01-07-2003 10:43									#1
	How do you study? Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Inspired by Vesayen's graduation thread (again, congrats!) I'd like to know your studying methods. Most of you are studying in colleges and unis, so let's hear them!

Also please tell what you are studying, so we can see if there are any differencies between subjects and strategies.


I'm starting studies at comp sci and software engineering and mathematics.

My style of studying is (in terms of working through course) to first read the first page of the book and see what the book is really about, if the book is essential in the course. Naturally won't work in programming the best way though...

I check out the subject of the day, and a day or two before that I quickly go through the text in the book, and maybe check out the subject from the internet too. I won't try to memorize it all, just read it quickly and try to understand what it is about, and then figure out what is important and essential, and what is not so important. I try to see the big picture.

Now I can effectively follow the class and be pleased to my efforts and I don't have to work so hard to keep up with the important things. Now is my time to ask, if there were any questions that I had the day before and still wasn't cleared out. I have maybe even wrote up few questions I need to get clarified. Naturally I make notes if the teacher or professor had some useful stuff.
If not before, now I should be able to see the bigger picture.

Then I get back from the class, and start underlining the most important things if I hadn't done it already. I might even skip the underlining part. Now I go through quickly the stuff that was in the class relaxed and I don't have to stress out too much. Assuming I understood it.
If the subject is hard for me, I like to write things down that I think is important. It takes time and effort, but then I can utilize both writing, reading and seeing methods. After this I only go through the papers I just wrote, and not the book. If the subject is not that tough, I won't go through this, but hit the internet and check out some more info. And that's about it.

Then when the exams are close, I don't need to make such a big effort anymore, and can effectively start thinking about the next course about the same subject.
Well what the heck, they're all about programming .

What's your style?

Also I find it good not to force it. If it doesn't fit my head, I just go outside and do something, or see some buddies. I don't have rigorous program that I follow too closely.

	01-07-2003 10:45									#2
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

Usually I don't bother with the details. I just want to get the big picture right and how stuff works. To me, everything else is secondary.. Sometimes it backfires a little, but I don't blame myself. But at least I know how things work and what the big picture is.

Sometimes, especially in programming, I just try to draw things if I don't get them.. I just draw objects, lay them in front of me and it helps most of the times.

Also when I study new things, I try to think how they fit into the even bigger picture with the stuff I already know. Does it change something I have learned before? How they effect each other? I find this method very helpful and this way I remember lots of things easier.

Before bigger exam I usually just write down few words to paper that I find essential, and then try to think everything that the word is about and what it really means. If I don't handle some of those words well, I just go back to my writings and check it out and try again. Again and again. It doesn't take too much time IF I have followed the earlier methods. And this is where I know how I'm going to do, I know if I have mastered it, or if I need more work. The most important thing is, that I can now know how much I really know, and how much I still need to read and study, and hopefully after few times I know I have mastered it.

Last edited by Pekka on 01-07-2003 at 10:53

	01-07-2003 11:15									#3
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I never studied in high school hardly. I'd do all my homework and then go over the material before the test. Usually a quick once over was all I needed.

It was a little bit different in nuclear power school. That required massive amounts of memorization- which has always been my weak point. The math was easy- that's not something I have to study for. A lot of it was memorizing different names for things and memorizing a lot of theoretical stuff which you can't get any hands on experience on- so that requires more effort to remember.

Basically I just crammed. and it worked, I had very high scores.

	01-07-2003 11:17									#4
	Remove this text

First thing I do is look up previous/sample exams, then I make notes of the things I don't remember.

Then I look at my old quizes/midterms, and make notes of the things I don't remember.

Then I compile a study guide of those things I don't remember, looking them up and/or practicing them.

Then, if time permits, I look through my notes and write down things I don't remember that might be important.

The few hours before the test, I'd review my notes.

In High School, I winged it all.

	01-07-2003 11:18									#5
	Inflate your Upload Space

Diss, nuclear power school? Are you like real life Homer Simpson?

