Time for Midterms

David R.

October 19, 2009 - 8:00 PM

For the first few weeks of school, everything seems to go as planned for most students. They become familiar with their new classes, and find a sense of comfortability as most classes seem to follow a similar trend from day to day. This sense of comfort and the general cruising through those first few weeks comes to an end right around week four, when most students experience their first round of midterms. Midterms are no fun for anyone. Studying for tests is stressful enough, especially when they count for a great majority of the overall grade as they do in most classes.

There are a few different things that students can do to increase their chances for success on these exams. The first is to start early. Some students will tell you they like to cram, but in my personal opinion, cramming is the most useful when it is used to reinforce facts and knowledge that have already been learned and reviewed, not new material. Starting to study a few days before the exam grants a student the luxury of being able to study a little bit each day, instead of trying to retain it all in one day and overwhelming the brain the night before the test. When the night before the test finally arrives, cramming will be much easier because the ideas and concepts that the student is trying to learn will be familiar from reviewing them in advance, as opposed to trying to remember all the various tidbits of information that may not have been seen or looked at for a few weeks.

Another thing I like to do before tests is to study in a group. I have done this for a few different classes while I have been at the U of O and I have found it to be extremely helpful for a few reasons. For one, it is highly unlikely that a student won't have any questions before a test. When studying with others who are focusing on the same topic, a student can ask the question at hand to his or her peers, and the chances are that someone will be able to answer it. In addition, every person has a different mind. People understand ideas and concepts in different ways. When discussing a certain topic in a study group, someone may bring up an entirely different view point about a certain topic. Hearing this alternate view will make any student even more knowledgeable about the topic at hand than they were already.

One of the things I have noticed while being at the U of O is that the teachers and faculty want nothing more than their students to succeed. There are all kinds of resources available to students who seek them. When experiencing confusion about certain topics brought up in a class, a stop by the teacher's office hours will always help. Professors wouldn't teach unless they were passionate about the subjects that they teach. They love what they do, and love to make sure their students feel confident and knowledgeable in their classes. In addition, there are always gtfs, labs , and tutors available to provide further assistance. For math classes, students can head to the PLC math lab, or meet with a University tutor to clear up any last minute questions. Anyone writing an essay can also take it got the PLC, and have it proof read by a peer. Midterm time can be stressful, but hopefully this advice can lead you down the path to success.