STUDY TIPS FOR PHYSICS STUDENTS

• Keep up with the course. Once you fall behind it is very difficult to catch up. Attempting a thorough study of last week's material usually results in being one week behind for the entire semester.
• Do the reading before attending the lectures. This way you won't need to take notes on everything the instructor says, because you will already understand some of the material.
• Devote a little time to studying physics at least 3-4 times a week, rather than a large amount of time once a week: this allows the material to sink in. This is like working out: in order to see results, you should exercise 2-3 times/week.
• There is no particular objection to cramming except that most of it is a waste of time. Cramming a set of problems into your head a night before the exam may raise your score, or it may only confuse you. Certainly you will not be able to learn any significant amount of new material by cramming.
• Make some friends in the course and work through the material in small groups. Use these groups for discussion, homework problem suggestions, and companionship. Physics is a difficult subject; don’t face it alone.
• What you get out of lecture is proportional to what you put into it. If you follow the lecture, think about the material, ask questions, and then lecture will be an active, productive learning experience for you. If you sit slumped in your seat, then lecture will perhaps give you a backache or even a little more.
• Do the reading before attempting the problems.
• Do not put off the homework problems until the night before they are due.
• Read the homework or test problem carefully to make sure you understand what is being asked. If you find yourself writing pages of words or working reams of algebra, then you are off on the wrong track. Stop, re-read the problem, think, reformulate your strategy, and then start over again from the beginning.
• Review your problem solutions when they are returned to you. Why did you make the mistakes you did? How could you have avoided them? This review should be quick (after all, you have new material piling up) but five or ten minutes spent in this review can save hours by preventing similar mistakes in the future. Always remember that ‘the worst is not to fail but to give up’.
• Get a good night's sleep. Even if you ignored the advice above and have to cram, limit cramming in favor of sleep.