New study techniques that I have learned while studying this semester are making study groups and using flashcards and other forms of visual representation to better reinforce the learned material. I think making study groups and being around other people to help me study is the most effective way to prepare for a test. By combining the material that I learned with the material that other people learned, I can better comprehend and analyze the information more thoroughly. Because I am in the Health Professions Learning Community, I am surrounded by the same people in most of my classes so making studying more manageable. Although I like a quiet environment when I am studying, I feel like I think best when there are other people studying near and/or with me. I enjoy group studies because I can teach my fellow classmates while reiterating what I have already learned. For most classes that I am taking, my study habits are the same, but for more depth material, I tend to lean more towards visual graphs in order to organize my thoughts. During class, I like to make a rough draft of notes, so that I can still pay attention during class. I consider these notes “raw” as they are my purest form of thoughts as I am listening and taking in information during the lesson. Once I get home, I can then take the raw notes and translate them into more visual and perceptible. I also enjoy creating a “brain dumps”, or visual representations of what I have learned from my notes. Studying with friends also helps me organize my thoughts and perceptions of the lesson into more accurate concepts. In my chemistry class, creating brain dumps after class has helped me organize the previous lessons into concepts that are easier to understand. By connecting the ideas together and associating each subtopic with the overall main topic, I can more easily see how each subtopic is relevant to the chapter. Planning: As part of strategizing my studying habits, I plan on applying the lessons to real-life situations. I plan on attending office hours of my professors to optimize my understanding of the material. I plan on studying for a least two hours per class in a quiet area. I should be spending more time understanding the larger and more relevant topics. I should also be spending more time on the materials that we have spent time on in class in order to reiterate the coursework. Monitoring: I should be systematic in the sense of time management with the coursework of each class. I should have the same way of studying for each of my classes, so that I develop good study habits overall. I should be using as many resources on campus as I can. These resources are there for me to help me succeed; therefore, I should try my best to utilize them to the best of my ability. As a college student, I find it difficult to concentrate on schoolwork when there are many distractions and more opportunities to get sidetracked. In history class, it is a required class for the learning community, but it is also a chance for me to humble myself in my studies. In the topic of World War II, I was confused on how women were treated in the 1800’s and why they were not treated with equal respect as men. I now understand that women were seen as inferior and incapable of many things men were stereotypically better at. There are will confusions in this class, including many of the documents associated with each political party. Evaluating: In preparation for an exam, I make sure to sketch a brain dump outline to make sure I can hit the key points of each subtopic of the chapter. I am to make sure to not wait until the last minute to study for an exam and to study in groups if possible. I am to make sure to study in groups that will help me succeed and not distract me while studying. The questions that I do not answer correctly would be the discussion question that are assigned each week. My answers should be more thorough and precise as to the deeper meaning and interpretation of the given passage. My only confusion with this homework is that for some questions, there is only so much one can say. I am concerned that my answers are as thorough as I can make them yet not make up an entire paragraph. During class, I can develop my listening skills by pre-reading the topic before class and start to understand the lesson given before class starts. I should also distinguish and establish key points of the lesson to further organize my thoughts. One technique that I could use outside class is skimming and scanning. For many assigned readings, there is much fluff and extra information that is not needed for the actual curriculum of the class. By learning how to skim and scan, I can pick out the important information that is applying to the lesson.