It’s that time of the year again! No, unfortunately not Christmas time just yet, but finals time.
I find it hard to believe that the quarter is coming to a close, but nonethless it’s time to strap in and buckle down academically. The studying is about to begin! Whether you are someone who paces your studying throughout the quarter or someone who plans on learning all the materials quickly in a last ditch effort to pass, we all need a little help to clarify any concepts that escape our realm of understanding. Even if you just need some quick review and reinforcement of concepts learned early on, Khan Academy is the site for you.
I’ve known about Khan Academy for quite sometime, but when my friend failed to recognize my reference to it, I realized this wasn’t the case for most people. And so it seemed I should spread the knowledge to all desperate college students, because this site is really a lifesaver!
Khan Academy is an academic website started by Salman Khan, an MIT and Harvard Business School alumnus, whose main goal was to make education accessible and clear to those who wished for it. He wanted to do so through the uploading of instructional and educational videos.
The site is basically an educational YouTube. The homepage is slightly intimidating, despite its vivid color scheme. Don’t be alarmed by its blankness! Just go straight for its drop-down menu labeled “Learn” and click on the subject of your choice. You don’t need an account to watch their content, so it’s super easy!
Khan Academy offers a wide range of subjects including anything from “3rd Grade Math” to “Computer Programming.” Under each overarching subject they have sub-headings for multiple categories, as well. For example, “Science” can be narrowed down to “Physics or Science” which can in turn be narrowed further to “Biology.” Once you click on a specific subject they will have a list of video categories for the major concepts. From there, it is only a matter of watching and paying attention!
The website does a good job of explicitly and succinctly explaining the foundational basics. They do get into harder topics and examples, but not to the same thorough degree. So, I primarily go there to have basic concepts, like those of Organic Chemistry, explained to me in a simple manner. That way I am completely comfortable with those concepts before moving on. Hopefully, after getting the foundation down, building from there becomes easy (or at least, easier)! Plus, with subjects like math, they even provide practice problems at the end, so you can make sure you know what you‘re doing before moving forward.
Let Khan Academy be your study buddy for this finals week, and best of luck!