Help needed about study technique

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I just cant take it any more.I am now in the best university of my country.But after all these years it seems like i just havent developed any good kind of study technique.

I am entirely a visual style learner.I learn everything using pattern.So if i cant convert my topic in visual form it creates headache.In school and college life the pressure was low so it wasnt that much problem.But in the semester system of university time is very limited and pressure is huge.So it seems like what i am just doing before the exms is to take snapshots of the examples in my mind and if that matches with the questions in the exams then i can do it or else most of the time i cant solve it.I am also prone to making mistakes in calculation.

All of these problems making me very frustrated when i see that my roommate who only study before the exms (he only do the problems not much concerened about developing concepts) )get good grades and i who hv crystal clear concept of the subject cant solve the problems of the questions or make silly mistakes...

Can anyone help me to develop a better study technique?

I have the exact same problem. It's frustrating to see people who care only about doing the problem that will be on the test get a better grade even when I understand the subject better. I also am very visual. If you are good at drawing (I am not) you could try drawing pictures or graphs to help you.

Just a thought.
If you were the teacher of that subject, could you make some reasonable modification to the last test that would be helpful for someone just like you?
If you actually drew a picture (or whatever) as a demo and showed it to the teacher, would he be sympathetic?

A good method for studying text is SQ3R. It means survey, question, read, review, and review again.

Say you have 10 pages of text you have to learn from. First, you survey (look through quickly) to get an idea of what the text is about. Next, you ask yourself questions about what you just looked through, important things you need to know. Then read the text again, beginning to end. Then review quickly what you just read, then review it once more. It takes longer then just reading, but you can be sure you will know it very well.

@Tahitiii:

You hv just asked my dream question.I want to change the whole exm pattern in which there will be problems related to real-life problems.I also want to add questions where students will be encouraged to apply their creativity to find new solutions.I actually want to see the process in which they have solved the problem - accuracy is second.Because in actual practice they will get more than just 3 hrs and enough time and manpower to revise the mistakes.

*bump*

I may be atypical here....I don't know.

[edited to be easier to read]

Graduated with a BA in dual majors....with honors.

Managed to finish law school (JD), but there were extenuating circumstances.

FIRST

I barely got through high school, but the problem was emotional more than mental...kids were cruel and I hated going to school. That was the bulk of my problem. If AS affected my academics, I could not tell from how badly the hostile environment affected me.

After high school, I worked rather than going straight to college, but seeing that a diploma wasn't going to get me better jobs (and not knowing that AS is part of why I kept getting only menial jobs), I "chose" to go to college and get a degree.

SECOND

Colleges (then) didn't know about AS, there was no help for any quirks I had learning, but college was a more positive and supportive environment than high school ever was, so in contrast, I thrived. I loved learning (which helped), but I did have a constant trouble studying for exams. This would never change.

KEYS TO SUCCESS:

1. I rarely ever missed a class.
2. I tried to actively participate in class (likely an annoyance to other students).
3. I took copious notes.

This focused on the fact that I absorb information more by observing than just reading...especially if I'm not that interested in the topic. Note taking added a "tactile" element that reinforced what I was learning.

Studying for exams was little more than re-reading my notes. I NEVER felt prepared for an exam because reading material never seemed to reinforce what I was supposed to know. I had problems with math and chemistry because I couldn't remember the formulas...I even cheated on a couple of exams (smuggled in crib notes for key things I needed to remember). However, I was "wired weird" and when I took an exam, I could have almost total recall of everything covered in class. Because I was less disciplined in those days, I frequently made the Dean's List, but I didn't graduate with anything special. Frequently, I had problems with things like papers and projects. I couldn't stay focused enough to do a good job. One class had a huge book to read, and I never did the reading because I couldn't stay focused.

Social interaction was very awkward, but in a community college I was only there for classes.

A point of irony is that I spent a semester tutoring students with learning disabilities.

