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+--- Thread: What's your technique w/ IC? (/Thread-What-s-your-technique-w-IC)
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What's your technique w/ IC? - nflight - 09-29-2011
Hi Everyone- I'm sure this is embedded here somewhere and I've gleened lots of morsels from the threads, but I'm curious about people's different approaches to get most benefit from IC. I am still in my 30 day trial period and am persuaded from all the posts that IC is the ish
but I can't really seem to get the meat of it. Everyone is different and what works for one may not work for others, which is why I'm curious to know how people have tweaked their approaches to squeeze the most benefit out of the tool. I think the real deal is that I've never actually understood how people use note cards to study. Do you study and then use the cards for review? Or are you using the cards first, cold, before studying other places? One poster said to Review Test Correct Review and repeat until you get 95% on prep tests before taking official test. This sounds like a really solid approach, but I guess I'm curious about how people are studying prior to their review. Disregard if this redundant. I'm loving this arena and am already addicted to the testing and studying in a way that I NEVER was before. Quick results is such a motivating elixir. But, I do miss the dynamics of a great study groups. This forum, however, is a sweet close second.
What's your technique w/ IC? - rebel100 - 09-29-2011
For me it's the specific exam feedback that really makes IC worthwhile. Firsthand accounts of what works, what doesn't, and where to get the material. The cards are only nice addition to other study aids, IMHO. Then again some folks find them invaluable.
What's your technique w/ IC? - cashmere - 09-29-2011
I loved using the cards. I went through the first time concentrating on reading the information, not filling in the blanks, and considered it like reading an interactive study guide.
The important thing about IC flash cards is that they're not simple "question/answer" format - "in what year did x happen?" "1789." If you read and absorb the information and use filling in the blanks as a way to keep key data in your mind, I found that you not only remember a lot of specific data, but you get a very good sense of the general subject matter. Granted, I took primarily literature and history exams, but especially for the latter, this was helpful.
Since the blanks you need to fill in change after each round, I went through the cards once simply to learn the info, and then at least twice more to get practice with all of the blanks, until I was scoring at least in the 90% range. I will note that sometimes the history flashcards use specific words that caused me to miss an answer - if the correct answer was "restrain trade" and I wrote "restrict trade," I gave myself a slight break on the score.
For whatever reason, I found the flashcard format helped me to retain information much better than just reading textbooks. Best of luck finding what works for you!!
What's your technique w/ IC? - bbrunson1 - 09-29-2011
I'm glad you asked this question. I have taken 4 Excelsior tests using IC almost exclusively, and have developed a pretty specific technique. Here's some tips:
1. First, go through the flashcards cold, and don't worry about knowing the right answer. Make an outline in Word of the info you learn from the flashcards. I've included a screenshot of part of one of my outlines so you can see what I mean (I've replaced some of the info with "......" to protect IC's intellectual property). At the top, I keep track of my score in each section (important for knowing when you are "ready"). I then go thru each section and write down each new definition and fact that I learn. THIS HAS HELPED ME IMMENSELY. It reduces the tendency to simply fill in the blank without knowing the correct answer.
2. Use spaced repetition to maximize your study time. That is, after studying one or two new sections, go back and run thru the flashcards in the previous sections before you forget that info and before you move on to study more material.
3. If there's something you don't understand well, don't worry. Just highlight it in your outline and review it later. Sometimes IC's explanation of a particular term may confuse you; it doesn't hurt to use Wikipedia or other resources to clarify your understanding of the material.
4. Make sure you get in the 90's AT LEAST ONCE, and preferably run thru the flashcards right before taking the test. IC recommends three 90's in a row, but I haven't found that to be necessary for me personally. Just make sure that you actually UNDERSTAND that 90% and are not just filling in the blank.
5. Take a practice test after you're finished studying with IC to determine your readiness. Peterson's has some good practice tests for CLEP and Dantes and if you search around on this board I believe other members have posted some ways that you can get it free thru library websites. Excelsior also offers a practice test with the free content guide for each exam (see their website).
6. As you are going through the practice test, make note of any terms that you are not very confident about. Even if you see a term that is clearly the wrong choice for that question, make a note of it.
7. When you finish the practice test, go back through and review the explanations for the questions you got wrong. Pay attention not only to why, for example, answer C is correct, but also why A, B, and D are not correct. Review the other terms that you weren't confident about (from tip #6) and use Wikipedia or other online resources to sharpen up your knowledge on those areas.
8. If you don't get an extremely high score on the practice test, don't get discouraged! Quite often, the practice test is more difficult than the real exam, and I've heard this repeated many times about Peterson's Dantes practice tests. I, personally, used the Dantes Human Resource Mgmt test to help me study for the Excelsior version of the exam (the two are fairly similar). I scored about a 65 on the Dantes practice test and got about 75% of the questions right on the Excelsior practice test (the one that comes with the content guide) and I still got a B.
