[Lonestar]

hey i'm at 3rd year uni and still struggling to find an effective way of getting all the information into my head and keeping it there

what techniques you guys use you absorb your lecture stuff?

i've already started to record and listen to my lectures back at home and i find it ok but time consuming

thanks

[Arkcon]

It really all comes down to you ability to understand what's said in lecture halls and what's in your text.  Some of my old, dated observations:

1). The recording of lectures was never very useful for me.  It was a last ditch effort for me, to try and get the teacher's words twice, but it just didn't work.  If you didn't get it when it was said at first, with examples on the board, stop the instructor and ask them specific questions. 

The only time I did the process -- "Record and take notes.  Recopy notes and re-listen to lecture" was for Biophysical Chemistry.  The professor would ramble on for 90 minutes three times a week, quadratic calculus equations, that would fill the three boards, and require him to erase the half of first one -- to prove what?  I didn't know then and I don't know now.   Perhaps the thermodynamics of a muscle twitch.  I really didn't have the time to spare to re-listen and re-write a lecture, especially with no visual of the equation as it's being written.

2).  Everyone suggests the recopying of notes.  I did that a lot as my college career wore on.  It might have been helpful.  But it might have been a waste of time.  Taking properly written notes, and rewiring them as an outline may help more.

People have other tricks as well.  Pay attention to what's working for you.  Make sure that your recording and rewriting the lecture actually adds information you use later, so you're not consuming your time.

[enahs]

Read the material in the book, that will be covered in the lecture, before you attend the lecture. Then read the material in the book after the lecture (not weeks later either).

If possible, depending on the subject, get another cheap streamlined book and read the same material from that book as well, to get it from a different point of view or way of explaining.

Work as many problems as you can where appreciable.


Do not stress over it too much. Getting an A in a class does not always mean you know the material. It is sad and unfortunate, but many professors just want to do research and teach to give a grade, not to educate.

Learning how to learn and learning how to pass a test are different, and learning how to pass a test is different for every professor.

[Yggdrasil]

In chemistry, practice makes perfect. 

If you're doing organic, make flash cards of the reactions you are supposed to know.  On one side write the card write the starting material and product and put a question mark over the reagents.  On the other write the starting material and reagents, but a question mark in the place of the product.  When doing the flash cards randomize both the order and the side of the card.  When working out the problems, try to draw out the mechanism of each reaction.

In physical chemistry, writing/recopying derivations from class "in your own words" can sometimes be helpful (especially if your prof skips over many steps in class).  Pretend you're trying to explain each step of the derivation to a friend.

Of course, in both types of chem, doing problems from your book is helpful.  During these exercises, don't be afraid to consult your book or lecture notes.  This helps target your studying to the parts of lecture that you don't understand as well and hopefully studying these concepts in the context of actual problems will help you internalize the information better.

Recopying notes is sometimes helpful to me.  The times where it is most useful is when you can condense your notes into a very small amount of text (e.g. your whole course in one to two sheets of paper).  This helps you pick out the important concepts/equations/reactions and can sometimes help clear up the big picture (if there is one).  This is an particularly useful technique for studying metabolism in biochemistry or for identifying important reactions in your organic chemistry courses.

[Nikola]

Flash cards/recopying notes is just a waste of time. Sit down read the equation/mechanism and just mess around with them. Understand how they work and the basic principles. I cant stress how memorizing reactions will hurt you in the future when you have 200+ mechanisms. It will be better to grasp the underlying concept. This isn't higher mathematics just do the material and learn it.

I find the best way to study is to be fully hydrated(with water not beer ha ha, although it makes it quite interesting), have a little music on in the background(I prefer Beethoven), and to have your undivided attention on the subject for hours till your eyes pop. Then wash rinse repeat.

Just another view point on the subject! Good Luck

[Polleke]

Flash cards/recopying notes is just a waste of time. Sit down read the equation/mechanism and just mess around with them. Understand how they work and the basic principles. I cant stress how memorizing reactions will hurt you in the future when you have 200+ mechanisms. It will be better to grasp the underlying concept. This isn't higher mathematics just do the material and learn it.

