Student
Study Skills
Student Success Strategies
Here
you'll find practical applications of the On Course Principles. Each
strategy has the purpose of empowering students to become active, responsible
learners.
Six Principles of Clear Writing
Study
Guides and Strategies
Critical
Thinking
Critical
Thinking is "the careful, deliberate determination of whether we
should accept, reject, or suspend judgment about a claim, and the degree
of confidence with which we accept or reject it."
Concentration
The
art or practice of concentration, no matter if studying biology or playing
pool, is to eliminate distraction and focus on the task at hand. If
you find that you read through material and suddenly discover that you
have no idea about what you've just read, or if you attend lectures
and have difficulty paying attention to what is being said, these tips
may help:
Using Memory
Effectively
There
are a few ways to memorize effectively.
Organizing
Study Projects
How
to Organize the study projects
Thinking
Aloud / Private Speech
When
we learned as infants and children, thinking aloud or saying what we
are thinking (private speech), was accepted as a way of demonstrating
our knowledge, or of opening ourselves to "get it right."
We sounded out words, expressed ideas, formed sentences. When
corrected, we practiced until we imitated correctly, or conformed to
the model of our family, neighborhood, school, etc.
Organizing
& Working on Group Projects
When
your group controls the (learning) process, your learning is faster,
more relevant, and sustained. Assessment is built into your group's
competency and control.
Avoiding
Procrastination
If
procrastination is a habit of yours, forget it. Focus on the tasks and
project at hand, and build from there!
"M.U.R.D.E.R."
A Study System
Studying with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
You
are not alone if you have attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. About
4% of school age children have this. In addition, other students
have one or a few of the characteristics of ADHD.
Tutoring
A
tutor provides expertise, experience, and encouragement. They do not
provide "answers," but rather assist in problem solving, in
getting answers. The challenge is to focus on assignments within the
context they are assigned.
Taking
notes from a textbook
There
is a skill how to take notes from a textbook.
How
to read an essay
There
is an explanation about how to read an essay.
Time Scheduling Suggestions
Time
scheduling will not make you a perfectly efficient person. Very few
people can rigorously keep a detailed schedule day after day over a
long period of time. In fact, many students who draw up a study schedule
and find themselves unable to stick to it become impatient and often
give up the scheduling idea completely.
Where Does Time Go?
To
assess where your time goes, complete the inventory below.
Time Scheduling
Being
successful at the university level will probably require a more careful
and effective utilization of time than the student has ever achieved
before.
Acronyms
The
use of acronyms can be helpful when a list of facts or sequence of items
must be remembered. An acronym is a word or phrase made from the initial
letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of
a compound term.
Study Skill Checklist
First
make a print out of this document. Using your printout, read each statement
and consider how it applies to you. If it does apply to you, check Y.
If it does not apply to you, check N. The purpose of this inventory
is to find out about your own study habits and attitudes.
Concentration - Some Basic Guidelines
1.
Set aside a place for study and study only!
2. Divide your work into
small, short-range goals.
Control Of The Environment
As
long as you are going to study, you may as well use the best possible
environment. Of course, it should be reasonably quiet and relatively
free of distractions like radio, TV, and people. But that is not absolutely
necessary. Several surveys suggest that 80% of a student's study is
done in his or her own room, not in a library or study hall.
Reading And Study Skills
The
Cornell system for taking notes is designed to save time but yet be
highly efficient. There is no rewriting or retyping of your notes. It
is a "DO IT RIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE" system.
Editing Lecture Notes
1.
There are several good reasons for organizing and reviewing your notes
as soon as possible after the lecture.
2. A method of annotation is
usually preferable to recopying notes. The following suggestions for
annotating may be helpful:
How To Read Essays You Must Analyze
How
To Read Essays You Must Analyze 1. Take a pencil in your hand 2. ..
3…
Constructive Suggestions Regarding Motivation
It
is your responsibility to make college a growth experience for you.
The following suggestions and resources may be helpful.
Note-Taking And In-Class Skills
Adequate
notes are a necessary adjunct to efficient study and learning in college.
Think over the following suggestions and improve your note- taking system
where needed.
Proof reading
Proofreading
is not an innate ability; it is an acquired skill. The following exercises
will help you master it, or at any rate will impress you with how difficult
it is.
How To Read A Difficult Book
You
will never get from skimming what reading and study can give you, but
it is a very practical way of dealing with the mass of books available
to you. By skimming you can get, often with surprising accuracy, a general
sense of the contents of a book.
Remembering
Other
kinds of memory have their place and it is important for the student
to know when to stop with the general idea and when to fix in mind the
exact words, numbers, and symbols.
