Study a small piece of the assignment at a time -- study it well enough to pass a test immediately after studying it. We can hold about 7 or 8 bits of information in our heads at any one time. So we need to learn a piece with just a few concepts or ideas. A section usually is about the "right size" for our brains.
So, study just one headed section at a time. Use the textbook structure to your advantage!
Question and study. Turn each section heading into a question and study to answer that question. Remember, the authors put all those words, problems, diagrams, etc. under that heading to tell you what they meant. Do not take notes or underline or highlight, yet.
Before proceeding further, test yourself before your instructor does. Stop at the end of that section, look away from the text, and test yourself. Make sure that you remember what you need to remember from that section to pass a test. If you're not sure, go back and check on the material and then test yourself again.
[Testing yourself section by section is critical. If you can't pass a test on the material now, when are you going to learn it? You're gambling that you'll have time to go back and really learn it in the future. That often isn't the case as you'll have several tests coming along in other classes at the same time and limited study time. Also, you're gambling that you won't need to understand it for subsequent material in the chapter.]
Your goal is to learn and remember the material the first time through. Do not be content with just knowing what the authors are saying as you read the text -- you can understand it all but fail a test.
NOW Take your notes, underline or highlight. Be brief -- just enough for you to recall what you have to remember from that section. Notes are preferable. Put them on the left-hand page of your notebook (if you're right-handed). Put lecture notes on the right-hand page opposite the appropriate reading notes.
Repeat these steps for each section in the chapter:
Turn the Heading into a Question
Study to Answer the Question
Test yourself at the end of each section
Review and test yourself on the entire chapter. On the weekend, go back and study your reading and lecture notes. Learn them well enough so that you can look at the chapter outline in the table of contents and remember what you need to remember for each section in the chapter.
Minor modifications may be needed but overall it takes just these simple steps. Practice them until they become your way of studying.
[Copyright 1989, 1997 by Kansas State University]
Read a book three times to get the most out of it–each time for a different purpose and at a different level of detail.
1. Overview: Discovery (10% of total time)
Read quickly, your goal is to discover the book: to get a quick-and-dirty, unsophisticated, general picture of the writer’s purpose, methods, and conclusions.
Mark - without reading carefully headings, passages, and phrases that seem important.
Generate questions to answer on your second reading: What terms or phrase X mean? Why doesn’t the author cover subject Y? Who is Z?
2. Detail: Understanding (60% of total time)
Read the book a second time, your goal is to understand: to get a careful, critical, thoughtful grasp of the key points, and to test the author’s evidence for his/her points.
Focus especially on the beginnings and ends of chapters and major sections.
Pay special attention to the passages you marked in the first round.
Try to answer the questions you generated in the first round.
3. Notes: Recall and Note-taking (30% of total time)
The final reading is to commit to memory the most important elements of the book.
Make brief notes about the arguments, evidence, and conclusions. This is not a text markup.
Include just enough detail to let you remember the most important things. 3-5 pages of notes per 100 pages of text is a good goal to shoot for; More than that is often too much.
Use a system that easily finds places in the book (e.g., start each note with a page number.)
Notebooks,i typed pages, handwritten sheets tucked into the book can all work. However, notes will be useless unless you can easily find them again.
On-time and timing
Human attention fades after an hour; You’ll get more out of three one-hour readings than you could ever get out of one three-hour reading. But one full hour of effective reading needs at least one hour and fifteen minutes since distraction is inevitable at the beginning (settling in) and end (re-arousal for your next task) of any reading period.
Make a realistic plan for each of the three stages. For example, for a 250-page book, spend 15-30 minutes on overview, 3-5 hours on detailed reading, and 1-1.5 hours taking notes, but we can adjust these periods depending on difficulty - and on how much time you have.
- How to Solve and Write Up Homework Problems: Helpful advice from Prof. Alan Sherman.
- Advice on Research and Writing: A collection of advice about how to do research and how to communicate effectively. Includes a number of good links.
- How To Use Presentation Slides to Best Effect. From ACM Ubiquity, (April 15 - 21, 2008).
- Persuasive Writing. Concise and good advice. From ACM Ubiquity, (Sep. 23 - 29, 2008).
- Richard Felder's Student Handouts: Some useful advice for students, including tips on test-taking. His site also includes an Engineering Student Survival Guide.
