Study...

[Beemer]

When I have an assignment due, my house is spotless, the biscuit tins are full and I'm still procrastinating! I am one of those people who can happily do all the reading and course work week by week as suggested by study plans, but I am no good at knuckling down to the actual assignment until the last minute. So far it has worked for me and I've just passed my final extramural Massey paper so I can graduate next year. But I'm still half-way through another extramural/online course so I still have a fair bit of study to do.

I try (and should be doing it now rather than mucking around posting on here!) to do any reading for the assignment in the morning and take notes along the way. Once I have a good outline of what I want to do, I then start typing up my initial draft. I write as much from memory as I can, then look at the books and other sources to check I am on the right track. I don't worry about word counts at this stage, I just try and get down all that I need to shape the final version. Once I have done this, I look at how many words I have and how many I need to add or remove to get the word count close to what was asked for. Sometimes if I am stuck I will take a sheet of paper and write down the important things I wanted to cover and then go back and ensure I have covered them.

It depends on where you are studying and how, but if you are studying extramurally there are workshops and books that can be sourced through the university - I know Massey has several. If you are studying internally, there should be student support services who can guide and help you along the way.

Because a lot of my course material is online, I get bored staring at a computer screen all day so I will take a break and go for a walk, or play a computer game like solitaire to give my eyes and mind a break, or I'll stop for a cup of tea and something to eat, or I'll email friends. It's good to keep working while you have ideas and feel motivated, but it's also good to take regular breaks so you come to the information fresh and ready to start again.

[BuFfY]

Check out the thread I posted ages ago called Multiple Intelligences, the test on that will help you to realise which way you learn best.

Timed breaks are good, but I would suggest them every hour for about 10 mins, especially if you are working on a computer.

I would also suggest having some variation. It is suggested that we need to 'learn' something atleast 3 times before it is stored in our memory. They also say that we can have up to 7 facts in our short term memory (which only lasts 20 secs) so reading something, writing it down and then explaining it to someone else is an excellent way for this short term knowledge to be turned into understanding.

Being a teacher (weeeeeeee) we spend a lot of time getting to know how children learn and the best ways for them to learn different information. They say that physically manipulating something when a concept is new increases the chance of the knowledge being stored.

It depends if it is studying for a test, or studying something you actually want to remember for ever. And I think that if you really want it to be cemented in your mind then knowing how your mind works first is the way to go.

Best of luck aye, I have juuuust finished my degree and am so relieved I do not have any study for the next 3 months (but then in 3 months I will be working a hell of a lot harder!!)

[The Pastor]

I manage to get get C's with very minimal study. and thats all I need

[Beemer]

I manage to get get C's with very minimal study. and thats all I need

Although the letter may now have different connotations, I read a quote recently that I had to agree with "Ps (as in 'passes') get degrees". I got some As, some Bs and a couple of Cs - altogether it makes a pass so who cares?

[The Pastor]

egg heads and nerds care, life buffy (p/t)

[BuFfY]

egg heads and nerds care, life buffy (p/t)

You are right, I do care. I like to get good grades and I feel that if you deserve them you get them.

[The Pastor]

What does it matter to ya
When ya got a job to do
Ya got to do it well
You got to give the other fella hell

I've nothing agaisnt people who are after grades - they will probably earn more $$ than I ever will. Its just not me.

[TonyB]

Weeeeeeeelllll,this might be a bit hard to replicate, but I once discovered that anything being taught by someone that I am incredibly attracted to will stick very quickly and stay in my mind for years. Example- A girl who I was besotted with taught me the deaf alphabet in under 5 minutes, and it took about 10 years for me to forget it.

[Curious_AJ]

holy crap... my first exam is on monday... animal business studies... hmm.. not too worried... but still feel the need to study... accounting... yuck.. but then again i enjoyed the assignment and did well (59 1/2 out of 60 _b)

what's really set me back with y studying though is having to catch up 3, 10 and a half hour days in the unitec vet clinic this week (study week) but oh well, it was good to engrain some of the practical things i need to know and some of the stuff for my "clinical studies" paper... teehee.. injections are fun....