what to focus on?

[esther8]

hello! im a first semester nursing student!, and im excited to be starting Nursing school, but the amount of reading is soooo paramount that i have not time to anything else, so my question is... should i read from a textbook, to study for my exam, or should i focus more on the powerpoints they lecture on, and also they're questions they have us answering, ive been reading my textbook like they have asked but have not had time to also read the powerpoint slides or learning objectives, do you guys have any tips? what did you focus on when you were in school? thanks!

[metal_m0nk, BSN, RN]

The short answer is, you should be doing all of those things (reading from the textbook, studying for the exam, and focusing on the powerpoint lectures and learning objectives). Try not to see them as separate things, because they aren't. They are integrated.

Use the powerpoints and learning objectives to focus your reading - look for the details of those concepts in your book(s). After you've done some focused reading, answer the questions you've been assigned. If you have trouble with the answers, go back over the material until you feel like you can answer the question with some authority. For studying, go back and touch on the key concepts just to refresh your memory. Draw from any personal experiences and memories that you can to help you more fully understand the concepts. For myself, I'm big on analogies and free association. Both really help to personalize the information for me and make it easier to relate to and understand. Cramming and memorization won't help come exam time. What is needed is a core understanding (read: comprehension, not knowledge - they are different) of the material and the implications beneath the surface.

Good Luck!

[anonymousstudent]

Focus on the lecture and power point. The teacher can't talk about everything, but it's pretty likely that what they do talk about is important.