Macleans College

Study Notes

Study is like the heavens' glorious sun

Wm Shakespeare
..............................................................................Page

Effective Habits for Effective Study .................... 4

Review Tools for Tests......................................... 5

MURDER ............................................................. 6

Time Management................................................ 7

Study Schedule .................................................... 8

Using Memory Effectively................................... 9

Avoid Procrastination........................................... 10

Ten Tips for Test Taking...................................... 11

Swot Timetable..................................................... 13

Examination Instructions ..................................... 15

Examination Timetable ....................................... 16

 Effective Habits for Effective Study
You can prepare yourself to succeed in your studies.
Try to develop and appreciate the following habits:

• Take responsibility for yourself

Responsibility is recognition that in order to succeed you can make
decisions about your priorities, your time, and your resources

• Center yourself around your values and principles

Don't let friends and acquaintances dictate what you consider important

• Put first things first

Follow up on the priorities you have set for yourself, and don't let others,
or other interests, distract you from your goals

• Discover your key productivity periods and places

Morning, afternoon, evening; study spaces where you can be the most
focused and productive. Prioritize these for your most difficult study
challenges·

• Consider yourself in a win-win situation

You win by doing your best and contributing your best to a class, whether
for yourself, your fellow students, and even for your teachers and
instructors.

• Look for better solutions to problems

For example, if you don't understand the course material, don't just re-read the
material. Try something else! Consult with the teacher, a tutor, a classmate.

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 Be prepared
Boy Scout motto
American
Review tools for tests

• Create study checklists

Identify all of the material that you will be tested on-- list notes, formulas, ideas, and text
assignments you are accountable for. This checklist will enable you to break your studying
into organized, manageable chunks, which should allow for a comprehensive review plan
with minimal anxiety

• Create summary notes and "maps"

Briefly map out the important ideas of the course and the relationships of these ideas.
Summary notes should display lists and hierarchies of ideas.
Creativity and a visual framework will help you recall these ideas.

• Record your notes

and significant portions of text on audio tapes so you can review material with a walk-man.
Having a tape of important information will enable you to study while walking or relaxing
in a non-academic environment

• Create flashcards
for definitions, formulas, or lists that you need to have memorized--put topics on one side
of the card, answers on the other. Flashcards will enable you to test your ability to not only
recognize important information, but also your ability to retrieve information from scratch

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 "MURDER"
A Study System

Mood:
Set a positive mood for yourself to study in.
Select the appropriate time, environment, and attitude;

Understand:
Mark any information you don't understand in a particular unit;
Keep a focus on one unit or a manageable group of exercises;

Recall:
After studying the unit,
stop and put what you have learned into your own words;

Digest:
Go back to what you did not understand and reconsider the information;
Contact external expert sources (e.g., other books or an instructor) if you still cannot understand it;

Expand:
In this step, ask three kinds of questions concerning the studied material:

• If I could speak to the author, what questions would I ask or what criticism would I offer?

• How could I apply this material to what I am interested in?

• How could I make this information interesting and understandable to other students

Review:
Go over the material you've covered,
Remember what strategies helped you understand and/or retain information;
Apply these strategies to your future studying.

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 Time Management Time discovers truth
Annaeus Lucius Seneca

Time Management is setting and following a schedule of study in order to organize and
prioritise your studies
in the context of competing activities of work, family, etc.

Guidelines:

• Monitor your time

• Reflect on how you spend your time

• Be aware of when you are wasting your time

• Know when you are productive

Knowing how you spend your time should aid you in planning and predicting
project completion:

• Have a "To Do" list. Write down things you have to do, then decide what to do at
the moment, what to schedule for later, what to get someone else to do, and what to
put off for a later time period

• Have a daily/weekly planner. Write down appointments, classes, and meetings on a

chronological log book or chart. Always know what's ahead for the day, always go
to sleep knowing you're prepared for tomorrow

• Have a long term planner. Use a monthly chart so that you can always plan ahead.
Long term planners also serve to remind you to plan your free time constructively

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 Planning for an effective study schedule:

• Allow sufficient time for sleep, a well-balanced diet, and leisure activities

• Prioritise assignments

• Schedule time to go over new material immediately after class;

Remember: Forgetting is greatest within 24 hours without review

• Schedule fifty minute blocks of study

• Choose a place free from distractions to study

• Plan to use "dead time"

• Schedule as much study time as possible during daylight hours

• Schedule a weekly review

• Be careful not to become a slave to your schedule

• The satisfaction of "crossing off" the completed task can yield a sense of
accomplishment, and even a little sense of reward!

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 He who has seen much
will have remembered much
Jean de la Fontaine
1709 French

Using Memory Effectively

Acronyms and Acrostics: (for information involving key words)

An acronym is an invented combination of letters. Each letter is a cue to an idea you need to
remember. Example: BRASS is an acronym for how to shoot a rifle--Breath, Relax, Aim, Sight,
Squeeze.

An acrostic is an invented sentence where the first letter of each word is a cue to an idea you need
to remember. Example: EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FUN is an acrostic to remember the
order of G-clef notes on sheet music--E, G, B, D, F.

