Gabi Pontell's Exam Prep

I’m sure we have all experienced the feeling of walking into class on the day of an exam completely unprepared. Whether you forgot there was a test that day, didn’t study enough or at all, or tried to cram at the last minute, there are easy ways to ensure that you will be adequately prepared for your next test.


BEFORE YOU START STUDYING, it is crucial you know: *Never review by source, review by topic!*

With that said, it is time to start preparing for your test.


There are three steps in order to prepare for tests: Organizing, Studying, and Evaluating.


Organizing:

1. Make a Source Outline
- Outline of all sources for your class that contain the information that you will be tested on

2. Make a Topic Outline
- Look at sources and group by topic
- Reorganize source outline by topic

3. Study Schedule
- Plan when to study each topic
- Using a calendar will be helpful

*Both the Topic and Source Outlines can be found in the syllabus!*


In my NSD 225 class, I have a test coming up on Thursday. My professor provides students with a weekly schedule, and the topics that will be covered in each class. This allows me to see which topics are going to be on the exam.

For example:















Now, students need to make a Source Outline. For this type of outline, it is easiest to display information by the type of source. For example, A) Textbook, then list the chapters you need to study (a. Chapter 1, b. Chapter 2...)

Here is my source outline for NSD 225:
















After making a source outline, students need to make a schedule to plan when they will study for their test. I decided it would be beneficial to resort back to the Fritter Finder we made for class to see when I have time to study.

















My study schedule:
Monday:
4 - 5 and 8 - 9:30
Tuesday:
2 - 3:15 and 5 - 6
Wednesday:
4 - 5 and 8 - 9:30
Thursday:
2 - 3:15


Plan:
I planned to begin with reading Chapter 4 in the textbook, and then review the corresponding lecture notes for that chapter. Therefore, I studied two different types of sources that cover the same topic.


Studying:

***It is important for students to make study aids!***

Examples of study aids are: Flash cards, outlines, graphic organizers, study group, review sheets.

Personally, I often make flash cards because it helps me memorize terms and learn information when I repeatedly review them.















Test Questions:
Students should anticipate questions that could possibly appear on the exam.

**Students can find or derive questions from: Syllabus, previous exams, class discussion, study aids, professors questions in class**


Evaluating:

The final step for exam prep is to answer the questions you had previously anticipated.

REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW!!


Final Outcome:

A happy, well prepared student.

Exam Prep By Zane Green

Preparing for an exam can be overwhelming. And if I’ve learned anything from experience, it’s that waiting until the night before to study rarely turns out to be a good idea. There are steps that you can take weeks prior to the exam that are guaranteed to boost the productivity of your study sessions. Preparation for exams begins with these three steps: Organize, Study and Evaluate.
I. Organize
a. Topic Outline

-Syllabus

b. Source Outline
-Syllabus

c. Study Schedule

-Based on topic outline/planner

II. Study

a. Study Aids
-Flash Cards, Study Groups, Review Sheets

b. Questions
Syllabus, Professor, Previous Tests

III. Evaluate

a. Answers

We begin by developing a Topic and Source outline. We derive this outline from the course syllabus. We then create a study schedule based on our topic outline and personal planner. Having organized our study sessions, we then generate study guides (review sheets flash cards etc.) and begin anticipating questions based on course and class material. For this entry, I choose 20 minute test prep adapted strategy. The jeopardy note-taking style is particularly helpful, because it allows you to generate a study guide based on your anticipated exam questions. The following is my continued jeopardy notes for Anthropology:

ANTHROPOLOGY NOTES:

Communication

Grammatical constructions that deviate from those used by the socially dominant group in society	What is “dialect”?
A form of English spoken by many African Americans, particularly among those of rural or urban working-class background	What is “African American Vernacular English (AAVE)”? (Ebonics)
The ability of individuals who speak multiple languages to move seamlessly between them	What is “Code Switching” ?
The hypothesis that perceptions and understandings of time, space, and matter are conditioned by the structure of a language	What is the “Sapir Whorf Hypothesis”
The analysis and study of Touch	What is “haptics”?
The study of the cultural use of interpersonal space	What is “Proxemics”?
The study of body position, movement, facial expressions and gaze.	What is kinesics?
The science of documenting the relationships between languages and grouping them into language families	What is “comparative linguistics”

I also tried this strategy for Political Science

Public Opinion

Citizens views on politics and government actions	What is “Public Opinion”?
An opinions formed on the spot when it is needed (as distinct from a deeply held opinion that is stable over time)	What is a “Latent Opinion”?
A way of describing political beliefs in terms of a position on the spectrum running from liberal to moderate to conservative	What is “Liberal-conservative ideology”?
The amount of complexity in an individual’s beliefs about government and policy, and the extent to which those beliefs are consistent with each other and remain consistent overtime.	What is the “level of conceptualization”?
The process by which an individuals political opinions are shaped by other people and the surrounding culture	What is “Public Socialization”?

