UH professor Douglas Erwing allows his students to guide his test-making efforts. The history and law professor also invites his classes to his home for a dinner. | Kathleen Murrill

UH professor Douglas Erwing begins a three-hour nighttime study session with the students of history class by sitting at the front, cutting up the fresh orange he plucked from his garden and asking “So what’s going to be on this test?”

He quizzes them guiding them to deliver intelligent, calculated responses to his thought-provoking questions. He pushes his students to think beyond the text and begin to create their own questions for the exam.

Erwing has swam in the Nile River, spent a year teaching in China and is currently practicing real estate law in addition to being a professor in the Honors College, but he said one of the biggest thrills in his life comes from working with his students in the classroom and during these study sessions.

“I enjoy sharing and interacting with young, bright minds and exchanging big ideas. I am perfectly well aware that there are a healthy number of the students who are in fact smarter than I am and more capable,” Erwing said. “I enjoy just doing my little part in helping spur (my students) into being the best they can be.”

Inclusive approach

Erwing has been conducting these study sessions for his students since he came to the University to teach three years ago after finishing a dual J.D./Ph.D program at UH in 2007. He got the idea for these sessions while he was still a student attempting to study for his own finals.

“I had become frustrated with being ambushed by questions on an exam. I would read the questions and think, ‘That’s a good question. Why didn’t I think of it?’” Erwing said. “So from my undergraduate years and my experience as a student trying to take the material to a new level and be intellectually active with it rather than just learning the dates, I realized a good way to do that is to come up with your own questions (with other students).”

In addition to these nighttime group studies, every semester Erwing invites his class to his house for dinner.

Students are invited to sit on his screened-in front porch that looks out into his garden, play with his dogs and eat as much as they want.

With a little persuasion, Erwing will even jump into his beekeeping outfit and show his students the honey he has been collecting as a side hobby for about a year.

Inspired by students

Erwing said he loves inviting his students over because it is an opportunity to engage with them outside the school setting.

“(My students) are interesting, bright and engaging people. Teaching is a rewarding experience but it can be a little stifling to just spend the time inside the classroom,” Erwing said. “So I enjoy the opportunity to spend a little time outside of the class. I think it is healthy to be in the company of someone who is older and whom you have had experience with and interact with them. I also enjoy creating a forum for (my students) to get together, shoot the bull and enjoy each other’s company.”

At the end of the study session as his students are packing up and he is finishing his orange, Erwing tells everyone that they will do great on the test and encourages them to get some sleep.

After, he rides off on his bike satisfied with the test he has just created with the help of those being tested.

Illustration by Alex Tomic

Yet another school year has ended, and summer is within your grasp. You can imagine spending your days with sunburns forming on your back as you day dream about Ryan Gosling, shirtless of course, and think about nothing else while you lie on a towel next to the water.

But before you stroll on into your summer paradise, you need to, first of all, buy some aloe vera cause those sunburns are going to hurt and peel. Then, after your quick trip to Walgreens, you need to slip on back into reality and face the facts that along with the summer sun comes skin cancer. Just kidding, it’s finals. But, on a side note, you should definitely be SPFing it up.

So in order to get you through these next couple weeks, I have complied a list of some non-traditional study tips. Because, let’s be honest here, staring at the pages of your book for hours and realizing that you know nothing about that subject is getting kind of boring. And although that flower or random animal you have drawn in the margin of your notes as a result of your boredom is super cute, you need my help.

Tip 1: Get jiggy with it

Will Smith in all his infinite wisdom left you a study tip gem on his second album, Big Willy Style — turn whatever you need to memorize into a song. You know how songs will get stuck in your head, especially the ones you love to hate or swear you never listen to but in reality know every word? Well, the same will work with your study material. Just rhyme a few words, put it to some catchy beat and then your notes will be stuck in your head like every Britney Spears song ever.

Tip 2: Namaste those finals

Instead of trying to cram in more information or, you know, crying before your exam, take some deep breaths at a yoga class. It will relax your body, mind and spirit. You don’t have to be flexible, wear Lululemon or even be a vegetarian to enjoy the class. While in downward dog, all that blood flow to your brain may just help you do better on your test, or it will at the very least give you a slight head rush.

Tip 3: Become Amish

Now, this tip is not for the faint of heart, but hear me out. Until your finals are done, I suggest you deactivate your Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube accounts and maybe even shut off your phone and then live in a complete Amish-like state. I know it’s pretty drastic. The Amish clothing part is optional though cause not everyone can pull off a straw hat or a bonnet. But for however long your finals last, you remain Amish and study your little heart out. Then, once all those finals are over, it’s Rumspringa!

Tip 4: Be a Gamer

Don’t go firing up that Xbox just yet. I am talking about making games out of your test material. Now, drop that controller and go grab a sheet of paper, some sticky notes, a pen and then find a wall. On the sheet of paper, scribble out some questions from your review and then use the sticky notes to create a jeopardy board on that blank wall of yours. After that, you can go all Alex Trebek on that final. Invite some classmates over or go at solo. The choice is yours. Other study games include Who Wants to be a Graduate, Whose Final Is It Anyway and Degree or No Degree.

Tip 5: Get Tested

After you’ve studied for a couple hours, played a round of Final Feud, pulled a hammy dancing to your own study song and lived like your parents once had to, it is time to test yourself. Go through your notes and book and create a final for yourself. Even better, do it with a classmate with each of you making up the other’s test. This is great way to make sure these wonderful tips are actually effective for you. If they aren’t, you should probably blame yourself because you are obviously doing something wrong. Testing yourself is the best way to know where you stand with the material, find out what you need to go back and study and see if you are smarter than your classmate. Plus, no awkward trip to the health center is needed.