Everything becomes a little different

as soon as it is spoken out loud.
Herman Hesse, German 1877-1961

Thinking Aloud/ Private speech

Thinking aloud was essential to our early learning. Thinking aloud is also called private speech.

Applications of private speech in learning include;

• memorizing vocabulary by saying the words
• appreciating poetry by "dramatising" it
• editing papers by reading the text aloud
• talking through math problems to arrive at solutions
•
We use multiple senses and experiences to process and reinforce our learning, and the
combination of these strategies is very individual.

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 He who puts off nothing till
tomorrow has done a great deal
Baltasar Graciáî
1601-56 Spanish

Avoiding Procrastination

The only way to avoid procrastination is to do the project at hand.

To do the project at hand you have to become motivated.

Ask Yourself the Following Questions:

Why am I doing this?
What if I don't do this?
What will happen if I do this later?
If you answer these questions honestly, you will realize the importance of beginning
your task now.

Reward Yourself
At the completion of your task have a reward ready to give yourself.
If you fail to complete the project, deny yourself that reward.

Remember there is nobody here to hold your hand. If you fail to complete your tasks, you will fail.
The fault and consequences will be yours alone.

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 Ten Tips for Test Taking

Come prepared; arrive early for tests

Bring all the materials you will need such as pencils and pens, a calculator, a dictionary, and a
watch.
This will help you focus on the task at hand

Stay relaxed and confident

Remind yourself that you are well-prepared and are going to do well.
Don't let yourself become anxious; if you feel anxious before or during a test, take several slow,
deep breaths to relax
Don't talk to other students before a test; anxiety is contagious

Be comfortable but alert

Choose a good spot to take the test.
Make sure you have enough room to work.
Maintain an upright posture in your seat

Preview the test

Spend 10% of your test time reading through the test carefully, marking key terms and deciding
how to budget your time.
Plan to do the easy questions first and the most difficult questions last.
As you read the questions, jot down brief notes indicating ideas you can use later in your answers

Answer the test questions in a strategic order

Begin by answering the easy questions you know, then those with the highest point value.
The last questions you answer should
be the most difficult,
take the greatest amount of writing, or
have the least point value

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When taking a multiple choice test, know when to guess
First eliminate answers you know are wrong.
Always guess when there is no penalty for guessing or you can eliminate options.
Don't guess if you have no basis for your choice and if you are penalized for guessing.
Since your first choice is usually correct, don't change your answers unless you are sure of the
correction

When taking essay tests, think before you write

Create a brief outline for your essay by jotting down a few words to indicate ideas you want to
discuss. Then number the items in your list to indicate the order in which you will discuss them

When taking an essay test, get right to the point

State your main point in the first sentence.
Use your first paragraph to provide an overview of your essay.
Use the rest of your essay to discuss these points in more detail.
Back up your points with specific information, examples, or quotations from your readings and
notes

Reserve 10% of your test time for review

Review your test; resist the urge to leave as soon as you have completed all the items.
Make sure you have answered all the questions.
Proofread your writing for spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
Check your math answers for careless mistakes (e.g. misplaced decimals). Match your
actual answers for math problems against quick estimates

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 Swot Timetable

(An example)

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

3.30 Shops Rugby Music 9.00 Sport
4.00 Hmwk 10.00 Church
4.30 Hmwk Maths 11.00
5.00 Hmwk Shower 12.00 Lunch Lunch
5.30 Hmwk Soc St English Science Hmwk 1.00 Soc St
6.00 Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner 2.00 Movies Hmwk
6.30 Maths Science 3.00
7.00 TV TV TV TV TV 4.00 Science
7.30 Maths Hmwk Hmwk 5.00 English
8.00 Relax Hmwk Soc St Hmwk English 6.00 Dinner Dinner
8.30 Science Relax Relax English 7.00 TV TV
9.00 Shower Science Maths Hmwk 8.00 Maths TV
9.30 English Relax Shower Soc St 9.00 Maths
10.00 Bed Bed Bed Bed Bed 10.00 Bed Bed
10.30 11.00

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 Swot Timetable

(Personal)

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

3.30 9.00
4.00 10.00
4.30 11.00
5.00 12.00
5.30 1.00
6.00 2.00
6.30 3.00
7.00 4.00
7.30 5.00
8.00 6.00
8.30 7.00
9.00 8.00
9.30 9.00
10.00 10.00
10.30 11.00

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 MACLEANS COLLEGE

EXAMINATION INSTRUCTIONS

1. From the time you enter until you leave the exam room, you are
under examination conditions. There is to be no talking.
There is to be a silent, orderly and dignified entrance and exit.

2 Use a clear plastic bag as a pencil case. Ensure that nothing is

written on any refill paper that you are allowed to take into the
examination with you. The supervisor will check this at the
beginning of the examination.

3 No one is permitted into the examination after the commencement of the

exam unless they have permission.

4 No one is permitted to leave an examination early.

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 My Examination Timetable

Subject Time Day/Venue

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