Preparing for a Physics Exam: Tips and Tricks from Experienced Students

[phunphysics2]

Greetings everyone,


This is my first time ever taking a physics class. It is calculus based college class but not for engineers.

In general, what is the best method to prepare for a physics exam? Because I have never taken one, I am not sure how they are typically formatted and such.


Is it best to just continue to rework the assigned homework problems over and over and over?

Although I have done pretty decent in previous math courses, it has never come easy at first.

Please let me know what has worked best for you. All comments, tricks, and tips are more than welcome!

Thanks!

 

[Choppy]

Everyone has a different way of studying and learning and you'll have to figure out what works best for you.

Some things that I've found that help...
1. Do lots of problems.
2. You need feedback, so solving problems where you can look up correct solutions is best. You don't learn much be repeating the same mistakes over and over.
3. Once you're comfortable with a particular type of problem, move on to something else. It's not very efficient to practice stuff you already know.
4. When reviewing the material, try to think up questions that you would ask on an xam if you were the professor. Getting good at predicting the type of problems you'll encounter is a huge benefit.
5. Get a hold of past exams if they've been published (and it's not against your school's academic policy).

 

[e^(i Pi)+1=0]

Whenever you're presented with a problem, DRAW A PICTURE

 

[Lokratin]

There are also plenty of online courses available which can be quite helpful in terms of reviewing particular problems.

 

[salzrah]

90% of answering a question is understanding the question.

 

[Intrastellar]

Choppy pretty much said everything, if you follow his advice correctly you should be able to get good grades.