Effective Study Methods PDF

Effective Study Methods For you to succeed in university learning, there are basic study guidelines, which you can think about and practice in order to achieve your personal academic objectives. Before you proceed, engage yourself in the activity below: We can succeed in anything that we do if we ca...

Effective Study Methods For you to succeed in university learning, there are basic study guidelines, which you can think about and practice in order to achieve your personal academic objectives. Before you proceed, engage yourself in the activity below: We can succeed in anything that we do if we can develop certain skills. In studying, we are expected to develop various techniques which will enable us create a good environment for ourselves in order to succeed. We notice that the words used above will mean that we should be able to see results of the efforts, which we put in our work as we study. Setting Goals We believe that you know what you are doing and that you know what you want in life. For this reason, it is expected you have set a purpose for yourself and that your aim is to fulfill that purpose as you undertake this degree course at Egerton University. If you do not know what you want to do in life, then you cannot succeed, because you will not have something, which you can look up to. All of us have more energy when what we do leads us to what we want in our lives. Those who do not have a central goal fall prey of petty worries, fears, troubles and self-pity. All these lead to low moral. Therefore if your studies are part of that overall aim, then the chances of your studies succeeding will be very high. So you must set goals and a purpose for your study if you have to achieve the desired success. However, we want to caution you here that when you are setting goals for yourself do not set targets that are unrealistic. If the targets are too unrealistic, they become an obstacle to achieving your success. For example if you say ‘I must complete this module in one week’. That may be difficult to achieve and you will end up frustrated because you may come to believe that you are not able to meet your goals, and yet they may not be achievable. The goals that you set should be those that you can measure. Can you see the results of what you have set out to achieve? For example, when you set a goal like ‘I want to work harder in my studies’: how can you measure when you will have worked harder than before? So you can improve on the goal may be perhaps by saying that ‘I want to create two free hours per day for my assignments’. If your goals are set clearly and in measurable terms, you will be able to think about each of the study tasks that you will have and pay specific attention to them. So what you feel about a study task is very important. You will be able to know what goal to set if the study assignment is hard or easy. If the material you are working with is hard, you will need to set different goals from those that you set when the task seems very easy. Positive Thinking It does not matter how many purposes you set for yourself. They may not be fulfilled if you do not have positive thoughts about yourself. You should be kind to yourself such that you can judge yourself by what you deserve and your capabilities. If you think of yourself as stupid or bad then you will actually be discouraged and end up giving up. All of us make wrong decisions or mistakes at one stage in our lives. The attitudes about yourself should be positive in order for you to realize your full potential through your abilities. You must develop self-confidence to enable you complete all the tasks successfully. If you have a tendency of negative thoughts about any of the study modules that you will be reading, that will make it hard for you to complete the courses on schedule. As you encounter the various modules, you might begin to develop negative attitudes by perhaps looking at the material as difficult, boring, or too simple, that is negative thinking and should be avoided. A positive attitude towards your abilities will strengthen your self-confidence, which is an essential ingredient of success. Networking You may find that there are some colleagues in your geographical setting whom you should always get in touch with. You can form study groups with these colleagues in order to make your study tasks easier than they would be if you were alone. Besides colleagues, the teaching staff at the university will be a useful source of Information especially when you are in doubt or have no idea completely. Do not struggle on your own if you are not sure of what you are supposed to do, especially if you have trouble understanding how to use any of the materials provided to you for the modules that you have registered for. Summarily, you can: 1. Establish contacts with instructors and colleagues. 2. Identify your areas of strength, which you can build on as you relate to others. Stay Healthy If you are not healthy, there is no need to even undertake a university course. So it is important that after you have made the decision to study at university level, ensure that you stay healthy psychologically and physically. You need to make sure that you are strong and happy within yourself and that all the things, which bring about unhappiness, are avoided. But avail time to interact with whatever makes you happy. For example, if you like listening to music, do not sell your music set just because you are undertaking university study. Take time to listen to the music and you will be tension free and your study will be enjoyable. Staying healthy can also mean that you take a break whenever you feel tired. Do not sit up for long hours that may not be productive. So ensure that you get sufficient sleep so that what you study can be transferred successfully into the long-term memory bank of the brain. All people do not have same concentration span. You should also eat nutritious and sufficient food. Being tired and hungry all the time means that you are neglecting yourself. This will then affect the success of your studies. Relationships Social relationships are a good thing and many unions have famously begun at university. Be careful, however, that your involvement in a relationship does not become distracting and harm your ability to complete your studies. Enjoy the new associations but remember to put your studies first. Spiritual Development Your years at Egerton University can also be an important time for your spiritual development. There are many of clubs