Study tips that are non conventional ?

[land_of_ice]

Here are some:
Skip class if the teacher is not very good at lecturing and stay at home using that time to teach yourself the lesson to understand the material, or come to class but do homework (for that class, or for other classes during the non effective lecture.)
(But only do that if the lecture totally just purely wastes your time such as if the teacher is so horrible at lecturing, otherwise, don't skip the lecture.)
If your doing an assignment that isn't worth nearly as much as the test in the class that you have a test in on the same day, skip the less important thing from one class to use that time for extra study time in your class that you have a test in.
Read your textbook before the semester starts to get ahead in the material before the class starts.
When your at home read your notes when you are walking from one room to another and when you aren't doing much, for example if you are just washing dishes you can read your notes while you put the dishes away or something similar.
Do your homework before the lecture for the homework not afterward so you can ask questions ahead of time.
Read the chapter review before you actually read the chapter so that you can introduce the main ideas to yourself and challenge yourself on the main ideas ahead of time before you actually read the chapter.
Come to the test about 5-20 minutes late if it will help you to spend a few extra minutes going over your notes but only if your really fast at taking tests.
If the teacher drops one of the tests, and your average is good already, then don't come to that test so you can use that extra time to study for the rest of the material in that class, or for another class.
If the book for the course doesn't explain things well, then find tutorials on you tube whenever you can find them.
What are yours?

 

[Leveret]

Back in one of my intro level classes, the professor would post videos of every lecture online the day of the lecture. The class was at 9 in the morning, while my next class was at 11; therefore, by staying up one hour later at night to watch the video, I was able to sleep in two extra hours in the morning. Score one for math.

In general, before an exam, I'll try to summarize all my notes in fewer pages than the original notes took. Then I'll try to condense this outline into still fewer pages. When I can summarize the unit's material on one piece of paper, while keeping my writing at a normal size, I'll consider the material understood (that 1-page cutoff depends, of course, on the amount of material, but is generally what I aim for). My friends all think I'm crazy, but if I follow this up with a few practice problems just to make sure I'm as prepared as I think I am, it seems to work pretty well.

A few thoughts about your tips:

Read your textbook before the semester starts to get ahead in the material before the class starts.

Great advice. I've attempted this many times; I actually got around to doing it zero times. If you can pull this off, kudos to your work ethic.

Come to the test about 5-20 minutes late if it will help you to spend a few extra minutes going over your notes but only if your really fast at taking tests.

Interesting idea, but make sure you're actually allowed to do this in a specific class beforehand--I've been in a few classes where people arriving more than X minutes late were not allowed in.

If the teacher drops one of the tests, and your average is good already, then don't come to that test so you can use that extra time to study for the rest of the material in that class, or for another class.

I'd recommend this only if you really need that extra time elsewhere, and if this is the last exam of the semester. Otherwise, there's always the chance that you'll want/need to use your drop later. In fact, unless you're completely swamped in work and need all the time you can get for other classes, I make a point of giving every exam my all, and simply dropping the one I did the worst on. Even an extra few points can decide which side of a grade cutoff you fall on.

 

[Ryker]

Come to the test about 5-20 minutes late if it will help you to spend a few extra minutes going over your notes but only if your really fast at taking tests.

This study "tip" is non-convential for a reason. Really now?

Skip class if the teacher is not very good at lecturing and stay at home using that time to teach yourself the lesson to understand the material, or come to class but do homework (for that class, or for other classes during the non effective lecture.) (But only do that if the lecture totally just purely wastes your time such as if the teacher is so horrible at lecturing, otherwise, don't skip the lecture.)
If your doing an assignment that isn't worth nearly as much as the test in the class that you have a test in on the same day, skip the less important thing from one class to use that time for extra study time in your class that you have a test in.
Do your homework before the lecture for the homework not afterward so you can ask questions ahead of time.
If the book for the course doesn't explain things well, then find tutorials on you tube whenever you can find them.

These are all good advice, though, and for the last one, you don't have to restrict yourself to youtube

 

[Geezer]

Here are some:
Skip class if the teacher is not very good at lecturing and stay at home using that time to teach yourself the lesson to understand the material, or come to class but do homework (for that class, or for other classes during the non effective lecture.)

This can backfire, though (which I can personally attest to). If your grade is right on the A/B border, regular attendance will push you over into A territory. If you're regularly skipping class--even it's because the lectures are a complete waste of time--you'll get the B.

 

[chiro]

Here are some:
Skip class if the teacher is not very good at lecturing and stay at home using that time to teach yourself the lesson to understand the material, or come to class but do homework (for that class, or for other classes during the non effective lecture.)
(But only do that if the lecture totally just purely wastes your time such as if the teacher is so horrible at lecturing, otherwise, don't skip the lecture.)
If your doing an assignment that isn't worth nearly as much as the test in the class that you have a test in on the same day, skip the less important thing from one class to use that time for extra study time in your class that you have a test in.
Read your textbook before the semester starts to get ahead in the material before the class starts.
When your at home read your notes when you are walking from one room to another and when you aren't doing much, for example if you are just washing dishes you can read your notes while you put the dishes away or something similar.
Do your homework before the lecture for the homework not afterward so you can ask questions ahead of time.
Read the chapter review before you actually read the chapter so that you can introduce the main ideas to yourself and challenge yourself on the main ideas ahead of time before you actually read the chapter.
Come to the test about 5-20 minutes late if it will help you to spend a few extra minutes going over your notes but only if your really fast at taking tests.
If the teacher drops one of the tests, and your average is good already, then don't come to that test so you can use that extra time to study for the rest of the material in that class, or for another class.
If the book for the course doesn't explain things well, then find tutorials on you tube whenever you can find them.
What are yours?

