Well that’s certainly one blog post title I never imagined writing! But here we are.
I’ve gotten several emails asking me for advice on how to proceed for the spring exam. My general recommendation is to focus mostly on concept-based learning right now. Due to the timing of events, most people had completed their first pass through the course lessons. If you’re in this group, I recommend just going back to the beginning and using this extra time to firm up your conceptual understanding as much as possible. I would put off any heavy duty memorization until we have a firm exam date. Memorization is more of a short-term memory exercise, so I think it has less value until you have a concrete exam date to target.
I’m hoping we have a firm decision on the spring exam by end of April, but if we end up crossing into May without a firm date (and the exam is still on), at that point I would start allocating more time to memorization in case the exam gets scheduled on the early end of the June-Sept time frame.
Hopefully this makes sense and gives you some structure to work within. I think above all else, it’s critical to form a structured plan and try to stick with that. This will give you a greater sense of control and probably help you get more out of each study hour. I also recommend sticking with a regimented at-home study schedule if your plan is to continue studying (e.g. allocate specific blocks of the day to study and don’t study outside that). During study time, put your phone in another room and do your best to tune out this crazy world we’re in right now!
If you are simply unable to focus on studying right now, don’t beat yourself up! This is an unprecedented situation, and none of us go a day without worrying about something. It’s OK to be worried, and it’s OK to exercise your option to defer your spring registration to fall if that’s a better strategy given your personal circumstances.