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Study Skills Self Help Information

Online Study Skills Workshops Time Management Strategies for Improving Academic Performance Seven Strategies for Improving Test Performance Increasing Textbook Reading Comprehension by Using SQ3R Strategies for Improving Concentration and Memory Handbook for Virginia Tech Students with Attention Deficit Disorder Time Scheduling Suggestions Where Does Time Go? More Information on Time Scheduling Acronyms Study Skill Checklist Concentration - Some Basic Guidelines Control of the Study Environment Note Taking - The Cornell System Editing Lecture Notes Constructive Suggestions Regarding Motivation Note Taking and In - Class Skills Remembering SQ3R - A Reading/Study System Strategies to Use with Difficult Questions Study Environment Analysis Vocabulary: An On Going Process Writing Papers "How to Study Smarter" Workshops at Cook Counseling Center - Fall 2007

Time Scheduling Suggestions

Time scheduling will not make you a perfectly efficient person. Very few people can rigorously keep a detailed schedule day after day over a long period of time. In fact, many students who draw up a study schedule and find themselves unable to stick to it become impatient and often give up the scheduling idea completely. The following method of organizing time has been helpful to many students and does not take much time. It is more flexible than many methods and helps the student to establish long term, intermediate, and short term time goals.

1. Long Term Schedule

Construct a schedule of your fixed commitments only. These include only obligations you are required to meet every week, e.g., job hours, classes, church, organization meetings, etc.

2. Intermediate Schedule - One per week

Now make a short list of MAJOR EVENTS and AMOUNT OF WORK to be accomplished in each subject this week. This may include non-study activities. For example: Quiz Wednesday Paper Tuesday Ball game Tuesday night Finish 40 pages in English by Friday Finish 150 pages in History by Friday These events will change from week to week and it is important to make a NEW LIST FOR EACH WEEK. Sunday night may be the most convenient time to do this.

3. Short Term Schedule - One per day

On a small note card each evening before retiring or early in the morning make out a specific daily schedule. Write down specifically WHAT is to be accomplished. Such a schedule might include: Wednesday o o o o o 8:00 - 8:30 Review History 9:30 - 10:30 Preview Math and prepare for Quiz 4:45 Pick up cleaning on way home 7:00 - 10:15 Chpt. 5, 6 (History) 10:30 Phone calls CARRY THIS CARD WITH YOU and cross out each item as you accomplish it. Writing down things in this manner not only forces you to plan your time but in effect causes you to make a promise to yourself to do what you have written down.

Where Does Time Go?

It may seem like there aren't enough hours in the week to get everything done. That may be true or it may be that you are not using your time as efficiently as possible. To assess where your time goes, complete the inventory below. Be as honest with yourself as you can. Some of the items are done every day so those will need to be multiplied by 7 to arrive at a weekly total. One item may be done any number of times a week so you'll need to multiply that one by the number of times each week you do it. After you have responded to all the questions, you'll have an opportunity to see how many hours remain during the week for studying. Click the "Function Number of Button" to hours per week complete the calculation.

Number of Hours per Day

Number of Days per week

On the average, how many hours do you sleep in each 24 hour period, including those afternoon naps? On the average, how many hours a day do you engage in grooming activities? On the average, how many hours a day do you spend on meals, including preparation and cleanup time? How much time do you spend commuting to and from campus and how many times do you do this during a week? Include the amount of time it takes to park and walk from your car or the bus stop to class. On the average, how many hours a day do you spend doing errands?

On the average, how many hours do you spend each week doing co-curricular activities (student organizations, working out, church, etc.)? On the average, how many hours a week do you work at a job? How many hours do you spend in class each week? On the average, how many hours per week do you spend with friends, going out, watching TV, going to parties, etc? Click the Add button to compute the number of hours you are spending each week engaged in daily living activities and school activities. There are 168 hours in a week. Now you can click the Subtract button to find out how many hours remain for studying, since this is not one of the activities included above.
Reset

Time Scheduling
Being successful at the university level will probably require a more careful and effective utilization of time than the student has ever achieved before. He is typically scheduled for fifteen or more hours of classroom work per week, in addition, he is expected to average about two hours of preparation for each hour in the classroom. This means that he has at least a forty-five hour work week and is consequently involved in a full-time occupation! Many students find that this full-time job must be supplemented by other part-time jobs and/or family and social responsibilities which add a great deal more time. A common student complaint, therefore, is that there is just not enough time to go around. The job of being a university student, like most other jobs, can be carried out either efficiently or inefficiently. The way we use time (or waste it) is largely a matter of habit patterns. One of the best techniques for developing more efficient habits of time use is to prepare a time schedule. Research psychologist and efficiency experts can produce impressive statistics demonstrating the efficiency of a well-organized time schedule. The work habits of people who have achieved outstanding success invariably show a well-designed pattern or schedule. When a person has several duties confronting him simultaneously he often will fail to do any of them. The purpose of scheduling is not to make a slave of the student, but to free him from the scholastic inefficiency and anxiety that is, at least partially, a function of wasted time, inadequate planning, hasty, last minute study, etc. The most successful system for most students is to combine long-range and short-range planning. thus, a student can make a general schedule for an entire quarter and then prepare a more specific plan for two or three days a week at a time. LONG-RANGE SCHEDULE: Some suggestions for developing a long-range strategy, such as a semester schedule.