on campus and outside campus organizations that encourage people to develop themselves in this area. Faith can play an important role in helping you cope with some of the stresses you will experience. Trust in God supplies a missing piece in our lives. It brings quality, fulfilment, and hope for the future. However, like all things it is important to balance your energies and remain focused on your studies. There are instances of people who have become consumed by spiritual issues and consequently have failed to excel in their studies. Study Space Majority of us will be undertaking our studies under demanding conditions. However you must think about the place you plan to study from. The environment you live in will determine this. Despite all the variations that may exist, an ideal study place must have the following things: A chair, a table or desk and a lamp with good light. If all these things are not available, you should ensure that your study place:  Has good lighting,  Is comfortable to sit and study in,  Is quiet so that you will be able to concentrate What is procrastination? Bad Habits All of us have habits that may not be good in all situations. In achieving successful study, there are some habits that will drag you behind if they are not controlled. Do you know some of your bad habits? It is important for you to identify your bad habits, which might in fact interfere with your study programme, so as to consciously try to get rid of them. One of the worst bad habits, which you should get rid of from the start of your programme, is postponing tasks: that you find yourself postponing tasks and therefore end up working under pressure when you could have completed the tasks at ease and slowly. Once one task is postponed, it looks enlarged and seems more difficult. This is explained in detail below. Forgetting your appointments is another habit that might make you not to complete your studies within the time you have set for yourself. Keep all your appointments with your peers and your tutors. If you fail to keep them they will all perceive you as not being interested in your own studies and they could stop caring about you. You should also make sure that you keep to your schedule and be disciplined. Study material that is related to the subjects that you have registered for so that you do not waste time. In so doing, you ensure that you have all the materials that you need before settling down to study. This will help you avoid that bad habit of interrupting yourself while you are studying by continuously getting up and doing other things in between. Do not day- dream either. Ensure that all those things that might interfere with your thought processes are attended to before you settle down to study. Procrastination is when you put off or avoid doing something that must be done. It is natural to procrastinate occasionally. However, excessive procrastination can result in guilt feelings about not doing a task when it should be done. It can also cause anxiety since the task still needs to be done. Further, excessive procrastination can cause poor performance if the task is completed without sufficient time to do it well. In short, excessive procrastination can interfere with school and personal success. Why do students procrastinate? There are many reasons why students procrastinate. Here are the most common reasons: Perfectionism. A student‟s standard of performance may be so high for a task that it does not seem possible to meet that standard. Fear of failure. A student may lack confidence and fear that he/she will be unable to accomplish a task successfully. Confusion. A student may be unsure about how to start a task or how it should be completed. Task difficulty. A student may lack the skills and abilities needed to accomplish a task. Poor motivation. A student may have little or no interest in completing a task because he/she finds the task boring, difficult or lacking in relevance. Difficulty concentrating. A student may have too many things around that distract him/her from doing a task. Task unpleasantness. A student may dislike doing what a task requires. Lack of priorities. A student may have little or no sense about which tasks are most important to do. How do you know if you procrastinate excessively? You procrastinate excessively if you agree with five or more of the following statements:  I often put off starting a task I find difficult I often give up on a task as soon as I start to find it difficult. I often wonder why I should be doing a task. I often have difficulty getting started on a task. I often try to do so many tasks at once that I cannot do any of them. I often put off a task in which I have little or no interest. I often try to come up with reasons to do something other than a task I have to do. I often ignore a task when I am not certain about how to start it or complete it. I often start a task but stop before completing it. I often find myself thinking that if I ignore a task, it will go away. I often cannot decide which of a number of tasks I should complete first. I often find my mind wandering to things other than the task on which I am trying to work. What can you do about excessive procrastination? Here are some things you can do to control excessive procrastination.  Motivate yourself to work on a task with thoughts such as “There is no time like the present,” or “Nobody‟s perfect.”  Prioritize the tasks you have to do.  Commit yourself to completing a task once started.  Reward yourself whenever you complete a task.  Work on tasks at the times you work best.  Break large tasks into small manageable parts.  Work on tasks as part of a study group.  Get help from lecturers and other students when you find a task difficult.  Make a schedule of the tasks you have to do and stick to it.  Eliminate distractions that interfere with working on tasks.  Set reasonable standards that you can meet for a task.  Take breaks when working on a task so that you do not wear down.  Work on difficult and/or unpleasant tasks first.  Work on a task you find easier after you complete a difficult task.  