2 November, 2011 in University by Aonghas

An Extra Day’s Grace

Today I woke up later than I wanted to (again) to start another day’s study (again). After a couple of hours I decided that I wasn’t making much progress and the fact that Jeremy Kyle was trying to give advice to another set of bogans on TV in the background didn’t help either. My mum tried to keep me awake by giving me some green tea but I still found it hard to concentrate and actually make some progress. I decided to take a shower and go into uni so that I could start studying with a fresh mind away from anything that might distract me.

When I got into uni I walked through the quad and bumped into Vas and Sushi who were both having lunch. They told me that they had already had an exam and that Systems and Control was their last exam next Wednesday (which is my first exam). They said Wednesday. And I told them it was on Tuesday. But they insisted it was Wednesday so I checked my phone and sure enough they were right! Suddenly a micro sigh of relief passed through me, because it meant I had an extra day to study (believe me, I can do with ANY extra time to study right now), although it also meant I had one less day to study for my other two exams. But that didn’t matter at that moment, because I was most worried about Systems and Control. I headed to the undergraduate labs and found a space to study. There were a couple of other people in the room when I arrived but they left a few hours later. For the rest of the evening I spent my time looking over Laplace transforms and I was pleased when I managed to do some questions I was stuck on last night.

Slowly but surely I think I’m learning. I just hope I’ll be somewhat ready this time next week! Tomorrow I’m planning to go to uni early in the morning, so it’s early bedtime tonight!

29 October, 2011 in Guides and Tips, University by Aonghas

Time to Cram!

Don't be tempted to sleep while you're cramming!

So you look at your calendar and realise your first exam is less than two weeks away and you haven’t studied. At all. Not only that, but you were half asleep in most of your morning lectures so you don’t even know what you were supposed to have learnt. You really have two options in these situations: you can either (a) not study and just wing the exam, hoping for the best or (b) start cramming like there’s no tomorrow. Hopefully if you’re like me, you’ll have come to to the conclusion that simply winging a test or exam never goes down too well, so your only option left of course is to start studying like crazy!

But how are you supposed to cram all that information into what little time you have left? Is it even worth the effort? Although cramming for an exam is never encouraged, desperate times are unavoidable sometimes, and you have to work with what you’ve got. From doing a little research online and from previous experience, there are definitely tips that can help get you on your way to becoming a Master Crammer. Here are some important pointers you may find useful:

Before you start cramming

• Find the right place to study. I often try to study in a silent environment away from others I know I will get distracted by. Avoid places where distractions like TV or Facebook access may become tempting. Some people like to listen to music while they study, but I find that it can be distracting sometimes, especially if the songs have lyrics. I would suggest listening to quiet non-lyrical music if you feel uneasy in a silent environment.
• Good lighting. You will want to study in a well-lit area with enough working space on a table.
• Sit at a table. I try to avoid lying on a sofa or on the floor because these positions get too comfortable and encourage me to fall asleep too easily.
• Be prepared. Make sure you have all the stationery and resources you need before you get into it. It’s not only annoying to have to find a glue stick or highlighter half-way through your study, but it can interrupt your flow of thoughts and concentration.
• Make a plan. Have a rough estimate of how long you want to be studying for each subject/topic. The worst thing would be to spend a whole day studying one topic and still not understanding it, whereas you could have moved on a lot earlier and completed more as a result.

While you are cramming

• Stay focused. It’s easy to let your mind wander about what you’re going to have for dinner/breakfast, what your friends are saying on Facebook, etc. but you can’t let those thoughts distract you. Often when I find myself starting to lose concentration, I remind myself when my exam is and how much I still have left to study. Usually that’s enough to scare me back into study mode.
• Stay hydrated. When people think about studying/cramming for long periods of time (often throughout the night), they immediately think that energy drinks will do the trick. While they may work for some people, I find that green tea or even just hot (not boiling) water works best for me. Milo is good the first time, but if you’re planning to study for a long time you don’t want to have that warm milky after-taste lingering around. Hot drinks help you stay warm during those all-nighters as well!
• Track your progress. You may feel like you’re achieving nothing after several hours of study. Don’t worry, keep going. It’s a good idea to test your knowledge after each chapter/section by trying a practice question or trying to recall facts you have just read.
• Active studying. Don’t just read your notes. Write key points down, say something out loud a few times. Come up with mnemonics to help you remember steps or processes easier. They say that your brain can only remember 5-7 things at a time, so break bigger chunks down and group similar points together to trick your mind into thinking it only has to remember a smaller number of things.
• Look at previous examples. If you have access to previous exam papers, have a look through them beforehand and if you have several years’ worth of previous exams, compare them to see if there are trends. If you have access to the answers as well, don’t look at them before you start studying. Have a go at the questions first, and then see what the answer is. That way you can see how closely you answered the question, and see what you have to change. It’s easy to simply look at the answer and understand it without trying to answer it first, but often it’s coming up with an answer yourself that’s the hardest part.
• Take regular breaks. By regular I mean around once every 3 hours. I find 3 hours to be a good length for each sitting because it’s generally the length of an exam so you can train your mind to concentrate for that long. And by the way, breaks are only supposed to be long enough to go to the bathroom, maybe a quick snack and have a stretch. Don’t even think about going near Facebook.

