#moo-studies-science

[moo-studies-science]

4/6/18

Let SWOTVAC begin

[moo-studies-science]

How I Organise My Lecture Revision

Hey, thought I would just take a moment to write up how I personally organise my lectures throughout the semester, and then for revision purposes. 

To start off with, I make up a document which has Monday-Friday for each week of the semester, and write in every lecture for each subject on the day it is held on.

It ends up looking a little like this:

As you can see with each subject, there are a series of letters after the subject code. This is based on my review techniques, and makes it tonnes easier to know what I have done during the semester for each lecture. It goes as follows:

S - Slides - Have I put the slide content into a word document and printed it?

N - Notes - Rewatching the lecture, have I finished any additional notes that needed to be added (from either lecture rewatch or pre/post/other work)

L - Lecture - Have I watched the lecture and written down the notes I took in the lecture on the printed slides?

F - File - Have I stored my notes somewhere safe?

Pr - Pre work - Including pre work questions, readings, revision of previous lectures

Po - Post work - Including revision of said lecture, any post work questions, figuring out things I don’t understand.

Each subject has a different colour associated (all my work is colour coded to this colours) and as I finish each thing, I cross it off next to the lecture, before crossing off the lecture itself when it has been fully revised. This doesn’t mean I won’t come back to it, just that I have achieved my study goal for that lecture.

By the time that exam comes around, I should have crossed off each lecture of that colour. The crossing off system is extremely satisfying, particularly when you can see the visual progress of the semester as you work your way through it.

This semester for me was a bit of a bust, but I’m getting through my lectures and happy with the progress, all things considered.

Hope something like this helps for you!

[moo-studies-science]

9 June 2018

First exam is done and dusted!! Went much better than I expected, was confident enough to leave the exam early (finished in the first 40 minutes of a 2.5 hour exam, as did most people tbh). Definitely a good way to start exam season!!

Happy studying, you lovely biscuits!

[moo-studies-science]

How I Study: Biology

Biology remains a content heavy subject, with not only concept to learn but facts and figures and details. This means trying to cram this subject really doesn’t work.

1. Have a set of base notes (e.g. the typed notes, printed out)

I create these based off textbook readings and summaries. This counts are revision one. At this point, you don’t have to understand the nitty gritty details, just know the general concepts and what sort of things you will be addressing. I tend to do this at the start of the week for all the units which are going to be covered in that week.

2. Preparation

The night before the lecture/workshop/contact/tutorial/practical where that material is covered, I go through the information provided by uni, whether that may be lecture slides, a prac manual, tutorial worksheet etc. I write information my base notes are missing in red. Once complete, I read through all of the notes. This is the second time of reviewing the material with new, additional information.

3. Uni time! 

Now I go to all my uni hours and lectures in person, rather than reviewing online because this is what works best for me. During this time I take detailed notes of what the lecturer is saying (instead of what is on the slides!). [Review number 3 of content]

4. Pulling it all together

Within two days of that lecture/tute/prac/whatever, I go through the notes and additional materials I have collected from these things. Reviewing my base and red notes, I add in anything else (in greeny-blue) that wasn’t already in these notes. [Review number 4 of content].

Ta-da! 

This method, if done progressively throughout the semester means that the content is reviewed a minimum of 4 times, and very nice, summarised notes result. Using the combination of materials allows a succinct, yet detailed version of studying, and the repetition highlights important points in your mind as they are repeated throughout all the materials.

Let me know what you think!

[moo-studies-science]

Day 3 of New Me

Only one hour of uni today, a biology workshop. While inclined to skip it because it was just one hour, I went and did actually learn some stuff. I missed 2 lectures last week for biol, the first 2 I had not gone to in that course all semester so I felt largely behind, but this workshop helped me somewhat.

I found my stats paper for my ethical review, it was one where they inflict trauma to mice brains and see how the animal recovers from it. There will definitely be some interesting ethical points to discuss. Paper all registered and approved 3 weeks ahead of the due date, with 500 words left to write.

[moo-studies-science]

[5/100] 06-04-2107

chemistry chemistry chemistry!!!!

the cold had creeped in and today was the most productive day. Spent over 12 hours at uni, most of which was either in classes or studying for chemistry. The last 4 hours of those 12 were hard core chemistry group study, and I’ve gone from feeling iffy about the exam to confident. I love the uni atmosphere and have really found my place and my people. Stress is so much easier to manage when you have a group of people around you who support you every step of the way.

[moo-studies-science]

[01-05-2017]

Bit of a throwback to last Wednesday, final revision and last minute questions before my mid sem exam. Ordered chaos is how I work best somehow :))

[moo-studies-science]

20.05.17

Chemystery is slowing become chemistry thanks to a change of lecturers. Slowly getting to the pointy end of the semester, had my last chem prac on Tuesday, only a few more segments of content before exams, let’s get this productivity flowing!