I need help with testing. I just left an exam with a horrible realization that i didn't bring any KY to the event and i'm feeling a bit sore.

I don't think i have a good way of studying yet (despite it being my last year of higher education - i hope). I do the homework, understand it at the time, prepare for tests by re-reading homeworks and underlining/recopying important definitions in the notes, and yet i flop on testing for the most part.

I tend to seriously second-guess myself while in the room with the paper in front of me and then start switching definitions, etc on terms. Ugh. I think the professors are great at the teaching, but i seem to be bad at the learning...

What hints/tips/suggestions does the hivemind have?

Past exams.

Tens, dozens of past exams. Get hold of them somehow, whether your library has an archive or your lecturer can give them to you. Do them until the questions start flowing out your ears and puddling up besides your hilarious ear-flapped hat. Do them until your bloodstream flows with ink. Until you're dreaming exam questions.

Also, when starting, do a few with access to the notes, then do a bunch closed-book and then mark yourself, repeat ad nauseum.

Ok. First, I read the manuals cover to cover, trying to shove as many raw uncategorized facts into my brain as possible.

Then I try and do something with the product, if only something small. And I go back to the manuals trying to figure out what went wrong.

And if there's an internet community around the product, then I'll lurk there reading about all the problems that other people had and how those were solved.

I do this for about three months, and I'm usually pretty expert on the product.

Oh. Wait. You said "test". For certification exams, I always like to actually know the product and have completed something like the above process first. In some cases this hasn't been possible, so then I'll try and read a comprehensive guide to the product or the product documentation. I read that a couple of times through, again with the objective of filling my brain with raw uncategorized facts. Then I take the test, usually assuming it's going to be multiple-choice.

More seriously, one of the main things you're in college for is to "learn how to learn". It sounds like you're expecting to extract broad concepts from the homework and it's not working. So maybe you should add a half hour or an hour review of the broad concepts and go through how they address a few problems in the homework you're already reviewing.

Obviously this is overkill for things like weekly quizzes. For those, just bring beer for the professor.

In Response to zamphir (#32056):

I think i usually do well with the learning to learn, but especially with this Algorithm Analysis i seem to have trouble because proofs are my weakness and always have been. They just never click... and so i have to work very hard to get even a weak grasp on them.

In the dark and distant past, when I was still in education, I studied various disciplines of maths. Proofs were, initially, quite hard for me. I then found that if I ignored the end results and looked back at the principals involved I started to understand. By repeatedly going through the same, or similar, exercises I became more able to perform the proofs.

This links back to Tynic’s point - repetition. Now this does not matter what you are trying to learn - be it cooking, rugby or applied astro-physics – repeating the exercise builds your ability to perform in the real world.

Sports professionals practice endlessly. They have to repeatedly perform mundane training exercises so that, when needed in competition, they can perform without thought and bring all the parts together.

Once you are unconsciously competent at an activity, you can perform it irrespective of the distractions. Exams are distractions. It might well be quite in the room, save for a small amount of panic induced vomiting, but the environment distracts you; that’s half of the test. If you know your subject well enough and have done plenty of practice papers, then the exam should be second nature. At that point you are awarded a Fail because the examiner is sure you cheated...

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#32059):

I always used to try and work proofs backwards.

At least when I was doing inductive proofs.

The main problem I found was one of efficiency. They teach you a lot of stuff during a semester, and only some small percentage of that is on any given test.

Since I tended to do a lot of "not going to class" and would tend to, shall we say..."work in groups" on homework assignments, there was never a realistic chance of learning everything on the night before a test. So the trick was to learn what to learn, in order to get a decent grade, and what not to waste my time on.

The only person who knows what's on the test is the professor. Go to any/all review sessions given by the professor before a test, and pay attention to which questions from students he/she spends more time on vs. those questions that tend to get glossed over. You can get a pretty good idea from this of what's going to be on the test.

If you want to be a straight-A student, this doesn't work, you'll always get surprised by something. But if you want to be a slacker that hangs out at Rulloff's drinking a couple of pitchers with some friends before a test, this turned out to be a pretty good way of optimizing the available time and still passing classes.

In Response to phillip (#32078):

For the record, I had already finished my test. Dare I say what beer I saw you drinking?

As far as tests go, there are people that test well and those that don't. Once you leave school, most of that testing is over, so that won't be a lifetime problem. However, I do think that distillation of information and understanding of trends and tests within tests are skills that will increasingly bring great success in life.

Fear not, for if it is the test experience itself, remember that this is war, and you have several opponents, in ascending order: 1) teacher, 2) test, 3) other students. Because the other students are your main problem, go after them first. For a long test, dress up nicely - be prepared for an 'event' and clear your mind. A shower is better than 10 more minutes of studying. Don't come in ragged, wear a tie. This will also confuse your opposition. Second, bring a sugary beverage and something to eat. About halfway through the test, pop that open and eat your food. I seriously doubt your instructor will stop you from consuming these. Don't be too quiet. Take a break, and collect your thoughts for a few minutes. Don't work on the test at all. By the time you're done, you will be fresh and ready to go and everybody else will just be thinking 'man, I wish I had a refreshing beverage' for the rest of the test. Curve -3, you +5. That's a big swing, baby.

Anyway, proofs are just useless. Only use math when the answers are useful.

Perhaps i can distract said professor with lengthy forum posts and slip out of the room while the reading is engaged. Then it's a free shot to the A...

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#32082):

You wish... no forum post shall distract me enough for that.

As someone mentioned above, "working in groups" might be counterproductive for testing purposes. Especially if someone in the group has had the class before.

In Response to danav (#32084):

A way to compensate for missed classes is to 'work in groups' as often as possible, as long as said group includes an anal retent.

