Department of Mathematics
Kaitlyn Hood

Study Strategies:

Metacognitive Strategies

  • Metacognition is thinking about how you think and learn. It will help you become a self-aware problem solver and take control of your learning.
  • Here is a list of suggested Metacognitive Study Strategies.

Study Cycles

  • I highly recommend using study cycles and focused study sessions to study for this class. 
  • Purdue Academic Success Center has workshops, peer success coaching, and academic consultations – all to help you improve your study habits.
  • "Teach Yourself How to Learn" by Saundra Yancy McGuire. McGuire goes into more depth about study cycles, focused study sessions, and other metacognitive strategies for learning. You can access a digital copy of the book in the Purdue library catalog.
    • If you are short on time, start with “Chapter 5: Metacognitive Learning Strategies at Work”

Overlearning

  • Additionally, I also recommended using a technique called overlearning.
  • The idea is that you want to practice the techniques in this class beyond the point of understanding. You want to practice until the technique becomes second nature, like a habit, that you can execute the technique quickly without consulting the notes or a textbook. This will help you with the exam when there is limited time to complete the problems.
  • One strategy is to set a timer and quiz yourself, using problems from the homework, textbook, or the exam archive.

How to get the most out of studying

Test Taking Strategy