My study habits are honestly, not the best. When I was in high school, though I took higher level courses, everything came easy to me. I was able to get through my classes with good grades, while only having to look over my notes once or twice. So, I did carry those habits into college. My first exam ever, I failed. I only looked over my personal notes rather than the power points made for the lectures, and missed very important information. As the semester went on, I learned to really dedicate more time than just one time through, to making sure that I understand the material fully. I need to set aside more than one day to really work on the material, and go over everything more than once to make sure it is in my head for good.
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Hi Allison! I as well did not have to study often in high school, even though I was in honors and AP courses. I think it’s really good that you learned from your first test that you would have to change your study habits. Going through your notes is not a bad thing. It is good to go through your notes for a little each day because it will stick as you keep repeating it. Study habits that you could try is making flashcards and dedicating a couple hours each night to the material a week before the test; this way you won’t be cramming the night before. Especially for this class, you can take the quizzes after each chapter that are up on canvas to make sure you have a good understanding of the material for that chapter. They are also a good indication of what you need to study more of. I enjoyed reading your post.
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Hi Allison!
I can totally relate to everything that you said. In high school I would prepare one or two days before any exam, even in AP and higher level courses. In high school not only would I not take studying seriously, but I would even ignore the studying tips given in class. I would only study my notes by rereading them. I know that failing your first test must have been scary, but I am glad that you learned something out of it and continued to work hard. I agree that looking over the powerpoint is a good way to catch anything that you missed, but I would also recommend finding videos that go over the topic you are trying to study. In class, we also discussed the importance of making practice problems and reviewing like it is a test. The idea of using semantic encoding is also a very good idea to use. I have noticed as I am studying if I think of something funny or relatable to the information, it gives it a better meaning and makes it stick better. For example, I will always remember that Harlow’s experiment is about the money experiment with the surrogate mother study. I remember this because I think of the gorilla Harambe and it having the same letter H as Harlow. Although this is a very strange way of remembering this study, it has given it meaning and has helped me remember this for the upcoming exam. Hopefully you can find meaning in things as you are studying to help make it stick better too!
Best of luck studying!
Natalie
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