don't know how to study for tests anymore, what to do?

[duckoutofwater]

http://img.an-file.info/smilies/idea.gifHello all, I am taking fall quarter finals, I'm tired and/or my brain just will not accept any more input. I have studied and studied and studied all quarter long.Went to take my tests, felt like I did well each and every time only to find out I didn't~~~crushing disappointment. I've tried to figure a way to answer and I haven't been able to. I'm (to my immense shame have an avg. of 69.08. testes percenetage wise: Cardiac Exam – 24%

Immune/Hematology Exam – 23% Renal/Urinary Exam – 23% Final Exam –30%. Not sure how to compute to get my average over the hump to see what I need to make on test in order TO pass. I wish I could study more effectively, I have no one that lives nearby for a study group. I have to work(not excuses-just the facts), I have to power study all the time and have little time to do it in, let alone absorb the info. and feel tht I just can't get it all in. Now besides this, my instructors don't really teach(and you're tested on what they don't teach, I have a hunch they are using the students as test mice to further their own education, which they are having to do in order to stay instructors(alot of the students feel that way)-which I wish they would do-I learn the ol' school way and do better. I just don't know what to do. I almost got papers to get out with a w/p today. Hope someone can tell me of a site(something) that can help me learn hokw to figure out the test questions/ and what comes first with what and what comes first in emergencies. Keeing my fingers crossed.

[Hobbes02]

Sorry I can't help you with the rest of it but, what overall % do you need to pass the course?

Use this formula to figure out what grade you need to get..

(Current grade * % value of current grades) + (Needed grade (X) * % value of needed grade) = Minimum passing grade for the course

So if the minimum passing grade is a 73 then..

(69.08 * 0.70) + (X * 0.30) = 73

Solve for X and you should get 82.13, but if you round down to 81, you'll fall below the passing threshold, so you'd have to round up to 82.2. This would be the minimum grade needed to pass your class.

Good Luck!

[chuckster, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

There are a lot of variables at play here.

Nursing exams always seemed to me to be almost unrelated to what was covered in the classroom and I was always a bit surprised by the questions on my exams.

Those who did well on the exams at my school were the ones who used NCLEX study guides to prepare for the exams. A good guide like the Silvestri book will break down the questions by section/system (cardiac, endocrine, neuro, etc). So this would be one suggestion.

Over the years, I've also found that there was a strong correlation between the state of my physical fitness and my exam grades. A hard CV workout prior to studying almost always resulted in my retaining more information. The converse was (for me anyway) also true. Studying when I was tired and stressed also seemed to result in a deterioration of what I was able to retain. While this worked for me, that's no guarantee it will work for you. OTOH, taking a nice jog or run before sittiing down to study certainly can't hurt.

YMMV. Best of luck to you.