Spring break is finally here! Well... Almost.The week before spring break I had a lot of things to wrap up and get done, including this blog. I had a nutrition exam on Thursday and I was feeling pretty confident, except for one lecture, the last lecture before the exam. I chose to use TART as a reading strategy for my nutrition class and my psychology class.
Before each class I read the assigned chapters or pages. This helped me to familiarize myself with the material before class. As I was reading I highlighted terms and then went back and wrote down the terms that seemed to be important. This
was the "T" of my TART.
Then I attended each class. Both of my classes are mostly lectures. I found that knowing the material before class was very helpful because my PSY 205 professor moves very quickly through his powerpoints and I typically struggle to keep up, but know in advance what he would be talking about put me at an advantage. I could scribble down notes, knowing that the definitions and specifics were in the textbooks. For NSD 225 knowing the material before hand helped me to just study and see the repetitions with the lecture and the textbook that would most definitely be on the upcoming exam.
After class I reread the textbook to get definitions and examples to back up points. Having previously read the textbook and attending lecture, I wasn't so lost with the complicated textbook language and reading.
Finally, once I was done with my reading I made test questions. I added in the answers for my PSY 205 class because the exam is in two weeks, so I can review the material in advance. I left space for answers to my NSD 225 class because I needed to actively study, since the exam was two days away. I had the answers on another sheet of paper to ensure that I wouldn't "cheat".
All in all this reading strategy did help me to feel more confident about understanding both the lectures and the textbook reading. As a kinesthetic learner, all of the activities like highlighting and rewriting terms and making test questions really helped to reinforce the material. The only "sour" thing about TART was how long it took. I found it a bit inconvenient to keep going back to the textbook. I usually only look at it once.
I am also in Psych 205 and I totally agree that the lectures move along very fast and it's difficult to absorb all the information and what not. Reading the textbook before or even just glancing at key terms prior to the lecture is a great idea and I should actually do that more often.
ReplyDeleteI am the same type of learner as you too and highlighting and writing test questions is a great way to study always.
I totally agree with you Allie. All in all this reading strategy helped me as well to feel more confident about understanding both the lectures and the textbook reading. I am going to stick to this reading method because of that!
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