How Do You Guy's Study?

Master Of Puppets

chrisone wrote: »

1. Read Official cert guides (Cisco Press)
2. CBT Nuggets videos
3. Youtube (amazing free examples online!)
4. Labs
5. Practice questions (End of Ch questions, cisco press provided quiz exam simulations, Boson simulations)
6. Online Forums (cisco and networking forums)


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Ha! That is exactly what I do and I must say it really gets the job done. Also, if I am studying for long hours like in the weekends, I rest every 1:30-2 hours to have a snack or something. Sometimes I listen to my favorite music for a couple of minutes - for example some Metallica or Rammstein and I am ready to go through a thousand pages

IT69

Read, Watch Videos. Read again, watch videos again,take detailed notes the 2nd time. Take practice tests and read/watch videos on anything you are even slightly weak in. Read from a different source and take different practice tests,if I miss a question/feel weak in any area I will read the chapter in relation to whatever it is. While doing this I will try to get as much lab/hands on/experience as possible in relation to whatever I am studying......which usually means spending a good amount of time in Packet Tracer/GNS3(maybe a real rack soon).Eventually I will to get to a stage where I have all the material and concepts down and will only be missing specific memorization questions on practice exams(speeds,port #s, etc..),I am usually ready for the exam here and will spend some time memorizing tables of the specific info using flash cards. There is more detail and I am refining and fine tuning my study habits more and more with experience, this is the base of it and seems similar to what most are doing!

instant000

1. I look up information on whatever it is I'm studying.

I tend to break the topic up into bite-sized chunks. If it's a general course, it probably has a syllabus online that you can look up and compare from several colleges. If it is a certification test, you can look up the syllabus from the vendor, as well as online forums. The reason for this is that you sometimes find that topics aren't necessarily in the syllabus, but turn up on the exams. If you're aware of these topics, you can add them to your study plan. I look up books on the topic. I look for sources that will give me "more than enough" on the topic. The bare minimum is not good enough, if you want to really "know" the topic. This sometimes includes looking up vendor documentation. For Microsoft, you have TechNet. For Cisco, you have its online documentation. For example, in reviewing for CCNP, I'm probably checking out Bryant Advantage, Cisco documention, FLGs, and Lab Manuals, at a minimum (I used more than this, but this is just an example.)

2. I like to figure out "why" it is used.

For each topic, it is broken down into a smaller chunk. For example, a smaller chunk of CCNP is review of multicast. I want to know practical usages of the technology. Is there a particular problem it solves?

3. Draw a picture.

I like to be able to draw a picture of how the technology works. That is, for each of those "practical uses" I came up with earlier, I want to draw a picture of how that works in practice. If you can "visualize" how the technology works, it makes it a lot easier to remember it, in general. Implementation details can be filled in later. It helps sometimes to read RFCs to fill in the picture. If you have the space for it, get a whiteboard at home, so you can draw pictures if you feel like it. For example, drawing a multicast tree feels and looks more impressive on a whiteboard. I got one quite reasonably for less than $50.

4. Implementation details.

There's a certain amount to most technologies where there are detailed steps on getting things to talk to each other. Exact implementation details will vary from vendor-to-vendor, but the basics of how something works really doesn't. Multicast is multicast, whether you're on Junos or Cisco IOS, and the steps to implement, verify, and troubleshoot will be similar.

5. Memorization.

There are going to be a few things that you will just memorize, as they're little factoids that are necessary to fill in the picture you drew in step 3. (For example, how to identify a multicast address.) Things are a little easier to memorize if they actually have some usefulness, which you established earlier, in steps 2 and 3. Flash cards are great here. Using some program like mnemosyne or cuecard comes in quite handy here. Anything that can get you the spaced repetition you require that makes things stick. I even make flash cards for configuration, verification, and troubleshooting. It is probably worth it to figure out a spaced repetition schedule that works for you.

6. Practice.

Practice implementing the technology. This actually depends on how much hands-on I have with the technology. If it's something I do a lot of, probably not so much. If it's something I see rarely, I practice it more. This also includes reviewing practice tests. Practice until you know it verbatim. The rote method works.

7. Schedule the test, and pass.

8. On to the next one.

gorebrush

My method: -

1. Read book quickly to gauge an idea of the content
2. Read a 2nd time and take notes all the way through. It can be a slow process but I learn very well this way
3. Watch Videos, take notes
4. Lab stuff, and refer to nuggets and notes and finally book
5. Rinse repeat
6. ???
7. Profit.

JustFred

1.I read on one screen while taking notes using Freemind (its a free mind map software)
2.Lab
3.Watch videos

Go back and do it all over again, ask people who know more than i do

bobloblaw

I do similar to instant overall.

I hand write my notes. I type my notes post chapter. I quiz. I hand write more notes. I amend my current notes. Nearing the test I trim the notes down drastically by removing things I know emphatically.

Anything I truly don't know prior to test, I make a cram sheet that's no more than a few pages. Study prior to test for ~20-30 minutes in the car. Regurgitate what I was memorizing pre-test onto the notepad once the test starts.

SteveO86

I saw a question about notes, I've been using Evernote for years.

Got it on my Phone, Laptop, and iPad got everything organized into Notebooks with tags and subjects so it's easy to find what I need.

I'm a bit evernote fan.

southerne

I consult my notes and use other multiple sources like internet and perform searches to be more clear about the topic.