How do I study for the DELTA test next week?

There are many resources available to you and appropriate study strategies for this test. One strategy that you could use is to:

(1) Go lecture-by-lecture and compose responses to the learning outcomes, then check your work against the lecture materials.

(2) Repeat the in-class multiple choice questions and extra study questions available on TopHat. I have assigned the whole semester’s TopHat questions for review.

(3) Practice problem-solving with the worksheet materials that have accompanied most lectures.

(4) Review the introduction sections for all of the protocols that you have done in the lab

(5) Brush up on terminology via the course Quizlet (https://quizlet.com/join/Q3hjnu8S3). *Note: this is the last semester’s Quizlet and some of the content from lecture 6 is included.

How should I study?

There are many resources available to you and appropriate study strategies for this test. One strategy that you could use is to (1) go lecture-by-lecture, compose responses to the learning outcomes, then check your work; (2) repeat the TopHat and DELTA exam questions, paying close attention to the questions missed (See final exam preparation folder in moodle); and (3) practice problem-solving with the worksheet materials that have accompanied most lectures. It may also be helpful to review the introduction sections for the protocols in your lab notebook and review basic terminology via the course Quizlet (https://quizlet.com/join/Q3hjnu8S3).

I did poorly on the 1st DELTA exam, does that mean I’ll do poorly on the other exams as well?

DELTA exam 2 and the final exam are both also multiple-choice and short answer didactic/traditional tests. If you did poorly on the 1st exam, please set up a time to meet and discuss study techniques that might work better for this test format.

What were your best study techniques as a graduate student?

During grad school, the practice of self-explanation was absolutely the most effective technique for learning to solve problems, design experiments and critically evaluate data. Outside of study, treating the whole experience as a job and a training program rather than “just school” kept me focused and working effectively while I was at work (grad school) because… well… if it’s a job, you can’t goof off.

How do we ensure that everyone in the group contributes fairly and equally to the take-home test?

Answer: The arrangement I recommend is as follows: Each question should have a point person who is in charge of (1) collecting everyone’s answers (everyone needs to attempt all the questions in the exam), (2) identifying where there are discrepancies between answers by commenting on the manuscript, (3) fielding group discussions through comment and chat threads, and (4) composing the final answer to that question. It is each group member’s job to attempt all the questions and to respond to any and all comments. In the end, everyone will have attempted and contributed to each answer and can approve the entire test.

This is an effective strategy for fair and effective online collaboration when group members are separated spatially and/or temporally. We use this approach frequently across BIT – it takes a little getting used to at first, but it’s really a good way to do it.

FYIs Google Docs has built-in features to facilitate your communication. This includes a chat window as well as full commenting and editing features.  A neat thing about Google Doc comments is that you can assign a comment to an individual in order to request that they (specifically) address it. Just start typing their name and their email will autofill and a checkbox will appear to assign the comment to the user.