How to Study Blog

Sleep your way to higher grades

brian7 — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 14:50:01 +0000

College is on its way or already here and with it comes: sleep deprivation.

Sure, it makes sense that the more you sleep the better your grades might be, but has anyone actually looked at this from a research perspective? You bet!

Back in 2001 a group of researchers looked at the GPAs of college students who were: short sleepers (less than six hours); average sleepers (six to eight hours); and long sleepers (eight-plus hours) and … the long sleepers had the highest GPAs.

Full Article Here

No Related Post

How to Turn Good Study Skills Into Great Study Skills

brian7 — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 16:30:37 +0000

To be honest, even if you’re a good study-er, you’ve probably not really taken time to think about what it is that makes your study skills so much better than your friends’. It’s just one of those things where some students seem to naturally grasp what’s needed to study effectively, without even thinking about what they’re doing differently. However, when an outsider looks at the person with excellent study skills and compares him or her to others, there are certain common elements. Here is a look at the traits that can change you from being a good study-er to being a great one.

First, remember that great study skills start with having the right attitude. You’ve got to realize that it takes time to read and grasp information and to remember what you’ve read. The great study-er knows that 15 or 20 minutes after school won’t lead to real success in your classes. Here are seven specific skills you need to put into action.

When you read your textbook material or re-read your class notes, jot down notes about the important points. Important points are usually those that the instructor emphasized.
Don’t depend on just reading the text or notes over and over again in order to remember it. Instead, make flash cards to commit important facts to memory. A pack of 3 x 5 index cards at the star costs less than a dollar and is a great investment in your studies.
In addition to the flash cards, create other study skills that are entertaining, challenging and productive. Use these activities each week. For instance, you might have an evening when you write down key facts on a sheet of paper strictly from memory.
Look up “lesson plans” on the Internet and notice how teachers create course lesson plans. Now develop your own lesson plan for each subject. On this plan, include the important points that you would be covering if you were the instructor, as well as test-taking ideas that students should use for the class. After you’re done being the “teacher,” be the “student” and study using those test-taking ideas.
Fight test-anxiety like it’s the plague. You can decrease your anxiety by spending plenty of time preparing for each class and each test.
If there’s one resource available to students that is under-used, it is their own teacher. Don’t be so proud that you’re afraid to go to her and ask for her help and / or study suggestions. If needed, get a tutor who can help you even more.
Got a test coming up? As part of a week-long study process, write down a “Test Day Review Sheet.” On this sheet are the facts that you think are key that you’ve been struggling with. On the morning of the test, before you head to class, review this sheet a few times.

Study skills should not be considered an annoying thing that you get done as fast as possible. Instead, look at them as the main reason you’re in school in the first place. They’re an important part of learning the material. As long as you believe that and act accordingly, you’ll be on your way to mastering great study skills.

Equipped for Studying: What You Must Have

brian7 — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 16:36:35 +0000

It’s 6 p.m. and you’re behind in your studies. Tests and papers are coming up, so that means it’s not to hit the books and study, study, study. But then you hit a few roadblocks. You look around the house and can’t find a pen. Then you need some scratch paper, and can’t find it. Fifteen minutes later you find some and sit down to begin. Now where’s that calculator? Is it in the other room? Did your roommate or brother take it? After you find it, you notice that the batteries are dead. Now it’s time to find extra batteries. And on and on it goes.

You can waste a good hour just looking for all the supplies you need to study and do your homework. The good student, though, doesn’t take this chance. He’s prepared by always making sure that he has everything he needs for his study sessions. This means having a good place for study and a “kit” full of all of the things he’ll need. Here’s what the successful student should make sure he has:

1) A good place to study. This is important because obviously, this is where you’re going to keep all of your other supplies. That means it needs to be a place where you can conveniently store all of your study supplies. I should also have a comfortable chair and good lighting. Preferably, it is turned away from things that will distract you, like windows or open doorways.

2) Computer and printer. We don’t need to say much about this, except that many of the school-related tasks that once required a trip to the library can now be accomplished on the Internet. Also, many assignments must be typed. That’s why you also will need a printer.

