How to improve your study skills

ESSENTIAL Study Skills or "Strategies for Success"

Repetition

Keyword Approach

Auditory / Visual / Kinesthetic

Spaced Review

Categorizing To Learn

Your success in high school will most likely be determined by the interaction of several factors. These factors include your aptitude, your motivation, and your study and test taking skills. The first factor, aptitude, should be of little concern. If you have made it this far in school, high school should not present any major barrier unless the remaining two factors, motivation and study skills, are lacking in development.
 
Your motivation to successfully complete high school is something that you and you alone must develop and maintain. Your study skills, however, may be improved with the help of others who have already learned the correct methods of taking notes, studying for exams and taking exams. Your ability to perform the aforementioned tasks will improve with the time you spend in high school but there is no reason to learn these skills "the hard way." Attached you will find some excellent guidelines to help you develop your study and test taking skills. You may not require assistance in all of the study skills areas, so the attached information is arranged by category in order to allow you to select the area where you require the most assistance. However, it can only be to your benefit to spend a little time and read all of the study aid sheets. Remember that you consciously choose the level of success you achieve in high school and other aspects of life.
 
Good luck!

Pick a STUDY SKILLS PROBLEM:

  • The subject matter is difficult to comprehend
  • My lecture notes are inadequate.
  • I can't remember what I read or what I hear in lecture.
  • I have difficulty motivating myself to sit down and study.
  • I can't concentrate when I study!
  • I do fairly well on the daily assignments, but exams shoot me down.
    Problem: The subject matter is difficulty to comprehend
    COUNTERMEASURES:
    1. Arrange with fellow students in the class to study together. Discuss difficult concepts. Quiz one another.
    2. Use your dictionary! Keep a list of unfamiliar words and their definitions, or make vocabulary cards with the new word on one side and the definition on the other. Use heavy paper for the latter such as cut-up index cards. When you have some free time; on the bus; while waiting for someone; go through the cards.
    3. Check the library for books on the same subject which present the material in more elementary terms.
    4. Consult the instructor. Instructors have office hours for a purpose: to help students who may be having trouble comprehending the subject.
    5. Use the SQ3R method:
    Survey
    Skim the chapter; read headings, introductory and concluding paragraphs, summary.
    Question
    Turn headings into questions. If there are no headings, make up questions like "What are the major
    points on pages 65-70?"
    Read
    Read the material, trying to answer the questions.
    Recall
    Go back and answer the questions without looking at the book. You may wish to recite out loud.
    Review
    Think about the meaning of what you've read. Write a brief outline or paragraph of the entire chapter
    without using any notes that you might have made.
     
    6. Expect to have to spend more time on this subject. An old rule has proven adequate: For every hour spent in class, a student should spend two hours out of class on that subject. Sometimes even more time must be devoted to the subject.
     
    7. Adjust your reading speed to the material. Easy material can be read quickly; more difficult material must be read slowly.
     
    8. As you read, take notes on important facts and ideas.
     
    9. Adjust the amount of time you study to the type of material: If you are required to understand relationships,
    study for relatively long periods... up to an hour. If you are studying new material, set aside at least half an hour every day.
    Go back to Pick a Study Skills Problem

    Problem: My lecture notes are inadequate.
    COUNTERMEASURES:
    1. Lecturers sometimes elaborate on required readings (texts and supplementary readings). Read the material for the first time before - the lecture, not after.
     
    2. Don't try to write down every word. If the lecturer repeats material in the text, don't take notes. Learn to abbreviate. Words can be shortened by omitting vowels: brought - brgt; lesson - lssn; happiness - hppnss; or words can be shortened by abbreviating: government - govt.; yesterday - yest.; or symbols can be used to substitute for words:
     
    and - &
    at - @
    less than - <
    more than - >
    with - w/
    without - w/o
    Symbols such as these can be found in many dictionaries.
     
     
    3. Rewrite your lecture notes as soon as possible, adding to them the material that you had not included in your original notes because of lack of time. If you do this at the typewriter, it won't take much time, and the rewriting will reinforce the original learning.
     
    4. When taking notes, write only on one side of the paper. On the other side supplement your notes from your readings, discussions with your instructor, etc.
     
    5. Listen, then write. If you concentrate hard on your note taking, you may miss the sense of the lecture.
     
    6. Take notes in outline form only if the lecture lends itself to it. Sometimes instructors do not lecture in I, A,1, a, order and an attempt to put notes in that form may detract from the sense of the lecture.
     
