Articles
Prepare for exams – A creative method
approach to study
Author: Jonathan Grigg
The study method described in this article has been the one I used
throughout high school through to post graduate studies and all in
between. I find it works for me, though my recommendation for you is
the following; Write down somewhere where you stand today. Try a new
approach, whatever that is, Check the results, did you improve or
not, Adjust accordingly. Take from this what is useful, discard the
rest. What is the Creative Process? The creative process is one
which has been studied and researched over the years.
The diagram describes the process steps as
defined by various people over time. Effectively there is a period
of work required, followed by a period of absolutely no work,
followed by the final work. The interesting thing to note here is
that the creative process does not respond to will power or brute
force, you see the creative process, that moment of inspiration and
illumination comes out a time where there is no thought on the
actual subject. The pre-work and the post work, these are the work
of the conscious mind but the processing and creating work takes
place in the quite time. Studies estimate that only about 10% of our
thinking is conscious, which leaves 90% for so much more to do. It
is well known that the human mind is capable of some incredible
things, and we often think of the great names of history as being
some geniuses, and while that may be true in some instances, most
were fairly ordinary people who looked at things a little
differently. Often times using the creative “Incubation period” for
their work. As an example Einstein was reported to operate on a very
different sleeping pattern when he was hard at work, working for a
few short hours and then sleeping for a few hours. In this way he
allowed himself the opportunity to work hard, “incubate” and then
work hard again. The method This method works on the concept of
considering the subconscious pretty much as computer, where the
conscious mind provides the input. Good data in, good data out,
garbage in, garbage out. So lets get to it. Step 1 Take notes,
throughout the lecture/class period and write these down in your own
handwriting. Feel free to be as messy as you want on the page but
make sure that you can understand the writing. I found that by hand
writing the notes originally that this helped to imprint my mind.
When I came to reread the notes I could se that it was my work, not
someone else’s, or from a book. Subconsciously this is quite
important because what it says to the subconscious mind is “That’s
my handwriting, so I have done this work, therefore I must know this
work already”. Don’t worry to much if in the past you haven’t been
able to remember the information, this method works at a very
different level to the “will power” study method. Step 2 About 4
weeks out from the exam create a set of study notes, again hand
written. The study notes should include all of the high level topics
and enough detail and information about the topic to get the gist
but not so much as to write a book. As an idea my study notes ranged
in length from 2 pages through to about 7 pages. An example might be
the words “Pythagoras theorem” and then under it the formula with a
labeled triangle next to it. Don’t put worked examples in this text,
this is bare bones information here. I found that for these it
worked better for me when I used plain paper (no rulings or lines).
The writing needs to be clear and neat but don’t stress if it looks
a little messy. Step 3 At about 3 weeks out from the exam, read
through these notes. Step 4 About 2 weeks out go over the notes with
a high lighter in hand. Highlight the points that are really
standing out to you as important. Again if you are highlighting
everything it’s to much. What you are doing here is giving your
brain key focus points to attach information to. So from our example
before you might highlight just the triangle. The reason is that on
the exam paper you will probably be shown, or have to draw a
triangle, and at that time your mind will make the connection to
your highlighted triangle in the study notes. From there the
information around it will flow. Step 5 One week out read over the
notes once only each night. Turn to each page and do the following,
look at each page without focusing on any particular word or topic,
just stare for a moment. Now read each of the highlighted lines.
Staring at the page allows the subconscious mind to imprint the
information, then reading the highlighted text allows the conscious
mind to go to work also. Step 6 The night before, do not pick up,
look at or even think about the study notes. Just get an early night
sleep. Some Closing thoughts It is critical that during the last
week prior to the exam that you avoid stress as much as possible,
and in particular stress near when you will be going to sleep.
Stress before bed will result in poor sleep quality leading to
poorer performance the following day, and so the spiral goes. If you
want to practice the skills of the subject, worked questions etc, do
this during the day, use the end of the day to reflect on your study
notes. In this last week if there are other things that pop into
your mind and you think that you should record it on the study
notes, just write it then and there, horizontal or vertical on the
page doesn’t matter, just do it. If you are preparing for two or
more exams at the same time, give each of your study notes a title
page. Write the topic, decorate it if you want but not to much.
Keeping the title page clean and simple will help your mind to
compartmentalize the subjects, the title Maths and a picture of a
triangle and circle will be enough to distinguish it from English
with a picture of a book and an Author that you like, for example. I
hope that you try this method and find it useful, but most
importantly, use what works, throw out what doesn’t.
Article Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/education-articles/prepare-for-exams-a-creative-method-approach-to-study-1461323.html
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