STUDY SKILLS Part 1 - preparing the ground.
Most of us learn without ever being taught how.
As in other activities there are efficient ways of going about the learning process. In fact, the first step to efficient learning is to realise that learning doesn’t just happen when you sit down with a book, studying is a skill which you need to acquire and practice and perfect.
Learning is a combination of MEMORY, UNDERSTANDING, ORGANISATION and MOTIVATION. Neglect any one of these and your learning will be less efficient.
MEMORY
There are a few people who have extraordinary powers of recalling information.
Most of us have to struggle to memorise things and so the less we have to memorise the better. The things we need to memorise have to be organised in some way to make memorising easier.
As a simple example, if asked to memorise the numbers 3, 7, 11, 15, 19 , 23, 27, 31, 35, 39, instead of memorising the 10 numbers we can see that , if we note the first number and the fact that the others can be found by adding 4, the job is easy. There was a pattern to the numbers and spotting the pattern not only makes it easier to memorise the numbers but also enables you to continue to extend the numbers past 39. top
UNDERSTANDING
We call the patterns which help us to organise information concepts, they reduce the amount of information we need to store in our memories. So, in all subjects , searching out the patterns and understanding them is a key part of learning. Understanding is the difficult part of learning. You should never attempt to memorise anything you do not understand. You cannot use any organiser unless you know how it works. Newton’s laws in physics are organisers but they are of no use to you if you do not understand them. Understanding needs careful organisation, hard work and perseverance. top
ORGANISATION
This is what the high fliers do better than the rest of us. Good study habits, efficient organisation of notes and information and careful use of time are the mark of the successful student. As the old saying goes “ Genius is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration” or again, “Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains.”
You must organise your study time, make a plan - allocate time to each subject, on each day of the week. You must ensure that time is available for recreation and that you make good use of it by doing something you enjoy and something to keep you fit. Study has to be balanced with leisure and if you organise you can do both.
You must organise your notes. Notes taken in class are likely to be any or all of these - untidy, unreadable, disorganised, missing, not clear in meaning, not detailed enough, lacking diagrams, wrong and so on. Sort them out on the day you make them while you can still recall what they were about.
You must organise the place you spend your time studying. Clear away the things you do not need, all the things that could distract you. Give yourself as much space as possible. Bring in all the things you do need, notes, text books, paper, files, pens. Have your study plan somewhere prominent and use it. Have a desk or table and a chair that is comfortable to use because you are going to spend a lot of time there. top
MOTIVATION
Unless you can settle down and really put your heart into your studying, all the previous advice is of no use. You have to want to study, you have to believe studying is cool. It’s cool because it makes you feel good about yourself, it’s cool because you find the work easier, it’s cool because you pass examinations, it’s cool because it helps you get the job you want. If you have an ambition then you have to go for it - that’s cool.
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