Tag Archives: Study Tips

Notes & Studying & Exams! Oh my!

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I came into ERAU with a less common background. I was in virtual school from 4th through 12th grade. This trained me to prefer a certain type of learning: throw a textbook at me and tell me to learn it by myself. I did and still do really well with this approach. As I attended more and more lectures at ERAU, I survived but noticed that I did not feel 100% comfortable with their type of learning experience. Thus, for any new virtual schooled students or just new students in general, now as a senior, I wanted to share some of the techniques I have developed over the years.

MOST classes here at ERAU, at least the ones in my experience as an EP student, have a distinct system. You attend lectures, do homework, and take exams. I have a certain note-taking/studying system that has worked very well.
I use OneNote to do all of this because I like being able to see everything at a glance. I keep one large notebook; each semester has its own section group. Then, there is a section for each class. Each page is for a day of lecture, homework, or type of note.

  • Attend class to take lecture notes
    • Focus on writing down what is on the board & any other important things the professor says
    • Don’t be afraid to ask “will this be on the exam”
    • Ask if you are confused!
    • If not already specified by the professor, ask for what part of the textbook things correspond to & what extra practice problems you can do
  • Study at home!!
    • Take notes on the textbook
      • Create another notes page for textbook notes
      • I know it can feel wrong to do sometimes, but mark up your textbook!! Highlight definitions in yellow and important facts in blue. And then write notes in the margins or do extra math next to the examples.
    • Take notes on any PowerPoint slides or supplemental material on Canvas
    • Start homework early to fully understand the problem
      • In my opinion, it is okay to use an answer key (if given/permitted by your professor of course) as long as you understand how to get there. In fact, this process can make learning easier sometimes!
    • Do any extra practice problems that you can
      • If you are confused (or even if you aren’t), take these by the professor’s office hours or email it to them for feedback and extra tips!
  • Exam time
    • Glance through notes, especially for around 15 minutes leading up to the exam. Your short term memory is a powerful tool.
    • Redo all of your homework and practice problems on a big whiteboard for a day or so before the exam and see how fast you can get through them. Timing is key in some of these classes!
    • Study with your classmates. Even if you feel like you understand the material fully, someone else may have a perspective that will make you go WOAH

A New Semester

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We have officially entered a great semester and a new decade. Syllabus and introductions into your course days are behind you and now, now we are going to truly get our hands dirty with our courses. 

Winter break is over and we just finished our second week of school. This transition from relaxation to school work, work, and extracurriculars is a tough one to navigate and reacclimate to. I’ve been a college kid for 3 years now and I still struggle but I have developed some self tips to help me manage.

Tip #1 Google Calendar is your best friend.

The biggest change from break life to school life is the impending need to plan and effectively time manage. This app will help you plan out a day-to-day schedule and provide reminders for each task. Most people have planners, but an electronic planner is a nice reinforcement to ensure you are on top of your tasks and are fully aware of your free time, so you can plan out times to unwind and have fun.

Tip #2 Utilize Office Hours early on.

Many people tend to rush to a professor’s office hours days before a final hoping to understand all content and material covered in class in merely one or two sessions. Do not follow that lead. Establishing a rapport with your professors early on will allow them to see how much effort your are putting into the course and in the long run will help you understand the content more. If office hours with your professor doesn’t provide enough aid, don’t you fret, there are so many more resources available to you. Supplemental Instruction sessions are available and schedules can be found upon entering the College of Arts and Sciences. The tutoring center provides aid in many subjects such as: math, chemistry, physics, writing, ES courses, and EGR 115. Utilize all your resources around, not as a cram tool but rather a regular tool in order to do well in your courses.

Tip #3 Organize your space. 

Now that your schedule is in place and you’ve received aid from school, it’s time to begin your studies. Choose which space works best with you, whether it be working in the library, studying in the college buildings such as the College of Engineering or College of Business, or even the comfort of a desk in your own living space. Choosing and organizing said study area is extremely important. Make sure you provide yourself a space void of distractions and where everything you might need for your coursework is readily available. A clean space can mean a more welcoming environment for learning and a more productive study time. Just remember to give yourself study breaks so you don’t burn out.

Tip #4 College is a time of hard work but also a time for fun.

