How to Study Chemistry

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How to Study Chemistry

An Overall Study Strategy For an introductory chemistry course, lectures usually provide the best guide to the study of the subject. Exams are usually based primarily on lecture material and chapter problems, whether assigned or not. Therefore, this study guide focuses on taking good lecture notes and suggests the following strategy. (1) Prepare before each lecture by scanning relevant chapters. (2) Take complete, accurate and organized notes. (3) Review your notes as soon as possible after each lecture. (4) Use your text to clarify and complete your class notes. For maximum effectiveness, you should always review within twenty-four hours after the lecture. By studying regularly, reading and reviewing a little each night, you will get the best results in understanding and in grades. You can also integrate homework and lab work into a regular cycle of pre-reading, notetaking, and review. In addition to regular review of your lecture notes and chapter problems, you will gain a clearer picture of the entire course and be better prepared for quizzes and exams. Frequent review always results in better retention than does one, single, intensive review. Whether you use this suggested strategy or devise one of your own, keep in mind advice given by chem students: Dont get behind...keep up with the reading assignments...dont miss any lectures...do ALL chapter problems...get help quickly from your instructor when youre having difficulty...go to help sessions...use the Learning Center! Lectures and Notetaking A. Scan assigned reading before class. Dont try to understand everything -- just get a general idea of what the lecture will cover and become familiar with new terms. Look at chapter headings, subtitles, diagrams and captions, and scan the text briefly. This procedure doesnt take long, but its a great help in following the lecture. B. Take good notes. The harder you work during that one hour of lecture, the less studying youll have to do later. Some students think all they have to write down whatevers on the blackboard; but whats on the board is not sufficient for understanding -- you must also listen carefully to verbal explanations and take notes on them. Write on only one side of the page. Leave other side blank to rewrite unclear sections and add information when studying the book at home. This way you create one convenient source for study and review. Use abbreviations to cut down on writing time. Apply symbols like ? (leads to), ? (increases), or ? (decreases) in regular notes as well as in formulas. Identify unclear areas. If you miss part of a section or dont understand part of the lecture, write down as much as you can. Leave blank spaces in your notes with a big question mark in the margin. Later youll know theres something you must find out and clear up. Indicate experiments and demonstrations in your notes. Watch carefully and listen for an explanation of concepts being exemplified. Look and listen for relationships. Lectures have a main topic, e.g., Metal Ions and about three to six sub-topics. If these topics are stated by the instructor in the form of an outline -- great; if not, you should try to discover them when studying your notes at home. Think about and write down a brief outline for each lecture; you gain a much better sense of how the whole course hangs together, how the details fit into the big picture, and what the relationships are between different parts. This is one of the best techniques to improve memory, because things are remembered better when they are seen in relationship. Look for categories of information. You might have a list of facts in your notes without knowing what they belong to. This happens a lot when students just copy what is on the board. Example: 1. Methyl alcohol CH3OH 2. Hardening fats, margarine, etc. 3. NH3 = ammonia 4. Filling balloons Without more explanation, these facts are meaningless. In this case, the missing heading is Uses of Hydrogen. Add explanations and labels to diagrams, charts, and formulas. Dont simply copy whats on the board or spend too much time on artwork. Diagrams and pictures can be found later in the text; so sketch quickly and concentrate on the instructors comments. Comments and labels will (1) provide connections to the material and (2) provide more complete notes, which facilitates review. D. Review your notes as soon as possible after class. Research shows that long-term memory increases dramatically if review is done. If you review your notes, even briefly, on the same day as the lecture, it saves you a great deal of study time later. While walking to the next lecture, try repeating in your mind what youve just heard, asking yourself questions: What were the topics? What did I not understand? Later that day, study your notes carefully and use your text to clarify confusing points. Reading the Text A. Read selectively. Not all of the text should be studied with equal care, so you must decide how to organize your reading. 1. Use lecture notes and chapter problems to determine reading priorities: a) important points, covered extensively in lecture on which problems have been assigned, b) examples of important points, and c) background information on topics not emphasized in lecture. 2. Pre-read before studying a section in detail. Quickly scan the text to get an overview of how the material is organized. Look at the table of contents; titles and subtitles; diagrams, illustrations and captions; and introductions and summaries. This is very effective in improving concentration, comprehension, and long-term memory. 3. Use problems to guide you to important material. Before reading the text, look at sample problems and problems at the end of the chapter. Note the variables temperature, pressure, concentration, volume which appear in the problems. Look for definitions and concepts involving these variables when reading the text. B. Read actively -- ask questions.

