Hi guys i know its first week but im kind of getting stressed becuase i just had the flu and i commute so i was to tired to do any of my readings. Im also in commerce 1st year and was wondering if you guys have tips on what you guys do after class such as take read ahead in every class and take notes on the textbook or just goto class and take notes on what the teacher says. Also how much hours do you guys study everyday. Sorry if this question is sort of broad.

Originally Posted by MrSmith

Hi guys i know its first week but im kind of getting stressed becuase i just had the flu and i commute so i was to tired to do any of my readings. Im also in commerce 1st year and was wondering if you guys have tips on what you guys do after class such as take read ahead in every class and take notes on the textbook or just goto class and take notes on what the teacher says. Also how much hours do you guys study everyday. Sorry if this question is sort of broad.

I completely understand how you are feeling. First year can be very overwhelming. Everything is new and pretty fast-paced, and it takes some time to get use to it all. If you are stressed about how to handle everything, the following article would be helpful: http://www.macinsiders.com/showthread.php?t=1748 3

In regards to your question, I think everyone has a different studying method and so it may take you some time before you find out what really works for you. Personally, after class, I go over the lecture again. I read through my notes and make sure that I understand everything that was taught. If I do not understand a specific topic, I review the corresponding textbook pages. If I still do not understand, I ask the professor/TA for some clarification.

Personally, I find taking notes from the textbook to be a waste of time. I have found that professors usually focus their tests and exams on lecture material. Unless your professor explicitly tells you that he will test you on textbook material, I would not recommend spending hours upon hours reading through textbooks. Nonetheless, I am in science. I am not sure if this would differ for commerce.

Depending on the time of year and my course schedule, the amount of time I dedicate to studying varies. If I have a really long day, I won’t study as much. During midterm time, I definitely study more than usual. Right now, I probably spend 3-4 hours studying a day. Nonetheless, different people require less/more time.

Hope that helps!

This my study method and remember this one works for ME and may not necessarily work for you:
1.) Do all the reading before classes. This way you get somewhat a general scope of what you are going to learn in lecture. This helps to get a basic foundation.
2.) Go to lecture (everyday) and listen carefully. you dont have to write every single word the prof says only what is important. what is important you ask? If its the same stuff as you read in step one then its not really that important but if its totally different or adds more detail onto the material in the reading then it is important. deciding what is important will get easier as you become more familiar with the course and your learning style
3.) Go over the lecture notes you made in step 2 and your textbook side by side. add details or information from the book into your lecture notes. This will allow you to see what is important and how the lecture and book are connected.
4.) if you are in a course which involves problem-solving or math such as chemistry, math, physics then i suggest to understand formulas in the context of concepts and work on some problems. Take your time with the problems as it is important to go through a learning process as you work out the problems as the answer is not the most important aspect of problem solving, its the problem solving part!
5.) if things are still looking fuzzy and confused this is the part where you need to talk to you prof and/or TA. To see where you learning process is lacking or what you are not getting.
6.) when studying for tests and midterms there are two ways to do this:
top to bottom: meaning look at the big picture first and then focus on details
OR bottom to top: focus on details of each concepts before looking at the big picture
remember to understand definitions and concepts (this is the details, information heavy part) and how they relate to one another (this is the big picture part)
ask yourself alot of questions and be an active learner versus a passive learner. an active learner makes a conscious effort to store and process information in an efficient manner. This efficient manner could be concept maps, charts and tables, etc.