Study Skills 101 Study Skills Strategies What Are

Study Skills 101 Study Skills & Strategies

What Are Study Skills? • Study skills are learning strategies that facilitate the processing of information. Study skills help us organize and process information. They help us remember what we have learned. Study skills work best when we are conscious of our own learning processes. For example, when we want to reinforce our memory of a history lesson we had in class, we might read over our notes to help us recall the lesson and to make us aware of where we need to focus. This awareness of our own thinking and learning is known as metacognition. • Study skills encompass a wide range of behaviors that students can perform before, during, and after learning to help them retain and apply information presented in the classroom or at home. It is important for teachers and parents to promote and monitor the development of these skills, because study skills are most effective when students use them to come up with their own ways of organizing their studying.

10 Habits of Highly Effective Students 1. Don't attempt to cram all your studying into one session 2. Plan when you're going to study 3. Study at the same time 4. Each study time should have a specific goal 5. Never procrastinate your planned study session 6. Start with the most difficult subject first 7. Always review your notes before starting an assignment 8. Make sure you're not distracted while you're studying 9. Use study groups effectively 10. Review your notes, schoolwork and other class materials over the weekend

Don't Attempt To Cram All Your Studying Into One Session • Ever find yourself up late at night expending more energy trying to keep your eyelids open than you are studying? • If so, it's time for a change. • Successful students typically space their work out over shorter periods of time and rarely try to cram all of their studying into just one or two sessions. • If you want to become a successful student then you need to learn to be consistent in your studies and to have regular, yet shorter, study periods.

Plan When You're Going To Study • Successful students schedule specific times throughout the week when they are going to study -- and then they stick with their schedule. • Students who study occasionally typically do not perform as well as students who have a set study schedule. • Even if you're all caught up with your studies, creating a weekly routine, where you set aside a period of time a few days a week, to review your courses will ensure you develop habits that will enable you to succeed in your

Study At The Same Time • Not only is it important that you plan when you're going to study, it's important you create a consistent, daily study routine. • When you study at the same time each day and each week, your studying will become a regular part of your life. • You'll be mentally and emotionally more prepared for each study session and each study session will become more productive. • If you have to change your schedule from time to time due to unexpected events, that's okay, but get back on

Each Study Time Should Have A Specific Goal • Simply studying without direction is not effective. • You need to know exactly what you need to accomplish during each study session. • Before you start studying, set a study session goal that supports your overall academic goal (i. e. memorize 30 vocabulary words in order to ace the vocabulary section on an upcoming Spanish test. )

Never Procrastinate Your Planned Study Session • It's very easy, and common, to put off your study session because of lack of interest in the subject, because you have other things you need to get done, or just because the assignment is hard. • Successful students DO NOT procrastinate studying. • If you procrastinate your study session, your studying will become much less effective and you may not get everything accomplished that you need to. • Procrastination also leads to rushing, and rushing is the number one cause of errors.

Start With The Most Difficult Subject First • As your most difficult assignment or subject will require the most effort and mental energy, you should start with it first. • Once you've completed the most difficult work, it will be much easier to complete the rest of your work. • Believe it or not, starting with the most difficult subject will greatly improve the effectiveness of your study sessions, and your academic performance.

Always Review Your Notes Before Starting An Assignment • Obviously, before you can review your notes you must first have notes to review. • Always make sure to take good notes in class. • Before you start each study session, and before you start a particular assignment, review your notes thoroughly to make sure you know how to complete the assignment correctly. • Reviewing your notes before each study session will help you remember important subject matter learned during the day, and make sure your studying is targeted and effective.

Make Sure You're Not Distracted While You're Studying • Everyone gets distracted by something. Maybe it's the TV. Or maybe it's your family. Or maybe it's just too quite. Some people actually study better with a little background noise. • When you're distracted while studying you (1) loose your train of thought and (2) are unable to focus -- both of which will lead to very ineffective studying. • Before you start studying find a place where you won't be disturbed or distracted. For some people this is a quite cubical in the recesses of the library. For others is in a common area where there is a little background noise.

Use Study Groups Effectively • Ever heard the phrase "two heads are better than one? " Well this can be especially true when it comes to studying. • Working in groups enables you to (1) get help from others when you're struggling to understand a concept, (2) complete assignments more quickly, and (3) teach others, whereby helping both the other students and yourself to internalize the subject matter. • However, study groups can become very ineffective if they're not structured and if groups members come unprepared. Effective students use study groups effectively.

Review Your Notes, Schoolwork And Other Class Materials Over The Weekend • Successful students review what they've learned during the week over the weekend. • This way they're well prepared to continue learning new concepts that build upon previous coursework and knowledge acquired the previous week.

