Everything I could possibly think of has already been said. If anything make sure you don't get behind on any subject and constantly review.

Get a friend to test you (or roommate) to test you, that you you know for sure if you understand the material. Do this alot, not just before the exams.

Good luck man. Update us on your progress and tell us if it's working or not, I'd love to know.

Originally Posted by siefer1322

Everything I could possibly think of has already been said. If anything make sure you don't get behind on any subject and constantly review.

Get a friend to test you (or roommate) to test you, that you you know for sure if you understand the material. Do this alot, not just before the exams.

Good luck man. Update us on your progress and tell us if it's working or not, I'd love to know.

Sure man! I am certain this semester, i will make it work out for sure!

could you perhaps list your courses so we could get a better idea of potential study methods

Ahhh my biggest problem is studying for memorization courses (i.e., anything in biology).

For other courses like chemistry and physics, just doing a lot of problems is enough to do well. But in biology, I never seem to know how much detail we have to know things.

Originally Posted by Kendoon

could you perhaps list your courses so we could get a better idea of potential study methods

bio 2a03, bichem 2ee3, physics 1bb3, econ 1bb3, earth 2wwe, life sci 2h03. I am thinking of dropping either biochem, life sci or bio 2a03.

This helped me for textbook readings

scroll to the very bottom
http://ods.utk.edu/current/studyskills.php

Originally Posted by Alchemist11

Ahhh my biggest problem is studying for memorization courses (i.e., anything in biology).

For other courses like chemistry and physics, just doing a lot of problems is enough to do well. But in biology, I never seem to know how much detail we have to know things.

I hear ya man, how do you do chem and physics problems though. Like all of the book problems? odd, even or random ones. I try all of pretty much all of em till I get fed up off em.

Originally Posted by Kendoon

in other news, I study for biology by pacing around my room and talking as if I'm lecturing on the subject

I thought i was the only one.....

Originally Posted by mcmastergcdb

This semester I kept up with everything lol. I literally knew everything but I still bombed many of my classes. I don't know may be i get a brain freeze during the exams.
For a while now, I have a poor mentality that no matter how great I study, what I do, I just can't get a good mark! I am like using a passive approach by blaming my fate. I know it's wrong but I also study my arse off you know. It's not like that I am not studying and hoping for good marks.
I literally know my stuff and all but still do bad. Maybe I need to learn concentration techniques as well for the tests and exams.

Sounds like your problem is more with taking tests than studying in my opinion. Maybe what you should do is try writing the practice tests/exams multiple times in a simulated test environment after you have completed studying for whatever class before writing the actual test/exam.

Studying is only one part of the equation. You need to know how to be a good test writer too.

Originally Posted by Rakim

I thought i was the only one.....

Lol nope, I do the same thing >_>

Originally Posted by mcmastergcdb

I hear ya man, how do you do chem and physics problems though. Like all of the book problems? odd, even or random ones. I try all of pretty much all of em till I get fed up off em.

Uh, I guess it depends - in chemistry they give you a crapload of practice (old assignments, tutorials, midterms) so those are usually enough.

For physics, I've sort of gotten to the point where I don't do anything special anymore, I go through the notes for conceptual/iClicker practice, and then I go through (redo) CAPA doing the problems that aren't too obvious from just looking at them.

I noticed you're taking 1BB3, I just took it this term - this strategy I've just outlined above worked fairly well for me.

Originally Posted by Fight0

Studying is only one part of the equation. You need to know how to be a good test writer too.

Thanks, Captain Obvious.

Good idea for a post. I've been thinking about the same lately. I've experimented with a few different techniques for a while. A lot of them are based on the idea of passive studying vs. direct study methods. Passive studying is where pretty much all you do is read over your notes and try to mentally remember information. Direct studying is when you're actually working with the material directly, as in, asking yourself questions, solving problems, coming up with examples, making connections between concepts. Also, re-writing their notes can work, as in making summaries but only if you are re-writing it in a different way that's useful to you.

Here's one of the methods I've found the most useful, there's a link to it on this page: http://maclife.mcmaster.ca/academics..._resources.cfm ....it's the video called the question method of studying (you can also see it in PDF or read the transcript). There's a lot of really good videos on that site, some general videos and some specific to certain programs.

This method is useful for a lot of classes, the video uses economics as an example. I've found it useful for my humanities classes, and I'm sure it helps for science, math, etc. It's about how there are four different levels/kinds of questions that could be asked on a test, so you go through these levels to try to predict which ones could be on it... and it also gives you a kind of guide to study from. I find it really helps break it down into more manageable parts to study. First, I go through all my notes and readings, and come up with the first level questions, then make second, third and fourth level questions. Then I go back into them and try to answer them. Some classes are focused on only certain kinds/levels of questions though, so I won't make q's for every level.

It's important to think about what kind of class you're taking though. If it's based mainly on memorization, or based more on problem-solving, or critical thinking, etc. One class I took seemed to be more based on application questions, like coming up with your own examples, connecting ideas, etc. Basically, using the information that you're given and finding something that matches it.(mostly level 2/3 kind of questions, kind of level 4 q's as well but not quite). Another class was much more theoretical and much more focused on critical thinking, so I would have to take concepts and take it a lot further by developing my own argument(mostly level 4 questions). So I'm sure, even in science classes, it's important not so much to know WHAT will you will be tested on but what KINDS of questions you will be tested on. The more you practice the right kind of questions, the better you'll be prepared to improvise on a test, because you're already in the right mode of thinking.

Another thing that helped me is the video 'winning through wedging'... which is not really a studying method but more of a motivation technique for studying called 'wedging'.

Originally Posted by Rakim

I thought i was the only one.....

Haha, nope me fourth -_-. It's the only way that works with memorization courses without getting too tired/sleepy just sitting in your place.

Originally Posted by ~*Sara*~

Haha, nope me fourth -_-. It's the only way that works with memorization courses without getting too tired/sleepy just sitting in your place.

ahaha meee too. It's also why I end up talking to myself during tests though