1. PLAN ENOUGH TIME FOR STUDY.

The University expects a student to average about two hours in studying (including library work, term papers, themes, etc.) for each hour spent in the classroom. This is an appropriate and realistic guideline. A genuinely high ability student may get by adequately with less. However, many students would do well to plan for somewhat more than the two-for-one ratio.

2. STUDY AT THE SAME TIME EVERY DAY.

In so far as possible, a student should schedule certain hours which are used for studying almost every day in a habitual, systematic way. Having regular hours at least five days a week will make it easier to habitually follow the schedule and to maintain an active approach to study.

3. MAKE USE OF THE FREE HOURS DURING THE SCHOOL DAY.

The hours between classes are perhaps a student's most valuable study time yet, ironically, the most frequently misused. A student may effectively utilize these hours reviewing the material and editing the notes of the preceding class and/or studying the material to be discussed in the following class.

4. PLAN STUDY PERIODS TO FOLLOW CLASS PERIODS.

This should be done whenever possible. The next best procedure is to schedule the period for study immediately preceding the class. A student should specify the particular course he will study rather than just marking "study" on his schedule.

5. SPACE STUDY PERIODS.

Fifty to ninety minutes of study at a time for each course works best. Relaxation periods of ten or fifteen minutes should be scheduled between study periods. It is more efficient to study hard for a definite period of time, and then stop for a few minutes, than attempt to study on indefinitely.

6. PLAN FOR WEEKLY REVIEWS.

At least one hour each week for each class (distinct from study time) should be scheduled. The weekend is a good time for review.

7. LEAVE SOME UNSCHEDULED TIME FOR FLEXIBILITY.

This is important! Lack of flexibility is the major reason why schedules fail. Students tend to overschedule themselves.

8. ALLOT TIME FOR PLANNED RECREATION, CAMPUS AND CHURCH ACTIVITIES, ETC.
When a student plans his schedule, he should begin by listing the activities that come at fixed hours and cannot be changed. Classes and laboratories, eating in the dorm dining hall, sleep, and work for money are examples of time uses which the student typically cannot alter. Next, he can schedule his flexible time commitments. these hours can be interchanged with other hours if he finds that his schedule must be changed during the week. Recreational activities are planned last. When forced to deviate from his planned schedule (and that will invariably occur), the student should trade time rather than steal it from his schedule. Thus, if he has an unexpected visitor at a time he has reserved for study, he can substitute an equal amount of study time for the period he had set aside for recreation.

Acronyms
The use of acronyms can be helpful when a list of facts or sequence of items must be remembered. An acronym is a word or phrase made from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts of a compound term. For example, the acronym PERT stands for Program Evaluation and Review Technique. Of course, acronyms can be created by students to remember a specific item, such as the planets in our solar system in sequence (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune). Taking the first letter of each word, you would have m, v e, m, j, s, u, and n. Make up a nonsensical phrase to help you remember the exact order, such as, "My very elegant mother just served us noodles." Make up a similar acronym to use to remember the sequence of red blood cell maturation: Pronormoblast Basophilic Polychromatic Orthochromatic Reticulocyte Mature