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Vimal S. Katiyar

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How to Study Chemistry

http://lac.smccme.edu/how_to_study_chemistry.htm

1. Before reading a section, formulate questions from subtitles and headings For subtitle, Some Chemical Systems at Equilibrium, good questions would be: What is a chemical system? What conditions define equilibrium? Why is equilibrium important? Look for answers to questions as you read. 2. During the actual reading, continue to question. Question not the details but the organization and importance of what youre reading. Why is this section placed here? Can I skip it? How does this new concept relate to previous concepts? C. Find connections and relationships in the material. In order to better understand and remember the overwhelming quantity of information in your notes and text, you need to construct a framework: Bring together all material on each topic. Create a single study source by integrating your lecture and lab notes with textbook material. Outline the reading assignment. Make a list of section titles. A pattern should emerge. Use introductions and summaries in text and lab manual to gain an overview of topics. Create summaries of the assigned reading. Try to condense each chapter into a single page of notes. D. Underline and mark the text with care. Your goal should be to create a visual summary which will be meaningful when reviewing the text days or weeks later. Here are some general guidelines. (1) Read a paragraph or section before underlining. Then go back and mark selectively for instant review later. (2) Use your marker sparingly; avoid indiscriminate underlining -- no more than 10% of text. Circle or underline key words or topics. Underline summarizing sentences. (3) Write comments in margins, referring to important points in your lecture notes. E. Use the index. If you find in your lecture notes a complicated diagram, copied from the board without clarifying labels, and remember only that the instructor mentioned hydrogen atom, look in the index under this heading. Youre referred to H atom, where you see the following: Energy level diagram, 488 Energy levels of, 472, 484, 487 Orbitals, 483, 487.... Referring to those pages, youll see something resembling the diagram in your notes. Problem Solving Chemistry is a problem-oriented course. In studying chemistry, keep in mind that these new concepts will eventually be used to solve problems. You may understand chemical concepts, definitions, formulas, etc., but this knowledge will be of little value unless you can use it to solve problems. So... Study sample problems. Even if you understand the concepts, working through a sample problem will often disclose techniques or shortcuts you need to know in order to calculate the answer to a problem. Do as many problems as you possibly can, even if theyre not assigned. Many instructors do not give homework, but expect you do problems and often give identical problems on exams. Practice problem solving. One of the best ways to prepare for an exam is to practice solving problems. The more practice you have in problem solving, the less likely you are to make simple mistakes that cost valuable points. A. Understand the problem. Most problems are word problems. Youre rarely asked to just solve an equation. Instead, you must sort through the words to get information needed to set up an equation. The most important step in solving any problem is to establish clearly what is wanted and what is given. Find out what is WANTED. Set it off clearly from everything else in the problem by circling or underlining. What variable name and units are wanted. Examine the data you have been GIVEN. Set given data equal to variables and units. Too little information? Some problems will omit obvious information, such as the value of the gas constant, R, or relevant thermodynamic data.. Youre expected either to have memorized this or to know where to look it up AND to know that there is missing information necessary to solve the problem. Too much information? You must be able to decide from the given data what is necessary to solve each part of the problem. B. Doing it. Although you may understand what is wanted and what is given, the connection between the two may not be clear. Here is how to clarify the connection: Draw a picture or a diagram. Summarize the chemical process by writing a reaction. Analyze definitions for more info. For instance, density is defined as the ratio of mass to volume, g/L. Pressure is force per area, F/A. Molarity is moles of solute per liter of solution, M/L. Look at sample problems in the text. Ask yourself, What do I need to know to be able to solve the problem? Find any missing information first. Reread the problem for clues. Important information can be easily overlooked: at constant pressure, for an ideal gas, in an acidic solution. Write down everything you know about the kind of situation described in your problem. Assemble all your fragments of knowledge and see if you can piece together a way to solve your problems. C. Checking your answers. Is there a certain mistake you tend to make? Do you often make errors working with scientific notation or dividing fractions? Then recheck those steps. Question your calculator. It will always give an answer, but only you know if its the right answer. Always decide if your answer makes sense. If you have to calculate the molecu-lar weight of a compound, your answer cant be less than 1 g/mole because no element is lighter than hydrogen or 1g/mol. Use units to check your answer: Given 3 liters of 0.5 M NaOH, how many moles of NaOH do you have? Your answer should be in moles, not grams. Exams Quizzes require keeping up with course work daily because if theyre unannounced, theres no time to prepare. Bigger exams require carefully planned review. A. Preparing for an Exam. 1. Predict the exam. Find out as much as you can about format and content of the exam from the instructor. Obtain copies of old exams from the Learning Center. Format. Will there be problems requiring calculation, short-answer questions, multiple-choice questions, essay questions? Is partial credit given? Will it be open-book? Can you use notes? If you have a ADD or a learning disability, have you got approval to take the exam with certain modifications? Content. Will the exam be cumulative or only cover new material since the last exam? Will lab material be included? Listen carefully. Has the instructor raised questions without giving answers? Has s/he mentioned topics covered in earlier lectures? Have you been asked to think about certain concepts? Go over as many chapter problems as possible. Overlearn. Look at your notes, text, and problems, especially those assigned. What seems to have received the most emphasis? What have you been asked about important topics. What questions would you ask if you were trying to design an exam to cover these topics? 2. Schedule your time. Make a long-range schedule about three weeks prior to exams. Note all other commitments, personal as well as college, deadlines for