Find a good place to work on tasks. Study Groups (Study Syndicates) A study group can be helpful when you are trying to learn information and concepts and preparing for class discussions and tests. Read to learn about the benefits of a study group. Then read on to learn about how to start a study group and the characteristics of a successful study group. Finally, be sure to read about the possible pitfalls of a study group. Benefits of a study group A study group can be beneficial to you as a university student in many ways. Here are the most important benefits: A support group can “pick you up” when you find that your motivation to study is slipping. The other group members can be a source of encouragement. You may be reluctant to ask the tutor a question but you will find it easier to do so in a small study group platform You may become more committed to study because the group members are depending on your presentation and participation. You will not want to let them down. Group members will listen and discuss information and concepts during the study sessions. These activities add a strong auditory dimension to your learning experience. One or more group members are likely to understand something you do not. They may bring up ideas you never considered. You can learn valuable new study habits from the other group members. You can compare your own notes with those of the other group members to clarify your notes and fill in any gaps. Teaching/explaining information and concepts to the other group members will help you reinforce your mastery of the information and concepts. Let‟s face it – studying can sometimes be boring. Interacting with the other group members can make studying enjoyable. Getting a study group started Study groups do not just happen. Here is what you should do to get a study group started: Get to know your classmates by talking with them before class. When selecting a classmate to join your study group, you should be able to answer YES for each of the following questions: Is this classmate motivated to do well? Does this classmate understand the subject matter? Is this classmate dependable? Would this classmate be tolerant of the ideas of others? Would you like to work with this classmate? Invite enough of these classmates to work with you in a study group until you have formed a group of three to five. A larger group may allow some members to avoid responsibility, may lead to cliques, and may make group management more of an issue than learning. Decide how often and for how long you will have discussion forums. Decide on the goals of the study group. Goals can include comparing and updating notes, discussing readings, and preparing for examinations. Decide who the leader will be for the first study session. Also decide whether it will be the same person each session or whether there will be a rotating leader. The leader of a study session should be responsible for meeting the goals of that study session. Clearly decide the agenda for the first study session and the responsibilities of each group member for that session. Develop a list of all group members that includes their names, telephone numbers, and email addresses and create a mailing list or a working group. Make sure each group member is included for effective communication. Characteristics of a successful study group Once started, a study group should possess the following characteristics to be successful: Each group member contributes to discussions. The other group members work collaboratively to resolve any concern raised by a group member. The group stays on task with respect to its agenda. Group members show respect for each other. Group members feel free to criticize each other but keep their criticisms constructive. This can encourage group members to reveal their weaknesses so that they can strengthen them. Group members feel free to ask questions of each other. At the end of each study session, an agenda including specific group member responsibilities is prepared for the next session. Above all, the positive attitude that “we can do this together” is maintained. Possible pitfalls of a study group A study group can be a very positive learning experience. However, there are pitfalls to be avoided. Here are some cautions:  Do not let the study group get distracted from its agenda and goals.  Do not let the study group become a social group. You can always socialize at other times.  To stay in the group, members should be required to contribute fairly.  Do not let the session become a negative forum for complaining about tutors, courses and the university, it should be strictly academic.  Do not allow one or two group members to dominate the group. It is important that all members have an equal opportunity to participate. Just remember that for groups to succeed, you will be talking to one another by post, e-mail, telephone, and even short messages. This will be very practical and useful especially as you work on your assignments. You may want to seek clarification of a task facing you, share your findings, or seek approval from the colleagues. This can make your entire study enjoyable. Do not hide your work and keep it to yourself, you could be hiding incorrectly completed work. The information you have just read will help to you decide when a study group is appropriate for you and also help ensure its success. Time Management A student‟s time is very precious; you are a student now, so you must know that your time is valuable. For this reason you must know how to utilize valuable assets, like time in order to reap the desired fruits from the trees of higher education! Time is a unique resource, which cannot be saved but can only be spent wisely. All of us have equal time and once that period passes, we cannot replace it with another set of time. To be efficient you must plan your time every day, every week, every month and every year of your study. You need to budget time and allocate it to each of the goals that you have set for yourself in order to achieve them. The most crucial point to remember is that you are a distant student; with various other responsibilities perhaps work, family and social. So you do not have unlimited time for study. Your study time is even more limited than that which the regular students have. This gives you greater reason to plan your available time keenly and carefully. Prepare a timetable that caters for all your activities and responsibilities. You should therefore plan your time so that you have sufficient time for everything that you might be doing. There are various modes of planning your time. You could plan weekly, monthly, for two months or even yearly, depending on the nature of the activities that you are engaged in. So you need to determine how much time you have, for effective planning. How much Time do you have? Before you budget your study time, the first step is to find out how much time you have in seven days of the week. We are going to calculate these hours here as you practically prepare your time budget for your actual study. Complete table 1 by responding to the instructions provided. After completing this schedule, you will have prepared for yourself an actual initial time plan for your study. Table 1: Weekly Time table Hours/Days of M T W T F S S the Week 5-6am 6-7am 7-8am 8-9am 9-10am 10-11am 11-12pm 12-1pm 1-2pm 2-3pm 3-4pm 4-5pm 5-6pm 6-7pm 7-8pm 8-9pm 9-10pm 10-11pm 11-12am 12-1am 1-2am 2-3am 3-4am 4-5am Total number of study hours per day (Adopted from: UNISA, Learning skills for Theology, Access Module) Instructions 1. What hours do you think you will not use for study purposes? (These must include such hours as those you use for traveling to and from work, hours spent at work, doing household duties, eating sleeping e.tc.) Use X to cross out these hours in table 1. 