Study Tactics

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Hey there I'm brand new here and working on my very first certification. I was wondering what study tactics you all use to progress and pass these exams with a good score. I am currently using skillsoft (which I get free access to courtesy of the military), Mike Meyer's COMPTIA A+ Passport book, and I plan to start using Professor Messer. (I heard of him the first time this morning. I'm currently making notes in Evernote on each chapter/topic and find that this is very time consuming. I'm wondering how necessary this is, and how detailed the test is... I mean right now I read a chapter (or go through a lesson) then do it a second time taking notes... and I've gotta say it's excruciating, but I'm just so scared of missing a beat I feel like this is the best way. Anyone else have any other study tactics? Any ideas would be appreciated, thanks!

 

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One thing which i did in the lead up to the A+ & N+ is about two weeks before the exam i just wrote stuff and the abbreviations on post it notes all round my house. This really helped me. Other than this i just worked through the book, taking the most important notes which i thought was stuff i wouldn't remember and would probably come up in the exam. I would then watch the Professor Messer videos.

 

I used mnemosyne (an adaptive flashcard system). Search these forums for it, there's an A+ and N+ file to get you started iirc.
I found it particularly handy for facts, and the A+ certainly has lots of these.

It works by you grading how hard you thought any particular question was from 1-5. and then it gives you mostly ones you have indicated you didn't know too well, and very few of the ones that you have indicated you know well. This lets you concentrate on things you don't know too well, but without completely ignoring things that may slip your mind later without occasional reinforcement.
I used this system:
1- Completely wrong/not got a clue
2- Nearly right (calling a time-domain reflectometer a time-dependent reflectometer for example)
3- Got it right, but had to think for a bit
4- Got it right but not convinced I have this nailed yet.
5- Give me a break, of course I know that.

 

Wow, that sounds extremely useful. I will check it out when I get around to my study session later today. Thanks a lot. That's my kind of learning

 

Some websites offer little practice exams if you're interested in that sort of method.

I used those and opted for the above mention post-it note, also had girlfriend quiz me on random topics.

 

Yup when I get through with everything I'll be doing practice exams in the CD that came with my study book. I've been a little slow on studying as of late since work kicked back in full force. Trying to find some good time.