20 Minute Test prep

This past week for my political science class i used the 20 minute test prep for my upcoming test Tuesday. After each class, which is twice a week, i reviewed my notes for around 20 minutes. During this review I highlighted the main points in my notes by making a study guide. To add to this i made review questions that i felt could be possible test questions. Before each class i reviewed the notes i took in the previous class so that i could be more aware and engaged in the class discussion, which would in turn make more prepared for the exam. At the end of the week i answered these questions from memory, which most of them i knew the answer to. I also created a topic outline using my syllabus and began to review.

Those are definitions that we went over in class. I know these are important because we spent all of class going over them.



I also did the 20 minute test prep for math 221. Most maths are fact based classes, so the key pars of the notes are the steps to solve problems. So at the end of each class i reviewed these steps and made test questions that resembled examples we did in class. I then made a review guide which summed up the steps to solve the problems of these test questions i created. At the end of the week i answered these problems and then made a topic outline starting from normal distribution and ending with correlation.


This is a picture of how i summed up the steps to solve the problems that we went over in class.

The 20 minute test prep is something that will work well for visual and kinesthetic learners. Doing things like creating study guides and looking over notes is beneficial to both of these types of learners.

20- Minute Test Prep

After failing one of her tests, my roommate decided that she needed to find a new way to study. I introduced to her the 20- minute test prep that had helped me with my MAT 285 class. I told her all the steps starting with what to do after each class.

She needed to start by creating study aids for 20 minutes and make study sheets, flash cards, outlines, or summaries. For my math class, I made sure I had different practice questions using each concept. For my study aids I created each day, I wrote formulas on each concept we learned in class and then made practice questions in order to use the certain formulas.

My roommate took my advice and started to create study aids for 20 minutes after each class she had. In just a week, she realized she knew more information for the class and felt more prepared than she did before. The next step I told her to do was at the end of each week spend 10 minutes reviewing the study aids made for the week and spend the other 10 minutes creating questions on the week’s topics. She asked me why she should create questions and how they should be formatted. In response, I told her that she needed to create questions or problems that the professor would maybe ask on a test. For my sociology of health and illness class these questions at the end of each week helped me in deciphering what types of questions I might see on our test. I sent my teacher an email asking if my questions were the right format and information that would be seen on the test. She responded with corrective criticism on how I could fix my questions to be more effective for my studying purposes.

One to two weeks before the exam, I told my roommate to create a topic outline and review one topic at a time. Because we both take biology, we were able to create a topic outline together and help each other learn concepts that were on the test. The 20- minute test prep not only helped me do well on tests, but also helped my roommate that was struggling with a productive way to study.

20 minute test prep

For my quiz in PSC 124 I used the 20 minute test prep. I felt very confident with the 20 minute test prep because it helped me retain all the terms and information I needed to pass the quiz with. My quiz was on Friday and I used the 20 minute test prep for the last 2 weeks after school. Starting 2 weeks ago I reviewed all my information for at least 20 minutes after class. This significantly helped me retain everything I learned in the class because I looked over it again for a second time.Progressively over the week I began to remember everything I learned in class. Last week I spent ten minutes reviewing my notes and creating test questions I thought my teacher would ask on the test. I used the syllabus as well and found this very useful because it gave me a great outline of what was to come on the quiz. After this preparation I found myself ready for the quiz and for the first time I felt very comfortable and confident. On Friday I woke up and spent 30 minutes to review everything I had created for the 20 minute test preparation. This included my test questions and an outline of what I felt would be on the quiz. During the quiz I did not freeze up at all or find myself stuck on a question. Instead I felt confident and I'm sure I did very well on the quiz. The 20 minute test prep significantly helped me succeed in the quiz last Friday and was a very strong technique I will definitely use in the future.

Ranking Priorities

What is the most important task I must accomplish first? Or should I just make sure everything is done by the next day? How can I not feel so overwhelmed with all my work at night? I have tried many strategies in order to try to finish my work in a timely manner at night. I have tried to just do my homework in the order it is written down, which takes forever and I have also tried splitting my homework up over the course of two nights. Splitting up my homework meant I would save some of the important items on my list for the last minute and not do it fully. I needed a strategy that would help me do the important things on my homework list and save the rest for another time.

Ranking my Priorities was the best strategy to help me. The first night I used it I had an overwhelming amount of homework. I looked at my list of homework and saw that I could use the ranking priorities strategy in order to gain a better knowledge of what homework I needed to complete first, second, third, fourth, etc. I had a biology test I needed to study for, reading for my sociology of health and illness class, the pre lab for my bio lab, and calculus homework I needed to complete. So looking at my list of homework, I decided to rank it from most important to least important in order to accomplish it in a timely fashion.

I realized I needed to study hard for my biology test so that was going at the top of my list. Second I knew my calculus homework sections were due the next day so I had to get those done. My CLS homework was not due for another couple of days so I could rank that after biology and math. Painting, sociology, and the biology prelab were not due for another day either, so I knew what I had to absolutely get done that night. I ranked biology A-1, calculus A-2, sociology B-1, PTG B-2, sociology B-3, Biology lab C-1, and CLS C-2.

I successfully completed the A’s and the sociology readings that night and was happy with what I had accomplished because I knew that I got the most important things on my list done instead of doing them all at one time. This strategy was extremely useful to me that night and has continued to work for me since. I feel less overwhelmed with work and more focused on which assignments I must complete each night.