	01-07-2003 11:34									#6
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

yes

	01-07-2003 11:40									#7
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

Asher, oh yeah I forgot to mention that. Looking at old tests is a really good way to prepare. Also gives some kind of feeling what kind of questions there will be, as there's usually some kind of rule you can figure out if you have like 3 earlier tests..

	01-07-2003 11:42									#8
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Asher, do you guys use lap tops at classes? Is it popular there?

	01-07-2003 11:49									#9
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

I never actually ever did what most people call studying, which I interpret as going over work or notes or homeworks, above and beyond simply doing your assignments. At most, I would look at the textbook in the minutes before an exam, specially in something like bio. Otherwise, my philosophy was that if I did not know it already from doing the homeworks, the readings, or the assignments, then "studying" wan;t going to make a difference.

	01-07-2003 11:49									#10
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

As has been suggested, go over any sample tests or old exams. If the professor gave you a study guide, review that. Then, go over your lecture notes. If available, go over the chapter summaries at the end of the chapters in your book.

By this point, you should have a good idea which concepts you are clear on and which concepts you are not. Read over the parts in the book for concepts you are unclear on. If you still fail to grasp the concept, see a fellow TA or prof for help(VERY important, don't neglect. Perhaps the best way to ensure a good grade)

Finally, if you believe it to be relevant to the test, skim thourgh your book and look up key vocabulary words. You can often infer the right answer to question by knowing what a key word means.

Of course, studying is only as important as being a good test taker, but that is another matter entirely..

	01-07-2003 11:50									#11
	Full PM-box? Change here!

GePap, yes, but this thread wasn't exclusively how you prepare yourself for the big one. More generally..

	01-07-2003 11:56									#12
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I meant more generally. i did the work that was required of me, and that was that/ Never read for extra credit, enevr read somehting not on the list for class, hardly ever went to any extra review sections (noly if I really still didn't know).

I found that my method is learning was good notetaking in class, near perfect attendance, and doing the readings. Nothing beyond that.

	01-07-2003 14:23									#13
	Got spare money?

I don't really need to take tests during the schoolyear, so basically I do nothing at all (except going to class now and then in order to catch up), but when exams are imminent () I go hardcore (there's only 2 weeks between the end of the semester and the exams, so not that much time).

I don't do anything mathematical so I don't really have to work much during the year... archaeology is about jamming all that knowledge into your head, understanding it isn't all that difficult . Of course, if I weren't so lazy and worked a bit better, I'd have much better results.

	01-07-2003 14:27									#14
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

I read for several hours every day.

	01-07-2003 14:31									#15
	Get a bigger avatar today!

studying is for pussies. I got my 94% graduation without ever studying. there's a man.

	01-07-2003 14:34									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

There's a freak of nature, you mean.