THIRD

I went to work for several years after community college, but never got anywhere. When I returned to college to get my BA degree, I was focused on getting the degree. I had accepted that my brain didn't work like most people's did, so I adapted my school habits accordingly. Traditional study habits were not for me.

1. Again, rarely missed class.
2. Again, actively participated (often being an irritant in doing so).
3. Again, I took copious notes.

I was obsessed with getting As, so I think that helped. Since most of the "required" coursework was eliminated by what transferred over from my AA degree, I avoided many classes that would be "boring." Again, when I studied, I didn't know if I knew the material until the exam began. I referred to the phenomenon as "quasi-photographic memory."

This was illustrated by my choice to take an acting workshop. Memorizing my lines was murder because reading the script just didn't work and was very frustrating. This is odd because I can watch a movie and memorize most every line performed, but not so with written material.

I did struggle with projects, as before, and it didn't help that my college was very "writing intensive." I frequently had 5 or more term papers a semester. Feeling overwhelmed was an understatement...still not knowing about AS.

I coped by insisting (as many other students did) on knowing when deadlines were for EVERY class. I don't know how the professors did it, but it was rare for any two teachers to have deadlines on the same day.

A term paper typically has about 3-4 deadlines. (1) proposed topic, (2) submission of research sources, (3) rough draft due and (4) final draft due. I learned to lay out the deadlines for all my papers and PRIORITIZE what needed to be done next based on the deadline. Every semester I felt like freaking out over all the work that needed to be done, but I forced myself to focus on individual steps and not the big picture. So long as I did that, I kept it together.

Since I could work fairly quickly, if I met one deadline early, I just moved on to the next one on the list. My biggest frustration is when a teacher was taking their time reviewing the rough draft. On occasion, I'd get my rough draft back only a few days before the final draft was due and then it was crunch time. This was very, very stressful for me because I could not risk being unfocused. Having more time to work with meant I could take breaks if needed. Still, after a semester or two of this, I got better at handling the stress and not losing my head.

In college, I lived on campus. It was much more practical than commuting an hour each way and it reinforced being "independent" even if student loans were paying for the room and board. I did have a part-time job for money to cover expenses not taken care of by financial aid.

In this time, I was blessed with a good friend (who I still have, although I only see him about once a year), and he and his circle of friends helped me learn how to laugh and enjoy life. Other than AS, I had been deeply burned by a failed career pursuit and I was particularly bitter and angry when I went back to school. I worked as a DJ on the college radio station (it's easy to be yourself when you're just talking to a microphone) with my roommate because it was fun to do.

Socially, I remained awkward. Thankfully, I had people in my life who accepted me as I was, and I credit my friend and the things we went through together for helping me "grow" through a lot of issues in my life.

FOURTH

Law school was easy in one way because all the topics more or less interested me. In another way, it was hard because they were tougher in grading and I was all told that what got me As in college would get me Cs in law school.

I was also grouped in with a bunch of Type A personalities...so there was a lot of bad behavior going around, and my AS social awkwardness was less noticeable as a result. Still, I had no real "friends" but at least two people who I could occasionally socialize with. In time, I was fairly isolated because of the affects of AS, but as unfriendly as some people were, it wasn't as obvious as it was in college.

The law school told us how to "study" but I rejected it. I had accepted that my brain was wired differently, and I played to my strengths (something I told new students in following years to do as well...if it isn't broke, don't fix it). The challenge for me was doing case briefs to prepare for class. BORING! I hardly ever bothered. My background in Mass Communications helped me to "fake it" in class because I could glean a case in the textbook and feign a lack of understanding. If the professor knew I didn't do the reading, it wasn't obvious. In future semesters I bought the commercial outlines that gave me all the case briefs in simple to follow English rather than trying to decipher what some judge wrote in his published opinion. This was something many did because first year subjects tend to start with very old cases filled with archaic language as compared to modern cases.

