- Have a good place to study, such as a desk in a quiet room (this means no TV, no radio or stereo, video games, etc.) I find that soft instrumental music works for me (lyrics are more distracting).
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- Personally I like white noise, so I could always get a lot done sitting in a coffee shop (of course, Starbucks or Dietrichs will frown on you occupying a table for hours on end).
- I used to get a lot done by grabbing a cubicle in the library, either here or at UCI. If you are surrounded by other people studying, you will be less inclined to slough off.
- Sit up. Nothing will put you to sleep faster than lying in bed or on the couch trying to study.
- Schedule your time, and commit yourself to it. Don't try to squeeze it all into one day. Work for an hour and take a break. Then come back and study some more.
- Go to class, go to class, go to class. If you skip class and then borrow someone else's notes you will miss valuable information and you will miss me explaining what is important about what you're writing down.
- Study right after class. This will aid your retention of material.
- Review your notes within 48 hours (preferably within 24 hours) -- better yet, rewrite them.
- You absorb an order of magnitude more material from what you write than from what you read.
- It will bring into relief what you don't understand.
- Form a study group and make sure it meets regularly. Help each other out.
- Get everyone's phone number, home address and e-mail address.
- Make sure everyone contributes. If you can explain a concept to someone so that they understand it, they will have learned something and so will you.
- Try to grasp concepts, rather than memorizing things. There is some memorization in my classes, but it is subordinate to understanding the big picture.
- Start thinking about exams several weeks ahead of time.
- Stay caught up. If you fall behind you will have a tough time catching up.
- Cramming never works as well as reviewing the material over several weeks.
- Don't give up. I have never met a successful person who did not have to work hard to succeed.
As a general rule, each unit assigned to a class translates into a minimum three hours of work per week (this is known as the Carnegie Unit). For a 3-unit class, this translates into nine hours. You are in class for 3 hours, which leaves six hours per week you should spend studying on your own. I believe that 2.5-3 outside hours per unit is a better rule...
If you are taking 12 units, you should be spending 12 hours per week in class and at least 24 hours per week studying (this is why they call it Full Time). Now, how should you be spending this valuable time?
Study Tips
James Repka | Earth and Ocean Science | Saddleback College | MSE Division | jrepka@saddleback.edu
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