HOW TO STUDY PHYSICS 4.

An important thing to remember in working physics problems is that by showing all of your work you can much more easily locate and correct mistakes. You will also find it easier to read the problems when you prepare for exams if you show all your work. 8.In the AP examination, you may have to do problems under a strict time limitation. Therefore, when you are finished with a homework problem,practice doing it again faster, in order to build up your speed and your confidence. When you have completed a problem, you should be able, at some later time, to read the solution and to understand it without referring to the text. You should therefore write up the problem so as to include a description of what is wanted, the principle you have applied, and the steps you have taken. If, when you read your own answer to the problem, you come to a step that you do not understand, then you have either omitted a step that is necessary to the logical development of the solution, or you need to put down more extensive notes in your write-up to remind you of the reasons for each step. It takes more time to write careful and complete solutions to homework problems. Writing down what you are doing and thinking slows you down, but more important it makes you behave more like an expert. You will be well paid back by the assurance that you are not overlooking essential information. These careful write-ups will provide excellent review material for exam preparation. Back to the Top Effective Test Preparation If you have followed an active approach to study similar to the one suggested here, your preparation for exams will not be overly difficult. If you haven't been very active in studying, your preparation will be somewhat harder, but the same principles still apply. Always remember: Physics courses, and therefore physics exams, involve problem solving. Hence,your approach to studying for exams should stress problem solving. Here are some principles: 1.In the week prior to the exam, follow the three steps below. These steps should give you a reasonably good idea of what has been stressed and on what you can expect to be tested. a.Review your notes and recheck the course outline. Your goal at this point is to make sure you know what has been emphasized. b.Reread your solutions to the homework problems. Remember that these solutions, if complete, will note underlying principles or laws. c.Review the assigned chapters. Once again, your purpose in this early stage of exam preparation is to make sure you know what topics or principles have been emphasized. 2.From this rapid overview, generate a list of themes, principles, and types of problems that you expect to be covered. If samples of previous exams are available, look them over, also, but do not assume that only previous types of problems will be included. 3.Review actively. Don't be satisfied with simple recognition of a principle. Aim for actual knowledge that you will be able to recall and to use in a test situation. Try to look at all the possible ways that a principle can be applied. 4.Effective examination preparation involves an interaction among homework problems, the classes, your notes and the text. Review actively, including self-tests in which you create your own problems which involve a combination of principles. You need to be sure that you can work problems without referring to your notes or to the textbook. Practice doing problems using both the concrete and the formal approaches, to see which you are more comfortable with. 5.Remember that exams will include a variety of different problems. You want to look back on an exam and say, "I know how to do friction problems so well, that even though they were asked in a weird way, I could recognize them and solve them." by Kassim Seif