Steps to Creating a Study Plan

1. 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.”

2. 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).

3. Step 2: Create a Time Schedule…Now that you’ve picked 5 days, create a Study Plan chart like this:

4. 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 mightuse 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.

5. Example #1: Menu for a Sociology Exam

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. Step 4: Break the Material into Chunks

9. Final Step: Task Planning • Step 5: Create a Checklist of Tasks • Put a checklist into your chart • Think of this as a To Do Listthat 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.

10. Sample: 5 Day Study Plan

11. 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 chunksto 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 tasksyou 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.