For week 5’s first impression post, we are presented with the topic of memory. For my blog in particular, I will be analyzing and critiquing my own study habits. Later in my post, I will also be critiquing my study techniques for the first exam that was taken and what changes I may make in order to improve my score for Exam 2. Next week (week 6) we will be learning about memory and helpful study techniques in class so that I would be able to compare my own memorization techniques to what research says about improving memory for learned information. Although I believe that I benefit from my study techniques, I am hoping that I am able to learn more from this upcoming week’s lectures. I am hopeful to find different ways to recall information than what I have been practicing thus far. I am quite interested in seeing how alike or different my techniques of studying will stand compared to official research. I am always up to learning new memory/study techniques, especially as classes get more and more difficult.
Overall, the typical way I study for any class is in an analytical process. I typically will color code concepts in clusters, highlight important concepts (again, with various color coding techniques), write out my notes, make flashcards, and sometimes I will make my own review sheet for the exam/test. It is tedious to write down information again and again, but it is quite helpful (I find) so that I will remember it. The colors that I use to color code certain subjects helps me relay back to the main point(s) for the specific concept being asked. Sometimes I will rewrite my notes completely, or put chunks of what is vital to remember on flashcards (again, color coded). I will flip through my flashcards religiously until I know the information that is needed. In other circumstances, I will sometimes make my own review for the test. If I know what types of questions are expected to be asked, I will go further into detail with each. I typically make the review 2-3 days before the exam so that I can have one full day in between before I look back at the review to answer the questions on it without freshly going over the material.
For this class’ first exam, I made few flashcards with main concepts on them. I did not use the flashcard technique for this first exam. Instead, the main method that I used for the first exam was going back through my lecture notes and highlighting the points that I needed to know. I highlighted and/or underlined the concepts that were important to remember and look back over. I also went through the study guide that was provided, and made my own review for the test. After completing the review, I again color-coded the concepts that were important to recall. I did decently well on the first exam compared to the class average, as well as the max/min of the scores. I could have definitely done better, though. If I were to of taken advantage of more of my typical study techniques I think that my score would of came back higher than what it was. I had other classes that I was also studying for (Cellular Biology in particular) that must be reviewed over every day for at least 30 minutes. I think that I need to make a breaking point so that my brain can have a slight ‘resting’ stage from one class to another, especially so when studying for exams. I believe that this will help me retain information better. Next time we have an exam, I will be better prepared. I have already started to make flashcards as we go through each chapter so that it will not be as tedious to get all the material written out in preparation for the exam. I also to plan out more time than what I had before for this exam; we were coming back from softball games in Tennessee and Mississippi. I should have done my homework in a different order than what I did, so that I could have studied more on the bus for the psychology exam. I believe that time management is my greatest hardship for studying.
Cassidy's Psych Blog 