Quick tips to conquer finals

A student in glasses reviews advising materials with another student at a table, both working on laptops in a campus study space.

Camdyn Tollett meets with Abigail Maynard in the Center for Academic Support and Advisement. Photo by Angela Foster.

Students at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga often dread the phrase “finals week.” However, there are resources available on campus to conquer those fears.

UTC’s academic coaching program coordinator, Teresa Harrison, provided some of her tips for students to succeed during finals.

“The biggest tip is to not wait until the last minute,” Harrison said. “I will not sit here and tell you that cramming doesn’t work. It absolutely works for test purposes only, but most of your collegiate-level material is going to build on itself. Cramming is not a sufficient way to learn the material.

“The material may be taught in a specific order, but your test is probably not going to be given in that order. So when you’re studying, you need to make sure that you’re mixing the material up, changing up ideas, putting them out of order.”

Harrison said it’s important that students shouldn’t hesitate to ask for help.

“There are lots of resources on campus,” she explained. “Students who have midterm essay-type projects coming up can work with the research librarians here in the library. They can also work with the Writing Plaza to get help in writing their papers.”

Along with the library and writing plaza, there are more resources to help students succeed.

The Center for Academic Support and Advisement (CASA) is a resource that students can use to receive tutoring, supplemental instruction and academic coaching, and provides additional programs and services to promote student success.

“Here in CASA, we have peer coaches who can help them create that study plan to get ready for their exams,” she said.

Harrison said students can set up meetings with her or any of the other CASA tutors. “Come meet with a peer academic coach and they can help you come up with the exact times that you’re going to study for each of your classes and create a detailed concrete plan.”

If students do not have the time to meet in person, Harrison suggested an at-home method for studying.

“The Pomodoro method is when you set a timer for 20 minutes and you study for 20 minutes, and then you set a timer for 10 minutes and take a 10-minute break,” she said.

To learn more about CASA, students can set up appointments to discuss the many services they offer. The center can be found in UTC Library Room 335.