Writing A Commentary Or Essay On A Text You’ve Never Read Before In Exam Conditions Can Be Daunting,

Instagram: bluelahe

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your local mediocre student tries to be productive (aka finals are hard)

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I believe in free education, one that’s available to everyone; no matter their race, gender, age, wealth, etc… This masterpost was created for every knowledge hungry individual out there. I hope it will serve you well. Enjoy!

FREE ONLINE COURSES (here are listed websites that provide huge variety of courses)

Alison 

Coursera

FutureLearn

open2study

Khan Academy

edX

P2P U

Academic Earth

iversity

Stanford Online

MIT Open Courseware

Open Yale Courses

BBC Learning

OpenLearn

Carnegie Mellon University OLI

University of Reddit

Saylor

IDEAS, INSPIRATION & NEWS (websites which deliver educational content meant to entertain you and stimulate your brain)

TED

FORA

Big Think 

99u

BBC Future

Seriously Amazing

How Stuff Works

Discovery News

National Geographic

Science News

Popular Science

IFLScience

YouTube Edu

NewScientist

DIY & HOW-TO’S (Don’t know how to do that? Want to learn how to do it yourself? Here are some great websites.)

wikiHow

Wonder How To

instructables

eHow

Howcast

MAKE

Do it yourself

FREE TEXTBOOKS & E-BOOKS

OpenStax CNX

Open Textbooks

Bookboon

Textbook Revolution

E-books Directory

FullBooks

Books Should Be Free

Classic Reader

Read Print

Project Gutenberg

AudioBooks For Free

LibriVox

Poem Hunter

Bartleby

MIT Classics

Many Books

Open Textbooks BCcampus

Open Textbook Library

WikiBooks

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES & JOURNALS

Directory of Open Access Journals

Scitable

PLOS

Wiley Open Access

Springer Open

Oxford Open

Elsevier Open Access

ArXiv

Open Access Library

LEARN:

1. LANGUAGES

Duolingo

BBC Languages

Learn A Language

101languages

Memrise

Livemocha

Foreign Services Institute

My Languages

Surface Languages

Lingualia

OmniGlot

OpenCulture’s Language links

2. COMPUTER SCIENCE & PROGRAMMING

Codecademy

Programmr

GA Dash

CodeHS

w3schools

Code Avengers

Codelearn

The Code Player

Code School

Code.org

Programming Motherf*?$%#

Bento

Bucky’s room

WiBit

Learn Code the Hard Way

Mozilla Developer Network

Microsoft Virtual Academy

3. YOGA & MEDITATION

Learning Yoga

Learn Meditation

Yome

Free Meditation

Online Meditation

Do Yoga With Me

Yoga Learning Center

4. PHOTOGRAPHY & FILMMAKING

Exposure Guide

The Bastards Book of Photography

Cambridge in Color

Best Photo Lessons

Photography Course

Production Now

nyvs

Learn About Film

Film School Online

5. DRAWING & PAINTING

Enliighten

Ctrl+Paint

ArtGraphica

Google Cultural Institute

Drawspace

DragoArt

WetCanvas

6. INSTRUMENTS & MUSIC THEORY

Music Theory

Teoria

Music Theory Videos

Furmanczyk Academy of Music

Dave Conservatoire

Petrucci Music Library

Justin Guitar

Guitar Lessons

Piano Lessons

Zebra Keys

Play Bass Now

7. OTHER UNCATEGORIZED SKILLS

Investopedia

The Chess Website

Chesscademy

Chess.com

Spreeder

ReadSpeeder

First Aid for Free

First Aid Web

NHS Choices

Wolfram Demonstrations Project

Please feel free to add more learning focused websites. 

*There are a lot more learning websites out there, but I picked the ones that are, as far as I’m aware, completely free and in my opinion the best/ most useful.

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as requested by quite a few people - a masterpost of educational podcasts. links go to either the site or the itunes podcast store. an excerpt of the description is included with each.