I find the best way to study is to be fully hydrated(with water not beer ha ha, although it makes it quite interesting), have a little music on in the background(I prefer Beethoven), and to have your undivided attention on the subject for hours till your eyes pop. Then wash rinse repeat.

Just another view point on the subject! Good Luck

I think everyone has his own method of learning things.

If I hear yours by example and would use that method to study, I would become nuts!
Studying, while there is music in the background? A big nono for me!
It would only distract me.
Studying with music is in general a big nono, a lot of studies have allready shown that studying with musics slows down the studying itself. Especially with clasic music tests showed that students had to study more and longer to learn things.

However I do agree with you on 1 things: flashcards arent always the best thing! Its all about understanding and not learning by heart... But sometimes you have to do it like that.
And I think flashcards are a great system to keep things fresh in your mind: you use the flashcards to repeat stuff frequently , but not to study the stuff itself. By this I mean that you study the reactions, understand them and after that you can put it on a flashcard and everyday when you have 5 minutes of free time, you just take the cards and look at them...

Reminds me of one big lesson most students know but never seem to use :

"repeating" stuff is the real way of "learning" stuf, you learn nothing by learning it , you learn it by repeating it!
And learning then means: remembering it and keeping it in your head!
(there is a fine dutch expression for this, but I wont put that here because none of you would understand it anyway haha)

too bad most of the tests are all based on the short memory.


PS. studying by repeating stuff is more efficient and less time consuming that learning everying at "one" moment. (eg. the time before the examens)

[AWK]

PS. studying by repeating stuff is more efficient and less time consuming that moment. (eg. the time before the examens)

repetitio mater studiorum (memoriae) est

[obada rules]

Flash cards/recopying notes is just a waste of time. Sit down read the equation/mechanism and just mess around with them. Understand how they work and the basic principles. I cant stress how memorizing reactions will hurt you in the future when you have 200+ mechanisms. It will be better to grasp the underlying concept. This isn't higher mathematics just do the material and learn it.

I find the best way to study is to be fully hydrated(with water not beer ha ha, although it makes it quite interesting), have a little music on in the background(I prefer Beethoven), and to have your undivided attention on the subject for hours till your eyes pop. Then wash rinse repeat.

Just another view point on the subject! Good Luck

I think everyone has his own method of learning things.

If I hear yours by example and would use that method to study, I would become nuts!
Studying, while there is music in the background? A big nono for me!
It would only distract me.
Studying with music is in general a big nono, a lot of studies have allready shown that studying with musics slows down the studying itself. Especially with clasic music tests showed that students had to study more and longer to learn things.

However I do agree with you on 1 things: flashcards arent always the best thing! Its all about understanding and not learning by heart... But sometimes you have to do it like that.
And I think flashcards are a great system to keep things fresh in your mind: you use the flashcards to repeat stuff frequently , but not to study the stuff itself. By this I mean that you study the reactions, understand them and after that you can put it on a flashcard and everyday when you have 5 minutes of free time, you just take the cards and look at them...

Reminds me of one big lesson most students know but never seem to use :

"repeating" stuff is the real way of "learning" stuf, you learn nothing by learning it , you learn it by repeating it!
And learning then means: remembering it and keeping it in your head!
(there is a fine dutch expression for this, but I wont put that here because none of you would understand it anyway haha)

too bad most of the tests are all based on the short memory.


PS. studying by repeating stuff is more efficient and less time consuming that learning everying at "one" moment. (eg. the time before the examens)

 ???what di i do to study well for me in the same day i take the lecture i concentrate to the lesson because they can say important notes  and i go home and solve the questions you wrote or have on the same day ,but if your absent minded i suggest to record the lecture and hear at home and when your studying you either feel tired or sleepy dont study take a long nap then begin to study.It works for me but i not sure it works for everyone, but in my opinion its better to study when their is no noise in your room or outside. so good luck!

[C6H8O7]

Have you tried the slice and pour approach?