- How To Study Suggestions for Students.
- Efficient Reading of Papers in Science and Technology: This short brochure is worth studying.
- How To Read a Paper By Prof. S. Keshav of U. of Waterloo. Short and to the point.
- Reading Strategies. A short article on reading strategies in general.
Write
- Advice on Writing Technical Reports: By Prof. Alan Sherman.
- How to Write an Abstract: By Prof. Philip Koopman of CMU. Good advice for preparing an abstract for a CS paper.
- How to Write a Great Research Paper: By Simon Peyton Jones of Microsoft. Excellent advice.
- William Strunk's The Elements of Style (1918 ed, online): This short classic will do more to improve your writing style than any newer or longer book.
- Online Resources for Writers: A good collection of links to many of the major online writing resources.
- Writing Guide: A useful general guide to writing papers, from Henson College.
- Guide to Grammar and Writing: Excellent and thorough discussion of grammar and composition, including tutorials, links, and FAQs.
- How (and how not) to Write a Good Systems Paper: A classic paper you should read before writing for publication.
When you want to write about any topic, try to answer these questions.
Definition
What is it?
What are its characteristics or qualities?
What are its limits?
Comparison
What is it like?
In what ways?
Contrast
What is it different from?
How does it differ from things it may otherwise resemble?
Is this a difference of degree or of a kind?
Division and analysis
What are its parts?
What goes to make it up?
Classification
To what larger structure or class does it belong?
Functional analysis
How does it work?
Causal analysis
What causes it?
What conditions are necessary for its existence?
Effect analysis
What are its effects?
What results might be anticipated from its existence?
Argumentation
What is the value of it?
What are its advantages?
What are its disadvantages?
Research
What do others say about it?
Testing yourself section by section is critical!
20% - that's what you'll remember two weeks after reading something if you just read it and set it aside.
50-65% - that's what you'll remember in two weeks if you test yourself right after reading.
75-80% - that's what you'll remember two weeks later after testing yourself two times.
Testing yourself after each section (Test 1) and at the end of the assignment or chapter (Test 2) puts you in the 75-80% category. When midterms come, you'll be reviewing just to get yourself from about 75% to nearly 100% rather than the usual practice of having to re-learn most of the material.
If you think that you don't have that much time. . .
There's no quicker study strategy than the key ones offered for learning and remembering knowledge well (unless you are one of the rare persons with a photographic memory). With this strategy, your initial study might take 20 to 30 percent longer than you are currently taking. However, when reviewing for major tests, you'll know the material better and will spend less time reviewing before tests.
Take Notes, Underline or Highlight?
Preferably take notes. Take your notes only after you have tested yourself at the end of each section. When you take your notes (or underline or highlight) while reading the material the first time, chances are you'll take too many notes (or underline or highlight too much). Waiting until you've read the entire section and testing yourself helps identify the most important points, so your notes are more focused.
Homework Problems
The Usual Strategy: Students usually read two, three or four sections assigned and then turn to the problems to be solved. The problems are solved with the book open -- referring to the appropriate section. This way, you could solve every homework problem correctly and still fail tests because you know what you're doing with the book in front of you but not necessarily learning the material well enough to remember it during a test without the book to help you.
Recommended Strategy: Homework problems are to test if you not only understand the assignment but also remember what you studied well enough to pass a test.
Use the key strategy described above to study the assignment. Then, solve the problems with the book closed, referring back only occasionally, as needed. Use homework problems as a test -- solve the problems with your book closed. Sure, you'll need to refer back to it for some points - but just the ones you need to be refreshed on.
Lecture Notes
Put your text notes (notes on your assigned readings) on the left-hand page of your notebook (if you are right-handed). If you're left-handed, do the opposite. Then, take your lecture notes on the right-hand page, opposite the appropriate section of notes from your reading. If the lecturer says only what's in the text, just star (*) it, meaning "This was discussed in class so it might be important. Know it!"
When preparing for tests, then you'll have reading and lecture notes side-by-side for your study. Your lecture notes on additional material will be with the reading notes on the same topic.
Modifications
Any system will need modifications to fit particular student and instructor styles. Experiment until you find patterns that work best for you and the styles of each of your instructors.
