Break down your studies in one of two ways: Study the most critical material first orStudy the material in the chronological sequence that you learned it.
- Most critical first: Study the highest priority material first, then the secondary material, which happens to have been taught earlier, etc. As you master one level, move down to the next. This method works well if the concepts you are learning in class are not closely interrelated.
- Chronological sequence. If the material is interrelated and continually builds on previous knowledge, then it makes more sense to take a chronological approach. Begin your studies with the material from the first class and move forward in chronological order, spending only small amounts of time in low priority areas and more time in higher priority areas. This review will give you a stronger basis from which to master the more important material when you get to it. If you choose to study in chronological order, be careful to pace yourself so that you do not leave a critical block to do the night before the exam simply because it occurs last on your checklist.
- For both styles, spend the most time on your highest priority work, a medium-amount of time on your second-priority work, and the least time on your lowest priority work (usually by skimming it).
Before moving on, the question of whether or not to memorize often comes up when preparing for tests. MIT students learn early that they aren’t supposed to rely on their memories when they approach their coursework. While this information can help students to break habits learned in high school, it is not good to apply an all or nothing approach to this subject.
It can be helpful to memorize in the following two instances. First, commit to memory information that comes up all of the time (formulas, equations, common ways of solving problems, etc.) so that there is no chance that time will be wasted on repetitive tasks. Second, organize material that you need to recall on a test into lists that can be mentally accessed via acronyms, etc.
