How to prepare for finals
December 2, 2009, 1:15 pm
Filed under: tips | Tags: concept maps, definitions, exams, sleep, The Big Picture
Filed under: tips | Tags: concept maps, definitions, exams, sleep, The Big Picture
Students here are starting to think about final exams. You’ll get no lectures from me about how the time to think about finals is all semester. In my mind, in the ideal world you work your butt off for all the quizzes and midterms, and then the final is cake.
That’s no consolation for those of you who don’t live in my pedagogical fantasy world, so here’s concrete advice for your concrete world.
- Party. Get three or four of your classmates together. Order a couple of pizzas. Resolve to talk about nothing but science, and then do that: talk about nothing but science. Quiz each other. Predict exam questions. Find a blaockboard and draw a few concept maps. There’s no substitute for studying in a group, partly because you keep each other awake and engaged, and partly because the only way to see the gaps in your knowledge is to have other people point them out.
- Think big-picture. The final exam is the prof’s opportunity to pull some threads together, to explore how entire textbook chapters relate to each other. Think about some of these big-picture issues. A good way to start your thinking: try to figure out why you were required to learn what you learned. How did learning about polar covalent bonds help you later to understand protein structure? How does understanding protein structure help you understand Mendelian genetics? And why bother understanding Mendelian genetics, anyway? Sometimes the real answer is, “Because it fills out the semester,” but usually it’s something like, “Because it’s part of understanding some other big thing.” Like inheritance patterns of human genetic diseases.
- Study sentences, not definitions. The time for definitions is over. It’s now time for you to which contexts call for which words and phrases. (Even if you’re shaky on the definitions, learning how scientists actually use the words will help you shore up the definitions.) Read textbook chapters out loud, and pay attention to how the boldfaced words are used. Look for fine distinctions among related terms, and try to internalize them. Practice using the terms casually in conversation.
- Teach. During your pizza party, take turns teaching key concepts in detail and at length. Do it as an imitate-the-prof contest, play Keyword Bingo, whatever. Nothing is as good at moving information into long-term memory as forming sentences and then physically saying those sentences.
- Sleep. No all-nighters. Questions on final exams are frequently big synthesis questions, so the most important thing is to keep your mind sharp. A good night’s sleep does that.
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