Study Tips!!
There are courses as well as many excellent books on how to study. How far you want to go into the subject matter is your choice. The farther you go the better grade you will get. Here, I will write for you a handful of firmly established facts about the studying that have stood the tests of time and of many experiments. The more of them you use the better off you will be.
Learn to Be a Speedy Reader
First two DON'TS, there are plenty of courses in speed reading but speed reading doesn't work for studying. As your speed increases, comprehension decreases. Meaning the faster you read the less you will actually understand and remember. If you are an extremely slow reader (70 words per minute on a news paper or novel), you might benefit from extra training just to get your speed up to 100 or so words per minute. The only bad thing about speed reading is that is reduces learning when you read faster then 250 words per minute. Also learning in your sleep is impossible. Anything that you play on a tape you will not remember it the next day or anytime. So do not waste your precious sleep time and try to learn stuff during it.
Rewrite and Review
The single most effective thing you can to do to help you learn is write a synopsis in your own words of every two or three paragraphs of the chapter that you are studying. Stop reading when an idea seems to be complete and write it out in your own words. You should wind up with your own minichapter of the book¯ when you are done. Review your synopsis, note anything that is not clear to you, and go back to the text to clarify some that point, revising your notes. Keep your minichapters in a separate notebook so you can use them for review later.
Yes, Take a Break!
Here is a technique that you will like. The brain demands rest in order to bring together material properly. This might explain why, when you have tried to solve a problem and have finally given up and have gone to bed, the solution will suddenly be there. The brain has been working on the problem without all the clutter that normally distracts it during the day. While such a system would not work with regular studying, its principle can be applied. The human attention span is usually bout 30 minutes. So quit studying after 25-30 minutes. Go get something to drink or eat, talk to someone, do anything different for about 5 minutes. Then go back to studying for another 25-30 minutes.
You should also change subject matter with each new study cycle, (30 minute period), coming back later, if necessary to the earlier ones. Keep away from similar material from one cycle to another. Put math between history and English, put English between math and chemistry, and so forth.
Finally at the end of the study period for each subject, try to establish some principle that brings the material together. Ask yourself, "What exactly in the issue involved in what I've just studied?"¯ Then review your summaries and leave them alone. If you have really studied your brain will keep working.
Summary of Study Skills
- Don"t read to fast.
- Don"t try to learn in your sleep.
- After a few paragraphs, write down the information in your own words. Make sure that you understand the material. You have a better chance of remembering what you really understand.
- Keep the summaries in spate places for later review.
- Study in 30-minute blocks. Take a short break. Give yourself a little reward.
- Change the subject matter between study periods to give the brain a rest.
- Review for the main ideas and to make the connections meaningful.
Short list of study tips.
Don't study with the TV on. Find a quiet place to do it.
While doing your home work be sure to do the following things:
Take notes as your reading a chapter
Learn to skim material
Learn to study tables and charts
Learn to summarize what he has read in his own words
Learn to make your own flashcards for quick review of dates, formulas, spelling words, Etc....