Study plan

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Steps to Creating a Study Plan

Step 1: Gather information about the exams at least a week before each exam.

Ask your professors for information about the exam format.

(Ex: multiple choice, short answer, essay, T/F, matching, fill-in-the-blank, etc.)

Ask about the total point value & the point value for each section.

(60 points for essay, 40 for MC.)

Gather the dates, times & locations of each exam.

(Write them all down in one place so that you can SEE them coming (calendar). This will help you plan ahead.)

The worst thing an instructor might say is “I don’t know” or “I can’t tell you.”

Steps to Creating a Study Plan
Step 2: Create a Time Schedule
Look ahead. Then, counting backward from the date of the exam pick 5 days on which you will study for the exam. EX: If your exam is on Monday, Dec. 10th, then your five study days could be Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri & Sun (taking Sat off).

Step 2: Create a Time Schedule…
Now that you’ve picked 5 days, create a Study Plan chart like this:
Study Day What to do How much time
Fri
Dec 7
Day 4
(I’m taking Sat off.)
Sun
Dec 9
Day 5
Mon
Dec 10 Exam Day!

Study day What to do How much time
Tues
Dec 4
Day 1
Wed
Dec 5
Day 2
Thurs
Dec 6
Day 3

Steps to Creating a Study Plan
Step 3: Create a Menu of Effective Study Tools & Strategies
MENU: A chart that shows all the possible study tools and preparation-review strategies that you might use during your study time.
Examples of Tools: Dry erase board, flashcards, online quizzes, outlines, class notes, Powerpoint handouts, highlighter, mind mapping, etc.
Preparing/Organizing Strategies: Are primarily writing strategies that help you to identify what you need to learn and help you to condense it, organize it and write it. May also include recitation.
Review Strategies: Are primarily recitation strategies that help you rehearse, extend, understand, self-test, and evaluate your learning. May also include writing.

Example #1: Menu for a Sociology Exam

Study Tool Preparation/Organization Strategy Review Strategy
Highlighting &
Underlining Highlight all key terms & phrases. Underline key supporting details & examples. (Only highlight 10% of the text I am reading.) Look, cover & recite method.
Read highlighted parts, cover the parts, recite out loud, then uncover & check to see if I got information correct.
Note cards Write out the key terms and definitions on note cards. Flip through cards, memorize & test myself. Create piles of “know” and “don’t know” cards. Keep going through cards in “don’t know” pile until all are moved into the “know” pile. Continue to review all.
Dry erase board Write out key ideas on board that I am having trouble memorizing. Summarize or paraphrase in my own words out loud. Erase and redo.
PowerPoints Print & organize the all the ppts. As I read through all the slides, highlight key terms that I need to look up in book, write margin notes with definitions, examples & page numbers. Re-read all slides. Do look, cover & recite method.
Class notes Get all class notes together and put them in order. Use blank space to add supporting details, examples, definitions, facts and related concepts. Read out loud until I can recite the information in a verbal summary.
Charts Create charts of statistics and facts. Re-read charts and recreate from memory (on paper or dry erase board).

What’s the purpose of creating a Menu of Effective Study Tools & Strategies?

Helps you to vary your review strategies using different learning modalities (visual, auditory, kinesthetic).
By working on the material in different ways, you can create more new connections to it.
This creates multiple sensory routes to the information, which will help you to recall the information during an exam.

Steps to Creating a Study Plan
Step 4: Identify the material that you need to learn.
Break the material that you need to learn into “chunks” (or steps, stages, parts).
Plan when you will prepare each chunk and when you will review each chunk.
Add this beside each day on your 5-Day Study Plan chart.

Step 4: Break the Material into Chunks
Study Day What to do How much time
Fri
Dec 7
Day 4
(I’m taking Sat off.) Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 9(peer groups and social groups) & 10-11(deviance)
Review:
 Review what I prepared yesterday: 6, 7 & 8

Sun
Dec 9
Day 5 Chunk of material I need to prepare:
Prepare 3 BB articles
Review: Review all materials 1-11

Mon Dec 10 Exam Day!