3) Get a box or holder to store other supplies in. You could use a drawer in the desk, a storage tote, or even an old shoe box. The most important consideration is that it needs to be easy to access. You should keep all of your study-related items in there, ready to go. This storage container should never move from your desk area. Make sure that family members or roommates know that these supplies are important and that they should not be used without your permission. They’re to be used only in that area. You might even place a label on them to avoid any confusion.

4) Inside this box should be kept the following items (Some variation is allowed, depending on what classes you’re taking): pencils, pens, erasers, calculator with appropriate batteries, markers (Make sure lids are tightly attached), highlighters. You’ll also need printer paper, but it will be kept at your printer. Your books will stay with you in your backpack. Everything else can go in this “study kit.”

Now, with your handy kit, you should be prepared the next time you’re ready to study–and you won’t be stymied by not being able to find the right supplies.

More about a good study environment

BACK TO SCHOOL: Your First Two Weeks

Robert — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 04:32:01 +0000

Regardless of whether you’re getting ready to start college, graduate school, or an external degree program, your success depends in large part on what you do during the first two weeks. These first days will set the stage for the rest of the semester and perhaps the year. So make sure you take care of the following 7 priorities:

1) If there are any classes that you know you cannot handle this semester, and you’re able to drop them, then do so now. You don’t need to bring down your GPA in your first term. And most schools have a limited time frame in which you can drop a course.

2) Learn about your school’s policies. This means reading the college handbook so you understand the rules, how the schedule works, how your GPA is calculated,, and even the bad-weather policy.

3) Buy all necessary supplies. Your instructor will likely give you a syllabus that tells what materials you’ll need. This will include textbooks and other supplies. Many students fall behind simply because they don’t have what the course requires.

4) Make a planner for your class assignments. Be sure to take this with you to each class and immediately put down the date on which each paper or project is due and the date for each exam. After class, you can go back and fill in when you will study for each exam and work on each assignment.

5) Consider getting a tutor. You should be able to tell within the first days of a course if it’s going to overwhelm you. If so, now is the time to find a tutor to help you make it through the material. And remember to act quickly, because tutors disappear quickly.

6) Explore what services and resources your school has to offer. This includes a trip to the library, checking out the gym, finding out about career counselors, and other services.

7) Try to make at least one different friend in each class. This is important for several reasons. First, if you miss a class on a day, you can ask your friend to loan you his or her notes. You can also get together with your friend to study for exams.

These steps are not a sure step to acing your classes, but they do set you on the right path.

No Related Post

30 Days to Better Study Skills

brian7 — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 16:00:07 +0000

The study “strategy” for most students is the same: Wait until the night before an assignment is due or before a test to hit the books and study. Unfortunately, for most of us, that strategy eventually catches up and hits our grades—hard.

Good news: There’s a better way! Here’s a systematic approach that in 30 days can turn you into a master student. We’ll start with week 1.

DAYS 1-7: Take some learning assessments. It’s a fact that professional educators have known for generations: Everybody learns differently. Fortunately, there are tests available now (Many on the Internet) that tell you what kind of learner you are. Once you know how you learn, you can base your study strategy on these facts rather than on speculation about what might help you. Do a google search on “learning style” or “learning assessment.”

DAYS 8-15: Meet with a career counselor. Often the career counselor can give you the assessment we discussed above. Even if you take the assessment online, though, it’s still helpful to meet with her. There are career counselors at high schools, colleges, and even employment centers. Ask the counselor for information on learning strategies based on your own particular needs. Alternatively, you can again do a Google search on “study strategies.” There are scores of good articles available. Print them all out and compile them in a notebook and spend several days doing nothing but reading through these strategies.

DAYS 16-20: Begin implementing at least one of the strategies in your notebook that you believe meshes with your learning style. Usually you should implement only one strategy at a time so that you can determine which one works for you and which one you can discard. Having said that, it’s possible that different classes will be helped by different strategies, so don’t forever limit yourself to just one strategy. And again, remember: All strategies that you try should match with what you have determined is your learning style. For instance, maybe you’ve decided that you’re a visual learning. Then use the strategy that is heavy on visual aids.

