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Hi guys, well welcome to Dear First Year You, this is our third of six sessions,
so my names Alex and I'm in Economics and Finance and this is Alison.
ALISON: And I'm in Accounting & Finance.
ALEX: So, we have some topics for you today right?
ALISON: Mhm, so the topics today are on midterms and Reading Week. So if you
have any questions on that you can log-in using Ustream or Facebook, and you
can also type in your questions on the right where it says Social Stream.
ALEX: Great, so if you don't have any questions we have a filled up bucket with
a bunch of frequently asked questions, and we'll pull it out from there. And then
we also have two lovely people working behind the camera, which we have Brenley
and Jackie, yeah. ALISON: Great. ALEX: We can start off with some questions, alright.
ALISON: Sounds good. ALEX: Wanna take a stab at it?
ALISON: I'll go first, sure. First question: I have a take home midterm, what is
that all about? So a take home midterm is obviously one that you take home
and you are allowed to generally use your textbook and any notes, and I think
this type of midterm is more about application and thinking outside the box about
how you can maybe use your notes and your textbooks and enhance your answers.
ALEX: Yeah. ALISON: Anything else to add?
ALEX: No, I think you pretty much nailed it. Okay, let's see what the next
question is. Where can I study? So there's tons of places on campus if you want
to really study. So you'll obviously have your two libraries, so you have DP and DC
which your are main libraries. And then you have some libraries in St. Jerome's I
believe. So you can always walk over there, any UW student can access it. Then
there's also lounges. I know that I live at UWP currently and each quad, North
and South, has their own lounge so you can definitely go study in there. And
then there's always like RCH, the Engineering buildings, those are good for studying l
ate at night, and any other? Oh, the SLC, forgot about that. ALISON: Yes, yeah.
ALEX: Yeah, that silent study, yeah definitely check that out up on the third floor.
ALISON: Mhm, and I think the second floor of the SLC is a great place to do group
work because it's just little bit loud, a little bit quiet, so you can have group
interactions while still getting work done. Next question, last term did not go so
well with midterms, how can I do better this term? So if last term didn't go so well
with midterms I think the main thing is to find the root of the problem. So maybe it
was that you didn't study enough, you procrastinated or just didn't understand
the material. So once you understand that you can narrow down what you need
to improve on and then after that you can study with a different with a different
group of people, study differently, go ask your prof, or make a schedule and study
not as close to the deadline. ALEX: Yeah, I think making a schedule actually
really helps. Also break down your chapters and go to your professor for a
midterm break down cause your professor will tell you either you should focus
on chapter one, chapter two's not that important, it really depends all
on the professor. So yeah, definitely go talk to them.
Let's see what the next question is. What are some tips on getting
to know my professor and why is this important? So getting to know your professor
is actually really important. For fourth year, well come fourth year, you really want
a recommendation letter from your professor to go to your masters. They are
actually more than willing to help you out, and when you're in first year, second year,
or third year, another important part is that if you're stuck on a question or if you're
not doing that well in that class, they're more than willing to help you out, and they
know that if you're constantly going to their office hours it builds your credibility.
So come your first midterm, if you don't understand anything, your professors are
more willing to help rather than you coming up the last week saying oh hey professor
I need help. Your professor's not going to have that time to give to you, and yeah
that's pretty much it. ALISON: Yeah, I also have one thing to add. For me personally,
after I talk to a professor, I am more inclined to talk in class and participate so I'm
less afraid and I'm more engaged so that's definitely the reason I talk to profs.
ALEX: And I actually remember this one time I got a 50 on a midterm and I was so
upset, and yeah I went to go talk to my professor, and I went to the professor
every single office hours, and at the end of the term he said that you are a fairly
consistent student coming to the office hours and I ended up getting like a high
80 in that class so I was pretty happy with it, can't complain.
ALISON: Yep, pays off. ALEX: Pays off.
ALISON: Last question in the midterm bucket. How do you study for midterms?
So, me personally, scheduling is the key for me. So I make a schedule for the day,
for the week and try not to get behind it, but definitely in my opinion studying at
night doesn't work so well for me, so I will wake up early and study in the morning
and then as soon as it's like 12 o'clock I stop. So that's just how I study for midterms.
ALEX: I think I'm pretty consistent with you, I wake up early, don't study late. I think
one thing to remember is that with studying is that there's so much you can grasp
in a period of time, cramming does not work really. If you try to learn a little bit
every single day, you'll have a greater chance of actually remembering everything
and cramming before a midterm really doesn't work. ALISON: You're right.
It's also all about quality, not quantity so it doesn't matter how much you
study just that you have to make sure that you study properly, the right way.