Improving Your Study Skills

Strategies for 'Staying on Track'

1. Decide what to study and for how long (reasonable time) and how much (chapters, pages, problems, etc.). Set goals and reach the goals you have set for yourself.

2. To combat procrastination, start off with an easy, interesting aspect of the project or task.

3. Find special places where the atmosphere will be conducive to studying. Take into consideration aspects such as lighting, noise, and temperature.

4. Study for 50 minutes and then take a 10-minute break. Stretch, relax, and have an energy snack.

5. Use longer time periods for organizing concepts, outlining, and writing papers. Use shorter periods of time for review, memorization, and recall.

6. If you get tired or bored switch the task or subject you are working on. Stop studying when you are no longer productive.

7. Do memory tasks and review, before you fall asleep.

8. Study in groups or with a friend. Quiz each other, compare notes and predict possible test questions.

Preparing for Exams

1. When an exam is announced -

   •  Find out what the exam will or won't cover

   •  Find out what kind of exam it will be: objective, short essay, long essay, or a combination.

 

2. Exam Study - Prepare summary sheets for large amounts of lecture and textbook notes.

•  Spend several nights before an exam making a final review of notes.

•  Stress the following in your review -

  1. Points emphasized in class or in the text

  2. Areas the professor has advised to study

  3. Questions in study guides, past quizzes, and reviews at the end of textbook chapters

3. Preparation by type of exam -

•  Objective exams: Study as if it were an essay exam.

•  Stress specifics -

  1. Definitions of key terms and examples

  2. List of terms

  3. For true/false, write some false statements

•  Essay Exams

  1. Stress concepts

  2. List probable questions

  3. Prepare a good outline/answer and practice it

•  Problem Exams

  1. Memorize formulas if needed

  2. Practice problems

Basic Guidelines for Concentration

1. Set aside a place to study, and only study there.

   •  Find a specific place (or places) that you will only use for studying (for example: library, classrooms, or lounge in residence hall or student center.

   •  Insure that your study area has the following -

     1. Good lighting

     2. A comfortable chair, but not too comfortable

     3. A space large enough to spread out your materials

     4. Comfortable climate

   •  Make sure your study area does NOT have the following:

     1. A distracting view of other activities that you would like to be involved in

     2. A telephone

     3. A loud stereo

     4. A TV

     5. A roommate or friend wanting to talk

2. Divide your work into small, short-range goals.

• Do not set goals that are vague and large like. "I'm going to spend all day Saturday studying." You will only set yourself up for failure and discouragement.

• Take the time that you have scheduled to study and set a reachable study goal. For example-finish reading three sections of chapter seven in your sociology book or write the rough draft to the introduction of your Psychology Lab Report, etc.

• Set your goal when you sit down to study before you begin to work.

• Be sure to set a goal that you can reach. You may do more than your goal, but remember to set a reasonable goal even though it may seem too easy.

Time Management Tips for Concentration

Make a tenatative weekly schedule on a piece of paper

1. List all classes and other fixed activities.

2. Add time needed for meals, sleep, job, travel, grooming.

3. Estimate and list time needed for studying each subject, generally 2 to 3 hours per credit per week.

4. Find your periods of peak efficiency when you are likely to study better. It would be wise to study your most difficult subjects then.

5. Be sure to use any free hours between classes.

6. Allow time to preview and review. For example, if your have a free time between classes, it is wise to spend it reviewing and revising notes from the preceding lecture.

7. Schedule each study period as close to that class meeting as possible.

8. Try to avoid confusion by scheduling the study time of unlike subjects consecutively. If you must study alike subjects consecutively, take a break in between.

9. Be sure to plan some time for recreation to help relieve stress.

Adapt your schedule to changing situations

1. Allow longer periods in your schedule to work on major projects and papers the weeks when you have scheduled to work on these.

2. Be sure to plan ahead for final exams by scheduling a final exam review at least three weeks ahead. Plan to spend time on extensive review several night before the exam and to use the night before to review the concepts that are still vague.

3. Allow some time in your schedule that can be used flexibly in case some emergencies arise during scheduled study periods.

Additional pointers

1. Use odd periods of time for some reviewing or reading. Periods of time spent on a bus or waiting for a doctor's appointment may be used this way.

2. Make use of moments when you are too tired to study or the environment is not conducive to studying to organize your notes or to prepare your materials for the next day.

3. Consider your schedule as a flexible guide, not as a hard rule. Allow some flexibility in anything you do.

Tips for Writing Papers

Students often procrastinate when it comes to writing papers. Usually writing papers becomes something that is done at the last minute, most of the time still hot off of the printer when you go to class to turn it in. As a result, grades often suffer. Writing is a skill that can be learned by anyone. Planning and organization are the essential aspects that a student must have to write a good paper. Suggested below is a guide to organized writing. Use this outline in writing class assignments, essay tests, and term papers.

1. Introduction- Opening paragraph

   •  Begin with a general statement.

   •  Narrow it down to the controlling idea (or thesis statement).

2. Body - Three Developing Paragraphs
   In each paragraph:

   •  Use transitions (repetition of keywords and ideas) to connect paragraphs together.

   •  Develop the topic sentence with details, definitions, illustrations, comparisons, and contrasts.

   •  Conclude the paragraph with a summary of the main idea.

3. Conclusion - Finishing Paragraph

   •  Restate the thesis.

   •  End with the general statement finalizing the discussion.

