1. Effective Study Skills
By Debra Fazio

2. For Effective Study Strategies you need to:
Be open-minded
Make learning meaningful
Have the desire to practice and improve your retention
Learn how to learn

4. Effective Study Strategies Need:
Open-Mindedness – keeping your mind free and clear of distractions
Meaningful learning– you must take responsibility for your learning
Practice – review your learning experiences often

6. Effective Study Strategies Need:
Concentration - can be increased by developing your study habits, using time efficiently, & become involved with the learning task quickly
Making sense – relate learning to real world or to our own experiences
Critical thinking – question, summarize, & redefine new concepts and ideas

8. Studying involves: Reading Textbooks Taking Notes Listening
How you go about studying
Concentration and Memory
Motivation

10. Reading Textbooks
Learn to Speed Read
Skim and Scan
SQ3R

12. Taking Notes Make notes brief Put notes in your own words
Outlines help organize major and minor thoughts
Use the Cornell Note taking method

14. Listening Be ready for the message Listen for the main ideas
Listen for new ideas
Understand what your hearing
Repeat mentally
Ask questions
Listen to the whole message
Respect all ideas
Decide what is important and what is not
Sort, organize, and categorize

16. How you Study Original learning Early review Intermediate review
Final review

17. Concentration and Memory
Have a routine study environment
Study as early in the day as possible
Deal with distracters and interferences
Set time goals
Take breaks

19. Motivation Set study goals Learn actively Plan out your study time
Work with study groups or with one other person

21. Myths about Studying Studying more/longer results in good grades.
There’s one study system everyone can use.
Knowing the course material is enough.
Cramming the night before will keep material fresh.
Writing has very little impact on learning.

23. Smart Students Are not the most talented or the hardest working
Know the rules of good grades
Learn more in less time, & get more satisfaction out of the learning process
Know you can teach yourself better than anyone else can

25. Cyber Learning Process by which you take control of your own education
Begins w/ dialoging
Ask about purpose, prior knowledge, big picture, expert questions, summarize information, picture, & hooks for remembering

27. Five Rules to Improve your Grades
You must want to achieve better grades.
Identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Studying requires a daily commitment.
Get help early when you need it.
Set reasonable and achievable goals.

29. Five Tips from Students
Study in small chunks instead of one long period.
Review guide sheets and assignments from which test questions will be taken from.
Develop a system that works for you.
Learn what the professor/teacher expects.
Maintain a healthy brain (through physical exercise, mental exercise, good nutrition, and stress management).

31. GPA of Success Goal – reflects your wants and needs
Plan – route you plan to take to reach your goal. It should be effective and specific.
Action – brings your plan to life. Requires self-discipline & power over procrastination

33. Manage your Time You must develop time management skills!
If you want to enjoy your life, give time to your family &/or friends, & fulfill your responsibilities; you need to have control over your schedule.
Five – ten minutes each day, plug in your schedule.
You need a daily calendar and a paper to update your daily list.

35. Update Calendar Each Morning
Record all your to-dos & deadlines on your calendar.
Jot down new tasks & assignments on your list during the day.
Next morning transfer these new items from your list onto your calendar.
Then take a couple of minutes to plan your day.

37. Sample List Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Today’s Schedule Things to Remember
8-9:40 – DEV 064 Reading - copy handouts for Thursday classes
10:00 – 11:40 DEV 065 Reading - grade papers
12-1 p.m. – Study Skills Workshop - send out messages to missing students
3 – check w/ family - get food ready for tomorrows dinner
Where everyone needs to be
5-5:45 – prepare dinner
7:15 - take daughter to gymnastics

39. Study Plans A.S.P.I.R.E. SQ3R Mind-mapping 4Rs Mnemonics 3Rs
M.U.R.D.E.R.
Flash Cards
P.O.R.P.E.
Outlines
Dialogue w/ textbook
Study Groups

