Hello everyone. Seeing as the first part of this guide was fairly popular, I’ll attempt to expedite the rest of the guide for your benefits. Here’s the link to step one if you missed it:
Four Steps to Your First 4.0: Step One
Step Two: Applying the Quiz and Recall Method to Your Studying
Alright so now we know that if you’ve been doing the brute force method of studying, you’ve been doing it all wrong. We also know the correct way to study, the quiz and recall method.
But how do we actually apply this method to our studies? I’m going to simplify all studying you will do into two groups that mainly focus on what you might be tested on in a business-related course, sorry liberal arts majors. The two groups are vocab terms and quantitative problems. Again this will not cover any material for literature type courses.
Vocab Terms
Studying vocab terms with the quiz and recall method is actually quite simple, and is a technique that many use already: flashcards. However in college these flashcards will have to be much more in depth than you are used to if you used them in high school.
The way to best utilize flashcards with the quiz and recall method is to not only have cards for single terms, but also for conceptual questions that are key for the exam. So instead of having a card for just “what is the NPV method”, also include a card for “what factors might lead a manager to utilize NPV instead of payback-period”.
This method, while effective will lead to a huge stack of flashcards, I often had 80+ flashcards per chapter, with as many as 5 chapters making up an exam. In the next step we’ll go over a great tool to combat this so you aren’t lugging around hundreds of flashcards.
Quantitative Problems
Studying quantitative problems with the quiz and recall method is even simpler. If your professor is any good, they’ve been giving you preparatory questions all semester that will directly tie into what you’ll see on the exam. These problems can come from many sources including homework, recommended problems, classwork, quizzes, practice quizzes, and even practice exams if you’re lucky.
All you have to do is combine these problems into your own practice exams. However one thing is very important, and that is THEY MUST NOT HAVE THEIR ANSWERS VISIBLE. This is in essence the point of the quiz and recall method. After you compile this practice exam of all the questions the professor has thrown your way, you need to be able to sit down and do it start to finish without any outside help. Once you’ve done this you’ll know that you 100% know the material, and you will ace your exams, which in college is the most important factor in getting A’s.
In the next step (posted Tuesday) we’ll go over some important tools to better utilize the quiz and recall method. Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions comment below and I’ll answer them.
OP I think its worth mentioning the small, but existent, % chance that a student will get assigned a professor who is well known for being 'difficult' with grades and exams. you can't prepare for that, it's mainly just doing good damage control as a student - examples: going to office hours to show you care, asking to redo any homework or projects that are low grades, asking for extra credit, etc.
again, there are just some professors that don't give A's and the highest grade in their class with be a 'forced bell curve' meaning 4 kids out of 40 will get an A- and probably 0 will get a 4.0.
preparing for the test/quizzes/essays are just as important as good damage control and professor-student relations in my opinion. I've had times when I expected a final grade of B/B+ and got an A.... just gotta show the professor you care and that, on top of doing well on the assignments, helps with doing well.
That's a good point, and I'm glad you mentioned it. For this guide I'm focusing mainly on study techniques, but I totally agree. If you show the professor you really care about the class they will do whatever they can to bump you up.
from Cal Newport?
Yep, specifically his book "How to become a straight-a student"
The vast majority of your first days at a college will be in your shape room. you will discuss the guidelines and so on...
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