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study tips..

A

Alpha Moth

New member
how do you guys develop a better work ethic?
I left school at 17 and fuckd around in Europe and shit jobs, I want to get an education. I'm currently doing part time study, open foundation, (chemistry and life sciences and basic quantitative methodology) to allow me to get into university next year (hopefully radiation science or physiotherapy).
I try to study, but I just can't. I only have 4 hours or lectures a week all up. I just can't get down and study. I don't know how to study? What would be the best way to study for maths? For chemistry, how the fuckdo I study for it? Currently I just read the required reading and that's it. If I don't understand something for maths I usually go to khanacedemy and just do heaps of examples and I get it. My work ethic sucks though, I'm used to not being out of school, but I don't want to work crap jobs any more and be the unemployed vagabond.

Giz some study tips / time management tips?
 
Alpha Moth said:
how do you guys develop a better work ethic?
I left school at 17 and fuckd around in Europe and shit jobs, I want to get an education. I'm currently doing part time study, open foundation, (chemistry and life sciences and basic quantitative methodology) to allow me to get into university next year (hopefully radiation science or physiotherapy).
I try to study, but I just can't. I only have 4 hours or lectures a week all up. I just can't get down and study. I don't know how to study? What would be the best way to study for maths? For chemistry, how the fuckdo I study for it? Currently I just read the required reading and that's it. If I don't understand something for maths I usually go to khanacedemy and just do heaps of examples and I get it. My work ethic sucks though, I'm used to not being out of school, but I don't want to work crap jobs any more and be the unemployed vagabond.

Giz some study tips / time management tips?
Click to expand...

Overall, you just need to start a routine (like working out!!!) and don't beat yourself up about it. Set aside times and a space where you won't be distracted. I used to find some music in the background would help me focus.
For the maths and science stuff ... best way to study is to do practice problem solving etc. Sure, read through notes and stuff but it's all about applying logic to solve problems and this is the best way to learn and get it to sink in. Best way to get confidence that you are on top of it is to challenge yourself with some harder problems to solve. Definitely works for maths and physics. Should be similar for chemistry, although the problems are set out differently.

hope that helps. Doing this helps develop your work ethic overall too.
ROUTINE. Boring word. Tends to be really useful in practice :D
 
How long have you been out of school mate??

Biggest thing is I think is setting a plan and sticking to it...dont just study when you have free time or a spare half hour, make time, stick to that time and then relax and get away from study....

Also....do not log into fb, ausbb or have any windows open while studying....you will find it impossible to focus...

I totally agree with what chocchillimango said!

I am 24 now and I really need to get things going to finish my degree...the clock is sort of ticking now...and its best not to leave it later than sooner....
 
Joel said:
How long have you been out of school mate??

Biggest thing is I think is setting a plan and sticking to it...dont just study when you have free time or a spare half hour, make time, stick to that time and then relax and get away from study....

Also....do not log into fb, ausbb or have any windows open while studying....you will find it impossible to focus...

I totally agree with what chocchillimango said!

I am 24 now and I really need to get things going to finish my degree...the clock is sort of ticking now...and its best not to leave it later than sooner....
Click to expand...

Clock is ticking at 24 ... LOL I spent 11 years at uni... but definitely switch off mobile phone and all social media!
 
chocchillimango said:
Clock is ticking at 24 ... LOL I spent 11 years at uni... but definitely switch off mobile phone and all social media!
Click to expand...

Yea I do feel there is abit of pressure on me now...seeing what other ppl are doing at the same age as me, i.e finished their degrees 2-3 years ago, married, moved into a "career", bought a house etc etc...

I do put pressure on myself to succeed though...

How old were you when you started/finished?
 
I'd love to say I was a child genius and got my degree at the age of 11 but .. noooo....
I started uni at 18 like a regular person and finished up at 29 but I did a PhD back before they limited phds to 3 years, making them useless (a whole other topic!).
I did take some time off in between ... just over a year at least, when I wasn't sure if i wanted to continue.
I used to see everyone finishing up, working, actually having $$$ when I didn't, getting married etc, buying houses...all the usual stuff.
But hey, there is no law that dictates we have to run on a schedule.
I would not have ditched my post grad experience for anything if I were to go back now. I'd do it over. I gained a lot of life and professional skills that have been invaluable in my professional and personal life.
Your life is your journey, not a master plan for the masses.

