Study Strategies &

Exam Prep
Tutor Training

University of South Carolina

Academic Enrichment Center
April 8th, 2014

Flash Cards
Study Strategies & Exam Prep

Traditional Flash Cards

Terms or vocabulary

Basic Facts

Names of important people

Techniques for studying:

Start small and increase # of cards

Stack cards or lay out in grid

Separate cards based on students

progress
Know vs. Need to study more

Index Cards: Categorization

Organize note cards by category

Time periods

Color code everything in the same time period

i.e. Baroque Period = Blue, Renaissance Period = Green

Concepts

Use index cards to help create a concept map

Timeline

Organize based on timeline of events

Great for History courses

Index Cards: Event Cards

For major events or people

What is it? Person, place, event, speech, etc
Who were the major players?
Where did it take place?
When did it take place?
Why did it take place? Purpose?
What were the effects/results?

Great for history courses

Back of card:

What: Civil Rights Eventstudents sat at a

white lunch counter and were refused service,
some were arrested

Who: The Greensboro Four Blair, McCain,

NcNeil, Richmond (NC A&T students)

Where: Woolworth Store in Greensboro, NC

Front of card:

When: Began Feb. 1, 1960

Greensboro Sit-ins

Why: to demand integration and equal service

for blacks

Result: Woolworth store was integrated on

7/25/60; movement spread to 54 cities in 9
states

Example:
Event Card

Organizing Notes
Study Strategies & Exam Prep

Organizing Notes

Highlight and color code

Rewrite based on study guide to decrease amount of information

Create charts

Topic

What my notes say

What the book says

Topic

What I remember

What I had to look up

Term

Definition

In your own

Example

words

Sentence

Synonym

Reading Notes

Great for journal articles

Also can be used for textbook chapters

Top of page: Book/Chapter/Article (author & title)

Identify at least 2 main ideas from article

Identify specific quotes or examples for each main idea

List key terms to include

Significance
Definition
Example
Page #

Summary and how article relates to course concepts

Test Preparation &

Test Taking
Strategies
Study Strategies & Exam Prep

Essay Tests

Ask professor for example questions

Develop your own example questions

Look at the key words in the chapter title and subtitles or what concepts the professor has
stressed in class and think about their relationships
Next try to apply the information to an actual or hypothetical situation

Be sure student understands key concepts and ideas:

Can student explain thoroughly and provide examples
How do concepts and examples relate to each other?

Practice writing information out

During the test:

Read question carefully

Underline key components (i.e. Describe, Compare, Analyze)
Jot down key issues or examples before start writing
Write out brief outline
Even if unsure, write something
Review writing to make sure answered question

Words to watch for in essays:

Analyze break into separate parts and

discuss, interpret
Explain make an idea clear, logically
describe, give reasons
Compare identify similarities and
differences for 2 or more things
Contrast show differences
Illustrate give concrete examples
Interpret comment upon, give examples,
describe relationships, explain the meaning

Criticize make judgments on worth

compared to something else

Outline describe main ideas

Define give the meaning

Describe make a picture with words,

details

Discuss debate or argue the pros and cons

Summarize brief condensed account,

avoid conclusions

Prove support with facts

Relate show connections between, provide

larger context

State explain precisely

Evaluate give your opinion or cite the

opinion of an expert, include evidence to
support

Multiple Choice Tests

Think of the answer in your head before looking at the choices

Read every option, eliminating the incorrect ones

All of the above is not always the correct answer, check to see if there is more
than one correct option

Watch for negative words, such as except or not

If you cannot answer a question, mark it and move on, avoid getting frustrated

If you have to guess:

Eliminate choices with 100% words (everyone, always, never, etc.)

Choose the longest, most accurate answer
Choose the answer that is in the middle
Choose answers with qualifying terms (often, most, some, etc.)
Go with your gut feeling

True/False & Matching Tests

True/False

Look for qualifying words such as: all, most, some, never, always, usually, more, less
Be cautious of 100% words such as: all, best, only, always, none, and never; the
statement must be true 100% of the time to answer true

Matching

Preview each list to get a feel for the options

Answer the item in your head before looking for the correct match
Answer the ones you know first
Only guess at the end

Final Papers
Study Strategies & Exam Prep

Final Papers

Developing a thesis:

What is the assignment asking you to do? Analyze, compare, etc.

What overall topic do you want your paper to focus on?
What do you want to convince your audience about your topic?
Write a sentence that combines your topic with what you want to convince your
audience.

Thesis Checklist:

Does my thesis take a position or make an argument?

Is my thesis debatable?
Does my thesis follow the assignment for the paper?
Can my thesis be supported with research readily available?
Is my thesis expressed in one sentence?
Is my thesis specific?

Final Papers

Writing strong paragraphs:

Main Idea (topic sentence) what whole paragraph will be about

Example/Evidence supports your main idea
Analyze & explain importance of this example & how it connects to the main idea
Link back to the thesis of the paper

Technically, this can be a complete paragraph, but stronger paragraphs are longer and
might include multiple examples. A stronger paragraph might be organized more like this:

Main Idea
Example/Evidence
Analysis
Example/Evidence
Analysis
Example/Evidence
Analysis
Link

General Tips
Study Strategies & Exam Prep

General Test Preparation

Analyze how you did on a similar test

How did you prepare? Did it work?

What can you do differently to prepare for next test/exam?

Develop study plan one week prior to exam

Organize material so that the most important information will be given the most
amount of time

Utilize study aids

Make sure students are directing questions to professors

Keep a steady pace

The day before the exam:

Review major concepts
Dont crash study
Get a good nights sleep

Emergency Test Prep

Pick 5 topics which will be on the test

Define them and write all the information you can remember, without using
your notes

Compare your answers to those in the book and in your notes

Repeat these steps until you know all the information on the five topics

General Test Taking Tips

The day of the exam:

Eat! Its never a good idea to take an exam on an empty stomach

Engage in relaxing non-thinking activity the hour before the exam

Arrive early for the test

Peppermint Candy eating one while taking an exam helps keeps you alert

Approach the test with confidence view it as an opportunity to show how much you
studied and learned!

Read the directions carefully

Answer easy questions first

Answering questions you are unsure about last gives more time to think through the question
and ensures that if you need to guess you arent missing out on points for questions you know

Review your test to make sure you have answered all questions and made no simple
mistakes

Online Resources

Quizlet.com

Input information and will formulate quizzes, notecards, and practice tests

Flashcard Machine

Creates notecards, allow matching and other review options

Purdue OWL Purdue University

Houses writing resources including the MLA and APA Formatting and Style Guide
http://owl.English.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/

Easy BIB

www.easybib.com

Citation Machine

http://citationmachine.net

Appointments: Week of Finals

Regular appointments are scheduled through the last day of classes,

Monday, April 28th

You are expected to work during finals week

Advisors will start having conversations with you to schedule times during
finals that work with your schedule and your students schedule

If you are finishing your finals early and leaving town early please be in
communication with your students advisors so they can plan ahead

Good Luck Preparing

for Finals!
Dont forget to sign the attendance sheet
Dont forget to turn your time sheet in
Dont add this hour to ITAMS, we will add it for you