Plug In Notes

MIDTERMS are here....... I don't know about anyone else, but just the word alone stresses me out!!! This week was difficult for me to stay on track, but I somehow managed to make it through the week. So good thing we learned a couple new strategies in class this week. In class we also talked about the two different types of note taking. They are:

• Comprehensive- which are more Lecture based
• Skeletal- which is Powerpoint based

*These two course are Skeletal based, because during class I jot down the most important facts and then add some examples. They use Powerpoint rather than just lecturing.

The two strategies were 1 plus 3 and Plug it in. Both of these strategies worked good for most of my classes, but the one that I really enjoyed doing was Plug It In. I chose to do this strategy for my Oceanography and Biology classes. Both of these classes are Powerpoint based because there is a lot of remembering.

To get started we should refresh our memories of L.A.M.E

Learner- What details are shared in the assignment so we understand them as a learner?

Action- What strategy was used and why?

Materials- What was the work product? Why was the strategy taken in that particular course?

Evaluation- How did this person evaluate what worked well? What could be changed and adapted to make learning this material more relevant and memorable?

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, lets get started with this weeks task. So I decided to use the Plug It In notes for my Bio and Oceanography class since there are a lot of diagrams and definitions. These notes helped me because I am Kinesthetic learner, so I learn better when I write or draw things out. So to start, I took notes only on specific things that the Professor put emphasis on. Then you just leave 5-6 spaces in between each thing so that when you come back after class you can fill it in with either a drawing or graphic organizer of some sort. After that you would make 5-10 possible question that you feel would be asked on the next exam. Then at the end you just answer those questions and you have a perfect study aid. This strategy is so simple and definitely worth doing. Now when you go and look over your notes, they will be organized and it will be more efficient for you. Since I have an exam in Biology on the 24th this will be a very good study aid for me.

Here is how my strategy for this week turned out:

And it's as simple as that.

Exam Project

For this weeks Blog we are working on our Exam Projects. For this project I decided to do the Exam Experiment for my Biology 121 class. I chose this particular one, because I am struggling in this course and I want to make sure that I do good on my exams. Part 1 is due next Friday, so to start it I wrote down the Exam date, the format and the material that was going to be covered. Next I wrote down the way I study for the exam and how effective it was. Then I made the source, topic and study schedule. You could either make them separately or put them all together, I chose to put them all together. For the source you would put whether it came from your notes, the lecture, lab, movie,etc For the topic, you had to write down what chapter or specific topic you had to study and finally for the study schedule you would just simply put down the exact date and time you would be studying that certain topic. Next you had to create a study sheet and it had to be in the form of a graphic organizer. The 3 options that I chose was the chart, “T” chart and the cause and effect. For the normal chart, you would make 3 boxes, in the first on you had to write down a term, in the middle you put the definition and then the last box you would draw or write and example. For the “T” chart you would make a “T” shape and on the left side you would write the term and on the right side the definition. My last chart was cause and effect, this chart looks exactly like the “T” chart except on the left you would write a cause and on the right would be when it was effected. The reason why all these charts help me, is because I am a kinesthetic and visual learner. So me drawing and looking over the charts helps me, for the simple fact that while I am “doing” something I am also learning the information. This Exam Experiment is going to be very helpful to me and I am really excited to see my results on my exam.

For this weeks tech assignment on Exam Prep, I used Anticipating Test Questions in my ECN 203class and my PHI 192 class. I didn't find this method as effective as 2o Min Test prep since I'm not as familiar with it. Although it wasn't as helpful it is helping meprepare for my test. I still recommend 20 Min Test prep first. For Anticipating Test Questionswhat I did was went through all of my notes and found some examples of questions the teacher asked. I would analyze the questions to see what patterns the teacher used when writing them. I would also see if the teacher wanted us to have an understanding of the information asked in the question or if the teacher wanted us to analyze the information. I would use this technique because as soon as I know the patterns I am able to anticipate future questions. This technique is real good for anticipating questions because you can come up with questions the teacher will actually ask. In my economics class I go through my notes after class and look for practice questions the teacher gives us. Then based on the practice question, i anticipate more. Its similar to 20 min test prep but different at the same time. For philosophy the teacher doesn't ask many questions so of the questions he does ask I take a look at them and find the patterns so I will know how to answer them on tests. Usually the teacher wants to know our understanding of different theories, thats why there aren't many questions to anticipate.The reason I didn't like this method compared to 20 min test prep was because with 20 min test prep I thought it was easier for me to just write down possible questions during class while taking notes. I found that more effective.

Kevin Kim's Source Outline, Topic Outline, and test questions

This week I made both a source outline and topic outline. However, my study sheet differs from the traditional way of a outline because I combined both outlines into one. Not only did I label by the title, and topic, but also by source. I decided to combine them both because personally for me I know that I learn better when my notes are just in one format. This helped me be organized, furthermore whenever I wanted to go more in depth in a topic I had the chapter and sometimes the actual page next to my notes. This proved to be one of my best study outlines ever because it was very easy on the eyes, and very helpful in information. Also, writing this outline helped me because I had the read and study while putting all the information together. It was a great way to make connections to different terms, and studies to psychologists. Here is my Study outline for my PSY 205 class.

