I wanted to muse about my note-taking theory, but first: cat updates! I figured out that the old lady just doesn’t like being held down, so if I pet her for a minute and then fearlessly plunge the giant needle in and give her the fluids, she doesn’t seem to mind very much. She squeaks a little, but I think I would too. It’s a giant needle (20 gauge). She’s putting on weight, and her fur doesn’t tent at all when I test her turgor. She’s bright eyed. These fluids are making her feel a LOT better. She hates the oral antacid far worse than the needle jabs. Cats. What can you do?
Now, my new note-taking theory. It’s not really even my theory; I read this article at lifehack.org awhile back when it was referenced at lifehacker.com (these sites are both pretty cool for widely misc tips, btw). I skimmed it with an air of virtuousness because I hadn’t royally flubbed any tests in my life yet, but I reconsidered after my first round of tests. My old methods basically involved relying on my really-quite-good memory and multiple skims of material. There is too much material now. Working HARDER was not on the table, so I set about figuring out how to work SMARTER. Like Bartleby the Scrivener, I’ve always thought that the easiest way is always the best way.
I was reading almost every word in the textbooks and then taking my handy little folding keyboard to type notes into my PDA during lecture so as not to miss anything. That seemed like a solid approach, but sadly it has not panned out. I am trying another approach this time around. No more keyboard! My hypothesis is that the drive to type everything in prevents me from assimilating what is being said and sifting through what is really important. As for the reading, I skim the assigned reading before class (largely for purposes of potential pop quizzes) but don’t read anything in depth (AFTER class) unless it’s addressed in lecture. I have also set aside the gadgets (I know: weird) in favor of pen and paper so that I have to consolidate my thinking in class. I’ve decided the best I can hope for is to grasp big main points fairly well. If I miss a nit-picky statistic that ends up on an exam, I miss it. Those questions usually aren’t the bulk of exam questions and will NOT affect patient care.
I took my first exam yesterday having used this approach to studying and taking notes, and I felt it went much better. Then again I don’t have my grade yet, so stay tuned! Anyone have any thoughts on this?
I, too, am re-examining my note-taking theories particularly in pharm. I am also examining whether or not my study group is actually helping me. We divide the chapters up (there’s like 8 chapters each test) and do the objectives and then share them with each other. Well these other high achievers are sending me, like, three PAGES PER CHAPTER. Add that up…it ends up being a 25-30 page “study guide” and I’m totally panicked because I know I’ll never remember any of it. This time around I’m taking a risk; throwing my study group objectives out the window and hitting the book hard and taking notes MY way: on an excel spreadsheet with a limited amount of information. We’ll see how it goes.
The thing about studying is you just always have to be so damn flexible and unafraid. If something’s not working, it simply must be changed but that’s a scary process for Type A’s like me who don’t want to risk losing one tiny point.
I don’t do study groups. I don’t do study guides. I tried doing a few study guides recently (beyond scanning through them and noting, “Yes, I have heard of all this before”), and they were all a giant waste of time. I spent time fruitlessly looking up stuff that didn’t show up on the test, and large categories of stuff that WAS on the test wasn’t on the study guide. I felt I would have done much better by skimming chapters and repeatedly reading my notes! Study groups just confuse me because I think weirdly or something; hearing other people’s explanations for things throws me off. I guess I am better off sitting around pondering things on my own—scary though that sounds! Teachers give out chapter objectives, so I use those more than the study guides. Still, lately my guideline is “Am I likely to need this information at work?”