COST

My experience with work throughout my courses is that I am not particulary good with the preparation leading up to the paper. Although understanding of the issue or topic of the assignment is not an issue, it may come across as if I don't understand what's going on in the assignment due to lack of proper preperation. Once introduced to the COST(Cost Options Schedule Test) strategy it helped layout some issues, posssible options by which I can go about solving those issues, chossing the best option, and then giving myself a time frame to allow for the method to produce results. Since I haven't beeen graded on much thus far in my courses I chose to work to Change things that were more habitual in my work patterns. In the following picture you can see the things I chose to work on:
The image is my application of the method, we can walk through an example. For something that I wanted to Change, I chose my "not being aware of what's due or going on in the next scheduled class." For possible Options for this issue, I chose A."Place priorities on assignments over other things" because I like to do personally satisfying things over my work very often, and B."Get engaged in the assignment early" that I will have a good understanding of whats going on when it's actually time to do it & it will also help keep me interested throughout the process. In the Schedule category, I chose option A. Finally for the Test section, I allowed myself 1 week to produce results. I have been doing this method for about a half a week now and it has worked wonders. Not only does this help, it brings awareness to one's faults and I can catch myself faster when I am doing these things.

20 minute test prep

For my test in SOC 355 last week I utilized the 20 minute test prep. I began the 20 minute test prep one week before my test and it was very successful. I felt very confident for the exam and I'm sure it was because of the test prep. Usually I just study one night before an exam which leads to me forgetting a lot of the information. Using the 20 minute test prep helped me because I saw the information so many times that I didn't just memorize it, I actually learned it. My test was on healthcare in the U.S. which required the knowledge of various terms and definitions. After class on the Tuesdays and Thursdays leading up to the exam, I spent 20 minutes reviewing the material I learned in class that day. At the end of the week I spent 10 minutes answering test questions I thought my professor would ask me on the test. I was not given a review sheet but I made an outline of the notes which helped me study much better because everything was organized. Overall, I felt this strategy helped me significantly for my test.

Ranking Priorities

At the beginning of the week i did the strategy ranking priorities. This was helpful because i had a very full week of work ahead of me. For psc 121 i had a paper due, reading and a test in one week. I ranked studying and doing my paper an a because doing well on these will have a big impact on my grade. I ranked the reading a b because this is important, but it wont be graded so the effect of this on my grade isn't directly there however reading will help me understand the material more. This will also help me prepare for my test. I ranked the test A1 because it was on Tuesday and the paper an A2 because it was due Thursday and they are equally important. Since there is reading due every class i ranked the reading due Tuesday b1 and the reading due Thursday b2. For writing 205 we had our first paper due Tuesday, because these papers are most of my grade i ranked this A and put it in the A1 category with the psc test because there on the same day and of equal importance. Just like political science, there is reading due every day in writing 205. I ranked these writings bs and the reading due tuesday b1 and the reading due thursday b2.

Fritter Finder

Using the Fritter Finder has helped me manage my time in a more productive manner. Already I have noticed a difference in how early I get my homework done each day. Usually, I would come to my dorm in between classes and watch television or hang out with friends, but seeing how much free time I have throughout my days has made me realize that I can get my work done earlier and in a more productive approach. I now feel myself not procrastinating as much because I want to be able to have free time at the end of my day. I can clearly see when I have a block of free time during my day. For example I had read an entire book for my sociology of health and illness class in one week so instead of reading it at night when I am usually tired, I consciously used my free time in between classes to read it and finish it by the due date. The Fritter Finder has helped me become a more time conscious individual. I am less likely to be stuck doing my work late at night and now I can visually see when I am able to get assignments completed throughout the day.

D's Due and Do Organizer

Last weekend I had a very busy schedule and the D's Due and Do Organizer helped me manage my days. The organizer is a great solution to a busy schedule because it breaks down my whole week. Having such a busy schedule, the D's Due and Do Organizer lays out all my assignments for the week so I can see when everything is due. For example, I only had reading for my SOC 355 class due Tuesday, but my Thursday was very packed with assignments. Because I had all my assignments planned out ahead of time, I took advantage of the lack of work I had due Tuesday and planned to do most of my Thursday work in advance. I have really benefited from this organizer because it gives me great time management for my whole week.

Chunking the Task

Since introduced to the "Chunking the task" method I've found it to work very successful for me. I most recently applied the method in my WRT 205 course, specifically on our first essay due about the conditions of the Food Industry. I joined my WRT 205 class late and as I felt nervous about where to start on the paper, I chunked sections of the paper and established what parts I would specifically focus on at a time. What was interesting is that I realize that I use this method alot by nature, ill break down something Ive procrastinated on that I really need to focus on. It was particularly successful with my paper because i was behind on some readings necessary for the paper so it made it less stressful to do the readings after I chunked it all and saw it laid out when I was going to do each reading. From there it was just combining information from the readings with my opinions and thoughts.

20 minute test prep

For the past couple of weeks i have been using the 20 minute test prep for my classes math 221 and psc 121. In math 221 after class i have been looking back in my notes and trying practice questions in the back of the book and some that we did in class. This has been successful for me, on the first quiz i received a 100 percent and on the upcoming test this week i feel that i know the material well enough to just look it over a little and receive a good grade. This being the case i feel that the 20 minute test prep is something that works for me and i am going to continue to use it. For psc 121 i have been reviewing my notes after class for around 20 minutes. A lot of class is discussion so reviewing the notes after class allows me to be more prepared for the next discussion. My first test is this week and since i have been reviewing my notes and thinking of possible test questions coming up, i feel prepared to succeed on this test. 20 minute test prep is a strategy that i feel i will continue to use with all my classes because of my success so far.