StudyRite

Never cram for a test or exam

Duane Aubin

eBook v4.1

Table of Contents
PREFACE .....................................................................................................................2
YOU ARE BRILLIANT ....................................................................................................3
THE SYSTEM ........................................................................................................................ 3
Standardization ............................................................................................................ 4
Who Are You? ............................................................................................................... 5
A NOTE ABOUT EXPECTATION ................................................................................................. 5
HOW THE BRAIN WORKS.............................................................................................8
THE STUDY METHOD PREVIEW, PARTICIPATE, REVIEW ........................................... 10
1. PREVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 10
2. PARTICIPATE .................................................................................................................. 10
Attendance ................................................................................................................. 11
Read laterally ............................................................................................................. 11
Extra-curricular activities ........................................................................................... 11
3. REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 11
HOW TO COMPLETE ASSIGNMENTS .......................................................................... 12
1. PLAN ............................................................................................................................ 12
2. PREPARE ....................................................................................................................... 12
3. PRE SUBMIT! .................................................................................................................. 12
THE STRUCTURE THE SCHEDULE AND THE CALENDAR ............................................. 13
THE SCHEDULE ................................................................................................................... 13
THE CALENDAR................................................................................................................... 14
TABLE A. BASE SCHEDULE .................................................................................................... 15
TABLE B. DEVELOPED SCHEDULE ............................................................................................ 16
Scheduling the Previews and Reviews ........................................................................ 17
CRAM? NEVER ................................................................................................................... 17
HOW TO TAKE A TEST ............................................................................................... 19
1. PREVIEW ....................................................................................................................... 19
2. DO EASY QUESTIONS FIRST ............................................................................................... 19
3. DONT JUMP ON ASSUMPTIONS ........................................................................................ 20
4. REVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 20
QUICK SUMMARY ............................................................................................................... 20
NOTES ON HEALTH DIET, EXERCISE, SLEEP ............................................................. 21
DIET ................................................................................................................................. 21
EXERCISE ........................................................................................................................... 21
SLEEP ............................................................................................................................... 22
SUMMARY ................................................................................................................ 24
HOW SHOULD I MEASURE SUCCESS? ......................................................................... 25
ADDITIONAL READING AND ANNOTATIONS .............................................................. 27

Preface
Sharon Otterman, writing for the New York Times (Triumph Fades on Racial Gap in City
Schools, New York Times, August 15, 2010), noted that
Among the students in the citys third through eighth grades, 40 percent of black
students and 46 percent of Hispanic students met state standards in math,
compared with 75 percent of white students and 82 percent of Asian students. In
English, 33 percent of black students and 34 percent of Hispanic students are
now proficient, compared with 64 percent among whites and Asians
Experts have many theories, but no clear answers, about why national progress
on closing the gap has slowed. They included worsening economic conditions for
poor families and an increase in fatherless black households, social factors that
interfere with students educational progress.
By melding thoughts on politics, economics, social psychology, psychology, physiology
and philosophy, StudyRite is built upon a broad, multi-disciplinary foundation, and is
primarily geared for parents and students of traditionally disenfranchised demographic
backgrounds, to help them develop better habits and achieve better results at the
secondary (high school) and post-secondary (college/university) levels. While people
from all walks of life can experience academic disengagement, and this method can help
anyone, there are higher rates of such alienation in certain demographic groups, and
this study would probably be of more encouragement to people in those groups than to
others with more going for them, socially, economically and politically.
The article above mentions a few of the many possible contributing factors of this
apparent disenfranchisement. There are many things that are broken, that need to be
fixed. StudyRite does not pretend to provide a right-now fix for those problems at the
external, macro-level. StudyRite can, however, help at the internal, micro-level.
It has worked for me and has worked for others with whom Ive shared it over the years,
including my own children now. Some of the material was taught to me, and some of it I
developed after getting into the swing of things. In the short term, this approach will
raise grade point averages, plain and simple. More than this, however, the message of
this approach is to embrace a new sense of the value of self, of educations true import
in discovering the self, and of our natural ability to learn and succeed. StudyRite is both
a call and a path, to self-discovery.
Regards,
Duane Aubin
aubin@oughtthoughts.com
oughtthoughts.com

StudyRite

Preface

How to Take a Test

Taking a test is a microcosm of the entire study process. Tests are given to provide the
teacher/professor with an assessment of your grasp of the material that has been covered up
to that point. The key here is that surprises are not expected if youve been participating in
class; in other words, there should be no stress or worry about questions on the test you might
not know the test material is based on the material youve been looking at for the last few
weeks (or, days, depending on the concentration of the course of study). Here are four points
to follow.

