Stressed before finals? Try some of these tips

By Ali Pavlicek
Western Michigan

(Aaron Ulrich / Western Herald) WMU students prepare for finals week during a history class in Moore Hall on Tuesday afternoon.

Each day of classes is one day closer to winter break for Western Michigan University students, but we must all survive a full week of finals first.

In order to get those passing grades, success on finals is almost a requirement in some classes, and studying tips can be of help to even the most ambitious students.

One thing that the director of the Academic Skills Center, Marilyn Duke, stressed is that many students view a final as just another test.  She explained that students don’t look back at the course syllabus that was handed out at the beginning of the semester, and they don’t see that finals can represent a large portion of the final grade in the class.

“Realistically, [students] should have started studying for finals on the first day of class,” Duke said.  She said that this tip becomes important for students who are taking classes with cumulative finals.  “Assuming that they haven’t done that, I don’t think I could put a number [on the amount of time to spend studying for a final].”

Duke said that the amount of time studying will vary, depending on how well students have grasped the material, what resources they have available to them to study from, and how much information they have to review.

A common tactic for college students may be to simply cram right before their finals, but Duke doesn’t necessarily agree.

“Cramming is better than nothing but not much better,” Duke said.  “All it does is get a lot of information into the short term memory.”

Sue Oole, the academic advisor of the Lee Honors College, considered a similar possibility in regard to cramming.

“There are students that do better when they cram and other students who do better when they are on top of [studying] throughout the semester,” she said.

Oole explained that with cramming, students are not using their long-term memory skills, and many students don’t even realize it; therefore they may not retain the information after they have finished the class.

Junior Rolly Taft, a CIS major at the business college, noticed that his classes will most likely be more challenging this year in comparison to previous years because all but one of his classes will be cumulative.
“I think that there are a lot more teachers going away from not giving a final or not making it cumulative,” Taft said.

Taft offered a bit of finals advice based on what he has learned in past years.  “Be proactive and start early and actually [study],” he said.  “Lots of people think they’ll be fine without studying.”

As a senior, public relations major Ann Marie McKenney has been battling procrastination to stay away from any symptoms of senioritis.

“I’ve stayed on top of things, and making to-do lists has helped,” McKenney said.

McKenney also had some words of wisdom for any freshmen encountering finals for the first time:  Start reviewing your notes at least a week before the final to freshen your mind of the material.

When it comes time to actually begin studying, students may wonder about what exactly makes the ideal studying environment.

Duke said that any place where students can spread out, have their resources at hand, and stay away from distractions would all help keep their minds focused.  The room should also be well-lit and be at the appropriate temperature so that it is comfortable.

One suggested place to study with many of these characteristics is the Lee Honors College’s study lounge.
“Our lounge is open to anyone on campus,” Oole said.  “There are two computers in the resource lounge, and the building is open until 9 at night.”

“I think that students are doing more and I am seeing a lot of freshmen more involved and wanting to be involved,” Oole said.

She said that she has seen students studying in different ways and having different expectations for themselves, and time management helps with both of these aspects, especially during finals.

Time management becomes especially important when you look from the perspective of knowing when you’re at your mental best, said Duke.  Knowing whether you are a morning person or a night person will help you decide when to block out some time to study; however studying for four hours straight is not effective.

“Take a break, even if it is only for five or 10 minutes,” Duke said.

Some students may find that studying in a group setting is more effective than studying alone.
“Take advantage of studying groups [at the Academic Skills Center],” Duke said.  “Mock exams are offered to get a feel of how prepared [the student] might be.”

These study groups may have a Supplemental Instructor (SI) Leader present so that an upper level student is available who has already gone through the course and has earned a BA or an A in the subject previously.

Another option for finding reliable tutors is calling the Lee Honors College, where the staff can find honors students to help other students.

“In most cases research is showing that grades increase when students participate in study groups, and we have a lot that go on at the Honors College,” Oole said.

In study groups, students may share valuable resources available online, such as Web sites with free studying tools.

“There are a lot of online places where students can come and put notes online to put into study cards,” Oole said.  “[The cards] are there for other students to use.  It is a fantastic way to learn and to get other things from students that are interesting to you.”

Studying tips can be collected from all over campus, but the Academic Skills Center provided a condensed list of a few things to remember for finals:

•Attend these last classes before the big exam to write down all of the main points stressed by the instructor.

•Ask questions because there are truly no dumb questions.  Ask for clarification of something that you don’t understand.  If you don’t understand something, there’s a strong likelihood that others in the class don’t understand it either.

•Visit faculty members in their offices during their scheduled office hours.  The faculty members are your best resource for learning the material.  They may be willing to also share additional resources.

•Seek out tutoring.  Sometimes, students just need to be able to talk through the process, discuss the material, work on it with others, or simply hear it explained from a different voice.  This is where trained tutors can be especially helpful.

•Form study groups with other students in your class(es).  Get together with others from your class to study.  Ask each other possible test questions.  You might be able to help someone else understand a concept; they might be able to help you understand a principle.

•Get sufficient sleep/rest.  If you’re too tired, your mind cannot function at its best.

•Eat healthy.  Choose a well-balanced meal.  Drink plenty of water.  These will help keep your mind and body functioning well.

To help students manage all of the finals stress in these last days of classes, the Academic Skills Center have been offering test anxiety classes and test taking strategies classes since Dec. 2 and will continue to do so until Dec. 10, which will be held at various times.

Visit the Academic Skills Center for more information on these College Success Seminars or go online at www.wmich.edu/asc.

“Keep [your finals] in perspective,” said Duke.  “Yes, you want to do as well as you can, but [ask yourself if it] is worth the stress that you’re putting on yourself.”

Next semester, the Honors Student Association will be hosting a series of seminars before the week of final exams that will focus on holistic topics that may help cope with exam stresses.  Some areas that might be featured are yoga, meditation and relaxation techniques.   For more information about the seminars, contact Sue Oole at the Lee Honors College at 269-387-3230.

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Posted by HeraldAdmin on Dec 4 2008. Filed under Campus, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

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