Next strategy I used was making test questions. I noticed that making test questions was a great study method as well as guessing possible test questions. When doing this strategy it made me look back at my notes, and it forced me to think critically about what the Professor is most likely to put on the test. I think this method fits my learning strategy because I know that I can not just read a lot and expect to do well on a test. I have to apply the information that I learned either my retelling what I know to a friend or in this case write out my own questions based on my notes. These test questions are from my HST 101 class as I used the lecture, discussion, and notes to come up with these questions.

Anticipating Test Questions

For this weeks tech assignment on Exam Prep, I used Anticipating Test Questions in my ECN 203 class and my PHI 192 class. I didn't find this method as effective as 2o Min Test prep since I'm not as familiar with it. Although it wasn't as helpful it is helping me prepare for my test. I still recommend 20 Min Test prep first. For Anticipating Test Questions what I did was went through all of my notes and found some examples of questions the teacher asked. I would analyze the questions to see what patterns the teacher used when writing them. I would also see if the teacher wanted us to have an understanding of the information asked in the question or if the teacher wanted us to analyze the information. I would use this technique because as soon as I know the patterns I am able to anticipate future questions. This technique is real good for anticipating questions because you can anticipate questions the teacher will actually ask. In my economics class I go through my notes after class and look for practice questions the teacher gives us. Then based on the practice question, i anticipate more. Its similar to 20 min test prep but different at the same time. For philosophy the teacher does ask many questions so of the questions he does ask I take a look at them and find the patterns so I will know how to answer them on tests. Usually the teacher wants to know our understanding of different theories, thats why there aren't many questions to anticipate.The reason I didn't like this method compared to 20 min test prep was because with 20 min test prep I thought it was easier for me to just write down possible questions during class while taking notes. I found that more effective.

procrastination

This week in Dr. Blumin’s course I learned the effect of procrastination. Tips I have learned throughout this course are to first, stop thinking about the task you must complete and to start actually doing the task. Planning out what you need to achieve can definitely help you achieve the task. Although, when planning out what tasks you must do to get done, over planning and thinking can always have an opposite effect. Look at what needs to get done and take it one step at a time instead of trying to overloading yourself. Going off from what I said we go into step two which is to just take the first step. When us as students start to look too far into the future of all our assignments, projects and studying we always seem to think it is impossible to complete and eventually give up or shut down. This is why you plan out by priorities and have to say to yourself, “what needs to get done first?” Having priorities and knowing what is important and less important can help you finishing your task a lot more efficiently. This goes into my next step which is, start with your hardest task first. Having completed a subject that is difficult for you or is time consuming can make you feel more relieved and good about yourself when you get something challenging and long out of your way first. To conclude on these steps, the last one to try and achieve would be to face your fears. For me, this is probably the biggest challenge because I hate the feeling of being overloaded with work and knowing that you have such little time to complete it. Not taking your first step in accomplishing your work is probably the worst feeling to have. Go over everything you have to do and organize it out by what needs to get done first to what is not so important. Just don’t make excuses for yourself into why you can’t finish something that you started. Procrastination is big with every student but by following these steps and taking control of your emotions can help you finish all of your work effectively :).

COST Problem Solving

This week the Problem Solving task that I used was COST. I used COST for my WRT class and for CLS. I chose COST because sometimes when I'm in my study tables at manly I have trouble focusing. I seem to get distracted when there are a lot of people in the study rooms. COST allows me to analyze the current situation (the problem) and come up with a desired situation (what I want to be fixed). Once you know your desired situation you come up with a plan to help you fix the problem at hand. At the end of the week you can evaluate yourself to make sure the technique is working. If it hasn't been working the way you want it to you can make changes until it solves your problem. Me not being able to focus in study tables when there are other people around was my problem. I came up with a pretty good desired situation that I wanted to happen so I wouldn't get distracted and actually got my work done. I would even reward myself if I stuck to what my plan was. Because I couldn't do my work when other people were around I decided to go to my own private tutor room. This helped get away from all the noise and distractions. I decided I would set a timer on my phone and do 30 minutes of work straight. After the 30 minutes was up I would reward myself with a 5 to 10 minute break to socialize. This technique helped me because it allowed me to get a lot of work done in that 30 minutes but then it also had scheduled breaks for me. That way I wasn't taking a break every 5 minutes because I was getting distracted. The reason I used this technique in CLS and WRT was because I think the technique works best for writing assignments. It helps a lot with essays because I can actually sit down and have time to write with out getting distracted. The work that used to take me 2 1/2 hrs now only takes me about an hr to an hr and a half because I'm more focused and on task.