Creating Study Guides
Purpose of study guides.
Study guides provide a way to visually organize lecture notes and text book material so that you can increase your comprehension and memory of large amounts of information. Preparing study guides allows you to see and make meaningful connections with the material, thus acquiring the higher levels of learning expected by many of your professors.
Study guides and learning levels.
Preparing for tests often involves more than memorizing facts, figures, formulas, and definitions. Many professors expect you to demonstrate critical thinking, which involves more than rote memorization. In many classes, with multiple choice and essay exams, you are required to compare/contrast, analyze, evaluate, or synthesize information you have learned. To be able to learn at these higher levels, you must develop strategies to organize lecture notes and text book material so that you can increase your comprehension and ability to think critically.
Examples of learning levels.
Review the following examples of test questions from a sociology class. The first question only requires that you recall a definition, which you can do well through rote memorization techniques such as flash cards. The remaining questions require you to make connections or conclusions that may not have been directly presented by your professor or in your text book.
Question 1.
A group of relatives by marriage constitute
-
a conjugal family
an extended family
a nuclear family
none of the above
Question 2.
Sammy's parents had a party for him on his fifth birthday. They invited both sets of grandparents and Sammy's father's brother and his children. This is called a gathering of:
- a consanguine family
- a conjugal family
- an egalitarian family
- a patriarchal family
Question 3.
Discuss the term conjugal families, by making reference to the different types of societies to which they could belong.
Question 4.
Describe the economic consequence of a neolocal society.
To be able to correctly answer test questions like those in the example, you must create the types of study guides that will help you:
- visualize and understand relationships among concepts and ideas.
- condense course material into smaller amounts of information that are easier to remember.
- create examples and apply information to "real world" situations.
Six basic study guides.
Within this Idea Sheet are examples of six basic types of study guides. These study guides can be adapted based on your personal learning style and the information you are needing to organize. Experiment with these, as well as using other study guide formats that you have found effective. Remember, the purpose for study guides is to organize information so that you can understand it, remember it, and demonstrate your knowledge at the level your professor expects.