Study day What to do How much time
Tues
Dec 4
Day 1 Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 1 (what is sociology), 2 (scientific method and Sociology) & 3 (three main perspectives)
Wed
Dec 5
Day 2 Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 4 (what is culture) & 5 (culture and socialization)
Review:
 Review what I prepared yesterday: 1-3

Thurs
Dec 6
Day 3 Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 6 & 7 (identity and self interaction) & 8 (social groups and organizations)
Review:
 Review what I prepared yesterday: 4-5

Final Step: Task Planning
Step 5: Create a Checklist of Tasks
Put a checklist into your chart
Think of this as a To Do List that shows the tasks you will perform on each day of the plan to both prepare/organize and review each chunk of the material.
Draw ideas from your Menu of Effective Study Tools & Strategies.
Estimate how much time you will spend preparing/organizing and reviewing each chunk.
By doing this, you will create a checklist to use as you study. You can check-off tasks as you accomplish each item.

Sample: 5 Day Study Plan
Study Day What to do How much time
Fri
Dec 7
Day 4
Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 9(peer groups and social groups) & 10-11(deviance)
To-Do Checklist:
 Review what I prepared yesterday: 6, 7 & 8
Prepare & organize materials 9-11
 Print Powerpoints
 Read PPTs & highlight key terms, underline key points & add margin notes
 Re-write & add more info into class notes
 Re-read all underlined, starred & highlighted terms in textbook
 Make flashcards with definitions & key facts 20 Min
5 Min
30 Min
1 Hour
30 Min
45 Min
Sun
Dec 9
Day 5
Chunk of material I need to prepare:
Prepare 3 BB articles
To-Do Checklist:
 Re-read key 3 BB articles. Highlight key terms, underline main points & write margin notes
 Review: Do self-test on all class notes (look, cover & recite aloud)
 Review: Re-read all powerpoints, class notes, charts & graphs1-11
 Review: Do Self-test with all flashcards 1-11 1 hour

30 Min
30 Min
30 Min
Mon
Dec 10 Final Review of all PPTs, class notes, articles, flashcards, charts & graphs.
Exam Day! 1 hour

Study day What to do How much time
Tues
Dec 4
Day 1 Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 1 (what is sociology), 2 (scientific Method and Sociology) & 3 (three main perspectives)
To-Do Checklist:
Prepare & organize materials for 1-3
 Print Powerpoints
 Read PPTs & highlight key terms, underline key points & add margin notes
 Re-write & add more info into class notes
 Re-read all underlined, starred and highlighted terms in textbook
 Make flashcards with definitions & key facts 5 Min
45 Min
1 hour
30 Min
45 Min
Wed
Dec 5
Day 2 Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 4 (what is culture) & 5 (culture and socialization)
To-Do Checklist:
 Review what I prepared yesterday: 1-3
Prepare & organize materials for 4-5
 Print Powerpoints
 Read PPTs & highlight key terms, underline key points & add margin notes
 Re-write & add more info into class notes
 Re-read all underlined, starred and highlighted terms in textbook
 Make flashcards with definitions & key facts
 Find all charts and graphs and print them out 30 Min
5 Min
45 Min
1 hour
45 Min
15 Min
Thurs
Dec 6
Day 3
Chunks of material I need to prepare:
Chapter 6 & 7 (identity and self interaction) & 8 (social groups and organizations)
To-Do Checklist:
 Review what I prepared yesterday: 4-5
Prepare & organize materials 6, 7 & 8
 Print Powerpoints
 Read PPTs & highlight key terms, underline key points & add margin notes
 Re-write & add more info into class notes
 Re-read all underlined, starred and highlighted terms in textbook
 Make flashcards with definitions & key facts 20 Min
5 Min
1 Hour
1Hour
30 Min
45 Min

Steps: Creating a Study Plan
Step 1: Gather information about the exams at least a week before each exam.
Step 2: Create a Time Schedule.
Select your study days and create a Study Plan chart.
Step 3: Create a Menu of Effective Study Tools & Strategies.
Step 4: Identify the material that you need to learn.
Divide the material into chunks to plan what you will prepare/organize and review on each day. Plan when you will prepare/organize and review each chunk. Add this to your Study Plan chart.
Step 5: Create a Checklist of Tasks
Plan the tasks you will do on each day to prepare/organize and review each chunk. Estimate the amount of time you will need. Add this to your Study Plan chart.

11

Study day

What to do

How much time

Fri

Dec 7

Day 1

Sat

Dec 8

Day 2

Sun

Dec 9

Day 3

Study Day	What to do	How much time
Mon Dec 10 Day 4 (I’m taking Sat off.)
Tue Dec 11 Day 5
Wed Dec 12	Exam Day!