* indicates a podcast that i listen to regularly

entertainment

*welcome to night vale - twice-monthly updates for the small desert town of night vale

*muggle cast - everything harry potter

general information 

radiolab - investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea

*stuff you should know - about everything from genes to the galapagos

*stuff mom never told you - the business of being women 

tedtalks

good job, brain - part pub quiz show, part offbeat news

news

no one knows anything - the politics podcast from buzzfeed news

wait wait…don’t tell me - weekly current events quiz

college

*college info geek - the strategies and tactics the best students use

*getting in - your college admissions companion

math

math for primates - a couple of monkeys who decided that arguing about mathematics was a better use of their time than throwing poo at one another

math mutation - fun, interesting, or just plain weird corners of mathematics

science

60 second health - latest health and medical news

the naked scientists - interviews with top scientists, hands-on science experiments

60 second science - the most interesting developments in the world of science

startalk - astronomy, physics, and everything else about life in the universe

nasa science cast - science behind discoveries on earth, the solar system, and beyond

history

*myths and legends - myths, legends, and folklore that have shaped cultures

stuff you missed in history class - the greatest and strangest stuff you missed

the podcast history of our world - from the big bang to the modern age! …eventually

witness - the story of our times told by the people who were there

the history chicks - two women. half the population. several thousands years of history.

entrepreneurship & finances

practical money matters - better managing their finances

the internet business mastery - learn how to create an internet based business

social triggers insider - the fields of psychology and human behavior

listen money matters - honest and uncensored, this is not your father’s boring finance show

writing & literature

professional book nerds - it’s our job to discuss books all day long

a way with words - words, language, and how we use them

grammar girl - short, friendly tips to improve your writing

classic poetry aloud - recordings of the greats poems of the past

language

esl (english) - improve english speaking and listening skills

language pod

coffee break

search in your podcast app for specific languages!

art

99% invisible - exploration of the process and power of design

tips and tricks photography 

the arts roundtable

hobbies & other

stash & burn (knitting)

practical defense - staying safe in our increasingly dangerous urban environments

zen and the art of triathlon - a triathlete’s view on living the multisport life

the art of charm - make you a better networker, connecter, and thinker

the indoor kids - isn’t just about video games, isn’t not about video games

rationally speaking - explore the borderlands between reason and nonsense

the dice tower - board games, card games, and the people who design and play them

motivational & inspirational

back to work - productivity, communication, work, barriers, constraints, tools, and more

personal growth podcast - classic and contemporary self development audio

what it takes - conversations with towering figures in almost every field

here be monsters - exploring the dark corners of the human mind

on being - the big questions of meaning with scientists, theologians, artists, teachers

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i'll be having pharmacology next sem, any tips?

HI! :)

Pharmacology is the heart of pharmacy. You need to have a good memorisation skill but understanding it will be the key. Sad to say, there is no shortcut. You need to take a lot of your time to study it by heart. 

In studying the drugs:

Study the normal mechanism of the body

Study the abnormal mechanism of the body

Compare the normal & abnormal mechanism of the body

Study how the drug works to correct the abnormal mechanism of the body

for example you are studying cardiovascular drugs: 1. study the normal physiology of the heart 2. study what happen when a person has a cardiovascular disease 3. study the difference between a normal heart & a heart with cardiovascular disease 4. study how cardiovascular drugs will correct the condition

Use flashcards, notecards & the likes

Use one side of the card and write the drug & other side with is mechanism of action

Use one side of the card and indicate its pharmacologic category & the other side with the list of drugs under that category

This are very handy & you can bring it anywhere you go. :)

Be creative, Use Mnemonics

In this way, the information will  be easy to remember.

For example,

the non-specific beta blockers are NSTP (Nadolol, Sotalol, Timolol, Propranolol) 

specific beta blockers are BEAM (Bisoprolol, Esmolol, Atenolol, Metoprolol)

beta blockers, mostly but not all the time, ends with -olol

angiotensin II receptor antagonist usually ends with -sartan (Losartan, Candesartan)

HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors usually ends with -statin (Simvastatin, Atorvastatin, Rosuvastatin)

ACE inhibitors usually ends with -pril (Captopril, Lisinopril)

Proton pump inhibitor - ends with -prazole (Pantoprazole, Esomeprazole)

H2 receptor blockers -ends with -tidine (Famotidine, Cimetidine)

Be productive during internships. Use that as an opportunity to be more familiar with the drugs.

