Study tips... Help ME!

[emd0]

So I am barely skimming by. I have to get at least an 80%, or I need 225 more points out of 275 possible. My clinical instructor tells me that I am excellent in clinical and I provide amazing nursing care. Obviously that isn't good enough to pass the class by itself.

I don't know how to study for the lecture exams. I have missed less than 5 questions to pass the test every time. Which I understand isn't a lot but when it comes down to it points are everything.

I try to read my book, look over class powerpoints, answering the course content questions that the instructors provide, but I still can't seem to pass a fricking test.

What else can I do to study and help myself to retain information. I know that everyone is going to say you can't just memorize. You have to know how things integrate together and everything else along those lines. My question is how can I make that connection? I know you have to do it, I just don't know ways to do that.

any suggestion is helpful. This is what I want to do in the future and I don't know what I would do if i would fail. Like I can't fail this course. Please help.

[Devon Rex, ADN, BSN]

Hi there!

Find one or two other students who are serious about studying and commit to studying together. This will give you all an opportunity to quiz each other and discuss why things are the way they are. Do not make the group larger than 4 students... too many minds together will tend to wander off topic and you will waste your time. Believe me... it will turn into a party quickly, which is not in anyone's best interest at this time.

Example:

If you have 9 chapters to read: one student should concentrate heavily on three (but still read the other six); the next student will also read all chapters, but concentrate on three other chapters; then you do the same with the last three chapters. When you get together, the first student will serve as "leader" of the first 3 chapters and you all can discuss the questions and topics. Repeat process with the next student and so forth.

Do you like that idea? It's worth the try.

[Avill, BSN, RN]

Find your classmates that you are comfortable with and "know more than you". Have them explain things in their own words and explain to them things. Sometimes having a non-textbook answer helps. Practice tests also help if you have that resource! Is there a specific area you are having a hard time? Class?

[KrCmommy522, BSN, RN]

My first advice would be to you is to find out your learning style. Are you a visual, verbal, social, etc. If you are a social learner a study group would help. I personally don't like study groups. They tend to get off track, there is no structure, each person usually learns differently, people can tend to get lost (quieter ones end up just sitting there and not speaking up, more outspoken ones can take over). It just seems like there never seems to be much done during the time. Of course, if you find the right people that you fit with and are able to stay on track and it is a helpful way for you to learn, they can be very beneficial.

I shared the way I studied with someone on here before, here is what I said:

First, how I took notes:

Before class, read each chapter you will be going over. Don't worry about taking notes. Just read each chapter through so you have an idea of what the instructor will be talking about during lecture. (it's hard to take notes if you don't know the info - if you don't know the info, then you'll think everything is important and be writing waaaay too much. If you have at least a little idea of the info, you can at least get kind of an idea of what is important and where to start). I know a lot of people say that you can't read every single chapter for every single class, but I didn't think it took that much time to just read through each chapter. It was when I tried to read through every single chapter and make notes on every single chapter that was time consuming. Just reading through was quick and easy.

During class....TAKE NOTES!! Take lots of notes. Don't be afraid to ask questions - ask as many as you need, talk to the instructor after class if you need to. Don't worry about the notes looking good (we'll worry about that later) - Just scribble down everything you need to. (my notes were a mess after class - I would write them fast and think of things after the fact and make notes on the sides and squish something between other things)

After class: If possible, right after class (or as soon as you can but try not to wait)...type up your notes from class make them well-organized. Fill in anything you left blank, use your book to supplement things, add to things that you didn't understand, find examples in your book that help you understand, etc. Make this as neat as possible. This is what you will use as your study guide. Read through it, write it out over and over again, whatever helps you retain the information best. (Personally, I need to write things out in order for them to stick in my head, so I would type up the notes nice and neat, then I would write em out over and over again until I felt I had a good handle on them).

Now...when I took notes...I tended to end up with PAGES! So, after I had spent time studying them and studying them and studying them and learned everything I could from it, there became a point where studying them all was just wasting time because I learned all I could from those notes, so I would go on to my final step. Of course, there was always some things from those PAGES of notes that I had a hard time with still. So, I would take a piece of paper, then I would take the key concepts from those PAGES of notes and I would write just a few words or something to remind me about each one. You are only putting in what you DON'T KNOW. This ends up breaking our notes down from everything to only what you still need to review before the exam. The key here is to not go over 1 page. If you have, then you have put too much information – either you haven't learned everything you can from the PAGES of notes, or you just didn't condense the info enough. So, if you need to, go back and review those PAGES. If not, just focus on condensing what you have down more.

Doing this helped me actually RETAIN the information. I didn't just cram it into my head for the exam and then forget about it to learn the stuff for the next exam – because then, I would have to review EVERYTHING when it came time for the final exam. Instead, I used this method so I could actually LEARN AND RETAIN everything. So, when it came time for the final exam, I just needed to key concepts and the stuff we just learned.

Hopefully this helps you some. Again, my best advice for you is if you don't know your learning style, find out. You can take quizzes online and find out your type of learning style. Knowing your learning style will really help. It will help you focus in on the best way to study for YOU. Like I said earlier, for me, writing things down is best. If I write it down, it sticks in my head much better than when I hear it or watch videos. Some people are visual learners, and do best with images and pictures and can draw diagrams that help explain things. You just need to learn what works for you!