DAYS 21 -30: Spend time assessing your progress. It’s pointless to stick with a strategy if it’s not improving your study time and your grades. During these 10 days, therefor, you examine your current strategy and see how well it’s been working for you. If it’s going well, keep it up. If not, move on to another strategy on your list.

These last two steps are key. Any time you determine that a strategy has not helped you in real, detectable ways (Your grades improve and you’re able to learn the material better and faster), no matter how much you like that strategy, discard it. There should be plenty more ideas on your list, so find something else and try it for a week or 10 days. Then assess again. Eventually you’ll latch onto something that works, and your grades will eventually start reflecting your new, better study habits.

What Kind of Learner Are You?

brian7 — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 15:56:45 +0000

If you’re struggling in one of your classes, or even many of them, that’s no reflection on your intelligence level. It doesn’t even mean that you’re not working hard and trying to study for your classes. It might just mean that you’re learning style is different from how the instructor teaches.

Every person is different. We all have our different tastes, opinions, and viewpoints. Likewise, every person learns in slightly different ways from others. As a result, study techniques that work great for your friend Joe might not work for your other friend, Annie. And neither of their study methods might work for you.

So how do you solve this dilemma? It’s essential that you learn what your own individual learning style is. This is the only sure way of maximizing your understanding of the course material. Otherwise, no matter how bright you are, you’ll probably get discouraged and you might even lose the motivation to succeed in your classes.

Educators have determined that there are four distinct learning styles. A few students will fit neatly into just one of these categories. Most, however, overlap between two or more of these styles. However, everyone is primarily in one of the four categories.

1) The Visual – Verbal Style. If you fall into this learning style, then you learn when the material is presented in a visual way as well as in a written-language form. You do pretty well with instructors who use an overhead projector, blackboard, or other visual presentation to outline and emphasize their lessons. You probably also greatly benefit with class notes and textbooks. If this sounds like you, then the best way for you to study will be in a quiet room, alone, so that you can visualize the course material and information in your “mind’s eye.”

2) The Visual – Nonverbal Style. If this is your learning style, you learn well when information is presented in a visual format, using design and pictures. You find it beneficial when the instructor uses visual aids such as maps, charts, film, video, and diagrams. You probably find it helpful to refer to diagrams and pictures in textbooks. If this sounds like you, then you should study alone in a quiet room so that you can visualize important visual aids in your head.

3) The Tactile – Kinesthetic Style. If this is your learning style, then you find that you learn best when you must participate actively in the lesson. On material that you just can’t grasp, when you take part in “hands on” learning, it suddenly becomes clear to you. Student learning experiences, field work, workshop activities, and more are helpful for you. If this sounds like you, then you should try to find some “hands-on” activity that will help you grasp the material. For instance, making flash cards will be as helpful to you as studying them. Saying vocabulary words out loud, along with their definitions is another tactic that you’ll find beneficial.

4) The Auditory – Verbal Style. If this is your learning style, then you learn best when you hear the information. Oral lectures, tapes, and group discussions help you to truly grasp the information. If this sounds like you, then try listening to listen to audio tapes of the material as a key part of your study time (You can even record your own tapes with class notes on them). Also, group study sessions, where you listen to other students recite the information, will be helpful to you.

Not sure which learning style (or combination of styles) best fits you? Then do a Google search on “learning style assessment.” You should be able to find an assessment that will help you figure it out. Or try a learning style quiz here.

Tips for Memorizing

Robert — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 19:58:15 +0000

No matter how easy or hard the class, no matter the topic of the course, you can’t get away from them: Lists are everywhere. Whether you’re required to memorize the Elements, the systems in the human body, or the capitals of the fifty United States, any time you take tests, you can expect to have to memorize long lists.