After cramming

• Lather. Rinse. Repeat. One session of cramming is not enough. I would like to think you would have thought about studying at least a few days prior to your exam and not just the day before. The more cramming sessions you have, the more information you will retain.

All the best with your cramming. I better get back to mine.

7 June, 2011 in University by Aonghas

Two Weeks to Go

In exactly two weeks from now I will have my first of three exams for this semester. My first exam is for the management (ENGGEN 303) course and I’ve got to admit, although the content isn’t conceptually hard to understand for the most part, there is a lot of content to cram into two weeks, not to mention the other two subjects I still have to study for. For the management course we were pretty much introduced to some important aspects of business management, specifically management relating to the engineer. We started off by learning about accounting and all the different financial statements that are usually involved when it comes to dealing with money in the professional industry. Our lecturer’s name for the accounting section of the course was Jordi Garcia, and I created a Facebook fan page just for him after he succeeded in delivering what is perhaps one of the most boring subjects (in my opinion!) in a way that was somewhat interesting. I’ll never forget about the “magic pen” business model he used throughout all his lectures as a way to demonstrate examples. Luke Dickinson, you know what I’m talking about

The second half of the semester focussed more on project management and strategies that businesses use to schedule projects etc. We were taught about innovation and had several guest lecturers come to talk to us about their respective careers involving management of some kind. The only reason I remember this much is because we had to write weekly reflections about what we had learnt in class. They were kind of a pain to do at the time, but I guess in the end the did actually help me retain at least some of what I had learnt in class.

The next two weeks are going to be a tricky balancing act for me as I try to work out how much time to spend on each subject leading up to the exams. I’m sure procrastination and distractions will try their best to lead me off track, but I’m going to do everything I can to stay focussed! Studying at uni till after 10pm tonight is perhaps the first step in achieving that goal!

30 May, 2011 in University by Aonghas

One Week Left

I can’t believe it’s that time again. That time when all the lectures are winding down and everyone starts transforming into their study modes. This week is our last week of classes before we break for study leave. Luckily (or unluckily?) for me, my first exam is two weeks after my last lecture, but it means my three exams are quite close together. The annoying thing is that I can’t really get into full study mode just yet because I have a big 50% project due this Friday. After that I’ll have to cram 12 weeks of material into two weeks and it’s going to be quite a hefty challenge.

During this coming week I’m going to aim to achieve a few things. Firstly, I want to have a proper study plan all done so that I’m ready to get straight into study after I’ve finished my project. I also want to wake up earlier in the morning so that I can make my days more productive. I can do it, I know I can. It’s all just about self-discipline I keep telling myself. Let’s do this!

1 April, 2010 in University by Aonghas

A Week of Tests

I’ve been pretty slack posting for the last week because I’ve been pretty bogged down trying to study/cram for all the tests that seemed to have sprung up on me out of nowhere. My first test was last Friday night – the test I was probably least prepared for. More than half the content was about semiconductors and conduction while the rest of the test was about diodes. I managed to wade my way through most of the questions and I was glad to see the end of that test. After that test I had to rush back to church for youth group because they were watching the movie “Up” tonight. I walked in halfway through the movie so I didn’t really know what was going on, but I kind of picked up a few things along the way.

In some ways I looking forward to this week, but in other ways I was waiting for it to be over. The last week was supposed to be a way for me to cool down and get ready for the mid-semester break, but instead my week was plagued with three more tests… on consecutive days too! Computer Systems on Tuesday, Mathematical Modelling on Wednesday and Electronic Circuits today. Overall they didn’t go too badly (fingers crossed!) but I don’t want to think about them anymore because it’s mid-semester break now. This year is just going by faster and faster everyday I swear!