Topic and Source Outline

Decision

Preparing for exams is always difficult. I have always been a person, who when trying to study for a test, looks at the class as a whole trying to pick out what I believe are key facts or ideas from the class but without any real direction. This is why I chose the source and topic outline because it funnels the material into specific organized sections based on the main ideas of the class. I used this strategy with my EDU 200 class as well as my Rel 101 class

Prep and application

First I started off by looking at the syllabus given to me by my teacher. My EDU 200 teacher in specific gives a nice overview of each lecture's topic as well as the readings associated with each class. This made a very easy and direct way to approach the source outline. I looked at the title of the lecture for the day and then listed the sources for the lecture under that. Creating the topic outline was a bit more difficult. Going through the description of each lecture, I picked out key words in conjunction with the patterns in my annotated syllabus to see what the overall topics were. Then I filed the readings from the source outline under each of the topics. I have a midterm for EDU 200 at the end of the month and this will definitely help  in conjunction with the twenty minute test prep.

LAME



I am the type of learner that needs a clear visual map for source materials, and the topic and source outlines help organize the materials from the readings into concise sections. Now all I have to do is take the actions necessary to become fully prepared i.e. studying a head of time. My evaluation of this strategy is very positive. In conjunction with the annotated syllabus I feel this is a very effective tool to pinpoint exam questions and study more effectively