered on mom's spaghetti,
but he didn't study, a flash of guilt and his face turns ruddy.
receive the test but he had too little rest and it's like a pest,
snap back to rationality, oh he's so mad but he won't... hit the books,
teacher gives him one of those looks.
but don't panic, too late to get advice from lexiphanic,
he's like a mechanic without a wrench, salt without a pinch,

multiple choice, just follow the voice in my head, but this time it's dead.
no database in his brain on which he can rely,
am I gonna fail this test?! thought while holding back the urge to cry.
Actually, I just happen to be one of those annoying people who can remember anything as long as they pay attention. I got the highest grade on the Final in Biology last year (97) and I had never studied once that year. Idk. Nothing special to me.

[Kilby]

What's your note-taking method? Mine is basically "scribble down what seems important and doodle in the margins."

You seem to have my method already. Important is the key word. I would say I write down lots of the seemingly unimportant things as well. I am pretty much in the "zone." I have done the doodling thing, and I would say that hinders my note-taking abilities greatly. If you are focused on writing down almost everything then you won't have time to doodle. Of course, I don't have the same teachers you do, but we all have some that are doodle-worthy because of their lecture style.

[Kilby]

Actually, I just happen to be one of those annoying people who can remember anything as long as they pay attention. I got the highest grade on the Final in Biology last year (97) and I had never studied once that year. Idk. Nothing special to me.

Bravo. I write almost everything down. You sit there and absorb it. That is hilarious. But hey, I wish you well in your studies. You have a gift. Just think if you were to actually study. You could create Nemesis Inc., the element nemesisium, or pass the Nemesis bill. These code names will help other INTPC members be aware of your success. We'll all say, "HE did it!"

[ferunandesu]

I don't go to class, so paying attention or taking notes is out of question. I don't read the material, even though I find that it's the best way to study. What I do is this: Most professors let you know what the test is over by creating study guides. At our school, a lot of this is done online. If a professor gives out something only in class, then you can ask another student to post it on the class message board. After I get the study guide... I simply run through that with the textbook. If the study guide has a term, I simply look in the glossary. If it's more vague or conceptual, I'll look it up in the index and then read a paragraph or two on it. If it's not in the textbook at all, then I'll use Wikipedia. If I still can't find it... Then I don't worry about it. With this slim framework of knowledge, my superior inductive and deductive reasoning skills will allow me to ace any test... Unless, of course, it's a mathy class... With those, I just ace em' regardless...

This is for exams... Pop quizzes, homework, classroom participation, and projects are what I tend to slip up on...

So far this semester, I've only been able to use this method twice since I have a lot of math and science courses... Both times were in Anth 1102. I made a 98 on the first exam. The class average (out of 300+) was a 78, and less than 10% of the class made an A. I haven't gotten the grade from the second exam back, since I took it yesterday (March 2nd, 2006).

[Jasz]

most productive hours were always early morning (don't eat or drink anything, just straight from bed to desk and work for three/ four hours until you are near-dead) or late afternoon/ early evening.

always had relaxed instrumental music in background.

i always worked backwards, starting with a thorough understanding of what they want to hear/ have you know else i would go astray (i am a terribly slow reader)

and i always read with a pen/ build concise models of the theories discussed,
if i can't visually represent the theory (building blocs, counter-arguments etc) i would not remember

and i would ALWAYS avoid those students that totally freak out in nervous panics just before the tests (and NEVER try to look up the answer to a question raised by those last-minute-idiots in case i bumped into one by accident)

[deus ex machina]

Oh, half of the studying process to me is making the cards. There's just something about writing it down that helps me remember.

My roomate is an INFJ, and she says the same thing. She always colors everything really good and will have everything spread out in front of her while studying. Interesting thing is the majority of what she learns comes from her rewriting everything down a million times (She's doing a double major with spanish, and we've got post it notes over like every object in the house with the objects spanish names on it).

[Eileen]

My roomate is an INFJ, and she says the same thing. She always colors everything really good and will have everything spread out in front of her while studying. Interesting thing is the majority of what she learns comes from her rewriting everything down a million times (She's doing a double major with spanish, and we've got post it notes over like every object in the house with the objects spanish names on it).

Yes! I spread everything out also. I like it when I can just reach my tentacles out and get the information that I need. Unfortunately, this makes my space rather messy in high-activity times (which for me now is every three weeks when grades are due).

[Magajy]

It really depends on what I have to study. Things I find interesting or "mind boggling", I hardly need to sit down and study, as I would have done all the studying in my head whilst going about my normal daily life.

And if it has anything to do with mathematics, it's just a quick rush over necessary formulae just before the exam/test, just enough to keep them in my head for the test duration. Don't know why, I have no fear for maths at all, but still grateful I didnt go for a Mathematics major, I would have been hopelessly miserable; the maths in engineering is just enough.

Everything else, ie un-interesting, boring, long notes; I have to really study. Ha, ha.... I always end up not. I just go on like most others making notes, re-summarising and making bullet points that I will never look at again. It is really funny, how making those notes make things stick. And the rest is left to imagination, I hardly leave a question un-attempted.

[edit] And reading from the last page backwards, weirdly helps. Probably cos its so boring to read begining to end. So read from end to begining and the constant effort of trying to make sense of it somehow makes it glue. Weird? I agree.