Process of effective study in school

 

1. Preview Before you begin any detailed study, first preview course material, study guides and textbooks in order to gain the big picture.

2. Browse Quickly scan through relevant readings or textbook chapters to pick up on themes and main ideas. Use headings, captions, charts and graphics to guide you through unknown learning territory.

3. Take notes As you read, make notes in your own words. There is little value in copying the exact words of a text. Learning is not about reading a whole lot of material in the hope that something might sink in. It’s about making sense of new ideas and concepts; of internalizing them and incorporating them into your existing knowledge. Use concept maps to provide a visual representation of ideas, concepts and themes and help define relationships between them.

4. Walk and Talk Walk around the study area, reciting facts out loud or explaining concepts as if an interested adult was in the room with you. You will have to clarify your understanding in order to ‘teach’ someone else. Hearing the talk may help you recall details later for assignments and exams.

5. Highlighting Use highlighters (sparingly) to emphasize significant points and ideas in a text. Experiment by using two colors; also try using underlining, * asterisks *, ßarrows à and margin notes as further means of text summary.

6. Ask yourself questions As you read, engage with the author by questioning the text: What is the author trying to say? How does this information fit in with what comes before, or after? Asking So what? Why? and What if? can help you to explore the implications of what is being stated and to make sense of new material. Set yourself a small set of relevant questions before you read a text, then see if you can find the answers as you read.

7. Re-reading A good practice is to re-read important material relating to the course, and to review your own notes on a regular basis, either to confirm or to add details.

8. Discussion Learning doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Be prepared to explore key concepts and specialized knowledge relating to the study discipline through discussions with other students, and with lecturers too. Form a study group or find a study buddy:

Quiz each other

Talk through ideas

Quiz each other.

Make up questions.

Brainstorm on a wall chart or the board.

Create concept maps.

Take advantage of synergy. The combined energy of a pair or group is likely to be more than the sum of each individual’s efforts.

 

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