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Vimal S. Katiyar

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How to Study Chemistry

http://lac.smccme.edu/how_to_study_chemistry.htm

papers, other exams, etc. to get an overview of what you must do and how much time you need. In fact, make a detailed schedule for the entire semester! Set deadlines by which you will have covered a certain portion of the material. Re-assess your progress every few days. Are you falling behind? Do you need to make your review more selective? 3. Set priorities. If you cant study everything, concentrate on a few topics and review them thoroughly. Understand basic information first; the most difficult topics are not always the most important. 4. Take a practice test. This is an important strategy to counteract test anxiety. Simulate an actual test situation and apply your knowledge under timed conditions. Make a list of problems and ques-tions, using old exam questions, homework problems, and your own questions. Set a time limit which will force you to work at top efficiency. Work without interruption and stop when time has expired. Evaluate your work; give yourself a grade. What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you need review? B. Test-taking strategies. 1. Look over the test before starting. Glance over the whole exam quickly, checking questions for level of difficulty and point value so you know how much time to spend on each question. Work first on the questions with which you are most comfortable and/or those worth the most points. In exams with problems or essays, do the easiest ones first. With multiple-choice, work from beginning to end, skipping very difficult questions. Never leave a question completely blank. Write whatever you can that applies so you can earn partial credit. 2. Analyze questions. Read each question carefully. Underline key words. Jot down notes as you think about the question. Whats the question asking? Have I seen a similar question? Add comments to clarify confusing questions. 3. Write the answer. Show all work clearly. Dont lose points for incomplete or messy answers. Write in pencil-not-ink so you can erase. If you write on the back of a page, make a note so the instructor wont overlook it. Does your answer make sense? Are the units correct? Laboratory Your lab work will account for a percent-age of your total grade. And, exams may contain questions from laboratory material. Be prepared. Read the experiment twice before starting. First, read the introduction and skim the rest to get a general picture of the experiment procedures, amount of time required, objectives and relationship to the lecture. Go through the procedure in detail during the second reading. Some students list steps or draw flow charts with pictures of test tubes, beakers, etc., labeled with experimental conditions such as temperature, molarity, volume, weight. Get help before making a mistake. Ask your instructor about confusing points before proceeding. Analyze data as soon as possible after completing experiments. If you complete your lab work early, stay and analyze your data. This gives you a chance to confer with other students or the instructor if you have difficulty with calculations or interpretation of your data. Lab reports vary between instructors. Listen carefully to instructions. Ask questions if youre not sure about format. Record all observations and primary data -- date, time, temperature, weights, volumes, etc. Show all calculations and write complete answers to questions. Adapted from Improving Student Learning Skills by Martha Maxwell

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Vimal S. Katiyar

4/19/2008 10:25 AM