Improving your Studying methods 9-2016 CRC
- 1. By Carlos Cardenas, BSN RN Miami Regional University® Academic Center of Excellence’s Director and Advisor A Guide to improve your studying methods
- 2. Table of Contents ◦ Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Semester Routine ◦ Study Groups ◦ Finding a Way ◦ Reading Course Content ◦ Note Cards ◦ Study Guides ◦ Topics ◦ Methods Where to begin?
- 3. Setup your routine choosing the topics you NEED to study and how you will study them This includes creating a weekly, monthly, and semester “studying schedule” as appropriate Include each day of the week, how many hours you will study, choose the topics you will study (weakest areas first), and HOW you will study the topics you need to refresh on first. Routine
- 4. Monday Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun Work Study 2 hours Work Study 2 hours Work Study 2 hours Work Study 2 hours Work Study 2 hours Work Study 6 hours Work Study 4 hours Cardio Pharm Neuro Respirator Endocrine Renal ALL ALL Saunders Note Cards Kaplan Evolve Vocab Note Cards HESI Tutoring Priority Questions Strategy NCLEX Questions Note Cards Saunders Kaplan YouTube Kaplan Note Cards HESI Group Study NCLEX questions Saunders Group Study YouTube Note Cards Kaplan Vidoes YouTube HESI Evolve NCLEX Mastery Routine continued… Weekly Schedule SAMPLE for 1 TOPIC
- 5. You study better on a day off over a day you finished a 12 hour work shift. Be smart about how much time you take per day. On a bad day, do not study as long On great days, plan to study longer. The better the quality of study, the more you can retain the information you are covering Quality of Study
- 6. Set Schedule – ALWAYS SHOW UP Present on your chosen area to others ◦ Each member should be able to teach 20-30 minutes of information. ◦ Ask questions. Give rationales, so they all remember! Alternate methods to remember concepts ◦ Humor and Repetition, if wrong, try again after rationale is given. Until they get it right! ◦ From the mouth of a “friend” ◦ Making “memories” Study Groups
- 7. Choose topics to cover – Syllabus ◦ What is going to be on the next quiz or exam? Give a topic to each member of the group The next week you will meet and cover your own topics for 30 minutes each. 30 questions - each partner creates explaining the top priority of their chosen topic. ◦ Topic examples as seen on the course syllabus Fundamentals- Infection Control, Safety, etc. Medical- Surgical – Cardiac, Neuro, GI, GU, etc. Group Studying Overview
- 8. Do not study in groups without organizing topics that will be covered. Studying in groups with no organization or direction can be a waste of time, be careful. Group Studying
- 9. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Cardio Neuro GI Respiratory Test 1 Test 2 Test 3 Finding A Way Range Grades from 50-90% to 75-85%
- 10. Read 30 minutes at a time Pre-determine what you are reading and from where ◦ Saunders- Cardio- Chapter? Pages? ◦ 10 pages is 1 hour of Out of Classwork Make sure to freshen up on vocabulary with Note Cards after reading or listening to words you can not define. (COLOR Flash Cards) Course Content
- 11. Make Flash Cards for pharmacology, memorizing content, learning vocabulary words ◦ Use COLOR flash cards for Pharmacology ◦ Use different colors for different classifications ◦ Examples: Beta-blockers (blue cards) VS Ace (red cards) Increases heart = RED cards Slow heart rate = YELLOW cards Note Cards
- 12. WORD Documents- Create one for each area Google: copy links into your document ◦ “Nursing Studying Guides” ◦ “TOPIC” (cardiac, pharmacology, med-surg, etc.) ◦ “PDF” ◦ “Word” Copy YouTube videos URLs once approved by you Study Guides
- 13. Study Guides- Master (Build Forever) Vs Now (Word Document to study for the week)
- 14. Review all course topics that you will be tested on For each topic listed Give a “self” Grade ◦ A, B, C, or F ◦ You grade should be based on how strong you feel towards that topic area– BE HONEST. Study areas with F = First ◦ Then study the areas you have Bs and Cs. ◦ Leave the areas you have an A for last. Tutor and study your areas of weakness first! Topics- WHAT to Study first?
- 15. Reading PPT YouTube Tables/Diagrams Note Cards (Flash Cards) Saunders (Chapter 5, Test Taking Strategies, pg. 26) Kaplan (videos) Evolve (Adaptive Quizzing) Learning Extension (Pearson Vue) Phone Applications (NCLEX Mastery, ex.) WORD documents (USB flash drive) The more the better! Stick to your best methods! ◦ Voice vs Feeling vs OUTCOMES Methods- HOW to study material
- 16. Keep an eye on the Fs going to Cs Keep an eye on Cs turning into F’s This occurs as your range is becoming tighter and closer together. The topics you FIRST chose “Cs” for may change into Fs. Refresh your topics to your current weaknesses as appropriate Refresh- Re-evaluate
- 17. Step 1 – Find questions on the topics that will be on the exam ◦ Ex. Safety, Delegation, Cardio, Neuro, GI, and/or GU etc. ◦ Learning Extension, Sherpath, Phone Applications – NCLEX style questions Step 2- Complete questions and ONLY analyze the ones you have scored incorrectly Step 3- Prepare study materials differently, Take time to find or construct tables, photos, videos, etc. for the areas you have scored incorrectly in ◦ Create Word documents with notes, pictures, tables, diagrams, and videos when possible. Step 4 – Study the material you scored incorrectly (FOCUSED) and use the different methods to review the material (Not only reading styles) Step 5- Repeat 1-4, with a new set of questions which should include the topics that will be tested next. Focus on What and How to study
- 18. It is said that nurses must complete 20,000 NCLEX style questions or more before being able to become a nurse. The notion has truth because as your knowledge increases and the familiarity of what is expected from these questions are met, the “testing” aspect of nursing becomes easier. ◦ Keep up the Hard work! ◦ Keep answering, rationalizing, and understanding the material and questions you cover. Future Nurses, RN must practice NCLEX style questions
Editor's Notes
- #5: Routines can be done out for as long as you have a set work/life/school schedule.
- #7: Participants stated that when they stepped outside the comfort of their ethnic or racial group, they heard different perspectives from other students, increased their understanding of the content, and developed a stronger sense of community (Dapremont, 2014). Prior research also supports study groups and peer tutoring as helpful for ethnically and racially diverse nursing students (Dapremont, 2014).
- #10: Study your weaknesses first. Focus on changing the range of your grades 50- 90 to 75-85. PASS PASS PASS
- #11: Add each system to a document and each book including the page numbers you use to study each system.
- #12: Note cards: Another, Carmeka, a mature student with children, said: “I had my cards with me . . . wherever I went. . . . That was my study plan: . . . reading the note cards combined [with the] reading and studying of content. It also was a repetitive process of seeing the information over and over again.” (Dapremont, 2014). The participants in the study used various strategies to be successful in their nursing education programs: having a daily routine for study, meeting with a diverse peer study group, reading the course content, and using note cards (Dapremont, 2014). Participants consistently stated that achieving success required them to concentrate their energy, work hard, and stay focused on schoolwork (Dapremont, 2014). They needed to set aside a consistent time for study and have a routine because the workload was sometimes overwhelming (Dapremont, 2014). A clear implication is that students need instruction on time-management skills and how to effectively plan study, in addition to referrals to campus resources (Dapremont, 2014).