Let Freedom Ring!

Last week after my IC meeting with Janine, we made a pact that every week after one of our classes we are going to do a 20 Minute Test Prep. This idea was derived out of frustration and anger; in my Introduction to Nutrition class (NSD225) we’ve had two tests thus far, both of which I haven’t done great on despite hours ofstudying. After thinking about what I was doing wrong and what I could do to succeed, I realized that instead of trying to learn all of the information a few days before the exam, it will be more beneficial and productive to do a 20 Minute Test Prep and learn a little bit after each lecture.

Tuesday was the first day of enforcing my new studying habits. I just had my NSD225 class where I printed out the notes the professor put online, and then wrote any extra notes onto the sheets during lecture. After class I came back to my room and went over the notes. I decided to rewrite the notes into my notebook because it would make them neater and I find that I learn better when I write the information out by hand.

In class the professor usually tells the class 3-4 questions that will be on the next exam. Since this is very nice and helpful, I decided during my 20 Minute Test Prep that I would make a “Question Bank” and write on the same sheet of paper every time we are given a question. This way I have all the questions in one spot as opposed to having to search through all my notes. Since I hadn’t done this with the past two tests I think it will make studying a lot easier for the upcoming test because I will have created myself a mock exam with the list of test questions. I was able to adapt the 20-Minute Test Prep by adding an additional component that would help me with my studying and better suit my needs.

The second strategy I tried in my Nutrition class was Link, a memorizing technique that I had never used before. I chose three terms from my lecture and then thought of ways to remember their meanings, whether it was by associating it with a certain image or another word it sounded like. By doing this I was able to apply the "7 Ways to Remember What you Need to Learn," that include "select it, write it, recite it, relate it, imagine it, practice it, and anticipate it". I found this strategy really helpful since I am a visual and kinesthetic learner, so being able to draw out the words was a good idea. This will definitely make memorizing a lot easier (and fun) in the future!