For example, some instructors lecture from an outline, so taking orderly class notes is a breeze. For other profs, you might need to go over class notes after class and, using a red pencil, identify important points and subpoints.
If you have one of those classes in which tests are based primarily on lecture notes, your homework will be studying lecture notes using the key strategy described above. Apply it to the lecture notes and use the text just to fill in topics discussed in class.
Reviewing for Tests
Your review for tests should be as much like the test situation as possible.
Most tests require you to recall material from memory and to solve problems or write answers rapidly. So, your test preparation should give you practice in doing those things.
Study each of the chapters and associated lecture notes. Study each chapter so you can set your notes and text aside and recite to yourself what you need to know. Essentially, you'll have the outline for that chapter (that appears in the table of contents) in your head.
Tests Requiring Rapid Solutions to Problems
Do some rapid problem solving without the book. Most problem courses require that you solve problems on tests much more rapidly than when doing homework. To prepare for this, try some rapid problem solving. Time yourself. Or, better yet, study with a student who is doing slightly better than you in the course. Each of you can copy a problem and then race to see who solves it first. Do this for at least 20 or 30 minutes for at least three nights before the test. Students can simulate test situations and come out winners!
Silly Mistakes
Do you make silly mistakes, such as 2 + 2 = 5, or forget to carry signs? Most students do.
One reason: homework problems are solved at a leisurely rate while tests require rapid problem-solving. The best way to prepare for the test is to simulate it. Devise a system for practising rapid problem solving as part of your review for the test.
Another silly mistake is not taking time to read each test question thoroughly.
Objective Tests
Simulate a test. Have a friend predict questions and ask you to answer them without referring to your notes. Trade places -- you ask the questions. Do this only after you've reviewed the material.
Essay Tests
Predict questions you think will be on the test. Use any clues the prof might have given, including sample tests if made available by the professor. Or, consider forming a study group with other students in your class and brainstorm themes/topics which you think may be most important. Then, outline your answers to the questions. Study these until you know them. You won't predict exactly what questions are on the test. But, chances are that you will predict most of the points/topics that are needed to answer the questions on the test
[Copyright 1989, 1997 by Kansas State University]
I know the material, but when I take the test I go blank
It is normal and healthy to feel some anxiety before an exam. Many students, however, complain about "test anxiety", explaining that they went into a test knowing the material but that they "went blank" when they began to take the exam. Or when they receive their test results, they find that they made silly mistakes. What they think is "too much anxiety" may really point to a gap in their study skills.
Why? When most students prepare for a test, they read their notes or textbooks. As you read along, you may feel that you know (understand) what the author is saying. Understanding what you are reading at the moment does NOT mean that you know it well enough to remember it for a test when the book isn't there to help you. Thus, students may enter a test situation expecting themselves to "know" the material and finding themselves going "blank" when trying to answer a test item.
To be most efficient, each step of your study should be keyed to the test situation itself. So, you first need to prepare to deal with the components of the test environment; then, understand the textbook structure. Once you know these elements, you are better prepared and more confident when taking a test.
Components of the test environment
Nearly all tests include three things:
No texts -- you will have to recall the information from memory. No notes. No clues. So, you have to make sure that you not only understand when reading the text but also remember the material from the first time you study it well enough to pass a test! This requires knowing how to use the text structure in studying and being able to solve problems WITHOUT looking back at the book!
Stress -- Taking tests adds stress. And, your performance tends to deteriorate under stress. So you need to learn the material well enough to remember it under stress.
Time pressure -- you have studied several chapters and lectures, learned hundreds of facts, concepts, processes, solutions. You'll need to remember this rapidly in the test environment. This is especially important for those tests requiring rapid problem-solving.
The Textbook
A good textbook is written and printed in a format that can be used to enhance your performance on the tests. USE IT TO HELP YOU STUDY!!!
Why would the structure of the textbook be useful?
When beginning to write a text, the authors make a list of the 15 to 25 most important topics that need to be covered in the text. This list eventually becomes the titles of the chapters in the text. Next, the authors develop a list of 6 to 10 points to be covered in a chapter. Considerable time is spent refining these, shifting some around, deleting others. These become the headings within each chapter, the chapter sections.
This outline becomes the table of contents published in a text. If you were going to teach the course. you would know what's in the text just from looking at this outline. You would know that is what your students should learn, supplemented by the lectures you would prepare for them.