When studying, it is important to remember to study by topic, not by source. Also, discipline yourself to keep to your schedule!
20 Minute Test Prep

I. After Each class
a. 20 minutes review that day’s material. Creative Study aid
-Keep aids with you!

II. At the end of each week
a. 10 minutes, review the week’s work in each course. Then 10 minutes write 5-10 test questions
-Ask professor to verify

III. A week before the exam
a. Create a topic outline. Review by topic!!!!
- Use review topic

Exam Preparation by Paul Laohapiengsak

Exam Preparation by Paul Laohapiengsak

In college, it is easy to get distracted.  For this reason, preparing for an exam can be a difficult task.  As for myself, I get distracted easily by the surrounding such as sport games, movies, and friends.  This is why the exam preparation strategies, which I learn from CLS105 class, are extremely helpful. 

The first method that I use to prepare myself for examination is the exam preparation profile, which has three that include organizing, studying, and evaluating.  It allows me to organize, study, and evaluate myself when taking an exam.  First, I must organize the materials that will be on the test.  To start I would normally study from three main resources which are my textbook, PowerPoint, and my notes.  Also, what I find helpful from the faculty interview project is that some professor would provide study guide prior to the test such as the PSY205 class, which I find exceedingly helpful.  Not only that, sometimes during the lecture, some professors would suggest the topic that is on the test, which is also important.  In addition, as for organizing I also use other two strategies to plan out my study plan, which are the ranking priorities and Target planner.

Example of my Target Planner.

As for the ranking priorities, I was able to see ahead of time when the assignment is due and my task for those assignments.  I find this helpful because it gives me more time.  Not only that, ranking priorities also help me identify which task and more important than another when there is limited time to study.  In addition, I find that using target planner along with the ranking priorities is a perfect combination to prepare myself for a test.  I would use the ranking priorities to distinguish the most important task as allow my self to become aware of the due date while I use target planner to plan out my study for a certain test.  Furthermore, I use target planner for classes that has many steps toward a certain goal.  For example, I use the target planner for my English research projects, as there are many steps toward the final draft.  This way I can distribute my workloads in a certain day instead of doing everything the night before the project is due.  

Example of Ranking Priorities.

Ranking	Class	To do	Due Date
A1	MAT 284	Online homework (Chapter 3, course campus)	Tuesday 15th at 11:00 p.m.
A2	MAT 284	Exam 1 (Chapter 1-3)	Wednesday 16th at 3:40 – 5:00 p.m.
A3	PSY 205	Exam 1 (Chapter 1-4)	Wednesday 16th at 6:00 – 9:00 p.m.
A4	CLS 105	Faculty Interview Project	Monday 21st at 12:45 p.m.

After organizing myself of what I must go over, the next task is the method of studying.  For myself, studying refer to the method used to memorize and review for a certain class.  Most of the time, I would study by going over notes and rewrite what need to be memorized a few times as I am a kinesthetic learner.  In addition, the strategy that I find help is the Jeopardy Note-taking strategy.  I use this strategy for many classes including MAT284, which is shown below.  Jeopardy Note-taking strategy allows myself to the formula and functions of the graph.  This strategy is quite extraordinary it helps user in memorizing by first to create question then attempt to answer them.

Example of my  Jeopardy Note-taking strategy

The last step is to evaluate.  This determines if I am really ready for a test or if not what I need to study on.  Evaluate is what I believe the most important part of preparing for a test as it is somewhat a contingency plan for any unexpected incidents.  Overall I find Exam Preparation profile very helpful.  Also, what I believe is the key to a successful test preparation is to use the combination of many techniques.  As for myself, I would use the target planner, ranking priorities, and jeopardy note taking strategy to prepare myself.  I encourage other students to use the combination of learning strategies to ensure the most efficient method of studying.

Viola’s Exam Preparation

During the ECN class on Thursday, the professor announced that there was only two weeks from the mid-term exam. My first thought was: “Oh, my god! Only two weeks!” Then I realized that I could use the 20-Minute Test Prep-Adapted strategy to prepare for my mid-term exam.