Dance to the beat of your own drum, there's no rush. :D

PS even if that drum is made of chocolate coated PB lol
 
ROTE LEARN MATHS???? That's INSANITY. Maths is about learning to solve problems. Invaluable skill that can be applied to anything in life...especially in your work.
You should learn to understand how and why with maths ... not just rote learn. If someone throws a curve ball problem at you in an exam, what then???
:)

oldcorollas said:
One thing that helps is to learn to identify what you need to rote learn, and what you need to actually understand.

maths is a set of processes or sequences you need to understand, and then rote learn.
ie, you need to understand how to "add" or "multply" or "differentiate" or "take the fourier transform of", but oce you understand what that means, you need to rote learn all the different cases, and apply to the problems as needed.

I'm not sure what kind of maths you are doing, but in the case of integration and differentiation, there are a number of rules, eg http://media.wiley.com/Lux/03/246703.image0.png (you probably only need first 5 or 6 though)
once you understand a rule, you rote learn it, then can apply to anything.

chemistry is for more rote learning.. ie, valencies of ions, different chemical formula etc.
for balancing chemical equations, there is a basic rule of "everythings gotta add up", but need to rote learn about different molecules and ions etc.

either way, practice and repetition is the key.
if, for example, you are learning integration, or balancing chemical equations, do lots and lots of questions, and keep repeating and practicing (lots of example questions available on the net). by doing it lots of times, your mind will start to see the patterns more easily, and it will become easier.

just "getting it" is ok, but doing many questions will drill it in and make it second nature.


time management. don't try and work longer than your attention span allows.
just like gym, it takes time to hone in your focus. start with 5 or 10 mins at a time without letting your mind wander.

you wouldn't try and bust out 100reps on your first attempt, so don't try and study for an hour straight.. do in smaller blocks until you get used to it.

and yeah, no facebook, no AusBB, no phone, no email.. get a cuppa, sit down, and try and think, and focus ont he things you are reading (bit in small blocks)


and if you need any asistance, feel free to PM (although I have probably forgotten most undergrad stuff by now ;) )

ps, I did bachelor, PhD, Postdoc, the post-doc in other country.. lost track of how long I actually spent at uni ;)
Click to expand...
 
Do heaps of practice questions, from as many sources as possible, until you know it inside out. For a lot of subjects I'd go and borrow extra textbooks. Apart from giving you more questions, I'd sometimes find that they explained the subject matter in a superior way to the book the lecturers prescribed. It always helps to get a different angle on things. When you see an alternative way at arriving at the same result, it helps to get a broader logical understanding. I went into book publishers websites (again, not just the prescribed book) and did all the quizzes, PowerPoint slides etc.

Try and set yourself up so that you read away from the computer, to avoid net temptations.
 
interesting question. Strangely schools don't really teach overly good study training skills.


I am fortunate enough to have worked out a few things (independently) in regards to studying the natural sciences. These include mathematics, physics, chemistry as well as philosophy. In my opinion it is emperical for anybody who undertakes any form of study to school up on philosophy. This will allow you to research as well as present your findings better. Two subjects im working on include the philosophy of mathematics.

keeping notes of all sorts of different things will help you to retain the info as well as keep a record of what has been read. I have journals full of compounds drawn (as well as explained). By this I mean I drew methane ethane propane butane...then explained how their unique. How is butsne different to methane? Well, butane has 4 carbons (and 10 hydrogen atoms) while methane has 1 carbon atom (and 4 hydrogen atoms). I did the same for proteins, alcohols, oils and other things. Make the notes how you like....your the one who needs to read it.

Like training, spend a bit of time warming up and cool down. Warming up should take 5 or so minutes getting ready...same as cooling down. Study sessions should take as long as you can handle. I get into a zone now and can go for 2 hours. Id start with 20 mind though. Then take a few minutes rest....then jump back into it.


Your going to need a strong math knowledge in any science. Work hard at it. Get hungry...it'll pay off.

Pm me if you want.
 
For get about "studying" and "learning" and focus on "understanding".

If you understand the underlying principles behind something, then you dont need to know/remember shit, you can work it out on the fly for yourself.
 