Study Tips

Decide what to study (reasonable task) and how long or how many (chapters, pages, problems, etc.). Set and stick to deadlines.

Do difficult tasks first. For procrastination, start off with an easy, interesting aspect of the project.

Have special places to study. Take into consideration lighting, temperature, and availability of materials.

Study 50 minutes, and then take a 10 minute break. Stretch, relax, have an energy snack.

Allow longer, "massed" time periods for organizing relationships and concepts, outlining, and writing papers. Use shorter, "spaced" time intervals for rote memorization, review, and self-testing. Use odd moments for recall/review.

If you get tired or bored, switch task/activity, subject, or environment. Stop studying when you are no longer being productive.

Do rote memory tasks and review, especially details, just before you fall asleep.

Study with a friend. Quiz each other, compare notes and predicted test questions.

Study Traps

"I Don't Know Where To Begin" Take Control. Make a list of all the things you have to do. Break your workload down into manageable chunks. Prioritize! Schedule your time realistically. Don't skip classes near an exam -- you may miss a review session. Use that hour in between classes to review notes. Interrupt study time with planned study breaks. Begin studying early, with an hour or two per day, and slowly build as the exam approaches.

"I've Got So Much To Study . . . And So Little Time" Preview. Survey your syllabus, reading material, and notes. Identify the most important topics emphasized, and areas still not understood. Previewing saves time, especially with non-fiction reading, by helping you organize and focus in on the main topics. Adapt this method to your own style and study material, but remember, previewing is not an effective substitute for reading.

"This Stuff Is So Dry, I Can't Even Stay Awake Reading It" Attack! Get actively involved with the text as you read. Ask yourself, "What is important to remember about this section?" Take notes or underline key concepts. Discuss the material with others in your class. Study together. Stay on the offensive, especially with material that you don't find interesting, rather than reading passively and missing important points.

"I Read It. I Understand It. But I Just Can't Get It To Sink In" Elaborate. We remember best the things that are most meaningful to us. As you are reading, try to elaborate upon new information with your own examples. Try to integrate what you're studying with what you already know. You will be able to remember new material better if you can link it to something that's already meaningful to you. Some techniques include:

Chunking: An effective way to simplify and make information more meaningful. For example, suppose you wanted to remember the colors in the visible spectrum (Red, Orange , Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet); you would have to memorize seven "chunks" of information in order. But if you take the first letter of each color, you can spell the name "Roy G. Biv", and reduce the information into three "chunks".

Mnemonics: Any memory-assisting technique that helps us to associate new information with something familiar. For example, to remember a formula or equation, we may use letters of the alphabet to represent certain numbers. Then we can change an abstract formula into a more meaningful word or phrase, so we'll be able to remember it better. Sound-alike associations can be very effective, too, especially while trying to learn a new language. The key is to create your own links, then you won't forget them.

"I Guess I Understand It" Test yourself. Make up questions about key sections in notes or reading. Keep in mind what the professor has stressed in the course. Examine the relationships between concepts and sections. Often, simply by changing section headings you can generate many effective questions. For example, a section entitled "Bystander Apathy" might be changed into questions such as: "What is bystander apathy?", "What are the causes of bystander apathy?", and "What are some examples of bystander apathy?"

"There's Too Much To Remember" Organize. Information is recalled better if it is represented in an organized framework that will make retrieval more systematic. There are many techniques that can help you organize new information, including:

• Write chapter outlines or summaries; emphasize relationships between sections.

• Group information into categories or hierarchies, where possible.

• Information Mapping. Draw up a matrix to organize and interrelate material. For example, if you were trying to understand the causes of World War I, you could make a chart listing all the major countries involved across the top, and then list the important issues and events down the side. Next, in the boxes in between, you could describe the impact each issue had on each country to help you understand these complex historical developments.

"I Knew It A Minute Ago" Review. After reading a section, try to recall the information contained in it. Try answering the questions you made up for that section. If you cannot recall enough, re-read portions you had trouble remembering. The more time you spend studying, the more you tend to recall. Even after the point where information can be perfectly recalled, further study makes the material less likely to be forgotten entirely. In other words, you can't over study. However, how you organize and integrate new information is still more important than how much time you spend studying.

"But I Like To Study In Bed" Context. Recall is better when study context (physical location, as well as mental, emotional, and physical state) are similar to the test context. The greater the similarity between the study setting and the test setting, the greater the likelihood that material studied will be recalled during the test.

"Cramming Before A Test Helps Keep It Fresh In My Mind" Spacing: Start studying now. Keep studying as you go along. Begin with an hour or two a day about one week before the exam, and then increase study time as the exam approaches. Recall increases as study time gets spread out over time.

"I'm Gonna Stay Up All Night 'til I Get This" Avoid Mental Exhaustion. Take short breaks often when studying. Before a test, have a rested mind. When you take a study break, and just before you go to sleep at night, don't think about academics. Relax and unwind, mentally and physically. Otherwise, your break won't refresh you and you'll find yourself lying awake at night. It's more important than ever to take care of yourself before an exam! Eat well, sleep, and get enough exercise.

This information has been adapted from the following websites, refer to them for more assistance.

http://www.unc.edu/depts/unc_caps/TenTraps.html
http://spanish.allinfo-about.com
http://www.eop.mu.edu/study
http://www.sciencemag.org
http://www.math.com
http://www.chapman.edu/cas/successskillstoc.html