	01-07-2003 15:34									#17
	Increase Your PM Length

Well let me see:
In Biology I relied heavily onto the questions of old exams, just as Shi meontions. They are especially helpful at the Exam at the end of the first half of the study (so called Basic Study), where you have to write tests in Physics, Chemistry and of course Biology (where it isn´t uncommon that 50-70% of those who take part fail the tests).
But my strategy was different for the verbal Diploma examinations. There you are have to choose a main subject, a special subject and a minor subject out of different fields in Biology and another minor subject from outside the biology (so it´s 4 Examinations; you are free to choose the Dates for them, but all examinations have to be completed within one month after the Date for the first Examination).
Afterwards you´ve got to speak with the Profs where you want to make those examinations, to further clarify on which Subjects out of the fields you chose the Examination should concentrate. Many Profs just let you choose several Chapters out of biological Textbooks (as for example for my Examination in Animal Physiology [main subject], where I chose the Chapters "Heart and Blood Circulation" and "Gas Exchange and Acid-Base Balance" from Eckert: Animal Physiology (so I had 210 pages to learn))
other Profs just make a general outline of the subjects to be tested (as for my Examination in Microbiology [minopr subject / Biology] where the Prof just said "O.K., so we make a little bit of the basic principles of Molecular Genetics and also the lac-Operon and trp-Operon, this should cover the 30 minutes, the examination takes".).
Of course you shouldn´t be too confident that only those subjects, you spoke of, are tested within the Examination, the Profs are free to ask other things out of the field of study as well
I chose the Date of my Examinations so that I had 2 Month to learn.
For those Examinations I made a lot of handwritigns. For example for Animal Physiology I just tried to compress those Chapters, and tried to express all things mentioned with much fewer words (and also I drew those Illustrations in the Book [for example of
the various types of hearts and Circulatory Systems] for myself).
I spend maybe 8-12 hours a day with learning for the subjects and maybe 1 month before the first Examination I stopped going out with friends on weekends.
Maybe 1-2 weeks before the Examination I started making Cards with Questions about the Subject on the one Side and the Answers on the other side (Animal Physiology was the first one with my Special Subject (Neurobiology) being examined at the same day (Main Subject and Special Subject are always tested the same day and your Special Subject has to be connected to the Main Subject and has to be examined by the same Prof).
After all, my learning proved to be successful

As for my study in Computer Science,
I learn a lot at home and rarely attend to Lectures. In those subjects tested we get several problems we should solve at home and the answers are discussed once a week. Solving those problems helps me more in learning the subject at hand, than attending to the lectures.

	01-07-2003 15:47									#18
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

In high school, I did nothing. I just studied for the finals, and a lil bit to exams, generally.

Now, in uni, I do some of the homework, the one that is graded, that is. I also read the links that are given on the site to various pages explaining the material. I usually listen to music, and sit infront of the computer.

	01-07-2003 15:53									#19
	Suffering from ads?

stop gloating about uni, dave

paul, you at the london meeting? if not, I mean to spend some time in the north of the country, any ideas?

	01-07-2003 16:02									#20
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

Not planning on going to London, no. If you fancy spending time up north, York is always a good bet. Depending on how far north you want to go, you may want to give Edinburgh a visit too.

	01-07-2003 16:05									#21
	Increase the size of your Attachments

not that far.

	01-07-2003 16:21									#22
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization: The Boardgame

quote: stop gloating about uni, dave

Sorry. .

I am just very proud of myself.

	01-07-2003 16:23									#23
	Support Apolyton, buy GURPS/ Alpha Centauri

I wish I could be, too.

	01-07-2003 16:37									#24
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

I try to keep on top of the material presented during the course as it comes up - ie I go to most lectures and properly prepare for all tutorials.

When exams roll around, I summarise my notes and go over any tutorial exercises. It seems to work - my average mark is a distinction.

	01-07-2003 16:45									#25
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Andreas, I thought you would soon be going to the Uni, too. am I right?

	01-07-2003 17:27									#26
	Increase Your PM Length

yes, but uni is not the kind of thing that makes me proud... I obviously hold myself to a higher standard than you hold yourself to

	01-07-2003 17:43									#27
	Suffering from ads?

Didn't study much for my undergrad degree, I completed all my exercises and homeworks though, which was very important to do wll in mathematics and Computer Science. Get quite a bit more do read in the humanities though, not that the material was overly difficult (except for some philosophers, who were intentionally obtuse).

	01-07-2003 17:53									#28
	Get a bigger avatar today!

quote: Originally posted by Paul Hanson I read for several hours every day.

Err, you mean except Poly threads?

If so then I´m impressed

	01-07-2003 17:55									#29
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

should do the same... can't be arsed though

don't buy Bob Woodward's book

	01-07-2003 18:10									#30
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

quote: Originally posted by Pekka Asher, do you guys use lap tops at classes? Is it popular there?

Yep. Yep.

In the computer building, every lecture hall seat has a ethernet hookup (100Mbps) and power jack. That's in addition to the 802.11b wireless network that's free to use anywhere without hooking up.