Developing Good Study Skills

Developing Good Study Skills

Success in a nutshell

What works for him doesn’t work for me!

• Your learning style may not be the same as your neighbor’s.

• What is a learning style? – It is the way that we absorb information. – 3 types of learning styles:

• 1. Audible• 2. Visual• 3. Kinesthetic

How do I know what my learning style is?

• Take 5-7 minutes and answer the following questions: – My Learning Style

Advice for Auditory Learners

• Participate frequently in discussions and debates• • Make speeches and presentations• • Record lectures if possible instead of (or as well

as) making notes• • Read text aloud• • Create musical jingles and mnemonics to aid

memory• • Discuss your ideas verbally with someone else

or a group• • Dictate to someone else while they write your

ideas down

Advice for Visual Learners

• • Use visual materials such as pictures, charts, and maps

• • Use colour to highlight texts and own notes• • Take notes or use handouts; look carefully at

headings and patterns of topics• • Brainstorm using illustrations, mind maps and

models• • Use multi-media where possible (computers;

mind maps)• • Study in a quiet place away from visual

disturbances• • Visualise information as a picture• • Skim-read to get an overview before reading in

detail.

Advice for Kinesthetic Learners

• • Take frequent study breaks• • Move around to learn new things (e.g.

read while you are using an exercise bike; model in clay to learn a new

concept)• • Stand up to work• • Use bright colours to highlight reading

material and turn it into posters or models

• • Skim-read before reading in detail.

The 5 R’s of Note-Taking

• Record * Reduce * Recite * Reflect * *Review, Review, Review!

• 1. RECORD: Take Notes in class by identifying the main points, write down examples or math problems

• Heading – Date – Class/subject , Chapter #, Page #’s, etc.

• 2. REDUCE:– after the class summarize what you have written down /

learned– key/cue words, phrases– Questions that you may have for the teacher – Don’t write down everything your teacher says.

Summarize!

The 5 R’s of Note-Taking

• Recite: Talk Aloud– Review from your memory what you have

learned– Create your own examples or memorization

techniques• Reflect: Think it over!

– How is this relevant to what you have learned before?

– Make connections that jog your memory!

The 5 R’s of Note-Taking

• Review the notes you took– Before reading new material– With friends (if that compliments

your learning style)– Before every test (not 15 minutes

before!)

Study Tips!• Flash Cards

– On one side, write the answer – On the other side, write the question,

concept or cue– Shuffle the cards. Test questions won’t

always be in the same order as your study guide.

• Benefits of flash cards– Portable, quick, cheap, and effective

Do extra questions that are unassigned

• Practice, Practice, Practice• The more times you repeat the

steps, the more you will remember on your tests

• TIP: Use the back of your book to your advantage, not to cheat on homework .

Working Together Makes Everything

Better• Create study groups! • Get a study buddy• Talking things out helps you to see

others’ perspectives on things• Ask your teacher for help• Participate during class!

Making Associations• Mnemonics is a mind memory or learning aid which

helps you associate an idea or concept with an easy to remember construct.

• Acronyms– Order of Operations is PEMDAS (Please Excuse My Dear

Aunt Sally)– the vital fluids of the body:

• Peanut Butter With BreadPhlegm, Blood, Water, and Bile Rhymes

– Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492– The ill-fated wives of Henry VIII:

“Divorced, Beheaded, Died,Divorced, Beheaded, Survived”

Examples of some good study habits

1. When he was finished reading, Jose went back through the entire chapter and tried to recite the answers to the questions he had written in the margin.

2.After class, Jean reads over her lecture notes and writes the key words and phrases on the left side of her paper.

3. When Beth’s instructor said, “In Chickering’s student development theory there are seven stages called vectors,” Beth wrote “7 stages (vectors)- Chickering s.d. theory.”

Rules of Studying• Find a quiet place without

distractions.• Set a regular time to study each

day.• Study in chunks of time. Don’t

burn out! • Take breaks in between study

sessions (15 minutes)