Study Skills Effective Strategies for Improving Your Academic Performance

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?

Time management Class Participation Listening Note taking Reading Test Preparation Test taking Can you think of others?

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

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

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. Don’t write down every bit of information. Only record the key ideas

Reading Strategies Reading 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

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

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 don’t know

Answering True/False For the statement to be true the ENTIRE statement must be true. –Don’t be tricked by one little part of a sentence If you don’t know…GUESS…it’s a 50/50 chance

Answering Multiple Choice These questions are a lot like T/F…only 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 don’t know…GUESS…you have a 25% chance of being right

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 don’t, ask your teacher to clarify. Plan what you will write about Use information from the prompt in your essay

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 concisely…don’t write around the question USE GOOD PENMANSHIP