2. What hours do you think that you have other commitments? (These may include, church meetings, sports, your family and friends, leisure like watching television, listening to music or reading). Indicate these hours by 0 and you may also write the type of commitment. 3. Now place S in the remaining hours as the hours available for your study. 4. Now, add up your study hours per day and fill in the last space of each column in table 1. Table 2: Calculation of Study hours per week per module or course Total number of study hours per week Number of courses or modules Number of study hours per module or course per week 5. How many modules or courses are you studying? Write the answer in the second row of table 2. 6. How many hours do you have per module or course per week? Find the answer by dividing the total amount of study hours by the number of modules or courses you have registered for i.e. Total number of study hours ÷ Number of modules/courses = Number of hours per module per week Once you know how many hours you have available for your study, and how many hours are available in one university semester, then you will be able to plan your time more practically than if you only imagined. On average you need to have about seven study hours per week. If you find that you do not have those hours, then you will begin to negotiate with yourself in order to cut down on the hours, which you marked with 0 in table 2. If you still do not have sufficient study time after negotiating, then you need to look at the hours marked with X but with a lot of care because this means that you will have to make lots of sacrifices. This is because you will have to change your routine, and that is not a simple matter especially if it will be affecting your work and even your household. Important aspects of time management 1. We have realized that there is a lot of time, which we do not usually put to effective use. However, we cannot control time but only plan to use it effectively. 2. Planning your time is a useful activity, as a student you must think and carefully plan your daily routine. 3. You will have to be self-disciplined and work hard. It takes a committed student to come home after a day‟s work, and sit down to study. 4. When you work hard and succeed (study and pass examinations), you will be motivated to continue and complete the course, which you have started. 5. You will need to be flexible in your schedule, because there will be unforeseen problems and unavoidable happenings. However when you fail to do what you plan at the time you have planned, then you must plan to catch up with what you have missed. Most of all, you must organize your study environment and ensure that there is little distraction so that you create study mood every time you embark on your study. If you do not have a space of your own to study at home, you will have to negotiate with the family members on how to share the facilities that are available. Some of us might be residing near public libraries, or have space at your work place. You negotiate with yourself to find suitable time when you can study in that available space outside your home. You can also find that opportunities exist at the university for the use of the study facilities there, so you need to plan when you can use those facilities once in a while. Besides identifying and planning for the study space, you should also identify and plan the best period to study. Human beings are programmed in a way that there are certain learning periods. This is the period when a person is ready to learn and understand more effectively. To some people it is early in the morning when there is little disturbance, to others; late into the night is preferred, when the environment is quiet. These periods are believed to produce major learning effect. So you need to identify your own critical learning period and put it to effective use. Preparing for Assessment In this section we shall highlight the general requirements for your assessment during your study at the university. You will be required to write assignments as part of your assessment and also undertake examinations as specified by the university regulations. Lets us clarify what each of the two forms of assessment involves. Continuous Assessment Tests During your study at Egerton University, you are expected to read through the modules from your specific areas of discipline and complete the writing tasks that will be accompanying the different modules. These written assignments are very important to your final grading for your degree. Some may require you to write a timed test at specified times. You will therefore need to follow the instructions in each of the modules you will be studying and fulfill the requirements therein. Examinations In this section, we shall highlight the salient points on how you can always remain ready for the university examinations to enable you complete your studies successfully. The Purpose of Examinations Examinations have been designed to fulfill certain purposes. There are specific purposes for different types of examinations. However the purposes of examination in academic undertakings are meant to serve the following purposes: (a) To measure to what extent you have gained a certain body of knowledge. (b) To measure how much or how effectively you have learned or studied a particular subject. (c) To find out the degree to which you can apply or relate the basic knowledge and skills you have learned to new circumstances or situations. (d) To predict your future level of success in your chosen field of study or profession. (e) To measure your general level of ability, endurance and hard work to manage examinations