The good news: There are many mnemonic tricks available that help you do just that. One of the easiest is known as the 1-2-3 Method. Here’s how it goes. Place your list in front of you. If the items on the list do not already have a number, then number them all, 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on, until you get to the last item. For illustration purposes, we’re going to assume you’re memorizing the systems to the human body. We’ll just focus on the first five—again, for illustration purposes. The first five items on your list are: 1) Skeletal 2) Nervous 3) Digestive 4) Reproductive system 5) Respiratory Now, envision something that rhymes with the number. Not the item—the number. In this example, you need a rhymer for one, two, three, four, and five. Let’s say that our rhymer for “one” is “pawn” from a chess set. Our rhymer for “two” is “shoe.” For “three,” it’s “tree.” For “four,” it’s “door.” And for “five,” it’s “hive” (as in a bee hive). Now the key is to “hook” each number to the item that is on the list. We do so with the words you just came up with. So for “one,” we think of “pawn” and we want it to connect us to the skeletal system. In this example, you can envision a bunch of tiny skeletons on the pawn spots on a chess board. So now, as soon as you think “one,” the picture you get in your mind is a chess board full of skeletons…and you recall that “one” is the skeletal system. “Two” is “shoe.” Our picture here could be a shoe that is versy shy and shaking….because it’s a nervous shoe. So when we see the number two and see a nervous shoe, we remember that “two” should be the nervous system. “Three” is “tree.” Our picture might be of a tree that is eating and digesting animals from the forest. Now, when you see a 3 on your paper, you’ll remember the tree digesting things and think of the digestive system. “Four” is “door.” Since we want it to remind us of the reproductive system, picture a pregnant door in the hospital, giving birth to a tiny door. This should cause a 4 to immediately bring to mind the reproductive system. And “five” is “hive.” For this, you could imagine a person’s lungs breathing in and out hundreds of bees. Hopefully this would cause the 5 to remind you of the respiratory system. As you think of these pictures, the more outrageous they are, the more likely you are to remember them.

No Related Post

Creating Your Personal Study Space

Robert — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 09:59:02 +0000

The last thing that you probably need when you’re at college is another place to “hang out.” Most students have plenty of those. What you need, instead, is a good place to study. Let’s look at how you can take the small area you have in your dorm and turn it into an effective study zone.

Your first step in creating the ideal study spot is to identify its location. If you’re in a dorm room, this choice is probably somewhat limited. If you stay in an apartment, you have more flexibility. Make sure it’s a place that works no matter what time of year it is or what time of day (So for instance, there should be adequate light for night study as well as day). Also think about where it is in relation to the apartment traffic. If people are constantly walking by and brushing against your chair, maybe you should reconsider it.

In fact make sure your study zone is away from as many distractions as you can manage. If you do lots of studying in the daytime, this means to avoid locations where you’ll be tempted to gaze out the window and daydream. Some people go so far as to create a sign that says something like “STUDYING: DO NOT DISTURB.” If you have a fairly private room, you can put the sign on the door. If not, putting it on your desk will at least alert visitors to the fact that you need to be left alone.

Consider the idea of music in your study area. Some people must have total silence when they study. This means you should avoid having the temptation of music near you. Others, though, actually prefer to have something playing softly. You have to know which type you are and set up or eliminate the music accordingly.

Also, set up your study space at the perfect comfort level. What is perfect? Comfortable enough that you don’t mind sitting there for a few hours as you study–yet not so comfortable that you’re likely to doze off.

Are you the type who makes several trips to the kitchen when you’re studying for a snack? Then either put your study area near the kitchen, or even better, bring the kitchen to you. Keep snacks on a shelf near your study space, and if possible, either a mini-refrigerator or at least a cooler.

And finally, keep your study space organized. A cluttered study zone makes it more likely that you’ll lose important notes, or worse, that you’ll spill something onto that paper you had looking so crisp and clean.

No Related Post

SQ3R: Still a Classic Study Method

Robert — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 09:55:54 +0000

The SQ3R study method is a technique that goes back decades, and possibly more than a century. Still, there always seem to be those who have never heard of this classic way of studying your textbooks. So for that group of people, let’s talk about it.

