how do you study

tommyboy26

I am a mature student and have been out of education a long time. I am a few weeks into a mechanical engineering degree and at the risk of sounding silly i dont know how to study and retain the information.

my current way of trying to learn is taking notes in lectures then as soon as i can after the lecture i look at the lecturers notes and i make a more detailed notes from the class slides and my rough notes. i also research the topic and add more to the detailed notes that will help me understand the topic. I have been told by several people that i am over doing it and that it is way much so soon. My logic is if i get into the routine now then in years 2,3,4 it will be second nature to me.

I know everyone learns differently but im curious to know how other people study to help them to retain the information?

granturismo

I stumbled on a system of study that worked for me as a mature student which I realised afterwards was a system that a teacher tried to show us when I was in secondary school. I think he called it - Study, Question, Read, wRite, Revise. Its something similar to what you are doing. If I'd followed his advice I would have got a better leaving cert, and better results in years 1-3 of college. I generally also left it too late to study, but copped on in 4th year and later in a taught masters course.

Firstly, you need to find out what the marking descriptors/schemes are for your course. Some colleges will outline in their course manuals the type of answer required for each grade e.g. 70-100% requires info given in lectures, recommended text book plus additional information with an answer that demonstrates an insight/excellent understanding of the topic...

I studied - read around the topic.
Questioned - get past papers
Read - reread the topic with past papers in mind.
wRite - I got some A4 heavy weigh paper 90g refill pads (so ink would show on the opposite page). Wrote out answers to each topic based on the types of questions on past exam papers - mine tended to be definitions followed by a few paragraphs or 2-3 page essays. I write firstly with a narrow black pen. Then reread and wrote over important words in a wider nib black pen, reread and then highlighted these important words.
Revise - I dont look at a text book from now on and if I have a few days left at this stage before the exam, I'm reading over the 90g refill pad with a cheap refill pad or scrap A4 pages beside me writing out important phrases as I read. I find writing phrases repeatedly helps me more than just reading say lecture notes repeatedly.

Are you doing too much in your first few weeks - thats only something you can answer, what do you want from your college experience, you do need some outlet, maybe you have responsibilities outside college that mean you have to prioritise studying?

Do your marks in year 1 define what course you can do in 2nd year? Do your results in years 1-3 count for your final degree mark?