Improving Your Note Taking • Effective note taking is one of the keys to succeeding in school. Students should devote a considerable amount of time reviewing information discussed during classroom lectures. It is very difficult to remember specific details–event major concepts–from classroom lectures without good notes. • These note taking strategies will help you to take better notes: • Make clear and accurate notes • Come to class prepared • Compare your notes • Minimize distractions • Organize your notes • Use abbreviations and symbols • Write clearly • Review your notes • Write down questions

Make Clear And Accurate Notes • Make sure to take legible and accurate notes since it is not uncommon to forget key details discussed during class after it has ended. • Frequently, students comprehend the teacher's lecture and think they'll remember everything, so they neglect to jot down specific details only to find later that they can't recall what it was they needed to remember. • Students who keep accurate notes can review them later to review key points, recall necessary detail, solidify knowledge and study up on concepts they didn't fully comprehend during the lecture. Additionally, since teachers frequently cover many topics during the course of their lectures, effective notes enable students to concentrate on specific topics that are most relevant.

Come To Class Prepared • Students properly prepared for class usually take better notes than those who come unprepared. Proper preparation includes completing assigned reading prior to class and reviewing notes from previous lectures. • Students who review their notes from previous lectures (1) will have a better context for learning new topics presented in the next lecture and (2) can ask questions about confusing concepts the didn't quite understand from the previous lecture.

Compare Your Notes • To ensure your notes are as accurate and detailed as possible, compare them with the notes of other students after class is over. • This is useful because your colleagues will frequently write down lecture details that you forgot or missed. • This strategy will make classroom notes more thorough and precise.

Minimize Distractions • Effective note takers avoid classroom distractions. • This can include sitting in spots with fewer distractions and not signing up for classes with friends that you might want to talk with during lectures. • Some students will even sit in spots where it is difficult to constantly glance at the clock.

Organize Your Notes • Notes organized by date, class, and subject make it easier to locate specific lecture details. • It is also a good idea to keep information from different dates and classes separated or to begin each class with a new piece of paper. • A good format for organizing your notes is the Cornell System for Taking Notes.

Use Abbreviations And Symbols • Since teachers usually cover a lot of information during each lecture, it can be hard to write down everything important they say. This is why using symbols and that you abbreviate long words and use short phrases in your notes when possible is recommended. • Many students use the following symbols and abbreviations while taking notes: & (and), w/o (without), eg (for example), ie (that is). When utilizing abbreviations, create a key of your most commonly used abbreviations, so you will not forget what they are.

Write Clearly • The most copied notes will be of no benefit if you can't read them. • This is why it is important to use good penmanship when taking notes. • It is also recommended that you leave space in margins and near key concepts in your notepad, so you can add important details relating to previous lecture topics that are addressed during future lectures.

Review your notes • In order to retain information discussed during lectures, it is best to review notes immediately after class. This will help you better understand the lecture, your notes, and it will enable you to focus on what you just learned for long-term retention. • You should review your notes a second time just before your next lecture. This will help refresh in your mind important topics and concepts, and prepare you for the next lecture. You should continue to review your notes on a regular basis between your lectures and your exams.

Write Down Questions • No matter how intelligent a student is, from time to time they're bound to get confused and end up having questions unanswered by the lecture. • For this reason, it is a good idea to write down questions to ask after class, or during subsequent lectures. • You can also answer your own questions through a web search, a tutor, other student or by using reference books–but only if you wrote down your questions in enough detail during the lecture.

References • Cramming Clipart. (2017). India Today. Retrieved March 15, 2017 , from http: //media 2. intoday. in/indiatoday/images/stories/examss_350_031915105849. jpg • Classroom Clipart. (2017). DB Clipart. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //dbclipart. com/classroom-clipart-image-6470/ • Cornell Note Taking Clipart. (2017). BCBE. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //www. bcbe. org/cms/lib 08/AL 01901374/Centricity/Domain/3689/Cornell. Notes. png • Girl Studying Clipart. (2017). Clipart Panda. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //images. clipartpanda. com/college-student-studyingclipart-Girlstudying. jpg • Girl Studying on Floor Clipart. (2017). Clipart Library. Retrieved March 15, 2017 , from http: //clipart-library. com/clipart/540764. htm • How to Prepare for an Exam Clipart. (2017). Vrip Master. Retrieved March 15, 2017 , from https: //vripmaster. com/uploads/posts/images/1/1 c/Prepare-for-an-Exam-Step-6 -Version-2. jpg • Improving Your Note Taking. (2017). Education Corner. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //www. educationcorner. com/note-taking. html • Loveless, B. (2017). 10 Habits of Highly Effective Students. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //www. educationcorner. com/habits-ofsuccessful-students. html • Student Report Card Clipart. (2013). Clipart Kid. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //www. clipartkid. com/images/272/grade-for-the-2013 -14 -school-year-this-grade-reflects-riley-s-most-Rc 3 j. N 0 -clipart. jpg • Skills: An Overview. (2017). EMSTAC. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //www. emstac. org/registered/topics/studyskillsoverview. htm • Student Taking a Test Clipart. (2017). Clipart Kid. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //www. clipartkid. com/images/472/student-taking-atest-clip-art-free-cliparts-that-you-can-download-to-Pkb 5 g. N-clipart. png • Student Writing Clipart. (2017). Clipart Panda. Retrieved March 15, 2017, from http: //images. clipartpanda. com/student-writing-clipartstudent_homework_111596. jpg

Activities • Study Skills and Strategies Worksheet • Study Skills and Strategies Quiz • Study Skills Checklist • Cornell Notes Assignment • Use your current objective and essential questions to complete the Cornell Notes Template.