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University Daily Kansan December 6, 1983
Expert gives tips for success Key to finals is better study habits
By JOHN REIMRINGER Staff Reporter
Final week — that time of year when conscious students, as well as those who have been known to open beer bottles, should be taught that, may be prone to poor study habits.
According to Sara Martin, assistant director of the Student Assistance Center, students should be preparing for finals the entire semester by pursuing good study habits from the beginning. But for those who don't, and even those who do, she has some suggestions to make finals a bit easier.
"THE FIRST THING people need to consider is time management," said Martin, who recently conducted a research center workshop on preparing for finals.
"I always tell people to sit down, make a list of all the things they have yet to do before finals start," she said. "I always tell them when they're going to do those things."
At this point students may discover that because of poor planning or procrastination earlier in the semester, there is simply not enough time to get everything done. Martin said. If this is the case, students must set their priorities and decide which grades are the most important to them, she said.
A second factor in time management is for students to know themselves, MIS.
"Are you a morning person? A night person? When is your peak time of day in terms of attention span and better performance?" "What tasks for that time of day," she said.
"I also recommend that students try to plan in such a way that the only kind of problem they are working on will be
finals week itself will be review," she said.
SHE SUGGESTS students do as many brief reviews of 10 or 15 minutes as possible, instead of trying to review for four or five hours at a time.
When reviewing, students should stress production rather than recogniz- ing their own errors.
Instead of simply reading lecture notes again and again, she said, students should read their notes and write questions in the margin. They could then to answer their questions, checking themselves against their notes, she said.
"The idea there is that your tests are going to ask you to produce and not to recognize," said Martin. "Most teachers don't just give you a list of things and say, 'Are these right?' or, 'Are these wrong?' Usually they say, 'Fill in the blank.' or, 'Answer the essay question.'"
**STUDENTS SHOULD be as relaxed and as confident as possible going into a test**, said Martin. For this reason students had a bad idea for most students, she said.
"If you've lost sleep, or if you haven't been eating well, that can contribute to some physical stress. Any kind of physical stress or emotional stress is going to have a bad effect on your ability to show what you know."
Students who do end up pulling all-nighters should use their own judgement about trying to sleep a couple of hours before their final, Martin said. Students who are heavy sleepers and are unable to wake up properly after a too-short sleep may become disoriented and forget what they learned. On the other hand, some students may find that even an hour or two of sleep after an all-nighter helps them perform better.
"In general, stimulants can affect your tension level. That's why I recommend that students don't take a whole lot of stimulants right before a test."
COFFEE AND other stimulants should also be avoided, she said.
Another finals tradition, cramming,
has both good and bad points.
"Cramming is good for a few facts," said Martin. "But you've got to realize that if you're cramming you've got to limit the information. It's got to be a pretty small amount and it's got to be review. You can't cram new material."
BECAUSE CRAMMING involves the short term memory, students will be unable to remember crammed material for long, she said.
Another way to relax or relieve stress is to exercise before a test. Marti said, "I should exercise before a test." Marti said,
"Walking to the test, or riding your bicycle, or doing some jogging the morning before an afternoon test, is a good idea," she said.
"When you get in the test itself, it's good to try to tune out everybody around you, so you can concentrate simply on what you're doing. A lot of times other students panic may be a little bit contagious."
MARTIN POINTS out that if a student blows one semester, that student should take steps to avoid a repeat performance.
“If you feel now that you've dug yourself a hole and it's a little hard to get out in the last week, which it is, then there are things that you can do to start working on your feet next time. And if you start out right or isn't hard to keep going right.”
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Christmas brings disappointment to some because they still have a childlike hope that Christmas will be magical and bring a cornucopia of good things, he said, despite possibly being too ideal, loving family relationships.
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“It’s advertised to be a joyous time, but it is also a stressful time,” said Dean Kerkman, acting coordinator of health clinic at Watkins Hospital.
"CHRISTMAS IS seldom as grand and glorious as it is made out to be." Smith said. "There is usually some kind of downfall after presents are opened. The Christmas experience bursts."
Kerkman said that the anticipation of the holiday caused greater stress for some than the actual holiday.
BECAUSE CHRISTMAS is a beactic, high stress time, he said, many dread the thought of going through another season of fighting holiday crowds and
Holdays are also a time for loniness, Rundquist said. "There are some very lonely people. They were lonely before the holiday and the holiday period only accentuate their loneliness and makes it worse."
Many feel blue because Christmas isn't like their Christmases of the past, he said. People miss the joy of believing in Santa Claus and the excitement and anticipation in preparing for Christmas Day.
Psychologist Ken Smith said that most people experienced some form of holiday blues during Christmas, but they had not lasted for a brief period of time.
Although many people feel blue, Smith said, the average suicide rate does not go up during the holiday season. The rate goes down a few days before Christmas and stays on Christmas Day, but it shoots up higher than average the first few days after the holiday.
After spending weeks of decking the halls and preparing for Christmas, most people feel a bit let down when Christmas day finally arrives, a psychologist at the Meninger Foundation in Topeka said last week.
the work that must be done to prepare for the event.
In addition to planning for the holiday, finals put extra pressure on students a few weeks before the holiday, he said.
RICHARD RUNDQUIST, director of the University Counseling Center, said that holidays triggered memories of Christmas past that might include memories of someone who was deceased or no longer close.
By CHRISTY FISHER Staff Reporter
He said that some people dreaded the holiday season because some expected another disappointment, but at the same time still have a child like
"Life circumstances change," Kerkman said. "It's a family oriented period, but there is unhappy in many families. Some have parents who are divorced or separated. They need care, but now they have a sick family."
Uncomfortable family situations can also lay a heavy burden on the holiday.
Charles Snyder, KU professor of psychology, said that the season was hard for some because of stressful family situations or the realization that there might not be a family to spend the holiday with.
Clinics recognize season of holiday blues
DENNIS KARPOWITZ, co-chairman of the department of psychology who wrote "How to avoid the blues during holidays," said that people should keep in mind that not all good times came during the holidays.
If people don't have money for Christmas, he said, they should avoid getting sucked into the commercialism of Christmas. A pair of socks should mean just as much as a diamond ring because Christmas is a time of being with others — not a time of counting presents under the tree.
He said that people should try to avoid stressful situations by relaxing during the holidays.
hope that maybe Christmas would bring something wonderful.
For people who have nowhere to go during the holiday, Kerkman advises that they do some planning and not try to ignore the holiday. He also advises people to take the initiative to make sure friends if they cannot be with family.
Smith said that many families did not spend enough time together during Christmas, because everyone went home after the presents were delivered. He suggested that families should stay around and talk with each other.
People can cope with the holiday blues in a variety of ways. The Plymouth Congregational Church, 923 Vermont St., is sponsoring a workshop on Dec. 12 for people who want to get through the holiday season.
"AS LONG AS they have a child-like hope, the more likely someone will be depressed." Smith said.
WOOLRICH:
Season's Greetings From the staff of the University Daily Kansan
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