It’s super easy to go into a new semester running, but make sure you don’t wear yourself out. It’s been around a month or more since you’ve re-entered the strange world of being a college student. During breaks, more than likely, your routine was calm, so its best to gradually merge into your new schedule. To avoid burnout, please plan out times in which you can unwind and relax. It doesn’t have to be a whole day or costly. Plan a movie night in the dorms one weekend, schedule a board game night with friends, or even leisurely read. Just make sure you make time for a breather.

And lastly remember just try your best! You’ve got this!

It’s Crunch Time

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Next week is the last week of classes of the 2017 Spring Semester! This also means that “It’s Crunch Time” before we head towards summer. It is time to finish those last semester projects/presentations and study for finals.

On Monday, I have a presentation in my Social Responsibility and Ethics Management class. During the semester, we had to volunteer and do ten hours of community service hours as part of a project called Civil Engagement Project.

The following day, I have a group presentation in my Strategic Management class. We will report on how our company did during the eight rounds simulation. During those rounds, we produced sensors and sold them on the market. We were competing against other groups in our classroom.

Thursday will be my last day of classes at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University!

There are no classes on Friday as this day is dedicated to studying. My professor in my Aviation Labor Relations course will post our final exam on Canvas (online); we will have two days to complete it.

I will have a total of four “real” final exams that will take place during finals week (Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday). My other exams for my other three classes will be taken online.

In just about two weeks on May 8, I will be graduating!

Here are 10 Study Tips to help you prepare for your final exams:

  1. Do not look at the course material for the first time the day before the exam. Most professors mention the dates of assignments, quizzes, and exams during the first week of classes.
  2. Take notes in class and review them on the same day you took them.
  3. Start looking slowly at the material a week or a few days before the test. You will learn and memorize a lot more if you study a little bit every day.
  4. If you created a study guide, try to break it up and study one part at a time. It will be easier if you study it in small chunks instead of reading the whole study guide again and again.
  5. Create a short song or a series of letters when you have to memorize things involving steps or chronology. One time I had to memorize the 6 types of religious conversion. So I just remembered the first letter of each word and it sounded like this IMEARC.
  6. Repeating things loudly or writing them down many times on a sheet of paper will help you to remember the information for the exam.
  7. Quiz yourself or get a friend to ask you some questions. I often use Quizlet to test myself. There is a test option where the website generates a set of questions from the data you have to learn.
  8. Get all the information possible you can from your professor. Sometimes, they will tell you the format of the exam (multiple choices, true or false, short answers, short essays and/or long essays) and the number of questions.
  9. Take a break. Don’t study for hours in one sitting, but take some short breaks and move around.
  10. The night before the test, don’t stay up late at night to study. You should have studied a few days before and be ready. You will do better on the on the exam if you have a good night of sleep.

Good luck on your exams!

Nicolas

10 Study Tips

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Hello readers!

Last week, I had my first exam of the semester in my Comparative Religions class. This week and next week, I will also have other tests in the rest of my classes. I’ll take this opportunity to give a few study tips to ensure you do well and don’t stress during the days leading to the test.

  1. Do not look at the course material for the first time the day before the exam. Most professors mention the dates of assignments, quizzes, and exams during the first week of classes.
  2. Take notes in class and review them on the same day you took them.
  3. Start looking slowly at the material a week or a few days before the test. You will learn and memorize a lot more if you study a little bit every day.
  4. If you created a study guide, try to break it up and study one part at a time. It will be easier if you study it in small chunks instead of reading the whole study guide again and again.
  5. Create a short song or a series of letter when you have to memorize things which involve steps or chronology. Last week, I had to memorize the 6 types of religious conversion. So I just remembered the first letter of each word and it sounded like this  IMEARC.
  6. Repeating things loudly or writing them down many times on a sheet of paper will help you to remember the information for the exam.
  7. Quiz yourself or get a friend to ask you some questions. I often use Quizlet to test myself. There is a test option where the website generates a set of questions from the data you have to learn.
  8. Get all the information possible you can from your professor. Sometimes, they will tell you the format of the exam (multiple choices, true or false, short answers, short essays and/or long essays) and the number of questions.
  9. Take a break. Don’t study for hours in one sitting, but take some short breaks and move around.
  10. The night before the test, don’t stay up late at night to study. You should have studied a few days before and be ready. You will do better on the on the exam if you have a good night of sleep.

Good luck!

Nicolas