I don't think that what I'm about to say is non-conventional, but something that has worked is to always ask "why?" and then follow that by "how?". Combine that with a desire to consume your domain and show a great deal of curiosity to really want to know something.

Also if you're taking a course and your teachers or other acquaintances don't know the answers, don't let that put you off. There are of course things in the world where pretty much no-one knows "why?" (because those things like say for example in physics are just really hard), but if you strive to know, I guarantee you'll eventually learn something that's useful that perhaps no-one else knows.

Final piece of advice is to be humble and open minded. Socrates gave a piece of advice that said something along the lines of "assume you know nothing". By that I mean that don't dismiss what other people say based on anything even if you are an expert in that field: listen and after that only then evaluate it thoroughly and fairly. In other words: don't shoot the messenger based on some form of bias.

You will have to course using some decision mechanism to sort the "wheat from the chaff", but I think if you do the things above, that you will go a long way and not plateau especially if you follow Socrates advice.

 

[fillipeano]

Well I don't know about the rest of you, but I tend to spend quite a bit of time in the shower (I don't like taking quick 3-minute showers). While I'm in there I review what I learned in the previous class and try to understand the concepts more, especially for math.

 

[johng23]

This can backfire, though (which I can personally attest to). If your grade is right on the A/B border, regular attendance will push you over into A territory. If you're regularly skipping class--even it's because the lectures are a complete waste of time--you'll get the B.

Unless attendance is explicitly part of the grade, how can the teacher do that? That is a subjective grading policy and it's unfair. If you know the professor and you want to retain good relations then yeah, might not be a good idea to skip class for the sake of recommendations etc - although I did get my grad school rec from a prof whose class I had skipped a lot. :rofl: Didn't have any other options.

When your at home read your notes when you are walking from one room to another and when you aren't doing much, for example if you are just washing dishes you can read your notes while you put the dishes away or something similar.

I disagree with this. Anything worth learning is going to require more thought and concentration than you can provide will doing dishes. Thinking hard is what is required, not just adding superficial minutes to your study time.

I think it's a great idea to think about fundamental concepts while you're doing something else, and try to make them really intuitive and second nature for you. But that's a different thing than reading over your notes.

 

[Choppy]

I'll preface my comment here by saying that everyone needs to find the system that works best for them. But honestly, I feel that some of the tips described in this thread have the potential to do more harm than good - particularly for younger students who may not have to work all that hard in high school to get good marks, and then will be faced with real challenges once they get int their upper university years.

If you're so pressed for time that you (a) need to come to an exam 20 minutes late to get in extra studying, (b) drop assignments, (c) skip classes because they're a waste of your time, and (d) reading your notes while doing dishes... why not put a little more effort into time management?

 

[Null_]

If you're so pressed for time that you (a) need to come to an exam 20 minutes late to get in extra studying, (b) drop assignments, (c) skip classes because they're a waste of your time, and (d) reading your notes while doing dishes... why not put a little more effort into time management?

I agree.
a) Is a horrible idea. The twenty minutes extra you spend studying will be lost in test anxiety, even if you know you have enough time. You'll also disturb other students taking the exam.
b) I have to say I've slightly done this before. If one exam is dropped and I did well on the first few, I spend a lot less time studying for the last. I would never suggest not even showing up to an exam, and I would not suggest planning on having one be the dropped exam, unless it is the last and you are happy with your grades.
c) I've done this. My chemistry class is incredibly boring/a waste of my time. HOWEVER, I do what was suggested and do homework for that class while in lecture. It's a pretty big class, so the professor probably thinks I'm taking notes. I print it out and do on paper. If you go to class, regardless of how little you'll learn about the subject, you'll get stuff that you can't get from the textbook, such as what the focus of the next exam will be..maybe even some specific questions.
d) This would just get water spots on your notes, which would drive me crazy.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I agree. There are reasons these "tips" are non-conventional, and a search of the OP's other posts do not suggest they are working out even for him.

 

[QuarkCharmer]

Come to the test about 5-20 minutes late if it will help you to spend a few extra minutes going over your notes but only if your really fast at taking tests.

This seems like a really bad idea to me. Assuming that you are actually allowed to jump into the test late like that, there is a good chance that the test will take longer than you assumed, leaving you no time. I think that understanding the material, and not having to rely on cramming minutes before the exam is a much safer, and productive way to go about this.

 

[Eldar]

Unless attendance is explicitly part of the grade, how can the teacher do that? That is a subjective grading policy and it's unfair. If you know the professor and you want to retain good relations then yeah, might not be a good idea to skip class for the sake of recommendations etc - although I did get my grad school rec from a prof whose class I had skipped a lot. :rofl: Didn't have any other options.

I think it's the fact that if you don't go to the lectures you can miss out on little bits of information that you might not otherwise pick up through a textbook.