Because of the way our educational system is set up within the United States, it becomes almost near certain that over the course of one’s academic life, they are engaged in the rigorous task of STUDYING. Teachers and professors alike rely on various forms of assessment, mostly in the form of standardized tests (whether it be multiple choice, true/false, fill in the blank, or essay based). Whichever the case, various mechanisms can be used to ensure one gets a passing grade. From high school on, my study strategies have largely been the SAME, and I have adapted and made them in a way that allows them to be duplicated across all subjects.
My study strategies have largely worked for me, but I can see how they would be ineffective for different types of learners. I am under the mindset that depending on who you are and your personal preferences, certain things work better for certain people. Some people prefer to simply re-read the text, and due to having a photographic memory, can often process, analyze, memorize, and regurgitate information more quickly than others. The more and more I continue my personal process of studying, the better I get at it and thus, the more quickly I can remember information using it.
Here’s what happens: I start off by opening up a word document. I almost always set the margins to .05 both horizontally and vertically to ensure I can put as much information as possible on as few pages as possible. I then construct a table, outlining all the information I need to know for the test. Depending on the structure of information, I largely benefit from seeing which categories are within other categories, and largely benefit from deriving definitions. While some people prefer using outlines to structure their thinking, I largely use TABLES.
In high school, I was able to successfully make study guides for all my classes (including AP classes): From Spanish, to English, From History, to Science. Math was the only department in which I was unable to actively study for, and as a result I ultimately struggled in the subject. Needless to say, my study guides became a hot commodity, and I emailed it to virtually all my classmates within my high school. As a result, we all did better in our classes. Here are some examples:
By the time college rolled around (UCSD-CSUF), I stopped sending my study guides to other people, not because I was afraid of the competition, but because I realized everybody makes their own distinctive study guides in college. Everyone has a different technique they use to ultimately master the information at hand.
Whenever I’m done with my study guide, I print it out, and began studying it. How? I highlight the information I deem most important, and I cover up the tables by folding my piece of paper accordingly, and trying to regurgitate the important information from each cell of data.
Here’s one:
On a rather humorous sidenote, my AP Civics teacher in high school kept all the study guides I made (even though I copyrighted all of them). She photocopied all of them, and re-distributes out to all her students… The funny part is she failed to remove all the inside jokes and borderline offensive comments I make in various cells of my study guides (denoting Mexicans as beaners, etc.).
In the end, I will continue to use my studying strategies for when I’m in school for both the acquisition of knowledge and ultimate improvements in my working short-term and long-term memory.
