The best way to prepare for an exam is to actually take one under the same circumstances as the real thing, just as musicians do dress rehearsals, football players play scrimmages, and athletes in general train under conditions similar to those they will play in, compete in, etc.

Thus you should start by taking a sample test with a time limit and with no books or notes available and no distractions.  You might want to use the old finals on reserve in the library, the Chapter Reviews and Tests or other section exercises to construct sample exams or a final.  However, be aware of differences in material covered by various sources of problems (for instance, the two sample finals are from another instructor's course and do not include material from 9.3 and 9.4 on vectors or from 13.6).

This will help you identify the areas you most need to work on and thus make the time spent studying most effective.

It will generally be most productive per unit of study time for you to be actively working problems, either from the sections or from the Review Exercises and only checking them after you are done.  As you do so, focus on increasing speed and accuracy and avoid relying on the book or notes.  This will help you arrive confident that you are ready to take the exam.

You will probably also find it helpful to

• understand and correct errors on old quizzes and exams,
• organize the important material into your own outline or study guide, and/or
• generate your own "Summary of Principal Formulas and Terms" and then compare to the one at the end of the chapter.

After you have worked extra problems on the sections you had the most difficulty with, construct another sample exam but with different problems and work on improvement.