SQ3R is a study method which can be applied to any textbook for any of your college (or high school) classes. And yes, each letter and number has an important meaning.

THE “S” stands for SURVEY. The first thing you should do is survey the material in the book, the chapter or the section you’re reading. This means you scan the material in its entirety. As you do so, pay attention to how the information is organized and formatted. Take a look at the table of contents and the various chapter titles and topic headings. Look at any outlines and bulleted points. And as you survey, take some brief notes.

The “Q’ stands for asking QUESTIONS following your survey. These are questions that you don’t yet know the answers for, but which you expect the text to answer. In short, this is material that expect to learn.

3R means simply that there are three important words to remember that start with the letter “R.” The first one is READ. After you’ve surveyed and come up with some questions, read the material thoroughly. As you do so, think about your questions and see if you can find the answers to these questions. Again jot down some notes about the important points you encounter in your reading. Once you complete the reading, think about whether all of your questions were answered. If so, write down those answers now.

The next “R” is for REVIEW. You need to focus on your text notes and markings and review those points in your mind. Really concentrate on mastering these points.

And finally, the third “R” stands for RECITE. This means you need to be able to vocally enunciate all that you’ve learned from this book or section. If you cannot recall something well enough to put it into words, you might not know it well enough for the test when it’s given. So recite the major points again and again until they are engraved on your brain. As you complete your SQ3R process, you’ll be impressed what you recall–and you’ll know why so many generations of students have used it.

No Related Post

Better Textbook Reading Skills

Robert — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 09:52:14 +0000

Reading a textbook is not like reading a novel. A whole different kind of reading has to be employed to really understand the material. To study your books effectively and be ready for your class exams, try the following suggestions.

 Don’t just read it; re-read it. You’ll find that the material often gets easier to understand the second time around. Many people complain that they get confused by textbooks when they read it the first time. Don’t stress out if you don’t think you’ve grasped it all that first time. Just take a short rest and then go back to read it again. And if you still don’t get it, read it a third time.

Take several breaks for mini-reviews. Rather than reading the whole chapter all at once, break it up into logical parts, then break to summarize what you’ve just read.

As you read, keep your eyes open for essential words. Mentally try to skip over the excess adjectives and adverbs. Concentrate on the essential words that give the paragraph its basic meaning. These are normally the simple nouns and verbs.

 Ask for input from your instructor. Even in large lecture classes, professors and teachers normally welcome their students to talk with them. So admit to your instructor your problem and ask for his or her assistance with the part that’s confusing you.

 Read it out loud. Yeah, I know that you’re elementary school teachers told you to learn to read silently, but when you’re studying difficult textbooks, reading out loud helps you to think about the material. And as you read it, each time use a different inflection emphasizing a different part of each sentence and paragraph.

Don’t be afraid to change your position as you’re reading. This helps your body to fight fatigue and to keep your mind refreshed.

If you feel overwhelmed by your course material, hire a tutor. Many schools keep a list of tutors. Speak with the office to find someone who is skilled with the material that’s giving you problems.

These are just a few suggestions that should help you master those difficult textbooks that otherwise might keep you from getting the “A” in your classes. Even practicing just a few of these suggestions could dramatically improve your results in your class. What’s more, they’ll help you with reading other difficult material throughout the rest of your life.

Learn more from the Study Skills Handbook

Study Strategies for Reading Novels (2)

How to Study Blog

Sleep your way to higher grades

Related Posts

How to Turn Good Study Skills Into Great Study Skills

Related Posts

Equipped for Studying: What You Must Have

Related Posts

BACK TO SCHOOL: Your First Two Weeks

Related Posts

30 Days to Better Study Skills

Related Posts

What Kind of Learner Are You?

Related Posts

Tips for Memorizing

Related Posts

Creating Your Personal Study Space

Related Posts

SQ3R: Still a Classic Study Method

Related Posts

Better Textbook Reading Skills

Related Posts