1. Keep up with your class
work.
Do the reading, written, and studying assignments
for each class, even in cases when homework is not collected or graded.
2. Do all your homework
assignments neatly.
Neatly done homework assignments are a valuable
investment when it comes time to review for an exam. A habit of neat careful
work will help to avoid silly mistakes when you take an exam, and this means
higher test scores.
3. Review your class notes.
You will find them useful to you as you review for
an exam. Remember your class notes are your personal accounts of what was
covered in class and the highlights of what you considered to be important. If
you take good notes, then they serve as a reminder of what to study for the
exam.
4. Have answers to all your
math questions and problems.
Never take an exam with gaps in your understanding.
If you do, then, if effect, you reduce the number of points on an exam to less
than 100, even before you take the exam.
5. Anticipate exam questions.
Rely on your instincts to guess what is important
and what will appear on the exam. If you are working diligently in the course,
then about 75% of the time your guesses will be correct. Prepare yourself well
enough so that you at least get 100% on the part of the exam which you
anticipated.
6. Don’t wait to the last
minute to begin to study for the exam.
Cramming is a strategy for short-term recall. It may
work for the term’s first exam, but, since mathematics is a cumulative subject,
cramming will fail to help you by the time the final exam rolls around. By then
there is just too much to cram.
7. Don’t change your study
strategies to suit different types of exams.
There are different types of exams that can be given
in a mathematics class; in-class closed book exams, in-class open book exams,
take-home exams, exams which give you a choice of the questions you can answer,
and partial class period quizzes. Generally, students expend their greatest
effort preparing for in-class closed book exams. For all other types of exams,
they usually find reasons to reduce their effort. Remember that understanding
mathematics is the goal, not memorizing mathematics. The goal is the same for
all types of mathematics exams.
8. Be absolutely clear on what
topics will be covered on an exam.
Know the chapters and sections of the text that will
be emphasized on an exam. Then, because mathematics is a subject that builds
upon itself, emphasize in your studies the topics to be covered, but also
emphasize, through a review, the techniques, skills, and topics which play a
supporting, albeit, critical role in understanding the topics to be covered.
9. Begin to review for the exam
early.
Conduct a thorough and extensive review. Start by
skimming page by page, the appropriate sections in your text, your class notes,
your homework assignments. Jot down questions,
highlights, points of importance, and other little tidbits that strike your
fancy as items to remember. In this first pass through these materials don’t
spend too much time on one topic. During the first pass through the material,
write yourself a reminder to come back to any topic that you feel needs more of
your time. On the second pass, address, in depth and detail, the items on the
checklist from the first pass. You should reserve the day before the exam for
the third and final pass through the material. On this pass, since you should
anticipate exam questions, practice again the valuable techniques, tie any
loose ends, and build your confidence through additional preparation. Having
done all this, you are now ready for the exam.
10. Save any notes form your
extensive preparation for term exams.
This material will be very useful when the time
comes to review for the comprehensive final exam.
11. After the exam, while the
experience is still fresh, evaluate your effort to
prepare for the exam.
Ask such questions: what items appeared on the exam,
what items did not appear on the exam, what did I know, what didn’t I know, why
were there items on the exam I could not answer, what could I have done before
the exam to prepare myself for these topics, how could I have improved my
overall preparation for the next exam?
12. Save all exams, quizzes, and graded assignments;
learn from them.
When you receive your exam with the grade, go over
your work thoroughly, and, especially, go over your mistakes. Learn any
material that you did not understand on the exam, improve your work habits, do
whatever you must do to be certain those mistakes will not occur again. Again,
remember that mathematics is a subject that builds on previous material. This
makes the effort of going over an exam worthwhile.