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Thread: Ben's Guide to Getting A's

  1. #11

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    more like stay away from computer and online notes =p

    no matter how many times u log them off there's a tempt to log them back on lol XD

    (and even if u uninstall all ur browsers u still got Mr IE from windows)

    then there's your phone with all the wifi and 3g and games lol

    And math needs another set..that one is pretty much only good for memorizing

  2. #12

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    Just a tip. I have alot of friends who have a rule where they quit studying at a certain amount of time for some reason so they can sleep. While, I know sleep helps a ton, if you have trouble focusing during the day, try studying at night. Its so much more peaceful than during the day.

    Also, bring a few different things to work on. If you feel yourself getting tired or frustrated with one, switch to the other for a while.

  3. #13
    Sci_Girl's Avatar
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    I have a few tips to add:

    1.) First off, go to class. Enough with the “well I do not have to go because I got an A in my high school classes without going so I do not have to here”. Wrong attitude. If you want to pass a class with an A and not a minimal pass-fail you need to know what you are talking about. Profs purposefully add information to their lecture that is not in the textbook or notes to make you come to class. Bonus questions are often that type of information, which if you get correct could be the difference between a B grade and an A....and all you have to do is go to class to get it. University is not high school, you cannot waltz in and think you can glide to an A simply by taking a number of tests and highlighting a few things, you need to work hard and know the material.

    2.) Environment. Memory has a large contextual component, simple association to things can elicit a memory and that is exactly what you want to happen with your memories of exam material. As a result you need to create those associations in any way you can because it can help. Most people want to study in an absolutely dead silent room but in University it is really hard to actually have a dead quiet exam room. You have people rustling the exams pages, people sniffling, sneezing, coughing, even whispering and that continuous distraction is not in context with the dead quiet exam studying you may have had at the local library for example. The best way to study would be to study and take the exam in the same room however it is not always possible to study in the classroom that you have your lectures in so find a way that mimics that environment or at least have some way to create an extra association to your study material and that lecture material. The way to make this association is to actually chew some gum or a particular candy, something with a taste or flavor that lasts a long time. Smell can create quick associations, just think of any memories you have of cookies baking at your Grandma's place and anytime you smell cookies baking you think of her...same idea with lectures. If you study and always have that chew that particular candy or gum and then you have it again in your exam your memory of that smell will be associated with that lecture material. It is a very simple method that can help in the long run, I have got into the habit of doing this with Trident Layers strawberry citrus gum lol. Following on this the idea of studying with music is not a good idea. You cannot bring music into the exam room and you can end up paying more attention to the music during studying than the lecture material. Try to find your own ways of association that you are able to mimic in the exam room. Some exams have that quiet whisper of voices if it is a large room with many people in it, so maybe having the TV on in your room, but turned away from you, with a calm voice (ex. put on a nature program so there are no loud bursts of noise) and the volume very low. That way you get the calm voices of low volume TV program without it being a major distraction, just like in an exam.

    3.) Take breaks. You cannot just keep reading over and over for hours on end. You need a break yourself and so does your brain. Study for an hour and get up and walk around for 15 minutes. You can watch TV as a quick break, the key is quick break and not watch the whole TV program. Make some snacks as well if you want. Just get up and leave your room or wherever you are for that short period of time so that you can calm yourself down.

    4.) Study all the time. Cramming does not work beyond maybe a paragraph a minute before your exam. The reason for this is the way information is placed in your memory. More recent material is more likely to be recalled, and if you cram the most recent material you are likely to recall is that paragraph a minute before your exam begins. However if you continually study your memories are formed in a series of phases known as sensory memory, short-term memory (working memory), long-term memory, and ultra-long term memory. Your working memory is the one that is used the most during an exam because it is the material being attended to right at that time. Your long term memory holds the bulk of information and it is recalled if it is coded enough from short term memory. If it is poorly coded in short term it will be poorly coded in long term, hence not being able to recall much information. The only way to properly code that transfer of information from short term to long term memory is either by strong association or by continual rehearsal of information....aka continually studying. Ultra-long term memory is permanent memories, when you are an expert in something you have a significant amount of information in your ultra-long term store due to that continual rehearsal of information.

    5.) Sleep good. Getting a good nights sleep is important. There are different stages of sleep and we go through a series of these stages every night. REM sleep is more important for procedural memory, while slow wave sleep improves declarative memory (memory of facts and knowledge). If you have a good nights sleep you go through all the stages of sleep in a series and as a result your memories are improved just by having those sleep stages occur. If you have interrupted sleep you will not have that the same coding and hence lesser recalled memories.
    Last edited by Sci_Girl; 01-02-2012 at 01:01 PM. Reason: spelling

  4. #14

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    nice guide but im already a straight A student :l :cool:

  5. #15

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    Nice guide, but im out of the school : p!

  6. #16

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    Nice guide and most useful guide
    haha

  7. #17
    holyzac's Avatar
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    Nice guide, thought the note taking part was a good technique...

    My opinion...
    #1) Find adequate study partners...(Don't go for the people that don't show up for class, not smart, etc).
    I have to disagree with this though...
    In a study group, these people can ask many questions that really make you think...
    When you teach people only will you truly know if you really know what you already know.

  8. #18

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    or have a perfect memory

  9. #19

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    Really helpful, thanks!

  10. #20
    bourrache's Avatar
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    Very nice guide. I'd follow it but, eh.
    I'm too lazy for most of these things. I'm thankful that most of my grades are based on test scores and not actual homework, so I manage pretty high scores regardless. /badworkethic

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