Do you really read the whole textbook from A-Z?

[charismo]

Right now I'm preparing for a bunch of exams and got myself ready for some textbooks. No surprises looking at the number of pages (its 600-700) they may just take me about month and a half to complete these books with all the quizzes and assignments. I like studying but I have to confess it's a tad inefficient.

On this forum there are seem to be so many wizards that seem to finish their studying and pass their exams in a day or two. I don't know if that is corrupting my mind but hey it's some food for thought.

Back to the discussion how would you manage your studying if you were to tackle a 600 pager tome?

[KittenMittens]

Right now I'm preparing for a bunch of exams and got myself ready for some textbooks. No surprises looking at the number of pages (its 600-700) they may just take me about month and a half to complete these books with all the quizzes and assignments. I like studying but I have to confess it's a tad inefficient.

On this forum there are seem to be so many wizards that seem to finish their studying and pass their exams in a day or two. I don't know if that is corrupting my mind but hey it's some food for thought.

Back to the discussion how would you manage your studying if you were to tackle a 600 pager tome?

I imagine you're doing TECEP exams. I specifically avoided these exams and TESC for this reason. But to answer your question, a lot of people end up skimming these textbooks and reading them quickly out of boredom - it may or may not work though as it really depends on the individual. IMO, it's not very efficient or feasible to get much out of reading a 500 - 1000 page tome and is why I went with UExcel exams instead where you can pass exams by simply doing the instantcert flash cards, do some practice official exams, and read some instantcert subscriber discussions about what will be on the exams.

I discuss this issue in some threads like here: http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...etter.html and also here: http://degreeforum.wikia.com/wiki/COSC_Degree_Plans

If you can find exams through UExcel, or DSST that are covered by Instantcert, you will likely be able to study for them in a few hours and pass.

[charismo]

I imagine you're doing TECEP exams. I specifically avoided these exams and TESC for this reason. But to answer your question, a lot of people end up skimming these textbooks and reading them quickly out of boredom - it may or may not work though as it really depends on the individual. IMO, it's not very efficient or feasible to get much out of reading a 500 - 1000 page tome and is why I went with UExcel exams instead where you can pass exams by simply doing the instantcert flash cards, do some practice official exams, and read some instantcert subscriber discussions about what will be on the exams.

I discuss this issue in some threads like here: http://www.degreeforum.net/excelsior-tho...etter.html and also here: COSC Degree Plans - Degree Forum Wiki

If you can find exams through UExcel, or DSST that are covered by Instantcert, you will likely be able to study for them in a few hours and pass.

Correct. Environmental Ethics and Marriage and Family to be specific.

Well your advice would have worked wonders If I wasn't locked into the Per Credit tuition plan. I will be taking 8 TECEP's to fulfill that requirement.

The other thing I could do as you said, to simply read over the summary and glossary words but when I checked out the MCQ's on the course outline of TECEP's some of them were really specific. Man, let's see if I could conjure up a pattern how these questions are made and where they take their main knowledge points.

[KittenMittens]

Correct. Environmental Ethics and Marriage and Family to be specific.

Well your advice would have worked wonders If I wasn't locked into the Per Credit tuition plan. I will be taking 8 TECEP's to fulfill that requirement.

The other thing I could do as you said, to simply read over the summary and glossary words but when I checked out the MCQ's on the course outline of TECEP's some of them were really specific. Man, let's see if I could conjure up a pattern how these questions are made and where they take their main knowledge points.

It's really quite frustrating isn't it? For the sake of saving about a grand or two, it comes at a major expense i.e. time spent slaving away through textbooks. Now try doing that for a TECEP like in Federal Taxation where you'd have to read a 300 page textbook on IRS codes...

How far into the program are you? If you haven't done too many, you can always switch out of it and still apply those credits to other degree programs. Charter Oak has a B.S. in Cybersecurity, though the guides I've created are for pursuing a B.S. in Business Administration through Charter Oak. In the Degree Wikia (in my signature), it explains your options between the different schools.

That said, if you search around, you may find some TECEPs that are easier than others i.e. the math/computer science ones, though you may have already completed those.

[charismo]

It's really quite frustrating isn't it? For the sake of saving about a grand or two, it comes at a major expense i.e. time spent slaving away through textbooks. Now try doing that for a TECEP like in Federal Taxation where you'd have to read a 300 page textbook on IRS codes...

How far into the program are you? If you haven't done too many, you can always switch out of it and still apply those credits to other degree programs. Charter Oak has a B.S. in Cybersecurity, though the guides I've created are for pursuing a B.S. in Business Administration through Charter Oak. In the Degree Wikia (in my signature), it explains your options between the different schools.

That said, if you search around, you may find some TECEPs that are easier than others i.e. the math/computer science ones, though you may have already completed those.

Let's take a bit of a detour. I'm one of those learners that likes to go to the meat and bones of the material that I'm trying to learn. I started my journey of test taking with CLEP and DSST. Since they were the first tests I ever took I studied really hard. It took me about 50 days to study for 2 tests.

But then I got wiser. I realized I need not study harder. I can study smarter by cutting my time on textbooks and studying the flash cards, the specific feedbacks on those exams and most importantly testing the Peterson's mock exam early on in the preparation. Just a week of study and I was already passing the Peterson's tests. Another week of study I was passing the CLEPs and DSST's.

Fast forward in time, I have now accumulated around 70 credits at TESC comprising of previous college credits, CLEPs and DSSTs.

I decided it's time taking TECEP's. Now If I was aware how scarce studying materials were for TECEP I would have started it long time ago. I would have structured it in a way that time would not have been a factor. I made up my mind that the same studying pattern would also apply for TECEP alas it was a bad foresight.

I would also be doing the Network Technologies and that one seems easy enough with someone who is already computer network savvy.

Lets see someone with experience of TECEP's could chime in with some tips. :coolgleam:

[sanantone]

It depends on your major. The key is to take TECEPs that are easy. Federal Income Taxation is open book. I passed it without studying. Their computer applications or whatever it's called test requires basic computer knowledge. Other options to reading textbooks are to use TESC's suggested free study materials. I've heard Public Relations is easy, and there are flashcards for that.

[UptonSinclair]

For subjects in the Social Sciences and Humanities, I prefer to read the textbook and watch lectures. When I do, I don't take notes or work through the assignments. I just read the chapters and review the summary. If you ask ten students, you are likely to get ten different answers. The key is to find a system that works well for you.

[Bibby]

Usually I do, but not always. In the case of 800-page textbooks, you'll pretty much be forced to skim over certain sections.

[Prloko]

[quote=KittenMittens]I imagine you're doing TECEP exams. I specifically avoided these exams and TESC for this reason. But to answer your question, a lot of people end up skimming these textbooks and reading them quickly out of boredom.[QUOTE]

I don't know why you keep telling people this, without taking one of them. I took and passed the OM TECEP, without reading the textbook. My spouse took and passed the ENC 102 TECEP without a text, and there are others. Please let people who took TECEPs answer these questions. in this way, there is less searching and scrolling info members need to do to find relevant information.

[rebel100]

There are times, especially with familiar subject matter, when I find it entirely possible to glean the required information from the bold faced type and end of chapter summaries. Wikipedia and google are your pal here too as you can fill in the blanks and weaknesses quickly.

Of course I like this approach best when dealing with a known exam and I can check what I think I know against some measure to see if I'm on track.