Even for Laplace, Mellin and any other transforms, I still made the effort to UNDERSTAND the logic.
Rote learning is a contradiction in terms. Memory recall is not true learning.
But yes, it all depends on what you are learning and more importantly, what your goal is.

If it's something you don't wish to pursue but you need to get it done as a hurdle to do other things you want, rote learning is almost defensible.
But never cheat yourself out of learning something if you can help it.

In hindsight, there were things I was glad to have taken the time to understand from first principles, even though at the time I thought it was pointless.
 
i make a lot of metaphors when i can. An example is to think of quarks (which are things inside of protons and neutrons) as if fish inside a fish tank.
 
maybe i'm explaining it badly then :)
I'm not trying to advocate "doing maths from memory", because thats not how it works... :)
but some parts of maths NEED to be memorised..

snip

edit: I suppose i'm trying to say that maths is built on logical steps. each memorised logical step is combined with other steps to solve equations and problems.

chemistry is also built on "rules", but they are more arbitrary.. ie "acid+base=salt+water"...
 
Last edited:
PowerBuilder said:
i make a lot of metaphors when i can. An example is to think of quarks (which are things inside of protons and neutrons) as if fish inside a fish tank.
Click to expand...

I'd love to hear your metaphor for high energy collisions involving muons and beta particles ... no, wait...Higgsy Higgsy....:D

sorry, not helping the study issue.
But i think we've all pretty much said similar things...

1. A routine you can adjust and stick to and build on.

2. practice a variety of problems for maths and science and

3. make notes and memory jogger analogies/metaphors if they help you remember and understand stuff.
 
Alpha, studying, like anything else is about application and dedication to the task.

Regardless of what you're studying.

You do it for your workouts.
You do it in your life.
Just because you dropped out of school, doesn't mean you don't know how.
It's about discipline - of yourself.
And keep that thought in your head, that you're building a future career path for yourself, that's why you're doing this.
It's a means to an end...which becomes a beautiful beginning.

Being 'smart' is not about textbooks and degree's - a truly smart person, knows how to apply themselves to succeed. And that's really as simple as it is.

Become a physiotherapist.....then you can refer all of your clientele to meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee for remedial or sports injury massage! lol

Good luck lovely lad!

Application.
Dedication.
Perseverence.
Commitment.
Your passion is a long term one.
Focus on that passion and allow it to drive you :)
 
Alpha, I might not be the best to give advice on study because I wasn't much good at it either. I got through school and uni without doing a great deal but then I did a professional course that wasn't designed to pass lazy suckers like school and uni are.

I found that I put in a much better effort if I was recording my study time. I'd plan the topics that I had to cover and write myself a timetable, then I'd colour in the timetable with a highlighter as I went. Different colours for good and bad sessions. The fact that I was motivated to earn the right colour on that timetable was insane but it was the only thing that worked for me.

I also got to recording total study hours which motivated me as well. I'd try to get 3 hours before work and then a few more after and two good days on the weekend to get up over 40 hours for the week. I was a zombie for 18 months but I passed and I had no problem making the time when it was going down on that sheet.

One qualification: All this was done prior to the interweb taking over the world.
 
chocchillimango said:
I'd love to hear your metaphor for high energy collisions involving muons and beta particles ... no, wait...Higgsy Higgsy....:D
Click to expand...


Obviously the mental image breaks down a bit, I haven't been able to work out how the electrons fit into the fish tank model (yet). There of course the idea of appearing and disappearing fish from nowhere!!!
 
Joel said:
How long have you been out of school mate??

Biggest thing is I think is setting a plan and sticking to it...dont just study when you have free time or a spare half hour, make time, stick to that time and then relax and get away from study....

Also....do not log into fb, ausbb or have any windows open while studying....you will find it impossible to focus...

I totally agree with what chocchillimango said!

I am 24 now and I really need to get things going to finish my degree...the clock is sort of ticking now...and its best not to leave it later than sooner....
Click to expand...

This is GREAT advice.

It goes for anything.

Set aside time, during that time you DO what ever it is you set the time aside for.

If you get called from a friend. Don't answer. This is really important.

I do this for everything.

Training, studying, eating, washing the car, cleaning. Everything.

It gives you an abundance of structure to your life. There will always be plenty more times to hang with your friends and go out.
 
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