Preparing for Exams Being well prepared for exams, while balancing assignment requirements for multiple classes can seem challenging, but it doesn’t have to be. Use the following tips to help ensure that you have a firm understanding of the course material before you are tested.
1. Know Your Course Syllabus 2. Create Your Personalized Study Schedule 3. Use Your Time Effectively 4. Get To It 5. Avoid Procrastination 6. Be willing to revise your study strategy 7. Relax!
1. Know Your Course Syllabus • Being prepared for exams doesn’t just happen; you need to plan for it. At the beginning of each term, review the Course Syllabus (course outline) for each class and note all assignment, test, and exam dates on a master calendar. The Course Syllabus will also often list the text chapters that match the lectures for that week. TIP: Use a 4 month calendar as your master calendar to track your deadlines and put it up in your study space at home. You will be able to see all of your commitments for the whole term this way and it will be easier to determine when your busiest weeks will be.
2. Create Your Personalized Study Schedule • To ensure that you are able to cover all the required course material before the exam, create a personal study schedule to keep you on track. Consider following the 2:1 Rule to assign an appropriate amount of study time into your routine. Create a study plan around your classes that incorporates regular review (daily, weekly) of course material. Do some courses need more time than others? Plan your study schedule accordingly by adjusting the study time dedicated to a specific course as you go, or as exams draw near. TIP: What is a study schedule? Need help setting one up? Check out this link: How to Create a Study Schedule or drop by the University 1 First Year Centre and talk to an academic advisor about your plan.
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3. Use Your Time Effectively • You will have a lot more free time in your days as a university student. The trick to university-level studies is to use the time not spent in class to read assigned chapters, work on assignments, and study for exams. TIP: Use the time before, after, and in between classes during the week to ensure you have the time to get it all done. Need help evaluating where all your time is going? Watch the Academic Learning Centre’s Organizing Your Time Effectively online workshop or complete the 168 Hour Week worksheet, to get you started.
4. Get To It • For each course you are registered in: Preview the assigned chapters before the lecture • Review the chapter summaries, headings, and definitions to get a better understanding of what will be covered in the lecture Attend lectures and take lecture notes, even if lecture notes are provided to you in advance • What the professor says about the slides is often the core content of the lecture and will help you later when studying for exams. Write it down! Ask questions in class to clarify your understanding • The best opportunity to get answers to questions is in class. Alternatively, use the professors’ office hours to get help or clarification about the things you want more information about. Attend labs and complete your lab work • Labs and lab assignments provide practical application of the concepts covered in the textbook. Actively participating in labs will help you make sense of your textbook. Make study notes from your textbooks • The act of creating study notes from the text reinforces content and helps you remember and retain it. Do you know How to Study? Complete all assignments and hand them in on time • Every mark counts. Participation, in-class quizzes and lab assignments often add up to as much of 30% of the total mark for the class. Don’t discount the impact these marks will have on your final grade. Getting full marks for your work means submitting it on time. Schedule Extra Time for Review Before the Exam • As course work covers many different topics over the term, the best way to ensure that it’s all there on test day is to study regularly and consistently over a longer period of time. Include opportunities to go back and review topics and concepts covered earlier in the course. Schedule review sessions for the end of units and before mid-term exams.
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5. Avoid Procrastination • Start studying right when classes start. University level exams ask you to analyze, synthesize and evaluate information, not just memorize and restate it, which is why cramming for university exams rarely works. TIP: Just start. Often it is the getting started that is the hardest part. Need help in the procrastination department? There’s a mobile APP for that!
6. Be willing to revise your study strategy • As the term progresses you may find that even the best laid plans need to be tweaked and adjusted. TIP: Review the Plan to Succeed as it offers some insight into common obstacles and how to address them.
7. Relax! • Reward yourself for achieving your study goals. Rewards do not have to be big or costly, only satisfying. Small rewards for daily study sessions are also an easy way to incorporate study breaks into your day. Rewarding breaks will not only give your brain the chance to store your focused study sessions into your long term memory, but they will help to stay motivated as you may start to associate studying with rewards. TIP: Here are a few easy reward ideas for achieving your study goals: a special snack (healthy, of course!); a coffee with a friend; a walk with your dog; a workout at the gym; watching a favourite tv/web show ; a night out to see a movie…you get the idea!
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