Studying Tips

Knowing how to approach the material is the first step in succeeding your courses.  The amount of material covered and the speed at which it is covered may seem overwhelming, but if you follow these guidelines, your stress level will decline as your success increases.  The three elements to succeeding in most courses are Lecture, Time Management, and Test Preparation. 

Lecture

Attend every lecture. 

Most things you need to know will be covered in the lectures.  Instructors will often give hints for success, and will give updates on the syllabus.   You will learn more in class just being there than you will just looking at notes or the textbook.

Go alert and awake. 

Sleeping through lectures won’t really help you, and copying notes still wouldn’t give you the in class experience.

Take Notes. 

Write down everything you can.  Anything is fair game on an exam.  If you have trouble getting everything down, ask the professor if you can tape the lectures.  That way, you will have them to listen to at a later date.  If you miss a lecture, get notes from at least 2 people.

Prepare for lectures. 

Read over the lecture outline before class.  This will help you focus on the material to be covered.  Skim the reading that corresponds to the lecture outline.  By doing so, you will know some of the material before starting.  Even if you don’t understand everything, you will have seen vocabulary and terms once before.  This will reduce the “shock” of hearing them for the first time in lecture.

Find a “Note Buddy.” 

Photocopy and swap your notes with someone after class every day.  Meet once a week and teach each other the notes.  Not only will this force you to review, but also you will realize if you missed any material.  Also, by teaching someone else the material, you will learn it even better.   

Time Management

Start early. 

Use the first 2 weeks of the term.  If you don’t, it makes it much harder to get started.  Start studying for your next exam 2 days after your first one.  It may be a drag, but again, try to get into the routine as soon as possible. 

Set deadlines. 

Go through your syllabus and note when exams, quizzes, or essays are due.  Make a term calendar, and note them.  Set aside specific deadlines for yourself.  For example, you can set a deadline to have all research done for a project one month before it is due.  For exams, have all your studying done 2 days prior.  This gives you 2 days to review.

Find your "Study Hour". 

Spend an hour a day reviewing your notes and try make it part of your daily routine.  If it helps, block of the hour as if it were a class.  You don’t have to do it all at once—you could spend three 20-minute sessions throughout the day or 40 minutes reviewing notes and 20 minutes preparing for lectures.

Test Preparation

Condense the material. 

Make flash cards or another memory aids as you go over your notes.  Write out answers to your cards.  At this point, reading should be supplementary, as you have already taken notes on it.

Use the reading to supplement. 

Do you have a question about a topic in class?  See your professor, and look it up in the book.  Your books are resources—use them!  You do not, however, need to read every chapter over again, if you have done it correctly the first time.  Feel free to see someone in Learning Support Services to help you. 

Know all the figures that relate to the lecture. 

If it was drawn on the board, chances are you need to know it.  Charts, graphs, symbols, timelines, etc. are all important!

Apply the material. 

At the college level, you will be expected to not only know the material, but be able to apply it as well.  As you study, think of applications of the material.  This could better prepare you for exams.

Use old exams. 

Refresh your self on the style of each exam.  How are questions asked?  Are there multiple-choice questions?  Is it an essay?  There are different ways to prepare for each.  The final exam often has questions and material from any midterms taken.  If you got a question wrong on the first exam, you had better learn it for the next, in case the question is repeated (it happens!).

If you have any other questions, please feel free to meet with someone in Learning Support Services today.

Adapted from “Studying for the Sciences—Prescription for Success,” Academic Skills Center, Dartmouth College 2001

Audio Format:

Part 01 -Lecture

Part 02 - Time Management

Part 03 -  Test Preparation

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