Textbook Companion Sites Can Be a Good Study Resource

Next time you're looking for a way to study for that psychology exam, try visiting your textbook's online companion Web site. These sites are interactive and provide learning resources that help you get the most you can from a course. They can contain valuable study tools that help you to expand on and test your knowledge. Don't know how to find it? Often the Web address is printed somewhere within the first few pages of the book or on the publisher's Web site. Just make sure you find it, bookmark it, and then visit it before your next exam because textbook companion sites can help you study the chapter's vocabulary, concepts, and questions.

These sites can contain glossary and flashcard sections to help you learn the most important words in the chapter. A glossary page typically lists all of the words that appeared in bold in your textbook along with their definitions in alphabetical order. Usually there is also a flashcard section. Everyone knows that making flashcards are a great way to study, but long gone are the days of making your own by spending hours writing down definitions. These interactive flashcards can be a useful way to memorize and then test your knowledge on the words that matter most.

Companion sites also contain chapter summaries and learning objective sections that help you grasp the most important concepts in the chapter. The summary provides an overview on what the chapter was about and covers the main points in it. The learning objectives section provides a list of the primary concepts, ideas, and theories, you should be familiar with after reading the chapter. This helps give you an idea on what you are expected to learn from the chapter as well as how you should be able to reiterate that information.

Perhaps one of the most valuable resources you can access on a companion Web site is the interactive quizzes and exams. One of the best ways to study for an exam is by applying your knowledge to a question and answer form. Often some of the questions come directly from the book's test bank. If you have a professor who isn't crazy about coming up with 50 original multiple choice questions, then one of these questions might just come up on that pop quiz or midterm exam.