Skimming And Scanning Scientific Material
Skimming
involves searching for the main ideas by reading the first and last
paragraphs, noting other organizational cues, such as summaries, used
by the author. Scanning involves running your eyes down the page looking
for specific facts or key words and phrases.
SQ3R - A reading/Study system
SURVEY
- gather the information necessary to focus and formulate goals. QUESTION
- help your mind engage and concentrate. READ - fill in the information
around the mental structures you've been building. RECITE - retain your
mind to concentrate and learn as it reads. REVIEW - refine your mental
organization and begin building memory.
Strategies To Use With Questions You Cannot Answer Immediately
A.
Translate the questions into your own words.
B. Read each option carefully.
C. Use a strategy.
Study Environment Analysis
Study
Environment Analysis On the Internet.
Suggestions For Improving Reading Speed
Improvement
of Reading Rate, The Role of Speed in the Reading Process, Factors that
Reduce Reading Rate, Basic Conditions for Increased Reading Rate, Rate
Adjustment
Procedure For Writing A Term Paper
A
term (or research) paper is primarily a record of intelligent reading
in several sources on a particular subject. The task of writing such
is not as formidable as it seems if it is thought out in advance as
a definite procedure with systematic perpetration.
VOCABULARY: an on going process
How
do I begin to increase my vocabulary? Some suggestions which may help
you:
Writing Papers
Writing
is not a talent reserved for a select few, it is a skill that can be
learned. Planning and organization are its essentials. With a knowledge
of these, the student can through effort and practice improve his writing
ability. Suggested below is a guide to organized writing. Use this outline
in writing class assignments, essay tests, and term papers.
Improving Concentration
How
many of us have gotten to the end of three or four pages of "reading"
only to discover that we have no idea what was on those pages? We have
failed to concentrate! Below, we will explore ways to combat the four
main causes of poor concentration: external distractions, internal distractions,
fatigue, and lack of interest.
Improving Memory
Forgetting
is a natural process, with the greatest losses occurring within the
first 24 hours of learning. After one day you will forget 46% of what
you read, 79% after 14 days, and 81% after 28 days. Clearly, it is essential
to review readings and lecture notes within one or two days of initial
exposure, with brief additional reviews interspersed in later weeks.
When to Study & How to Handle the Rest of the World
A
few tips for "When to Study & How to Handle the Rest of the
World"
Studying For Exams
Some
tips students can do every day or….
Study Groups
Reinforces,
clarifies, and deepens your learning by providing the opportunity to
teach. (Research indicates that many students improve their grades by
supplementing individual study with group study.)
Anticipating
Test Content
The
instructor hands out in class before the exam, or even at the beginning
of the course! For example: key points, particular
chapters or parts of chapters, handouts, etc.
Emergency
Test Preparation
A
structured approach to cramming -Preview material to be covered -Be
selective: skim chapters for main points -Concentrate on the main points
Study Ideas For International Students
We
may ask you to repeat something, but we are quite willing to try again
to understand you. Be patient with yourself! At first you will have
trouble understanding and speaking English, but the situation will improve
the longer you are here.
Taking Lecture Notes
Tips
that students need to do to take a note before each lecture, during
each lecture, after each lecture…
Reading Comprehension
There
are a few suggestions to improve reading comprehension.
Building Vocabulary
Improving
your vocabulary will help you :
Study Skills Tips for Students
Whether
a student has prepared all semester long for the exam by reading and
chronically studying or if they have let their school work sit on the
floor under their recreation bag longer than sitting on their desk,
there is a smart way to prepare for an exam. First a student should
predict the nature of the exam.
Learning Styles in Higher Education
Auditory
learners will learn well in lecture settings; private learners will
gain knowledge from quiet reading. However, these are only two out of
a broad array of preferences found among intellectually capable people.
When learning experiences are limited to these modes, students who rely
on other styles are bound to be less successful.
Types of Learning Styles
Because
of the variety of models used to characterize Learning Styles, Curry's
categorization of the research about human learning differences is useful.
She categorizes these studies into three levels that, looked at as examinations
of different layers of an "onion," can explain our current
understanding of human variations. More recently, this onion has been
divided into the four levels described below.
Bloom's Taxonomy
Benjamin
Bloom created this taxonomy for categorizing level of abstraction of
questions that commonly occur in educational settings. The taxonomy
provides a useful structure in which to categorize test questions, since
professors will characteristically ask questions within particular levels,
and if you can determine the levels of questions that will appear on
your exams, you will be able to study using appropriate strategies.
Scans Skills
These
are broad academic and workplace skills developed by the Secretary's
Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS).
Actions for success
The
behaviors that the college educators see their successful students doing
consistently throughout the semester.