This strategy is very good to prepare for ECN class as the focus of this class is facts and its pattern is definition and listing. So this strategy is just suitable for the review of the class as this strategy is based on a list of topics that will be covered in the exam.

So I just create an outline of the topics in the first place. As the PowerPoint is the major source of the information in ECN class, I create the list according to my PowerPoint. Here is my topic outline.

I write some questions to check my understanding of all these concepts in the margin. This list of concepts is a list of questions itself. As I read the list, I can quickly check whether I understand the definition. So it is very convenient to review these important concepts.

I also create study aid to help me with memorizing and checking. I create cards with the important concepts on one side and the detailed definition on the other side. I find these cards are very useful as I can carry them with me in my pockets so I can study whenever I have time. As there are definitions on the back of these cards, I can read them whenever I cannot remember them.

I find this strategy extremely useful for my ECN class, so I apply this strategy to my MAT course. I find the outline of topics still useful but not as much as the ECN course as there is more than concepts in MAT class. Here is my list of topics. I make it according to my class notes in MAT as the lectures are the major source of information for this course.

Then I find that only being familiar with these main points is not enough. The application of the theorems is much more important in a math course. So I collect previous exams and previous homework to create list a questions with different sections. I use this materials because I know the questions in exams are very similar to these in the previous exams/quizzes and homework assignments. I can use the list I create as a practical test before the exam approaching. 

In general, the 20-Minute Test Prep-Adapted strategy is extremely useful for classes in which definitions or concepts are the major information that should be known. While for classes in which application of concepts is more important, one should use other strategies as complements, like creating a list of questions using previous exams. It is also helpful to create study aids while using the 20-Minute Test Prep-Adapted strategies like creating cards and outlines.

Exam Prep

I used this sample exam to warm up.

This is a quiz I took long time ago, but the same question appear on my exam recently.

You can see the questions are almost same to some extent.

This is a question in my exam.

My blog's topic is Exam Preparation this week. I personally believe that exams might be the most significant part for a great number of courses, especially for some Natural Sciences subjects, such as Math and Physics. So for me exams will really mean a lot during this semester because I enrolled in MAT 295 and AST 104. Basically, my final grades for these two courses are based on six exams. So I have to treat each one of those six exams as the final exam during this semester, in other words, I can make no mistake. I think well preparation can really help. Today, I want to talk about how to use previous exams to do my exam prepararion.

First of all, as the textbook says, you can use previous exams to create your own questions. There might be millions different ways to ask you for the information you learnd, but there will be only one way appear on the exam. So read previous exams carefully can really help. For me, I utilized this strategy for my first astronomy exam. By studying the sample exam I know which part information my professor would get interested in.

Second, I noticed that there are also some other ways to use previous exams. For example, I used my math sample exam for warming up before the real one came. I had my first math exam at 8:00 am, and I guess the rest two of them will also begin at 8:00 am. I don't want the first thing I do in the early morning is finishing my math exam because I swear the result will be tragic. So I put a warming up exam before the real one.

Last but not the least, I realize that sample exams which are provided by professors might not be the only source for previous exams. I mean you can also use those quizzes and exams which you have taken before as your important previous exams materials when you prepare for your next exam.

How To Prevent That Last Minute Studying For An Exam Panic

For our blog this week the topic is Exam Preparation. For me personally exam's are an intimidating subject, however with these strategies my exams do not seem as threatening. If you use the three test preparation topics you will surely succeed. these topics are: organizing, studying, and evaluating. Organizing, consists of learning what information or topics will be covered in the exam, the format of the test, and the sources or materials that your professor suggests you to use to learn the information. Studying, is the combination of summarizing the material into a review tool, creating and reviewing study sheets, and restructuring the information you've accumulated and reviewed better increase your recall of the material. Evaluating, consists of attempting to guess what the professor will ask on the exam by creating exam questions and answering them.

Here are some key things to remember are to find out the date of the exam. Find out what material the exam will cover and its format. Identify all sources of info and the topics that will be covered on the exam. Divide the material you must study into sections. Set up a study schedule around your weekly schedule. Prepare study sheets, index cards, or whatever review tools work best for you. Using review tools, predict test questions and them once you have reviewed the desired material.

In my experience using this exam preparation scheme I found a format that worked for me personally. I still used the preparation scheme however I adjusted a few things to make this scheme effective and help me get the most out of it. As previously stated in the definition of this scheme I find out what the date of an exam is Through tips from the professor and through my textbook, notes, and syllabus; I find out what material will be on the exam. I then divide the material into sections. Everyday leading up to the exam I review a different section and either develop note cards, study sheets, or in some cases just go straight to practice problems. Once i've made the proper review tools and studied them, I create study questions. However, in some classes I have already developed many review questions through the note taking style I use.

