Prepping For MidTerms - Assessing/Monitoring Your Study Habits

As Midterm season is upon us I wanted to leave a little information to help get us all geared to study for mid semester exams and projects. As a professional student I’ve learned that a common mistake made among students of all levels is not making the effort to learn how we study.  We get into the habit of studying like everybody else studies. We read, reread and highlight, we study in groups, we make study guides etc. all because that’s how we’ve been conditioned to study.  But many of us never take the time to figure out if the study methods that we are using are the strategies best fit for our individual needs and learning styles.

Throughout our high school/college experiences many of us navigate the same path.  Curriculum ensures that we are all  presented with the same information and  sometimes in very systematic and prescribed ways.  However, we are all individuals, we have different experiences, upbringings etc, and therefore we sense, engage, process and retain information differently. In other words, the way that I study may work for me but it doesn’t necessarily work for you.  Many students come to college and have never had to truly studyl.  We were able to do our work, memorize the facts for the test and pass. But college requires a new level of thinking and analysis and the days of standard memorization are over.  

The first step in studying successfully is understanding the conditions that are necessary to help you understand and retain the subject matters.  Some students can re and reread and re read again.  Some students are really good at coming up with mnemonic devices, riddles and songs that help them recall the concepts.  Personally, I’m a writer.  The physical act of writing and rewriting my notes helps me review the material, identify the areas of confusion and develop the connections between the subject matter and my own prior knowledge that contribute to my understanding and conceptualizing the subject matter. It took me a while to realize learn that studying in this way was most useful for me but once I figured it out, my life as a student was a lot less difficult.  

There are a few tools available online that are very useful in helping us learn more about the way we study. The surveys are helpful in identifying areas where your present study skills/strategies are effective and areas where you may want to make some adjustments in the way you approach studying. I’ve used the following surveys and I encourage you to take the time to do them as well.  


Study Guides and Strategies
Study Skills Assessment- Columbia Basin College 
Study Strategies Homepage- University of Minnesota Duluth

The feedback from these assessments will be really helpful as you prep yourself to study for Midterms this semester. Feel free to share any tips or strategies that have worked for you in the comments below.  And as always keep it here for more study tips throughout the month.

Best wishes!

Our Favorite Apps- Formulas Free: Formulas for Calculus

Back for another edition of Our Favorite Apps!  This is for all those husttlin hard in your courses in calculus and differential equations. Today we’re featuring Formulas Free- Formulas for Calculus.  This app makes just about any and every calculus formula you’ll ever need accessible in seconds.  Advertised as the perfect study tool this app was awarded the “Best” Award  by www.iphoneApplsPlus.com.  Even better it’s our favorite price… FREE.99… That’s right.. absolutely nothing.   This app is specific to iPhones (3 and 4) iPods and the iPad.

Formulas for the following subject areas are available…

Calculus 
-

• o   Algebra & Geometry
• o   Derivatives
• o   Graphing
• o   Hyperbolics
• o   Integrals
• o   Limits & Continuity
• o   Matrices
• o   Series & Sequences
• o   Trigonometry
• o   Vectors

• ·      Differential Equations
  • o   1st Order Linear Equations
  • o   2nd Order Linear Equations
  • o   Laplace Transforms

Don't Miss the Bus! 

Classroom Hustlin: How Tykeia Takes Class Notes!

Back again to give a little more information on note taking strategies that have worked for me.  This post will focus more on the actual act of taking good notes and organizing them for future use.  Not to get all elementary one you, but here I’ll give you  the basics behind how I take my notes in class.  You are welcome to consider  this method when trying to find the method of note taking that works best for you.  Remember midterms will be here to bust you in the mouth before you  can comb your doobie down.  I’m just trying to help you get ready.  Don’t miss the bus!

As I stated in previous posts, the days of carpel tunnel and arthritic finger cramps are OVAH!  I no longer deem it necessary to write everything down in class. I learned (the hard way) that doing so is super counter productive to getting all you can from the class session.  I now focus on identifying the main themes of the lecture and class discussion and feature those in my notes along with any accompanying diagrams, examples and analogies that help me understand and retain the course concepts.  The note taking strategy method that helps me  do this is the traditional outline method.  I take notes as one would outline a paper.  Check it out 

1. Point 1- I start here by writing the general topic area/ discussion point/ main idea that is being discussed.  It’s really more of a title.  
   1.  Definition Here is where I write down the standard definition or conceptualization of the topic area/discussion point or main idea given above. 
      1. Additional important  information surrounding the definition is provided here. This information  includes key factors surrounding the definition that frame and provide context for understanding the point/idea that's being discussed.  See the example below

