General Guidelines

If you think of the facts about a course as colored stones, like the little stones in a kaleidoscope, then the notes you have taken during the course represent a particular arrangement of those stones, forming a very specific pattern. If you only memorize your notes, you will be learning the specific arrangement of facts more than the facts themselves.

In order to have a firmer command of the facts themselves, you must work beyond looking at class notes.

Try to imagine possible essay questions for the exam: use compare and contrast questions as well as questions that ask why or how.

Develop answers for your questions. Be sure to have general ideas and supporting detail.

This exercise will force you to rearrange the facts into different patterns, to discern (depending on the question) relevant from irrelevant facts. It will provide you better command of the facts and a certain facility in manipulating them mentally.

This kind of work is best done in a cooperative group of 3-4. If you work only with one other person, you may end up just visiting. If you work with 5 or more, you end up having a party. Fun, but not helpful.