41. A.S.P.I.R.E.
Approach – positive attitude, avoiding distractions, & making time for study
Select – studying in reasonable chunks of time, selecting key materials to review
Piece together - summarize material you’re studying
Investigate – find alternative sources for information you don’t understand
Reflect – apply the concepts your learning to make them more interesting & easier to remember
Evaluate – examining your performance

43. Mind-mapping
Mind maps are created around a central word, idea, or theme
Create branches to other major concepts related to the central word
From there continue to create branches from every word or concept you add to the map

44. Mnemonics Techniques that help you remember things Memory hooks
Simply gimmicks
Come in handy when you have masses of information to memorize
They help you remember information, but they do not help you understand it.

45. Using Mnemonics Read out loud. Write it down. Create acronyms.
Create acrostics.
Use rhythms, rhymes, and jingles.
Make associations.
Create mental and key word images.
© 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Longman Publishers.

46. M.U.R.D.E.R. Mood – right attitude &environment
Understanding – marking what you don’t understand so you can go back to it later
Recall – bring to mind key information
Digest – going back to the material you did not understand, & try to comprehend it
Expand - apply the concepts you’re learning to make them more interesting and easier to remember
Review – going over material until you are confident that you know it

48. P.O.R.P.E.
Predict – determine the most important concepts & formulate questions to deepen you understanding of the material
Organize – summarizing key information and outline answers to your predicted questions
Rehearse – reciting aloud key information & quizzing your memory of the material
Practice – answering predicted questions from memory
Evaluate – assessing answers to make sure they contain critical information and concrete examples

50. Dialogue With the Author
Create a dialogue with the author, even thought the author doesn’t talk back
Take an active role in your reading of the text
Question the author’s reasoning and information
May get answers to your questions several pages later
Makes learning interesting
Gets you thinking and keeps you focused

52. SQ3R Survey – gathering, skimming, and reviewing the information
Question – raising issues as you are surveying
Read – rereading material & looking for answers to the questions you raised previously
Recite – Rereading material & putting concepts into your own words
Review – going over material until you know it

54. 4Rs System
Reducing – organizing all course information & condensing it into small chunks
Reciting – speaking aloud about reduced material without looking at it – talking through ideas in your own words
Reflecting – thinking about what you learned and connecting it with what your prior knowledge
Reviewing – going through your notes, several more times, concentrating on areas of weakness, until you understand all the material

56. 3Rs System Read – read the material once
Recite – as much as you can remember
Review – read & skim material again to get key concepts and major details

58. Flash Cards Good for classes with a lot of terminology or vocabulary
Helpful for remembering material
Real strength of flash cards is testing yourself on the concepts
An alternative to words on one side and definitions on the other is questions on one side and answers on the other
Use them to quiz yourself

60. Study Groups Benefits See the material from different perspectives
Stay motivated because the group needs you
Commit more time to studying
Group discussions help you learn the material
Share class notes and other material
Pick up new study tips & habits

63. Review Sessions Professor held Chance to ask questions
Participate in discussions

65. Develop your own study plan
Action What it Entails ________________ _____________________ _____________________ _________________ _____________________

66. Bibliography
Books
Bergreen, Gary. Copying with Study Strategies. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Print.
Fry, Ron. How to Study. New York: Delmar Cengage Learning, Print.
Gardner, John N.; and Barefoot, Betsy O. Step by Step to College and Career Success. 3rd Edition. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, Print.
Geoffrion, Sondra. Get Smart Fast: A Handbook for Academic Success. Saratoga, CA: R & E Publishers, Print.

67. Bibliography
Hansen, Katharine; & Hansen, Randall S. Study Skills. New York: Alpha Books Print.
Learning Express. Test-Taking Power Strategies. New York: Learning Express LLC: New York, Print.
Newport, Cal. How to Become a Straight – A Student. New York: Broadway Books Print.
Robinson, Adam. What Smart Students Know. New York: Three Rivers Press, Print.
Smith, Brenda. Bridging the Gap. New York: Pearson Longman Print.