 Sample Class Notes

1. Jean Piaget’s Theory of Psyco/Cognitive Development
   1. Definition : According to Piaget human cognitive development occurs through a series of stages.
      1. These developmental stages were deemed universal to all children/people. 
      2. Movement from one stage to the next occurred when a child had a certain level of physical/cognitive experiences and had reached a certain level of maturation.
      3. There are four stages
         1. Sensorimotor
         2. Prepoperational
         3. Concrete Operation
         4. Formal Operational
   2.  Sensorimotor-
      1. A child is typically at this stage from birth to two years of age
      2. At the level the child little levels of competence and awareness of objects or people that are not within the child’s physical presences and realm of sensation
         1. Children don’t recall /remember/think about what they can’t physically sense at the time. What the can’t see/hear/smell/taste/touch
         2. Piaget referred to this a lack of object pemenance
   3. Pre-Operational Stage

I prefer this method of note taking for a variety of reasons.  First, it’s quick and it organizes my thoughts and ideas. It’s not just a bunch of random terms and sentences all over the page.  It provides the structure and really outlines the flow of class discussion.  It helps you frame your thinking.  Secondly it’s very easy to do. It’s conducive to those who write their notes in notebooks as well as those who choose to bring a laptop to class and type their notes out.  It’s very fast. Especially for you typists and laptop luggers out there.  Most people naturally type a lot faster than they write.  PS if you’re looking to amp up your average words-per-minute rate, this  is a quick and easy way to do it.  But I digress :-) 

The outline format of note taking is also great because it’s conducive to  quick phrases and short hand. in other words,  while you’re in class you don’t have to write perfectly structured complete sentences.  The goal is to get it down and get it down right..  Hell, sometimes I don’t even write coherent words.  You will find all typea of short hand and text speak up and through my outlines.  ( B/c = because; F/E= for example; Defn: Definition, you get it!).  You’ll have time to go back and make it legible later.  Actually the act of the going through your notes and cleaning them up is actually a way study.  You’re reviewing the material when you’re decoding shorthand and translating your quick phrases in to actual sentences.  It’s really a great way to prepare for exams. It’s really been a huge help to me; the outline method is really an efficient way to take and organize your notes.

I hope this has been helpful to you.  I’m not saying that this is the best way to do things it’s just what’s best for me.  Remember, there is no one right way of taking notes.  It's all about learning and doing what's goingt to help you succeed.  I’d love to hear/ read about things that work or have worked  for you.  Holla at the comment section if have  anything to add.   We’re all scholars in process here, each one teach one. Ya dig?! If you have any questions or would like to see some more information feel free to leave a comment or send me an email. 

Happy Note Taking! 

The GlamNERDS Review Back to School Apps and Websites for Students Vol. 1

One of my homies sent me a listing of 20 Back to School Apps, Tools and Websites for students and I’m here to share the wealth. I’m excited to see app developers/programmers working to address  the practical needs of students.  I’ve only selected a few here for this post.  As I play around with more of these apps, I’ll continue to review them here.   Click the website titles provided below for the links. 

Snapter

I thought this app was one of the coolest.  It’s actually a program where your digital camera can be used as a scanner.   All you need to do is take a picture of your document and the program will clean and format the image for you.  The con to  this application is that it will cost you.  There is a required $50 fee for a license that must be paid for continued use following a 14 day free trial.  I’m not sure if students still use scanners these days, but if you do this app will do the job for half the price. This app will also save you the physical desk space of a scanner. 

 EasyBib

The heavens have heard and answered my prayers.  Thank ya big God! Lol. This app automatically creates bibliographies and citations for you.  If you’re anything like me, once you’ve slaved over a 10-15 page paper the last thing you want to do is sit there and list thousands of sources on a works cited page.  Easybib is here to do the work for you and Bayyybeee it’s FREE! 

This app takes away all the guessing and annoying formatting that’s necessary to bibliographies. You just enter the source information and it creates the citation for you. You can then save your citations as Word/Google Doc, download and print. The app supports MLA and APA formats as well as ChicagoTurabian.   I know for a fact that I’ll be all up and through this, like, for the rest of my life.  I’m so happy I could dougie.  Don’t miss the bus!

TheFlashcardExchange 

This website is another great resource for students of all levels.  They’ve taken the age-old study strategy of flashcards and made it digital.  Studying has gone green.  I love it.  You can create electronic flash cards and use them to study online.  Program features also allow you to monitor your progress by identifying which flash cards you've answered correctly or incorrectly. You can share your flash cards with friends. And enjoy a database of existing flash cards created by students from around the globe.  The website contains the largest flash card library in the world, with over 31 million flash cards available.  How amazingly brilliant and ridiculously corny and all at the same time?  Nerds from all over the world have converged to take advantage of all this academic goodness. I’m so pleased to bring my fabulous Glam-nerd-ery into the mix.  Please join me.

A free online membership entitles you to unlimited flashcards and the ability to study them online for as much or as long as you want.  The database/program is completely web based so you don't have to download anything to your computer and you can access your flash cards where ever there is wifi/internet connection. There is also an app available for iPhones. (I'm assuming for iPad and iPod Touches as well.)  You can turn your index cards into an online game of Memory. If you wish to export/print your cards or enjoy any of the other website features there is a one-time annual fee of $19.99.  A solid investment if you ask me. 

I hope this has been helpful and keep it here for more reviews of educational websites, apps and tools available to students.