Study Skills

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Study Skills

• Effective Strategies for Improving Your Academic
  Performance

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You are not born with good study skills. As with
anything you wish to be good at, you have to
practice them.

• Why is it important to have good study skills?
• Helps you succeed. Frees up time for other
  things.
• So what are good study skills?

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• Time management
• Class Participation
• Listening
• Note taking
• Reading
• Test Preparation
• Test taking

• Can you think of others?

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Time Management

• Schedule time to study.
• Study in a distraction free zone
• Practice your schedule and adjust it if necessary

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Class Participation

• Be attentive---How do I do this when I am bored?
• Become an active listener.
• Take notes on what the teacher is saying
• Get involved by asking questions about the topic
• Make personal connections to what the teacher is
  discussing

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Note-Taking Strategies

• Keep all of the notes you take for each of your
  classes in one place.
• Having 1 notebook for each subject helps with
  this.
• Dont write down every bit of information.
• Only record the key ideas

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Reading StrategiesReading is an ACTIVE process

• Skim what you are about to read
• Look for bold words, headings, pictures
• For textbooks, try to understand the layout
  before you begin reading
• Read with a highlighter/pencil

• SQ3R (see handout)
• QAR (see handout)
• Annotative Strategy

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Test Preparation

• Study a little bit each night instead of cramming
  all of the information in the night before
• Use mnemonics---strategy to help you remember a
  list or the order of things
• ROYGBIV
• When studying for a test, make sure that is all
  you are doing
• Think about the kinds of questions you might be
  asked on the test then try to answer them

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Test Taking

• Look through the test before you begin to see
  what kinds of questions are asked
• Answer the questions you know first (EASY)
• Try to use logic if you cannot remember an answer
• Answer all of the questions even if you have to
  guess on the ones you dont know

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Answering True/False

• For the statement to be true the ENTIRE statement
  must be true.
• Dont be tricked by one little part of a sentence
• If you dont knowGUESSits a 50/50 chance

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Answering Multiple Choice

• These questions are a lot like T/Fonly 1 will be
  the most true choice.
• Be cautious of questions that use the words NOT,
  EXCEPT because the question is asking you to
  identify the choice that is not true
• If you dont knowGUESSyou have a 25 chance of
  being right

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Answering Essay Questions

• Read the prompt all the way through
• Make sure you understand what the essay is asking
  you to write about. If you dont, ask your
  teacher to clarify.
• Plan what you will write about
• Use information from the prompt in your essay

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• Pay attention to the key words the instructor has
  included. Such words as "list," "describe,"
  "compare and contrast," and "outline" have
  special meaning.
• Compare means to discuss the similarities
• Contrast means to discuss the differences
• Answer the question directly, clearly, and
  conciselydont write around the question
• USE GOOD PENMANSHIP