You are taking the course to learn the material at least well enough to pass the tests. So, the authors fill in the outline for you -- they give explanations, history, examples, derivations, formulae or whatever is needed to educate you on each topic in the chapter.
Each chapter outline will be valuable in at least two ways:
as a check to see how well you remember the chapter after studying it for the first time, and
as a way of remembering the material. You remember more details longer if they are organized. The chapter outline usually will provide an organization for text and lecture materials.
[Copyright 1989, 1997 by Kansas State University]
Test anxiety is a type of performance anxiety. (A Student went to class, completed homework, and studied. He or she arrived at the exam confident about the material. If he or she has test anxiety, taking the test is the most difficult part of the equation).
Causes
Fear of failure. Pressure to perform can act as a motivator. But it can also be devastating to individuals who tie their self-worth to the outcome of a test.
Lack of preparation. Waiting until the last minute or not studying at all can leave individuals feeling anxious and overwhelmed.
Poor test history. Previous problems or bad experiences with test-taking can lead to a negative mindset. It influences performance on future tests.
Symptoms
Physical symptoms. Headache, nausea, diarrhoea, excessive sweating, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, lightheadedness and feeling faint can all occur. Test anxiety can lead to a panic attack, which is the abrupt onset of intense fear or discomfort in which individuals may feel like they are unable to breathe or having a heart attack.
Emotional symptoms. Feelings of anger, fear, helplessness and disappointment are common emotional responses to test anxiety.
Behavioural/Cognitive symptoms. Difficulty concentrating, thinking negatively and comparing yourself to others are common symptoms of test anxiety.
Tips for managing test anxiety
Share these tips if anybody is anxious about an upcoming exam:
Be prepared. Develop good study habits. Study at least a week or two before the exam. Do it in smaller increments of time and over a few days (instead of pulling an "all-nighter"). Simulate exam conditions with a practice test by following the same time constraints.
Develop good test-taking skills. Read the directions with care. Answer questions you know first and then return to the more difficult ones. Outline essays before you begin to write.
Maintain a positive attitude. Remember that your self-worth should not be dependent on or defined by a test grade. Create a system of rewards and reasonable expectations to study. This helps in producing effective studying habits. There is no benefit to negative thinking.
Stay focused. Concentrate on the test, not other students during your exams. Try not to talk to other students about the subject material before taking an exam.
Practice relaxation techniques. If you feel stressed during the exam, take deep, slow breaths. Relax your muscles, one at a time with consciousness. This can invigorate your body and will allow you to better focus on the exam.
Stay healthy. Get enough sleep, eat healthy food, exercise and allow for personal time. Physical and emotional exhaustion is difficult to handle stress and anxiety.
[Adapted from: http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/children/test-anxiety]
- It must organise the work and assign duties so that there is proper coordination and harmony at all levels of management.
- There must be a positive delegation of authority and voluntarily accepted responsibility.
- For effective coordination and team spirit, there must be a free flow of communication inside the organisation.
- Your men should not work as individuals but should work as a team.
- Work with speed yourself, otherwise, your team members will be sluggish.
- To your staff,
- Make them aware that time and cost overruns must be avoided.
- Make them feel that you have confidence In them.
- Praise them in public, but if need be, reprimand them in private.
- Extend support to a man at his workplace and try to solve his personal problems, if needed.
- Review the workload and procedures and try to simplify them as far as possible.
- Be transparent with your staff, encourage discussions, and accept constructive criticism and good suggestions.
- Ensure that your objective is clearly understood by your team members.
- Make sure of the exact role your men have to play.
- Keep a close watch on people who flatter you.
- Put a man on the job where he fits best. You will see a poor performer become a good performer.
- Personnel management depends on the attitude and the positive mindset that you should have.