9. Review the specific exam feedback on this board! Heed the advice people give for the exam you're about to take, and study up on any terms that they mention that you're not familliar with.
10. Take the exam with confidence. If you scored in the 90's on the IC flashcards, you're probably good. If you followed these other tips, you're probably very good. There will most likely still be some things on the test that you don't know. This is normal! Use process of elimination and common sense to increase your chances of getting the right answer.
11. When you're taking the test, don't spend too much time on questions you're not sure about. Flag any question you're not confident about and review it later (I know you can flag and review with Excelsior, not sure about the other ones, anyone know??). This will help ensure that you complete the test within the allotted amount of time. Pay close attention as you go thru the exam because you might see something later on that clues you into the right answer on one of the previous questions. This has helped me on at least two questions on every test I've taken so far.
12. Don't think too deep into the question, and when in doubt, stick with your original hunch.
Hope these tips help!
What's your technique w/ IC? - burbuja0512 - 09-29-2011
My success = IC Cards + Specific Feedback + Google + Youtube
Read the IC cards and take notes. You may just need the card, but often it's not enough to teach you what you want to know. It will show you what you want to know, but if you don't understand the card, that should be a clue to you that you'll need to do some research. There were times that I spent an hour or more on a single card and other times that I would go through a deck of cards in 30 minutes or less.
Just know that the IC cards are a guide to focus your study, they shouldn't be used as a single source. However, most of the time, they were the only source that I spent money on. Never, ever,ever forget to read the specific forum feedback too.
I hope this helps!
P.S. I should mention that my younger brother, a COSC grad, ONLY used IC. He just memorized the cards and he was smart enough to somehow pass. I needed additional study and would never recommend doing what he did
What's your technique w/ IC? - nflight - 09-29-2011
Rebel 100, Wow... that's a strong endorsement for the feedback gathered here. It is a treasure chest and yes, I intend to keep the membership for the benefit of access to the feedback thread even if I never figure out the flashcards. :-)
And God bless Snazzlefrag, wherever he is!
What's your technique w/ IC? - nflight - 09-29-2011
Whoa, BBrunson1....this just might be the missing user manual for IC. Thank you~
What's your technique w/ IC? - nflight - 09-29-2011
Burbuja0512- Your siggy is my inspire! :-)
What's your technique w/ IC? - Merlin - 09-30-2011
My plan for review for subjects I don't have much or any prior experience in usually goes something like this...
1. Read through the specific feedback to see if there is anything weird I need to be aware of, and get a general idea of the key subject areas to focus on.
2. Read the REA guide (if available) and/or review online links/wiki/etc. (I've thought about trying the pass your class guides, but don't know how well they compare.) For other subjects I try to read (or at least skim) the book recommended by the test prep materials, or something similar to it.
3. Take a practice test (REA or Petersons)
4. Review any available video material via iTunesU / Khan Academy / You Tube (I'm high audio / mid visual learner, so videos really help me a lot.)
5. Take another practice test
6. If available, go through the IC flashcards for the first section once... looping back to review the missed cards until I get to 100%, then restarting the process until I can get to 90% or better without restarting.
6a. Go through the IC flashcards for that same section one time on random order.
6b. Move on to the next section, going through the next section in the same way. Each time I move on to a new section, I start back over from the first one to review the old sections.
7. Take another practice test.
8. If I'm scoring highly on the tests, I schedule to take the actual test (usually I can do this with 24-48 hours notice, though I just moved so I don't know if this is the case in the new area yet.) If not, I re-review the video material again and go back to step 6.
9. The night (or morning) before the tests I try to scan through the IC cards one last time if there is time.
It doesn't always work out that I have time to do all of that, but I usually study for a week or two for more difficult subjects which is usually enough time. For subjects I have some familiarity with, or that comes to me easily, the above is overkill, so I skip sections of that to shorten the prep time down to a week or less.
I'm really bad with making study notes, so I rarely do that. But I have a good associative memory, so that helps a lot. Plus I have made flashcards for myself in some cases (like for A&I lit for the review terms) when really necessary.
Hopefully that has been somewhat helpful for you.
What's your technique w/ IC? - sanantone - 09-30-2011
The answer is going to be different depending on the individual's style of learning. I have a partially photographic memory, so I just read through the flashcards twice for most of the exams I took. The only things I used in the specific feedback forum were the study guides people put together, not the ones just listing what you should study, but the ones that had definitions and brief biographies for psychologists and sociologists. For my first two tests, I didn't know what to expect, so I supplemented IC with videos, Wikipedia, and e-books. I never felt the need to pay for any books. The only resource I paid for was IC; everything else was free. I tried taking a Petersen test once and found it to be a waste of time. I know others find them valuable, but it was just an extra headache for me.