at your level of education. (f) To select and arrange individuals for assigning duties and positions in society. (g) To motivate you to work hard throughout your study at the university. (h) To train you to have a disciplined approach to life. We can see that the objectives for having examinations are all very important. It requires that we strive to pass our examinations regardless of the conditions we study in. This is why you need to be aware and practice the techniques required for preparation for your examinations. Assess your responses by comparing them with the following general important points to consider the activities that surround examination preparation. Content You should ensure that you are familiar with all the material that will be covered in the examination. Study some of the past question papers in the area of your study (if the course you are studying has been offered for several years). This will in fact enable you to recognize the types of questions that are likely to be set after assessing the content. Time Allocation It might seem obvious, but you need to establish how many examination papers you will be expected to sit for. In so doing, you will be able to know how much time is allocated to each paper. Find out in advance how many questions each examination paper contains and how many you will be expected to answer. This helps in preparing by allocating revision time and becoming psychologically prepared. At the same time, you will be able to know and understand the conditions of the examination you will sit for as well as the material. This can help you score the desired marks when the examination comes. You need to allocate sufficient time to the revision period. The best revision is the one, which is done over a long period of time as the course progresses. However intensive revision seems to be done as the examinations approach and as they progress. Revision should be a routine, allocate some period of time in your schedule, for revising what you have already covered. This helps you build your revision gradually and not leave everything for concentrated revision as you approach your examination. Practice Examination Questions You may not always get access to past examinations in your area of study. But if you do, ensure that you take time to answer the questions in an actual timed examination situation to get the test of timing without referring to the notes. We want to advice you that you must ensure that you attempt and complete all the assignments and activities in your study guides. This is because the activities you are given could be pointers to the examination questions. Get Sufficient Rest You should always build the attitude of determination. This will help you avoid unnecessary fatigue but instead build the required energy. Get adequate sleep during the examination period. You should remain mentally and physically healthy. Eat well and also seek medical attention if you do not feel well. The materials required for your examination should be ready and available to you whenever you need them during the examination. You can ensure that you remain mentally and physically healthy if you also avoid anxiety and stressful situations during the examination period. Build confidence in yourself so as to reduce the anxiety that might come about during the examination period. This can be achieved through physical exercises if you are able. You can also make a point of discussing with colleagues in your peer group as we discussed in section 1.6 about peer or group discussions. In the examination Room You have prepared yourself for the examination and finally, the day of examination comes. What do you do with the examination paper and questions that are before you? Once well prepared, confident and relaxed, you will be ready for your examination. Read the instructions and all the questions slowly and thoroughly. This will help you to understand what is expected of each question. If there are instructions which you do not understand, ask the instructor or invigilator immediately. Once you know what each question is asking then your thinking will be focused. Think about the questions that are before you and allot time to each question according to what it demands. Always begin with the question that you feel you can answer fully and sufficiently. Interpreting the Questions Questions usually contain key words that can help you organize the answer. Some words will be commanding you to act in a certain way; others will be key thus giving you direction. Command words usually tell you what exactly the examiner wants you to do. These words include those that could ask you to compare; define; demonstrate; evaluate; isolate; identify; discuss; list; point out; analyse; relate; So you must pay attention to such words, which we can also refer to as action words. Examinations always ask for specific things. If for example you are asked the following question: „Demonstrate the process of human communication’ what will be the key words in the question? The keywords would be process, human and communication the command word would be demonstrate. In an examination situation, you must pay attention to those words, understand what they require you to do before beginning to answer the questions. All this should be processed very fast within the time available to you during the examination. Make sure that you familiarize yourself with the language and expressions in your specific subject areas in order to interpret the questions accurately. The Answer booklet At the university, you will be provided with special examination answer booklet printed specially for university examinations. We want to remind you that you are expected to read the instructions on the answer booklet so that you use it correctly. Familiarize yourself with the university‟s answer booklet and what it requires before you write in it. Ensure that the information, which you write in, is correct. Do you really need study skills in e-learning? The answer is YES, because you are an independent learner and therefore require to be more skillful than you could imagine. Here is a graphic representation of the relationship between e- learning and study skills. This should help you visualize the importance of study skills even in your e-learning mode. You require effective skills for studying because of the lonely journey you have embarked on. The greatest weapon that you can never leave behind in this journey is effective study skills. Source: https://www.google.com/search?q=STUDY+SKILLS