Thread: Post how you study here!

If the class I have to study for is just memorizing terms, I use Quizlet, Studystack, etc., and I basically just do a practice test that can be generated from those sites (Quizlet is far more organized, but Studystack has a useful matching game)

I mostly used StudyStack in High School, especially when I had to memorize 150 words for the final exam (and ended up not really needing to study for them). Because of the matching game in StudyStack, I remember how I would challenge myself to get the best time for the matching, sometimes I'd remember so many definitions I typed, I would probably finish the game in 15-20 seconds after a few tries, and it gets into my brain.

But for college, I just go to the SI sessions (Supplemental Instruction or whatever) most of the time, since they give you concepts, equations, etc. that you need to know for the exam. And if they've been an SI tutor (it's mostly students who are the tutors that at made at least a "B" in the course before, but the ones who made an "A" get priority of course).

I never really bothered actually reading the book, because I'll just go to the study guide...because honestly, reading the book is just for understanding things and hopefully applying it to real life, but I don't see how I can get Abiotic Synthesis, or knowing what era a sample isotope of some substance to make a family and have a decent salary....so for classes like Biology and Chemistry, I just do rote memory with the Quizlet, and spam the practice exam until I feel I know everything, or get 100% on the practice test.

I also do the little Mnemonics, but I don't really focus on them too much, I only do it for the obvious ones like "King Phillip Came Over For Some Great Soup," etc.

But I usually study all the stuff the day before the exam (because I go to most of the SI sessions for the class, and have a general grasp of what they're telling us).

It's too bad I'm more lazy in college now. I remember being that little child who wanted to top everyone in something, I guess the motivation is dying for me since everyone can essentially graduate, and even if they have a 4.0 GPA and other interesting qualities, I'd doubt it would get them a job that quickly, especially since other people without a degree are living just fine (that famous million dollar crap is just BS, I mean, it's just using a million dollars throughout your life).

I hate how they enticed others to believe this.

Anyway yeah.

Don't know if anyone posted these links, but I'll just do it anyway.

Flash cards, vocabulary memorization, and study games | Quizlet
Flashcards

And here's all the memories of sitting on the computer, slamming terms into my brain until I memorized everything quickly (there may be a few typos, and some definitions may be off because I typed WAYYY too fast (but corrected them when I printed them out).

My StudyStack
Linkzelda41's Dashboard | Quizlet

For materials that I legitimately want to learn (usually finance, business, investment, programming, psychology and even some of the higher math courses), I do something similar to Puffin's writing technique. Except I usually try to make the notes reusable so I can reference them in the future. I am filling up several books with notes on various fields I want to master.

I kind of want to see how far in Physics and Math I can get, and for programming I am actively applying newer and better programming methods to whatever I want to design for fun. I feel like application of learned material is key. Beyond that, I especially agree with Darkmatters' suggestion of paraphrasing into your own words the notes you take. It is REALLY helpful and gets you thinking and putting together what you are learning with what you already know. I think that's why they say that by teaching others, the teacher learns as well.

I also love Mnemonics, but only when there are a few. If there are too many, then all that effort collapses and I forget most of them.

I gave up truly studying material that doesn't interest me (usually some English classes, most social sciences, and things that I don't see myself applying in the real world). For these, I usually use lecture notes and do a quick read and write before exams for about an hour (with some level of rote memorization), and then I...wing it. Saying this makes me cringe. I hate that I am not interested in certain subjects, but I made peace with this procrastinator method in high school years ago. And it almost ALWAYS results in a good grade which is the very validation that I, at some level dislike, as it proves to me that the lazy method can also work. x_x

Originally Posted by niteLite

I also love Mnemonics, but only when there are a few. If there are too many, then all that effort collapses and I forget most of them.

Try using the method of loci, sometimes known as 'memory palace.'

Originally Posted by ThePieMan

Try using the method of loci, sometimes known as 'memory palace.'

Oh yeah, my grade 7 teacher taught us that O:

I generally try to grasp the abstractions that get used to provide general, over-arching principles for the subject at hand and then forget the facts. If the subject doesn't have general principles from which I can derive the facts as needed (and hence not have to remember them) then I just drop the subject and wait for someone else to figure it out.

I take the book, and I start chanting.

I don't like writing because I find it a waste of energy. Fingers need rest before the actual examination.

When I was in school I never studied. I just paid SUPER ATTENTION in class.

One word: flashcards.

I do nothing.

But really I just do it like there is no tomorrow.

If you mean how do I memorise figures and names, then I use a combination of mnemonics and the 'journey' technique. So I substitute letters and numbers for pictures, and then imagine a journey with absurd applications of those pictures on the way. To be honest, I have little patience for figures and names because they generally serve no purpose other than getting decent marks on exams.

I like to understand, not remember and regurgitate. Regarding this, I will glance over the material very quickly to get the general gist, and then read it in detail. Once I think I understand what was written, I close the book and try to come to the same conclusion based on what the author put forward. If I can't, then I don't understand what he/she is saying.

When it comes to notes....lol, completely non-linear, messy, and in multiple colours.

Originally Posted by Carrot

I take the book, and I start chanting.

I don't like writing because I find it a waste of energy. Fingers need rest before the actual examination.

Ah my fingers and wrist are in utter pain half way through every exam I take.

Originally Posted by Wolfwood

Ah my fingers and wrist are in utter pain half way through every exam I take.

My hand was red from writing during my social studies, history and ESPECIALLY LITERATURE papers.

I know the feeling....I think I grip the pen a bit too hard...

Originally Posted by Wolfwood

I know the feeling....I think I grip the pen a bit too hard...

It's a natural reaction when we're all tense up at writing without the luxury of time.

I'm so used to typing because I rarely, through choice, hand write anything. I wonder how long it'll take before we're allowed to type our essays in exams on a sort of rudimentary computer. It's so stuck in the past, in my opinion.

Flashcards are great when there's not a ton of material.. because flashcards take time to make. If it's a large amount of material, I'll end up spending more time making the flashcards than studying them and making them just wears me out mentally. I usually read through the chapter and make notes over what I think is important and could possibly be on the test. Usually for those easy freshman level introductory courses, I'll just make flashcards over the definitions and be good to go. I have sort of a photographic memory when it comes to illustrations and objects such as anatomy practicals (which I should be studying for now). So I just go over them a few times until I feel I have it down.

The only class I have to study for is AP Euro. First I read/skim through most of the reading I was supposed to do. Then I write a short paragraph on each thing on this list of things we need to know that my teacher gives the class. After that, I get together with a few friends, who I can actually study with rather than goof off, and we quiz each other on the stuff on the list. Sometimes we take a practice test after that.

somemexican, I cracked up when I saw your name.

Has anybody tried to pay you to write an ese for them?

I always have trouble just sitting down and studying to where it makes me want to punch a wall. So I just cram the night before or the morning. I forget everything I learned after the test.

Originally Posted by Wayfaerer

One word: flashcards.

Tried that before. Ended up using them for this purpose:

Originally Posted by ThePieMan

Tried that before. Ended up using them for this purpose:

He's secretly a ninja... imagine him with shurikens.

Throughout all of my education, even to the completion of my Bachelors -- I never studied formally. I made sure to participate in class, write hand-written notes and transferred them over to electronic copy as a secondary way of processing the information. When it came to learning a foreign language, immersion and listening exercises were the most important.

How do i study? I have 5 months to learn a semester's worth in every subject, i do nothing for 4 and half months and start studying in the last 2 weeks.... Worked so far, lol.

Usually with some soft piano classical or silence and in solitude. Sessions can last anywhere between a few or a dozen hours.