The arrangement of medicine either in the community or hospital setting is mostly by their therapeutic category. Observe. Read. Write. Repeat. In this way you will be familiar with the drugs more.

Guide books & Apps

there are a lot of guide books like Pharmacopeia, but due to technology it is easily accessible to everyone today. :) There are several apps that are downloadable for free in the Apps Store & Google Play like…

Epocrates

Micromedex Drug Information

Monthly Prescribing Reference

The course itself is not easy but if you have the determination to study & to learn, nothing will come difficult.  Good luck to you! I know you can do it. :)

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Handwritten with the iPad Pro and my trusty apple pencil 📚✨

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An Overview of Note-Taking Styles

Note-taking is one of the most essential skills a student should master. It allows you to record and review information to be used in the future. But what’s the best way to do so? Here’s an overview of note-taking styles that can help you maximize your learning!

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How to Read From a Textbook

Hi guys! So I’ve noticed that a lot of people, including myself, struggle with reading directly from a textbook and actually retaining all of the information. 

Well my friends I am here to change that [queue the victory music]. Recently I discovered a reading strategy known as the SQ3R technique. It stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review. I’ve found this technique to be extremely helpful when it comes to reading through textbooks, and so now I’m passing this information onto my dear followers.

1. Survey

The first step in this process is to get a basic idea of what you’re going to be reading. Most textbooks have chapter outlines or a brief summary at the beginning of each chapter. Take about five minutes to skim through these. By doing this, you’ll have the basic structure of what you’ll be learning in your head. 

2. Question

This step will be repeated multiple times throughout your reading, so pay attention! Within each chapter, there are section titles that give you a vague idea of what the next few paragraphs will be about. This step asks that you turn the section title into a question. For example, we’ll say that our section title is “The Changing Role of the States.” You can turn this into questions such as “how did the role of the states change” and “which states changed and how.” When you turn the titles into questions, you end up looking for the answers while you’re reading rather than simply reading. This stops you from reading the same line over and over again.

3. Read

This one’s the obvious one. Read your textbook. Take notes while you’re reading. Write down all the important definitions, concepts, names, dates, etc. But remember to take breaks! Taking a three minute break for every twenty minutes of reading allows information to settle in your brain. It also helps with memory retention.

4. Recite

I’ll admit I’m still a bit uncomfortable with this step but it’s helped me a lot with remembering what I’ve read. Basically, this step asks you to summarize what you’ve just read out loud. I do this after each section, and then I summarize the whole chapter once I’ve finished the chapter. (Pro Tip: If you’re uncomfortable with talking to yourself, try talking to a recording device or summarize to a nearby friend.)

5. Review

Review, review, review. I cannot stress this enough. Read over your notes the day after, then the week after. Studies show that you remember 60% more of the material you learned when you review it the next day. Don’t forget you can review with more than just your notes! Make flashcards or foldables with the most important information in the chapter and quiz yourself! So many textbooks have quizzes online for each chapter, so use them!!!! I find mind maps to be super helpful in studying too. Reviewing is a super important step, so don’t think that you can forget about studying just because you’ve read through a chapter!

I might include that, as of recent, many professors have been saying that there is a fourth ‘R’ to this process: Relate. With this step you simply relate the information you’ve just read back to something important in your life. When you make connections with your reading, it becomes easier to remember the material. 

Well that’s all I’ve got for you guys for now. I hope this helps at least a few of you. Keep on studying guys, and good luck on finals!  ╚(•⌂•)╝

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Hey so, I decided to do another masterpost. This time on exams. Some tips for studying at the very last minute if you are like me, disclaimer: I am not in any way supporting cramming but this is just to help you through if you are left with no choice other than cramming.

