How I Applied "20 Minute Test Prep"

My study schedule last semester was mostly narrowed to about four to five hours locked in a study room the night before an exam. It was hard to find people to study with me because I hadn't reviewed the material at all, and they would have had to reteach me more than half of the material. For these reasons, I thought that the 20 minute test prep would be the most useful for me, because it would spread out the time I spent studying while simultaneously preparing me to study with other students. The class that I have an upcoming exam in is Building Systems (ARC 121). During class, my professor goes through a PowerPoint presentation which he doesn't make available on Blackboard. On each slide is a picture but since most of the pictures he uses are from our textbook or online sources that he shares with us, I put my effort into taking written notes on points he makes during class. I have been struggling with exactly how much I should write down because the lectures and readings that we have for class are weighted equally on the tests. What I have settled on for now is writing down everything I can, so after I have my first test, I can go back and take note of what information was targeted on the exam. For my 20 Minute test prep, after a lecture, when I have written down all my notes for the class, I go back and look up the pictures in the textbook and online so that I can draw them in the margins next to the notes I took during class. Also, I like to add in extra information that I wasn't able to jot down while in class.

Things that I thought were helpful when using this strategy were threefold. Firstly, I found that the strategy was most effective when I was able to review either right after the class, or some time the same day. As soon as I let more than a day go by, I felt that my ability to remember information about the lecture diminished greatly. Secondly, I was able to buy a notebook that has pages that are half lined, half sketch so I could save time having to divide the page

beforehand. The notebook is Bienfang brand and I think it would be useful for other majors who use the 20 minute test Prep strategy. It makes visual and written note taking neat and makes relating pictures to words very easy, so not only would it work effectively for people using 20 minute test prep, but also visual learners like me, who learn through imagery and drawing. Finally, I found that writing questions I had after class down after the notes was helpful because I then remembered to ask them either in class when I pulled out my book to take notes, or when I was studying with other people before the test.