Flash back to 5th grade. You’re sitting in class and your teacher assigns a book to read over the next week. At the end of each chapter she asks you to write a brief summary of what you learned and maybe answer a few comprehension questions. Your teachers weren’t just giving you busy work. Summarizing information right after exposure helps you condense the important parts and improves your learning. This really helps with laying the foundation for the deeper understanding of all the material that’s covered.
B&B has you covered for important questions with all of the mini quizzes and practice exams. But there are a few things you can do using your own words that will improve your studying. It won’t take more than 10-20 min.
Three New Facts/Ideas: List 3 concepts that you learned that were new to you. Try to make these specific and relevant.
Three Important Facts/Ideas: List 3 concepts that you encountered that you think are important for the exam. It is okay if you know them from before. You want to make sure you are rock solid on the most important material.
Three Questions: Create 3 questions that you have from what you studied. Ask these whenever you encounter one of your classmates or professors.
Three Test Questions: This is a stretch. Try and make 3 good test questions (you could even store them for later practice!)
Three Patient Explanations: For any disease, diagnosis, test, or concept. Think of 3 good patient explanations that use colloquial speech. Limit these to 2-3 sentences.
Keep these somewhere that is accessible, like a binder, folder, or on your computer. It’s always better to handwrite them, but feel free to do whatever works best for you.
Written by Dr. Kerri Lyons