Study Tips?

[CrossCuT]

That sounds like so much work. :P

Thats the whole point!

I forced myself to reorganize ALL of my notes. 

 

It helped me learn because I had to sift through what I thought was most important which meant I had to know every detail...and if I didnt understand how something fit into the puzzle I had to do some research.

And then the part about just physically rewriting everything helped with memory.

 

 

Here is an example of my notes from a very old chemistry class. LOTS of colors

 

Sounds like someone is a massive visual learner. :)

 

Coming up with your own system of notes is SUPER important!  I've never taken IB classes, but I did take my fair share of AP classes, and learning to take good notes is vital.  Come up with your own system! I never had the patience to color code mine (though it's a great idea!), but I used all kinds of stars (for really important concepts or things explicitly on the test) and arrows (for sub-concepts or something resulting in something else). I also came up with a shorthand for longer words that were repeated a bunch. For my AP Gov and Politics class we copied a lot of notes straight from the overhead so this wasn't an issue, but for things like my college theology classes, it was a godsend.  Then I'd put the "key" at the top of the first page, so I'd remember. Things like writing a "chi-rho" symbol instead of "Christ" or "jesus" or "Christianity" or a "chi-rho" with an "s" attached for "Christians."  Again, the real key is to just figure out how your brain works and support it. It sounds like you've already got some basics.  A lot of people act like it's this massive thing to learn to study, when really you just have to sit down and do it. :)

I mostly did it because it made studying fun too hahaha

Edited February 18, 2014 by CrossCuT

[ThereseMaria]

Honestly, one thing that helped me study was color coding.

I enjoyed taking my notes from class and rewriting them on colored construction paper in order to compartmentalize them in my head. It was fun!
If I didnt have colored paper, I used TONS of colored pens. Just helped organize things for me. I liked it.

That sounds similar to what I do. I write as fast as I can (and my original notes are NOT neat, you can barely read them), and then when I decide I need something to do, I go and rewrite my notes in a
more organized manner before taking a bunch of highlighters to it. I usually fully highlight major titles with one color, and underline minor titles with that same color. I underline important terms in another color, and highlight examples in yet another color. And I didn't really realize it until the end of the year, but in my Science class, I used colors that kind of seemed to relate to the notes. For the Electrical Principles and Technologies unit, I ended up using blue and yellow highlighters, because for whatever reason, I tend to relate yellow and blue to electricity. But nothing make me happier than looking at a beautifully handwritten and highlighted set of notes!!! :D (I would upload a picture, but apparently the picture exceeded 15.13KB...)

[CrossCuT]

That sounds similar to what I do. I write as fast as I can (and my original notes are NOT neat, you can barely read them), and then when I decide I need something to do, I go and rewrite my notes in a
more organized manner before taking a bunch of highlighters to it. I usually fully highlight major titles with one color, and underline minor titles with that same color. I underline important terms in another color, and highlight examples in yet another color. And I didn't really realize it until the end of the year, but in my Science class, I used colors that kind of seemed to relate to the notes. For the Electrical Principles and Technologies unit, I ended up using blue and yellow highlighters, because for whatever reason, I tend to relate yellow and blue to electricity. But nothing make me happier than looking at a beautifully handwritten and highlighted set of notes!!! :D (I would upload a picture, but apparently the picture exceeded 15.13KB...)

 

Haha I did that for an anatomy class too. All the notes on the cardiovascular system were red, muscles were pink, bone was white etc.

[zabbazooey]

wrong thread lol

Edited February 20, 2014 by zabbazooey

[Poorly Catechized Convert]

I just remembered today that I'm going into high school next year, and then I started to think about all the studying I will have to do if I sign up for all IB (AP) courses like I'm planning, and THEN I realized that I don't actually know how to study... Well, unless mentally going over the study guide 5 minutes before the test counts. I was wondering, does anyone have any tips on studying? Thanks

 

First I'd look up all of your textbooks online. Often times you'll find that the publisher includes notes (you may also stumble across other note sites) and practice tests on their website. The former can really helpful, although not always. It really depends on how they're formatted.I have found some that are not helpful at all and in such a case they need to be avoided. Only take practice tests a couple times. They'll likely be completely different the ones you'll take in class. Their only purpose is to ensure that you are understanding the material.

 

Keep up on your nightly reading. Falling behind will create a lot of problems. Also, you should take notes while reading. They also can be useful.

 

When your teacher lectures take thorough notes. Lectures help bring together what you read and may help you understand things you had previously struggled with. They also include the points your teacher thinks are the most important. For these reasons lecture notes are very important.

 

Ideally you should be going through this material in the weeks prior to tests. If your teacher has an optional review sessions, you need to go to it, unless you absolutely cannot.They are so helpful. On the night before the test you should set aside around six hours for studying. This is not so that you can cram. You should not need to, but it is still good to give your self plenty of study time and the night before seems like the easiest time to set aside time. Again you should still be studying before that night. You'll likely find that six hours is more than enough; it was just a good rule of thumb for me when I factored in distractions. IT is easy to become distracted and so you need to take that into account while studying.