Study Sheets for College Exams

Are study sheets in college classrooms a good idea? Should professors provide study sheets to help students with midterms and finals? Some thoughts.

It's midterm exam time again, folks. Hang in there! Here's a few articles that may help you out:

• Study tips for midterms and finals
• Tips on acing an essay exam
• Tips on acing a multiple choice exam
• How to form an effective study group

In my department, it's become the norm for professors to provide study sheets for students before midterms and finals. I never used to do this and had some reservations about doing so, but I caved in and started making study sheets in which I summarize the important parts of the lecture notes and readings. Now, I regret this.

Are study sheets a bad idea? Not necessarily. Unfortunately, I suspect they are not nearly as helpful as students think. If used wrong, they can hurt a student's performance.

Study sheets can work well when they are used to reinforce studying. Students should go through the readings and their notes first, and then refer to study sheet for reinforcement. Unfortunately, many students rely too heavily on the study sheet. This technique lends itself to memorization as opposed to understanding how the material fits together. Students might look at a book chapter only in search of the terms listed on the study sheet and miss the larger point of the chapter. In addition, study sheets don't always include everything, so they can cause students to miss something they need to know for the test.

Worse, some students try to use the study sheet as a substitute for going to class or doing the reading. Obviously, this isn't a good idea.

But here's what I find troubling about study sheets: they take away the "problem solving" lesson that comes with studying for an exam. When a student takes notes and studies for a test, part of the challenge is to figure out what's important. The professor needs to present the material in a way that makes this relatively easy, but ultimately it's the student's responsibility to figure this out. Study sheets take this away, because they tell the student what's important to study.

A friend of mine who also teaches was asked by her students to "bullet point" her lectures and overheads so that they would know what was important. This is troubling. Thing is, real life doesn't come with bullet points. Problems occur, and people need good problem solving skills to get through them. In a global economy that shifts dramatically all the time, problem solving skills are more important than ever. The world just doesn't come with as many "rules" as it used to.

And when a boss asks an employee to write a report, there's no bullet pointed study sheet available to know what's important to include.

I do understand that students are very busy people, and that anything that can take the burden off of studying a little bit is greatly welcomed. Unfortunately, I have serious doubts whether the time saved with study sheets is worth the cost.