Not sure if it is the season of extreme studying and revision for most students here, but my examinations are looming in about two to three weeks too. So how about we share some exam tips that have saved your ass before?
One of mine is to draw mind maps of every concept and theory I have learnt and tried to see how they link to each other. This helps a lot in theory-based subjects like geography and science, but doesn’t do much when it comes to mathematics…
Find out in advance whether the test is open book or closed book. Boy, either way you screw that one up, you get in trouble.
Make a 150 question sheet on the subject and provide answers on another sheet. Usually your text books have good study questions at the end of chapters. Do your books come with CDs? Using those will help your understanding greatly. Studying with classmates helps immensely I think. Index cards are a good way to go. Having a loved one quiz you helps too. Reading your notes while eating helps. Then there’s always the old “peruse your notes just before the test” approach.
Honestly, there’s not much I have to say about math. I used to be horrible at it and nothing or no one could ever help me. I even had math tutoring and I still did bad. Now that I’m in college, it just clicks and I get perfect scores on everything. It’s like it’s fun for me to solve problems and be good at it.
I can’t expect everyone to have the same enthusiasm though, heh.
Find out from your professor exactly what will be on the test but take their answer with a grain of salt becuase at times they lie :rolleyes: .
I prepare essay plans for some of the more obvious questions that could be on the exam, particularly in the lecturer’s pet topic areas. I also practise on some of the questions from previous years’ exams.
My exams are on 14, 17 and 23 November.
Try to anticipate the questions and prepare appropriate answers. Beyond that, get a good night’s sleep, and get to the classroom with enough time before the exam to get settled. Scan through the entire exam before starting, and work on the easier questions first. Oh, no matter what, stay calm during the test.
Huh? Mathematics is not theory-based?
I am not sure how to explain myself, but for subjects which are usually essay-based (Literature, theroies on human computer interface and etc.), I tend to do better as as long as you know the theories, you understand the concepts, you have case studies to back yourself up, then most likely you are in the clear.
I understand how differnation works - but I just can’t do every god-damned differnation question are out. Hence I consider mathematics “not theory-based”. I consider it more “drill-based”.
Take a “thinking walk”… after you’ve read through a subject and made your notes for the exam, try to memorise them.
Then go for a walk and try to recall them - the walking bit’s important, as it gives your brain something else to do while you think… in fact, I always used to take a soccer ball with me and practice my keepy-uppies.
For some reason it would fix whatever I was learning solidly in my head, much more that desk learning on its own.
Find out if there are any past papers (copies of previous years’ exam papers for the same exam). If there are, then try and get the corresponding mark schemes and/or examiners’ reports.
Examiners reports are great! You can find out what the examiners think of the candidates performance on the papers and maybe get some hints about what might be on the paper this year. For essay questions you can get an idea of the sort of approach they expect. In science and maths, they can contain details of how to carry out tasks on the exam (e.g. an extreme example, the examiners’ report might say “Only a few candidates were aware of such-and-such a method for carrying out this integration, which would have cut the time taken on Q3c) by two thirds”)
I like the idea of a thinking walk. When you’re making notes on a topic, write yourself short questions on the notes (and the answers, on a different sheet of paper). Then walk with your notes and try and memorise them. When you get back, answer the questions. Then “mark” your answers to the questions.
For persuasive writing, take a clear postion. Don’t be a flip-flopper 
Pick one side of the issue or another and use your paper to advance that position.
Maybe this only works in law school, but I’ve been very successful with outlines – take a day or two a few days before the exam and write an outline of every important or semi-important thing you learned in the course. This is a great way to study because it forces you to review every unit of material. It’s of great use if you’re allowed to take the outline into your exam, of course, but even if not, you’ve refreshed your memory on everything, including that stuff you talked about 10 weeks ago, the nuance of which you’d forgotten.
–Cliffy
For many subjects, we were allowed one 8 1/2 x 11 “crib sheet” or note sheet for formulas, constants, etc. in science and engineering courses. Even for those courses where we WEREN’T allowed a crib sheet, a few of us would make one anyway. It’s similar to Cliffy’s idea: it forces you to write down the important ideas/concepts/formulas and to get them into your head.
Also, similar to what someone else said, make up your own version of the exam with questions and answers. Again, it makes you review the important topics and go over them thoroughly. And “teaching” someone else, even if it’s just making up a pretend exam for yourself, really really helps nail down the concepts.
