How To Study Physics
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/chapman.htm

Suggestions for Physics Students
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/chapman.htm

the goal of physics is to describe the maximum number of things going on in our universe in terms of the minimum number of general principles. Furthermore, these principles should be as simple as possible.

In most physics courses, the primary source of your information is the textbook.

After the class on that topic, carefully reread the appropriate sections of the textbook. "Carefully" means sentence by sentence, being sure that you understand sentence 93 before going on to sentence 94, for example.

Verbalizing the words that are used for the quantities in a relationship helps to embed the meaning of that relationship in your brain.

Pay careful attention to the definitions of new terms in the chapter and learn them. Don't just memorize them, understand them! Some things can't be derived from simpler ideas; they are defined and you just have to remember them.

As you study, remember that there are only a few basic principles that you need to know. It is a waste of your time and energy to clutter either your mind or your
notecard with every equation in the textbook. There are only a few that are fundamental. They are the ones to understand thoroughly-- both what they mean and how to apply them. In most textbooks, each chapter is centered around one or two main ideas. Work at picking them out and understanding them.

In physics, perhaps more than in any other subject, it is necessary to develop an ability to analyze problems, to reason logically, and to discriminate between important and irrelevant material. Consequently, efforts to memorize physics are practically worthless. For most students physics involves many new concepts. To master the material takes work, and that takes time.

When you study, really study. Much of your time may be lost in slipshod thinking, daydreaming, following blind alleys of thought, and just plain loafing. Probably you have experienced times when your process of learning was very easy and rapid. Try to figure out how this happened and then try to duplicate the occurrence.

I'ts better to know a few things, and know them very well, than to know a little about everything but not much about anything.