Good lord I'm drunk.

Do what I said. It works. No more bitching. I didn't do what I said for most of highschool and then I did for final exams and I got 99.6 out of 100 TER. And then I didn't do what I said for most of Uni and did very averagely and then in final year I did what I said and got a 95% average. Conclusion - no amount of good looks or arse will get you through everything but past exams will save your bacon every time. Except for those lecturers who decide to 'reinvent the course' as soon as they take over. They should be shot. In those cases it's a case of 'learn everything they gave you in tests or assignments and hope they don't decide to get creative at the last minute'.

All comments above should be taken with a large amount of South Australian Rose, in order to fully appreciate them properly.

In Response to tynic (#32087):

Also remember that your own learning is likely to be different than other people's, and that you need to evaluate any and all advice against your own experiences and see what works and what doesn't.

But brining beer to professors should always help the situation.

In Response to zamphir (#32088):

That works well for pretty much all professors, except for the rare few professors who think beer is for neanderthals and that wine is the one true alcoholic beverage. For those professors, bringing an axe will help.

Man, there were a few EE professors who occasionally took their students out for beer after classes. But the ME professors trumped them. Several of them were usually drunk before 5pm on Thursdays.

At the risk of sounding like a terrible student since we are in mixed company, I have three words for you... C's get degrees. As you told me earlier in the semester, "All you have to do is pass." If you happen to learn something in the meantime, more power to you. My focus in this last semester is on passing not necessarily learning. I cared way too early in my college career and about made myself nuts. Yay for academic apathy!

In Response to IceCreamAddict (#32090):

"All you have to do is pass."

In the long run, this is true.

In the short run, there are a lot of companies and people who are going to be evaluating your worth as a potential employee based on your grades - particularly in the classes that are in your major.

And it is not always true that the companies that care the most about your grades are bad companies to work for.

In complete contradiction to anything anyone else has said about repetition:

1) Read textbook once with particular reference to topics that you have studied in whatever subject
2) Think about what "basic concepts" exist within the text and an attractive scheme, like dot points or diagrams or flow charts, represent the concept in as concise a form as possible
3) Read again and make notes based on basic concepts. Make these notes concise. Do not fixate on too much detail. Your aim should be to be able to work from "basic principles" so that even if you forget the 'facts', you'll still be able to answer questions intelligently.
4) Think again, make sure that you have grasped the concepts
5) Read past exam papers and attempt to answer them based on what you have learnt, and the basic concepts
6) Revise anything that is an obvious omission in the manner suggested by steps 1-4
7) Repeat steps 5-6 until adequately prepared

Good luck!

In Response to deerboy (#32081):

For the record, I had already finished my test.

That's why you got good enough grades to now be a productive member of society, while I languor here in the backwaters of webcomic ...stuff.

In Response to IceCreamAddict (#32090):

true when said person is going insane. However, i would like to approach the job market with more than a passing familiarity in regards to computers and what makes them work (magic smoke).

Besides, a 22/50 on a test is not understanding in the least. That's a fairly good indicator that my study habits are broken.

I think this is a good time for me to figure out a good study habit regiment (for i sure as hell haven't learned it yet) and polish by the time i graduate (2 months). If i can relate my progress to positive returns on testing, i believe that will also enable me to feel confident when i reach the real life i've heard about that i can easily (or at least more easily attain knowledge in what i will need for a job via the study habits i have acquired.

I need to know AJAX? No problem... let me just pick up the o'reilly book and and give me a week... or something like that.

although with respect to beer, i think i could buy some WoW paraphenalia for extra credit...

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#32094):

One piece of advice from me, is first to overuse the help of knowledgeable friends because they're not going to be with you at the test.

Second, is to go find Superman. Then ask him nicely to fly around the planet many times very fast until time starts to go backwards and you can go back to high school and take some more math classes there. Proofs are a skills best aquired when your mind isn't yet used to having a routine algorithm to solve any given problem. Or the other way around.

In Response to danav (#32096):

I meant *not to overuse*...

In Response to danav (#32096):

fortunately i spend most of my time with people who know this less than i, so i get to explain myself to them and that helps the understanding.

yes, highschool. i struggled through this then too and was so very happy when i didn't have to do it anymore :)

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#32098):

fortunately i spend most of my time with people who know this less than i,

Or manipulative and lazy people who know that they can make you regurgitate the material on demand by playing dumb and smiling.

And who don't care enough about you to correct you when you say something wrong.

In Response to AsphaltBuffet (#32094):

I am not going insane...the eye twitch is perfectly normal...

Honestly, maybe doing the homework over the course of the week would help rather than doing it all in one cram session. I find engaging in the material for shorter periods of time with greater frequency yields better results. Also find out what time of day you are most alert and study during those times. And sleep, sleep is good. Tired brains don't absorb information well.

Speaking of alcohol...I think I may partake of some refreshing alcoholic beverage myself tonight...It just maybe a straight tequila night.

In Response to IceCreamAddict (#32100):

You should also take the test under the same conditions in which you study.

If you pull an all nighter and are dead tired when you study, make sure you're dead tired when you take the test. If you're all hopped up on caffeine or drugs, make sure you take the test all hopped up on caffeine or drugs.

Ideally, you will study in the room in the exact seat you will sit at to take the test, while just as tired and drugged/not drugged as you will be taking the test.

In Response to themysticalone (#32101):

Ideally, you will study in the room in the exact seat you will sit at to take the test, while just as tired and drugged/not drugged as you will be taking the test.

This also has the added benefit of making sure you are present for the test itself, although going to sleep the night before and waking up during the middle of the test could be disconcerting.

In Response to Dynedain (#32102):

the unwashed scent also serves to distract fellow test-takers and help me out on the curve...