Study Tips

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Hi guys,

Tomorrow (or today rather - it's gone midnight), i'll be receiving that Mike Meyers All-in-one A+ book, and start studying in earnest for A+.
I was originally working from Charles Brookes A+ book a couple of years ago, but work took over and it never really let up until now.

Anyway, one thing i do remember is that it was hard retaining the info I read, and i was reading it page by page.

Does anyone have any study tips they can share to increase information retention and is doing it page by page the best way?
Do I make notes for each section? and how do I know what's noteworthy or not? I don't wanna be copying paragraph by paragraph, because when reading back i may as welll read direct from the book..

Any tips/advice/etc would be helpful,

Thank you in advance

Cliff

edit: PS. I don't really just want to gather enough info to scape a pass, but really so i know my stuff

edit2: PPS, I know nothing beats hands on, and i will be getting my hands dirty so to speak, just really need info retention of the aspects that u can't do in a lab etc.

 

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You sort of answered your own question. I recall that when I sat the A+ (a version or two ago), I didn't so much remember what I'd read but what I'd done. Take what you find in the book and as best you can, practice on a lab PC or two. This won't work in every case, but you'll be amazed at how learning the same info using more than one method really works out.

Different people learn different ways. There are people who can read a book and do just fine but others have to actually touch and work with what they're trying to learn. Maybe you're just not the kind of person who can learn exclusively from a text.

 

I was having this same problem myself, im about a quarter into Mike Meyers book and im finding im having trouble keeping it in my head.

I think notes are a good way of remembering , but dont think of them so much as reference material, i belive the act of writing things down makes you remember them and forces you to concentrate and understand whats said, otherwise i tend to read on "auto" like i would with a novel.

I'm definatly going to start reading at my PC too, now you mention it i think going thru things i dont quite get will help masses.

Maby you have problems because you are trying to take to much in at a time?

I was wondering how long you guys generaly study/studied for in one sitting

 

Note taking is a good means of study. It helps in a couple of ways. It does make you concentrate more, and it does help you remember more simply because the act of putting something in writing reinforces it in your mind. It also helps you condense material down to the essentials of how you understand it. The effort of putting the concepts in your own words helps a lot in understanding things. I've also found that just discussing things with another person helps me a lot, whether it is done verbally or in writing.

As to the amount of study time.... That depends a lot on the individual. There are days when I can spend 8 hours studying and not even notice how much time has gone by. Other days my limit is much, much, less. I might be lucky to spend a half hour at a time in study on one day, an hour at a time on another day, and even a couple of hours at a time on still another day. I'll still put in a few hours of study but it's broken up into much smaller chunks of time. Even the subject can dictate how much time I'm spending at once. If it's some aspect of computing that really fascinates me I can spend a lot more time at once on it without getting burnt out on studying.

 

I have nothing to add but agree with what already has been said.
Good luck with the exam!

 

Thanks for the advice guys

I'll let you know how I get on

 

Nothing to add to the great advice already given other than to have breaks every hour or so. Sometimes just a trip to make a cup of tea/coffee can help refresh you.

 

Good range of quality materials, take good notes, manage your time well, and have an overall plan of attack. Worked for me (so far). Hope your way works for you, CliffG,