For example In Psychology 205 I used the jeopardy note taking technique and combined it with the 20 minute test prep. So when it came time to start to prepare for my exam I already had many review questions because I would come up with five or so after every class.

Here is an excerpt of my completed jeopardy note taking which helps me study for my exams:

In conclusion I am extremely satisfied with exam preparation and my modifications to the technique. I think it is an extremely useful technique for anyone in school or studying for an exam.

Gabi Pontell's Ranking Priorities

This week's blog topic is Ranking Priorities.

Ranking priorities was designed to help students indicate which assignments are most important and need to be done first.

FIRST,
Create a list of all work that needs to get done

SECOND,
Rank each assignment according to:
A = Absolutely essential***
B = Important**
C = Optional*

THIRD,
Group the tasks by letter and rank numerically within each group
(A-1, A-2, B-1, B-2...)

FOURTH,
Start with A tasks and complete assignments in order of importance


Using my D's Do and Due Organizer, I knew which assignments I had to complete by certain dates. Now, by ranking my priorities, I can see which assignments are imperative for me to complete first, and which assignments are not as important, or optional.

Here is my list of priorities:















My list of priorities shows that I need to complete my work in this order:
1. CLS Faculty Interview Project Arts and Ideas Interview
2. CLS Faculty Interview Project Addictions in Cultural Context Interview
3. Choose topic for Addictions Project
4. Chapter 10: Drugs and Society
5. Political Science reading
6. Nutrition 225 extra credit
7. Read 4th edition textbook chapters for HOA 106

RED indicates my A (absolutely essential) work
ORANGE indicates my B (Important) work
YELLOW indicates my C (Optional) work


This strategy was beneficial and effective because it helped me identify my most important assignments that I need to complete first. Normally, I would just choose one of my assignments to do in no specific order. Now, I see how important and smart it is to do the assignments of the highest importance first, and the less important or optional work after. Making a list of priorities and ranking them in order of importance is a simple way to organize your work load and doesn't take long to make.

Also, I am glad I can incorporate last week's Tech topic, Time Management, into this weeks blog by using the weekly and monthly planner to see what my assignments are and when they are due. Both strategies are effective when used together and ultimately showed me how to use my time effectively and prioritize my assignments.

Ranking Priorities with Zane

For me, the hardest part about homework is getting started. Looking at all of the tasks that you have yet to complete may seem a little discouraging-especially with the deadline approaching. I’ve found however, that if you take the time out to break down theses assignments and strategize, the workload may not be as tedious as you thought.

For this week’s tech blog, I chose to rank my priorities. Begin by making a list of all the assignments and tasks that need to be accomplished in the near future. Next, rank each assignment according to its importance, difficulty etc. For example: If an assignment is due the following day one might label it “A” for “Absolutely essential”. You may then create subdivisions within your ranked assignments. A project, for instance, may be split up into a logical sequence or order of tasks. For my list, I choose to rank my classes in order of their importance for the upcoming week:

A. CLS 105	B. MAT 122	C. PSC 121	D. ANT 101	E. ARC 101
A1. Finish Reflection (10 minute technique) A2. Complete Annotations of Syllabi A3. Complete Faculty Interview Project (Monday)	A1. Review notes for Test (Thursday) A2. 20 minute test Prep (After class) A3. Ten minute technique (Study)	C1. Review for weekly quiz (Tuesday) C2. Generate questions/comments for recitation (Thursday) C3. 20 minute Test Prep	D1. Read D2- Prepare for recitation (Thursday)	E1. 20 minute test prep after class (Monday) E2. Prepare for discussion (Wednesday)

I found that this system was surprisingly beneficial. As demonstrated above, by ranking my priorities I was also essentially chunking the task: breaking the assignments into smaller tasks. In addition, the strategy also got me to think about ways in which I encourage myself to get started, and keep motivated. For the faculty interview project, for instance, I have chosen to use the 10 minute technique to complete my reflection piece (taking short breaks in between the 10 minute intervals). I have also schedule 20 minute test prep session throughout the week to ensure that I am studying frequently throughout the week.

Perhaps more than anything, I have found that when completing your assignments, it is important to reward yourself. Think about things that you enjoy doing (listening to music, eating a snack etc.) and treat yourself when you’ve finished a task or assignment. Perhaps the biggest reward that you’ll receive is the sense of relief you’ll feel when all your work is done.