Actually, if you have a friend or classmate that you can “teach” the ideas from your class, it’ll really help to clarify the topics in your own mind. I can’t tell you how much more I understood certain subjects after being a TA (teaching assistant) for a semester. Explaining an idea to someone else is really the best way to understand it fully.
I took a class on how to study in college in HS. It was a godsend. HS was easy for me, but this class really helped me with university stuff.
Take lecture notes on only one side of paper (spiral-bound notebook)-so you don’t take notes on the “backside” of the sheet. Then, when you are studying those notes (which you should review later in the day, to jog your memory) for your midterms/finals, pull out the central subject ( ex-Industrial Revolution) and then outline the main points on the right hand side of the notebook. Summarizing your notes helps you solidify the concepts and topics. It is also a way to highlight important events or dates. This method works well with history, soc, anthro, psych, English, bio, physio, and poli-sci.
Don’t ask me how to study for math or chem. I didn’t take any college math (I got the requirement done in HS–I soooo suck at math) and chem I bludgeoned my way thru. There is nothing for chem by sheer memorization, like anatomy.
Good luck. Get plenty of sleep-and eat beforehand. When you are handed the test, take a deep breathe and then plunge in. Come back to questions that you stymie you. Make sure you are filliing in the appropriate circle (if a scantron test) with a number 2 pencil.
You have 50 minutes. You may begin. There is no need to talk.
(memories…)
I was more social sciences and literature based so this might not be so effective for maths exams but…
I always tried to get an idea of what the essay questions would be - most professors are reasonably helpful on this. For some classes it was normal to just give out the question in advance. Then i would write out an essay of length appropriate to the time i would have in the exam to write it and check with my notes and lecturers that it was ok. Often i’d be able to get a rough idea of grade of that essay from them.
Then all you have to do is memorise it…
Usually i wouldn’t do this for an essay of more than 2000 words cos it’s just too much but it’s a pretty good technique and if you just write it all down quickly in the exam you have plenty of time to work on the other questions (which you will, of course, also have revised for).
OK, I understand what you mean, though “theory-based” is a poor choice of words. I hate writing essays; I always feel that my reasoning is imprecise, because natural languages lack precision without augmentation.
Digression: Do people take HCI nowadays without taking calculus first? Not that it should be a prerequisite; but in my experience, HCI was something CS majors did, late in their academic careers, when they wanted to get away from hardcore programming, and by then, most have a solid grasp of calculus.
In any case, only high school mathematics, introductory calculus, and a few other courses (introduction to differential equations, perhaps) are drill-based. Most college-level math courses are proof-based. In fact, I’ve had some finals that were take-home and open-book; no amount of drilling would help you there.
The best way I ever had to prep for exams was to study my ass off during the semester, then get a full night’s sleep and show up with plenty of time to spare. Later on (and why I didn’t figure this out for myself, I don’t know), somebody told me the trick of looking at all the questions first instead of diving in on number 1, and immediately answering the ones I knew. That got me relaxed and on a roll, and then I would chow down on the harder ones with more confidence.
My roommate is actually a Design major, planning on HCI. He also has very little CS skill (still in intro. programming, in Java no less), is not planning on taking beyond Intermediate (still in Java), and I don’t believe has taken advanced calculus. I suppose if the program allows it, they know what they’re doing, and it can’t be vital. Plus, I can’t see how HCI, or most CS in general, has anything to do with calculus.
As for exam tips? I’m going to steal some ideas from Blum and Feynman here…
Write legibly, it seriously pisses off graders if you don’t. Hand-waving through a proof might result in a loss of 1 or 2 points, but not having a complete argument will result in more loss. Read the problems. Prove the actual problems they give you. Proving something different (even if related) gets you a maximum of 2 points if you’re lucky and your grader is generous.
Don’t panic. Seriously, it doesn’t get you anywhere to panic.
I’m not saying that calculus has anything to do with HCI.
The people I knew who took HCI were CS majors, but upon reflection, I think that my sample is probably quite biased.
I see your location is Pittsburgh. Would the Blum you are referring to happen to be Avrim, Manuel, or Lenore (the Blum dynasty, I call them)?
My HCI course was primarily theory - it’s something like a design course mix with some physchological facts on how humans interact with computers. There’s the three-phase model, colours-theory, typography and such…for my case, it wasn’t really programming-based.