Since our 3rd grade class is the last of our kind (the 2nd graders and before are a part of the new Swedish school system, new grades and new course goals etc) the school hasn't bothered to order any additional books so we rely on a bunch of scanned papers from the 2nd and 1st graders books.
Yeeeees, this is also a huge problem, according to my physics teacher it's really the only thing that I seem to fuck up on (which is quite surprising considering the other factors...), but I just don't understand how I'm supposed to. I read the bloody "book", line and line over and over again trying to take it in, meanwhile feeling that a comfy bed would be just right at that moment, get to the problems, brain fart, come to calculus, fill in using formulas. I feel I have no tactic whatsoever.I used to help college students in the entry-level physics courses with their homework and attempting to understand the material, so I'm familiar with a lot of the mistakes people make. IMO one of the biggest offenders is trying to memorize formulas instead of developing problem-solving techniques and truly learning the core concepts - i.e., substituting memorization for understanding. My professors used to remark that A-students would memorize five formulas over the course of the class, B-students would memorize ten, C-students would memorize twenty, D-students would memorize thirty, and F-students would memorize none. (Cue the immediate question "Which five?!" from the students, missing the point completely. ).
Uh, I don't think our mechanics were all that complicated.
Memorising actual theory doesn't help as much as having experience in applying it, which is what tests assess you on. Maybe your memory will be good enough to remember the actual questions, but if you have a reasonable bank to work from, it's more likely that you'll end up learning how to solve with a problem rather than the problem itself.
I think that's subjective. I usually go from 5pm to 5am, and I know I should never ever recommend that to anyoneAdditionally, how long should I really study?
But in general taking a break is a good idea, harder to learn when you are tired, and your concentration wanes the longer you keep at something.
Mind giving a (rough is fine) example of the kinds of problems you have to solve?
That's way too much studying. I find that if I break 3 hours on one subject I degrade significantly and end up wasting time. Having a carefully-adhered to schedule of not studying has actually helped me a lot as far as retaining information.
But you don't have to know the theory perfectly right from the start. Get some grasp of the material, sure. But you can start on doing the problems without knowing it all by heart. If you can't do a question, refer back to the theory; if you can, then you know that particular section well enough. The point is, solving problems will help you make sense as well as remember the theory much better than trying to memorise that stuff without context/practice, in addition to preparing you for the test.
I'm wired terribly like that.
If I take breaks, I won't get back to studying for the rest of the day/night/weekend.
'Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers clogged with rotting red
And there they lay I damn me eyes
All lookouts clapped on Paradise
All souls bound just contrarywise, yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
But... but but! the labs for both chem and physics were the most fun parts of it! specially when i would drink the solutions to the horror of my classmates.
how... how can anyone not enjoy labs T_T *confused*
Edit:
Best study advice, ever:
dont study more than 30m at a time, you will get bored, angry, pissed at it and it wont allow you to learn at all, the brain is wired to learn, if you try to force it, it will reject it.
And study at night 3 to 4h before sleep, also, every day.
i used to do 1h a day, no more, 30m sessions with 1h break between, was enough for me to pass high school via self-taught for mathematics, studied 1 year of math in 1 month :P
Last edited by Kurioxan; 2013-01-09 at 09:07 PM.
Alright, wanna thank you guys for your help, gonna do what you guys say and follow your studying advice, study in the eve instead of directly after school and eat more protein-rich food, particulary more egg and milk. Really appreciated.
One last question though, does chocolate milk count as a good substitute for plain milk?
Chocolate milk is best milk. Chocolate makes everything better, except apparently wine =/
Ok, this is PERSONAL, but i dislike milk and a lot of people are mildly intolerant, if it is your case it can cause irritation to your body.
More protein, eat before study carbs! carbs are also important.
Take supplements, a multivitamin a-z should do the trick, they are expencive but last quite a long time, if you cant afford them, eat some more veggies.
But assuming you are perfectly ok with milk, well yeah... chocolate milk is milk with added chocolate, although usually that chocolate is low quality so it wouldnt replace a 75%+ chocolate :P
Hope it helps, also dont get frustrated, you wont see results right away, but gradually you should
---------- Post added 2013-01-09 at 09:42 PM ----------
Cinamon however, is awesome with wine.
Then again i dislike wine, only when made into a sangria <3