1. Preview
Most people start writing right away, and this is wrong. Once the test starts, fight the urge to
pick up your pen. Read through the entire test first. This will accomplish two primary objectives
for your advantage:

it will help relax you, which will make it easier to think. Subconsciously, if youre not
writing yet, you must not be worried, so you worry less.

it will remind you of material you might otherwise not recall. Memory has a domino
effect once one item comes to mind, it triggers the memory of other items that were
initially stored at the same time. The more you remember, the more you remember.

2. Do Easy Questions First

The next most common mistake is to start answering the questions in the order in which they
are written. Wrong again. Start by answering the questions to which answers came to your
mind first. Youll recognize certain questions faster than others, go with that. Thats your brain
saying lets get this out of the way first while I warm up to the other stuff. This will
accomplish a few objectives:

it will raise your confidence that you can answer the questions. Getting stuck on a tough
question not only wastes time but erodes any confidence you might have had and raises
your stress level;

it will ensure you dont miss easy answers you might otherwise not have gotten to by
wasting time stuck on a tough question;

it will, again, bring other information to your memory for answering the more difficult
questions. Ever said its all coming back to me now? One memory triggers related
memories.

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3. Dont Jump On Assumptions

How many times have you gotten a test back, looked at a question you got wrong and think
but, I know the answer to that! Part of the problem is you thought you understood the
question, but didnt catch a trick wording or detail that changed the complexion of the
question. Again, take your time haste makes waste when writing a test. Make sure you
understand the question, and then answer what is asked.

4. Review
As it was a mistake to write from the very beginning, its also a mistake to keep on writing until
the end of the test. As you began the test by previewing, end the test by reviewing. Youll be
surprised to find that you made a glaring mistake and now have the opportunity to make a
correction or two. Its so frustrating to get a test back and see you missed a couple or three
easy points that you could have corrected.
Some read this and think how can I review if Im not finished? Good question, but you may
find that, by coming into a test after having applied the StudyRite study method, youll be more
relaxed, will struggle less to recall answers, and proceed through the test more efficiently the
time you put in during your regular studying will be repaid by having more time when writing a
test.

Quick Summary
Heres a quick summary table to make it easier to remember:
Do not

Do

Heres why

Start writing immediately

Preview all the questions

Relax, remind

Start with question 1 and answer

each question in order

Answer the easiest questions

first

Pick up easy marks, get comfortable and

confident, remind

Jump on assumptions

Understand each question

before you answer it

Dont miss easy marks due to

misunderstanding; answer what is asked

Write right to the end

Review your answers

Give yourself one more chance to catch

errors, dont lose easy marks

On a test out of 50, if you typically make any combination of the above four mistakes and tend
to score 36 marks (72% or a low B), adding just five marks can put you over 80% into A territory.
For example, answering in order is one of the best ways to leave marks on the table if you get
all flustered with a tough question and never get to answer a question to which you know the
answer later in the test. Not reviewing is another there are few things worse than getting a
test back and seeing a question you answered incorrectly even though you know the answer.
Preview, do the easy ones first, understand each question, review your answers.
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Summary
Look at all the areas where StudyRite creates opportunities to pick up marks attendance,
participation, better assignment completion methods, better test writing methods.
Better diet, regular exercise and good sleep habits also helped maintain a healthier body and
mind so that the quality of class discussion, study time and information retention were also
greatly enhanced.
The best thing about it is, while doing it, it will almost seem easy.
I know students who jumped several letter grades by applying this method.
Personally, I began to discover, develop and apply this method at the undergrad university
level, and I achieved straight As and maintained a minimum 3.8 GPA. One semester, I hit 3.94
GPA - quite the change from my high school days when I was a C student at best.
Put this entire system together, and many things will improve:
your grades
your learning
your self-esteem
your sense of capability
your relationship with teachers/professors
your enjoyment of education
expectations for your potential
your optimism and preparedness for the future
You can do it. StudyRite can help.

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