    7. Sit close to the lecturer. If you and he/she are separated by 75 people, there are 75 reasons for you to be distracted.
     
    8. Don't tune out the lecturer because you disagree with him/her. Make a notation in your notes so that you can question at a later time, but continue your note taking.
     
    9. Leave blanks for words and phrases missed. Later ask the instructor or a fellow student to fill in the blanks.
     
    10. There is a book by Walter Pauk entitled How to Study in College. It has a good chapter on notetaking.
     
    11. Organize your notes. Date them. Label them by subject.

    Go back to Pick a Study Skills Problem
    Problem: I can't remember what I read or what I hear in lecture.
    COUNTERMEASURES:
     
    1. Reread your lecture notes within twenty-four hours of making them, and frequently thereafter. Do not set your notes aside until exam time.
     
    2. Have a friend or relative question you (using your lecture notes or text) within a few yours of your first exposure to the material.
     
    3. When memorizing, study only for 15-30 minutes, then do something else. After a break, come back to your memorizing.
     
    4. Take notes on your readings. Don't copy. Use your own words.
     
    5. Relate parts to the whole. Relate facts to one another. Until details can been seen to be related to one another,
    they often elude memorization.
     
    6. Don't study "back to back" subjects with similar content. Subjects will be learned better (and thus remembered better) if the previous or subsequent subject studied is dissimilar in content.
     
    7. Overlearn the subject. This is the best way to insure remembering.& REMEMBER: Mastery of the material means frequent exposure to it!

    Go back to Pick a Study Skills Problem
    Problem: I have difficulty motivating myself to sit down to study.
    COUNTERMEASURES:
     
    1. Set aside specific times to study every day. Prepare a weekly schedule, including in it time for class, meals, sleep, work, leisure time and study. Be realistic in allocating time for various activities, but once the time budget has been prepared do not deviate from it.
     
    2. Deny yourself pleasurable activities until the unpleasurable tasks have been completed. Don't call your boyfriend or girlfriend until the dreaded assignment is complete. Don't read the exciting novel until the boring chapter has been read.
     
    3. Lack of motivation often stems from lack of purpose. Talk with someone, perhaps a counselor, who can help you set some goals which will give meaning to your course work.
     
    4. If you need to take a break when studying, break at a time when you still have an interest in what you are doing. If you break at a time when you are disgusted or tired, you are not likely to return to the task at hand.

      Go back to Pick a Study Skills Problem
    Problem: I can't concentrate when I study.
    COUNTERMEASURES:
    1. Isolate yourself. Turn the radio off. In effect, remove from your environment all stimuli which could interfere with concentration.
     
    2. It's hard to concentrate when the subject matter is difficult. Try the techniques recommended for dealing with difficult material.
     
    3. When you sit down to study, be prepared to keep at it without interruptions. Thus, have at your study table your beverage, sweater or whatever it might be that you might want. Don't allow yourself an excuse to interrupt your studying because you have to go after something that you need.
     
    4. Follow your time schedule religiously. After a while you will have conditioned yourself to begin studying at the given time.
     
    5. If you catch yourself daydreaming, break it off.
     
    6. Set realistic goals for yourself. Don't say, "I am going to study for four hours tonight," if your habit is to study for only thirty minutes. Establish goals which you can attain.
     
    7. Eat and sleep regularly. If these necessities become routine, they will not interfere with your study schedule.

    Go back to Pick a Study Skills Problem
    Problem: I do fairly well on the daily assignments and lectures, but exams shoot me down.
    COUNTERMEASURES:
     
    1. Prepare for exam days in advance, not the night before. Six hours of study spread over six days, one hour a day, will be more effective than six hours of concentrated study just before the exam.
     
    2. Try to relate your notes to the textual readings.
     
    3. Seminar with fellow students. Try to predict examination questions.
     
    4. Ask the instructor how he/she expects to test you and on what subject matter.
     
    5. Memorize facts, names, dates,formulae, figures, etc. for an objective test. Study general concepts and theories for an essay exam, but don't forget specific facts to support your generalizations.
     
    6. Be sure to follow directions when taking the test.
     
    7. Read test questions carefully. Know exactly what is called for.
     
    8. Plan your time when taking the test. Scan the whole test to determine what is required and then allocate time for answering proportionate to the points awarded for each question.
     
    9. Outline your answers before you begin to write. Coherent, well-organized answers are worth points!

    10    . Proofread essay answers. By "cleaning up" answers, you may raise your grade.

    Go back to Pick a Study Skills Problem
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