Cramming

Cramming tips that actually work by @optomstudies

The night before the exam

What to do the night before an exam by @beautifullearning

The night before your exam by @tiny-personal-university-thing

The night before exam and I didn’t study guide by @renaistudying

The night before test and I haven’t started studying by @getstudyblr

Revision methods

Revision methods that actually work by @alimastudies

The 5 Best Revision Methods by @bstudies

Study tips

More unconventional study tips by @minimaliststudy

A stash of tiny study tips by @justestjarchives

College study tips that actually help by @samsstudygram

Five tips for study marathons by @booksavolonte

General study tips by @plantednotes

More study tips

My study tips by @anatomyandcappuccini

My study tips

Personal study tips

Quickfire study tips by @annabaestudying

Quick study tip by @studyspiratiom-coffee

Rare study tips by @studybllog

Scientifically proven study tips by @swankiegrades

Secret study tips I wish someone would have told me by @fearlessroadtomd

Some rare study tips by @organisedorgana

Top 5 study tips by @studyign

Weird study tip by @artemissstudies

101 study tips by @study-early

Study tips by @howtohighschool

Study tips from someone who has already been there by @haylstudies

Study tips straight from my professor by @just-refuse-to-be-stopped

Study tips that helped me get back on my feet by @sillydaisies

Study tips that aren’t bullshit by @thebitchwhomadeit

Tips for effective study by @kimtented

How I write revision summaries by @athenastudying

Ways to study for exams that are actually productive

10 mistakes when studying by @howtostudyquick

Memorising information

How to memorise information by @monetstudy

How to memorise information faster by @qxzu

Memorization tips by @aescademic

Memorization tips by @determinationandcaffeine

Memorization tips by @studyquill

Exam tips

How to cope with exams by @uk-studying

How to revise for exams by @a-pro-s-studyblr

Studying for exams by @orangeblossomstudies

Tips for doing well on your exams by @aboysstudyblr

Tips for doing well on your exams by @thepeachystudies

Exam tips by @studywithmaggie

Exam guides

Finals: study guide for the brave by @educatier

Pennyfynotes guide to exam season by @pennyfynotes

Quick guide to doing the finals by @inkskinned

Test taking tips

How I revise for exams + tests

How to study for a test by @tbhstudying

My test taking tips by @55studies

Test taking tips

Exam preparation

How to make a stress free exam plan by @marias-studyblr

How to mentally prep yourself for a test by @eruditicn

Procrastination

How to beat procrastination by @eintsein

Types of procrastination and how to deal with them by @emmastudies

Time management

Time management by @academiceve

Time management tips for busy students

Motivation

My motivation tag

Other masterposts by me

Notetaking masterpost

College advice masterpost

Apps for students masterpost

Icon credits to @rhubarbstudies

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what tips would you give to someone who wants to learn a new language, or continue learning a language over the summer break?? any apps or websites, or ways to stay motivated?

Learning a new language or continuing learning is honestly something I struggle with simply because of my experience with bad teachers, BUT I can still give you some tips on what I’ve done to stay motivated so far.

Find a language you are passionate about!! If you’re burnt out on what you’re learning, find a new language to learn. It’s not ideal to start back in square one, but it’s okay to do so!

Make flash cards! Everyone recommends this, but you can make a game out of what you’re learning. If you’re on the go, I recommend downloading Tinycards. Since it’s owned by Duolingo, they have sets premade for your target language.

Watch videos. This has helped a lot with learning a new language for me. You can either watch educational videos where you’re being taught grammar or vocab or you can watch videos of people speaking in your target language.

Interact with the language! Watch movies, listen to music, etc. Find different genres you might not enjoy in your native language and try them your target language! You never know what new content you come across that you enjoy.

Google Translate is not your enemy. It’s okay to use it. It’s not what people want to hear, but it’s ok to use if you’re struggling with how to pronounce a word or if there’s a word you simply just don’t know.

Pace yourself. Work on your target language at least 15 minutes a day especially for new learners. It sounds daunting, but practice makes for motivation.

Some apps/websites I recommend:

Duolingo

Tinycards

Memrise

YouTube (Use this to learn the alphabet and numbers. Duolingo seems to not understand “beginner” means you’re a beginner.)

Leo

Google Translate

Spotify/Pandora

Netflix/Hulu

These are all pretty standard tips that I’ve seen, but I fully stand by all of them. More tips can be found at my Langblr @ess-tset under the tag #learning. I hope this helps!

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