Again, I followed the same process as before....go to every class, participate (although now I tried to restrain myself some as to not dominate the class), and with a laptop...I took tons of notes. I could type much faster than I could write.

Law school typically bases your grade on one exam at the end of the class or a paper if the teacher goes that route. I had the same problem of not knowing if I knew the material from reading my books and notes. Exams were a pressure cooker for everyone, so it wasn't just me...but take a group of Type A personalities who want to be top of the class and what can you expect?

Going to law school, I was in a car accident and suffered a minor back injury. The scar tissue was irritating me so I wasn't sleeping at night. 10-12 hours in bed but maybe getting 3 hours a night. The sleep deprivation had me on the verge of a nervous breakdown by the end of the first semester. In the second semester, I had no interest in finishing law school, but I didn't want to quit.

The funniest thing about my brain kicked in at this point. I spent the whole second semester of first year sitting in the back of class playing solitaire or minesweeper on the laptop. When exams came up, a friend of mine, Mary, spent the evening before the exam orally telling me what we learned in class ALL SEMESTER. She was okay with this (1) because she was my friend, and (2) she figured if she could explain the material to me so I understood it, it means she knew the material well enough for the exam.

Although I finished the first year with a D+ average, it was enough to be allowed to return in the fall. Although I got a D- in the hardest class I had, most of my other classes had C- on my exams....just like many others who actually applied themselves in class that semester. Since first year is tough on people for several reasons, a D average was good enough to return, but on academic probation (means nothing). To stay in at the end of the second year you must have a C average or better.

Here was the funny part....What pissed off most people that semester (and for the rest of my time in law school) was that where most everyone else spent the whole "study week" before exams hunkered down in the law library sweating over exam prep, I was enjoying life and would spend 2-3 hours the night before reviewing my notes....that was all I did....it was what I always did since college. The whole "quasi-photographic memory" thing was what enabled me to pass classes without really "studying." Success on the exam depended mostly on my observing and participating in the physical class, not reading dry textbooks or notes.

I did take a semester off from law school to consider other options and to finish recuperating from my back injury. I chose to return to school and get my JD degree because I had no better options. Realizing the worst that can happen was that I flunk out of school, I had a more relaxed attitude. I took up bodybuilding (only as a hobby) and just did my routine. Hit the gym, go to class, hit the gym again, repeat. Other students were amazed and/or outraged that I was doing nothing but 2-3 hours of exam prep and getting as good or better grades than about half the people in the class.

All of this because of how my AS brain works.

I realized in my last semester of law school that I hated the practice of law and chose to not pursue it, but I went ahead and finished the degree (you want fries with that ). Sadly, as if AS isn't enough to struggle with, having a JD degree and trying to get any non-law job is a major handicap. I learned from other lawyers that the "you can do anything with a JD degree" is a lie everyone is told to keep them from dropping out of law school. Employers see how skilled I am and assume I'll be bored working for them. The only way I landed a job servicing vending machines was by leaving my JD degree off my application.

Still, sorry to be long-winded, but if there is a key to success in college, it's based on finding your mental strengths and playing to them. The other key is developing effective time management skills (breaking a big project into smaller chunks you can process). I know how well this helps any given person will vary, but it's how I managed to do well academically once I discovered a love for learning.

Frankly, I have to use the same types of skills to manage working.

Oh man. One of my ambitions is to be a corporate lawyer (with its big bucks) but after reading this article, I am kind of discouraged. Anyway, there is little use for law in my town, a political party's leader's comments can just rule my hometown.

So I guess I will just take things one step at a time and relax...

Besides what zer0netgain had said --- active participation in ALL classes with copious notes, with proper revision techniques (mind maps, De Bono Six Hats, etc...) most importantly, this is the most important determinant of success in studying --- the will and confidence that you can complete your task well. If you strive to overcome all obstacles in life, including studying, you can succeed.

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will" --- as quoted by 5-time NFL winning head coach Vince Lombardi.