[Ref: The Journal of Education, July 2001, pp.27-28]
- Has expertise in the subject
- Knows what needs to be delivered and at what level
- Can formulate learning outcomes
- Has the big picture of the subject and its connections with other subjects
- Self-directed learning (contemporary topics)
- Knows the latest developments
- Knows the applications
- Design effective teaching/training strategies
- Chooses from a variety of teaching methods
- Performs informal/formal needs analysis
- Is aware of learning styles
- Design lesson/session plans
- Can identify resources
- Can plan methods for specific learning outcomes
- Modifies plans based on assessment results
- Deliver lessons/sessions
- Can manage time and engage the learners
- Uses basic chalk-talk or presentation skills
- Use Technology Effectively
- Uses slides or any pre-designed material
- Uses internet resources
- Uses visualisations, simulations
- Manage classroom
- Reaches to different types of learners
- Maintains participation
- Guide experimental learning (labs, hands-on)
- Enables learners to gain skills or meet learning outcomes
- Enables learners to use equipment
- Enables the application of acquired skills in new situations
- Generate curiosity about and analysis of the experience
- Follow up with learners for deliverables (assignments and projects)
- Keeps up the motivation of learners to complete given tasks
- Enables learners to break tasks and check intermediate milestones
- Provides guidance
- Design Assessment activities and tests
- Knows a variety of assessment methods
- Can choose methods for specific learning outcomes
- Designs rubrics
- Assess learners’ outcomes
- Shares rubrics and conducts an assessment
- Provides accurate and immediate feedback to learners
- Plans remediation/enrichment
- Reflect upon one’s competencies
- Seeks feedback on session plans
- Seeks feedback on the delivery of sessions
- Analyses assessment of learners
- Reflects after each session on the planned and actual delivery
- Correlates feedback from all sources
- Identifies strengths and areas of improvement
- Sets goals and works on them
- Reviews the plan
- Excite learners to learn and to perform
- Relates sessions to real-life applications
- Challenges learners to achieve learning goals
- Provides variety in tasks
- Demonstrates energy and enthusiasm
- Respond to learners’ interests and questions
- Allows time for learners’ questions
- Facilitates search and thinking of answers
- Is a source of answers
- Design experimental learning
- Designs new experiments to achieve learning outcomes
- Conceptualise relevant projects for learners
- Searches and designs individual or group tasks / small projects in the subject
- Conceptualise interdisciplinary projects for learners
- Interacts with other faculty to design individual or group tasks / small projects that integrate different subjects
- Enable learners to develop Higher Order Thinking
- Design activities or tasks in or outside the class that promote thinking
- Facilitates discussions and debates
- Guides learners to appropriate sources of information
- Review lesson/session plans
- Knows teaching methods and subject
- Can provide constructive feedback on lesson plans
- Mentor learners
- Facilitates SWOT analysis for learners
- Enables learners to make goals and plans
- Follows up at intermediate milestones
Courtesy: https://umavalluri.wordpress.com/2014/09/10/teachertrainer-competencies/
List of mindmapping tools
http://mashable.com/2013/09/25/mind-mapping-tools/ a list of 24 SW and many more apps
http://www.mapul.com/ (handwritten mindmaps)
http://vue.tufts.edu/ (Open source flexible visual environment for structuring, presenting, and sharing digital information)
https://www.mindmanager.com/en/
https://coggle.it/ (share mindmaps)
http://mind42.com/ (online mindmapping)
https://mindnode.com/
http://www.simpleapps.eu/simplemind/desktop
https://bubbl.us/ (Brainstorming Software)
https://www.xmind.net/
https://www.mindomo.com/
https://www.mindmeister.com/
http://thinkbuzan.com/products/imindmap/
https://www.spiderscribe.net/
https://www.text2mindmap.com/ – Online
https://popplet.com/ – App
http://www.groupmap.com/ (Real time collaborative)
https://stormboard.com/ (On-line collaborative)
http://www.wisemapping.com/ (On-line individual or groups)
http://www.freeplane.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
https://www.lucidchart.com/
Google Chrome extensions MindMapr, MindMup and Connected Mind.
http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page Free Mind
Some more apps
Survey: Get the best overall picture of what you will study before you study it.
Question: Ask questions for learning. What, why, how, when, who and where of study content.
Read well: When you read, read actively.
Recall and Recite: When you recite, you stop reading periodically to recall what you have read.
Review: A review is a survey of what you have covered. It is a review of what you are supposed to accomplish, not what you will do.
Design
Innovation
- Exposes to a wide range of problems and algorithms.
- Helps in building speed and accuracy in coding.
- Improves algorithmic thinking and logical reasoning skills.
- Develops critical thinking skills
Shanmukhi Mudra
Cornell Notes