Study tips

Studying in between class

You should be studying on a weekly basis, not just before quizzes. There are so many ways to study! Here are some basics:

• Complete any activity you didn’t finish in class.
• Revise and edit your activity notes. Add details that you might not have written down in class – think of this as a communication with your future self that will be more rusty on the material than your current self.
• Check the activity solutions in the online manual.
• Review all recent activities & checkpoints.
  • What were the new concepts, definitions, and tools?
  • Are there any consistent problem-solving strategies?
  • Where do you still have questions? Attend office hours to discuss those questions, and re-do any related exercises for extra practice.

Studying for a quiz

There are so many ways to study! Here’s one of many possibilities:

1. Start today.
2. Start your own study sheet (e.g. on paper, in a new qmd, or a Google doc).
3. Review all CP videos & activities, focusing first on the big picture. Add any big definitions, concepts, and consistent problem-solving strategies to your study sheet.
   
4. Redo the exercises in all activities, checkpoints, & homework using only your study sheet.
   • Take time to write out complete answers, just as you’ll be expected to do on the quiz.
   • Take note of the areas where you are the least confident so you can return to them later.
   • Take note of concepts, tools, and notation that you needed but didn’t already have on your study sheet.
5. Edit your study sheet accordingly.
6. Now make a draft of your 3x5 note card with the most important info from your study sheet (more tips below).
7. Repeat steps 3 and 4 using only your note card.
8. Repeat until you’re confident in the material.

Making a 3x5 note card for the quiz

Credit to Prof. Yariana Diaz and Prof. Taylor Okonek for many of these suggestions!!

• Content
  A good note card will include information that you need to know but won’t memorize, as well as abbreviated information to help you remember key details from class.
  • Clarity. The in-class quizzes are limited to 60 minutes, and you probably don’t want to spend that time searching a densely-packed note card for a specific thing. It will be useful to have fewer, more essential details written in a readable size. Try to only include the information that you do not know well or don’t have memorized.
  • Efficiency. You may be tempted to include a bunch of examples / exercises. But on the quizzes, you will be given new contexts and set-ups. Thus you will want to have access to key terms and skills, as well as a brief, general description of how to apply them to any situation.
• Organization
  • Organize by topic / sub-topic with titles to help you find related information more quickly.
  • Format similar details in a similar way. For example: label all definitions the same, or always circle examples vs. underline definitions.
  • Use color to help you visually distinguish between different parts of the note card.
  • Consider the layout of the note card. Do you want to split it in half? Have all definitions on one side, and examples on the other? Orient the note card in portrait or landscape?