Study Skill Checklist

First make a print out of this document. Using your printout, read each statement and consider how it applies to you. If it does apply to you, check Y. If it does not apply to you, check N. The purpose of this inventory is to find out about your own study habits and attitudes. 1. Y__ N__ I spend too much time studying for what I am learning. 2. Y__ N__ I usually spend hours cramming the night before an exam. 3. Y__ N__ If I spend as much time on my social activities as I want to, I don't have enough time left to study, or when I study enough, I don't have time for a social life. 4. Y__ N__ I usually try to study with the radio and TV turned on. 5. Y__ N__ I can't sit and study for long periods of time without becoming tired or distracted. 6. Y__ N__ I go to class, but I usually doodle, daydream, or fall asleep. 7. Y__ N__ My class notes are sometimes difficult to understand later. 8. Y__ N__ I usually seem to get the wrong material into my class notes. 9. Y__ N__ I don't review my class notes periodically throughout the semester in preparation for tests. 10. Y__ N__ When I get to the end of a chapter, I can't remember what I've just read. 11. Y__ N__ I don't know how to pick out what is important in the text. 12. Y__ N__ I can't keep up with my reading assignments, and then I have to cram the night before a test. 13.Y__ N__ I lose a lot of points on essay tests even when I know the material well. 14. Y__ N__ I study enough for my test, but when I get there my mind goes blank. 15. Y__ N__ I often study in a haphazard, disorganized way under the threat of the next test. 16. Y__ N__ I often find myself getting lost in the details of reading and have trouble identifying the main ideas. 17. Y__ N__ I rarely change my reading speed in response to the difficulty level of the selection, or my familiarity with the content. 18. Y__ N__ I often wish that I could read faster. 19. Y__ N__ When my teachers assign papers I feel so overwhelmed that I can't get started. 20. Y__ N__ I usually write my papers the night before they are due. 21. Y__ N__ I can't seem to organize my thoughts into a paper that makes sense. If you have answered "yes" to two or more questions in any category, look at our Study Skills Selfhelp Information for those categories. If you have one "yes" or less in a category, you are probably proficient enough in these areas that you don't need Self-help Information. Feel free, however, to get information in areas that you may have special interests, even if you scored well.

o o o o o o o

Time Scheduling - 1, 2, and 3. Concentration - 4, 5, and 6. Listening & Note taking - 7, 8, and 9. Reading - 10, 11, and 12. Exams - 13, 14, and 15. Reading - 16, 17, and 18. Writing Skills -19, 20, and 21.

Concentration: Some Basic Guidelines

1. Set aside a place for study and study only!
A. Find a specific place (or places) that you can use for studying (for example, the campus libraries, vacant classrooms, quiet areas in the student center, bedroom at home, etc.) B. Make a place specific to studying. You are trying to build a habit of studying when you are in this place. So, don't use your study space for social conversations, writing letters, daydreaming, etc. C. Insure that your study area has the following: good lighting ventilation a comfortable chair, but not too comfortable a desk large enough to spread out your materials D. Insure that your study area does not have the following: a distracting view of other activities that you want to be involved in a telephone a loud stereo a 27-inch color TV a roommate or friend who wants to talk a lot a refrigerator stocked with scrumptious goodies

2. Divide your work into small, short-range goals.

A. Don't set a goal as vague and large as ... "I am going to spend all day Saturday studying!" You will only set yourself up for failure and discouragement. B. Take the time block that you have scheduled for study and set a reachable study goal. (for example: finish reading 3 sections of chapter seven in my Psych. text, or complete one math problem, or write the rough draft of the introduction to my English paper, etc.) C. Set your goal when you sit down to study but before you begin to work.

Set a goal that you can reach. You may, in fact, do more than your goal but set a reasonable goal even if it seems too easy.

Control of the study environment

1. Set aside a fixed place for study and nothing but study. Do you have a place for study you can call your own? As long as you are going to study, you may as well use the best possible environment. Of course, it should be reasonably quiet and relatively free of distractions like radio, TV, and people. But that is not absolutely necessary. Several surveys suggest that 80% of a student's study is done in his or her own room, not in a library or study hall. A place where you are use to studying and to doing nothing else is the best of all possible worlds. After a while, study becomes the appropriate behavior in that particular environment. Then, whenever you sit down in that particular niche in the world you'll feel like going right to work. Look at it this way; when you come into a classroom, you sit down and go to work by paying attention to the instructor. Your attitude and attention and behavior are automatic because in the past, the room has been associated with attentive listening and not much else. If you can arrange the same kind of situation for the place where; you study, you will find it easier to sit down and start studying. 2. Before you begin an assignment, write down on a sheet of paper the time you expect to finish. Keep a record of your goal setting. This one step will not take any time at all. However, it can be extremely effective. It may put just the slightest bit of pressure on you, enough so that your study behavior will become instantly more efficient. Keep the goal sheets as a record of your study efficiency. Try setting slightly higher goals in successive evenings. Don't try to make fantastic increases in rate. Just increase the goal a bit at a time. 3. Strengthen your ability to concentrate by selecting a social symbol that is related to study. Select one particular article of clothing, like a scarf or hat, or a new little figurine or totem. Just before you start to study, put on the cap, or set your little idol on the desk. The ceremony will aid concentration in two ways. First of all, it will be a signal to other people that you are working, and they should kindly not disturb you. Second, going through a short, regular ritual will help you get down to work, but be sure you don't use the cap or your idol when your are writing letters or daydreaming or just horsing around. Keep them just for studying. If your charm gets associated with anything besides books, get a new one. You must be very careful that it doesn't become a symbol for daydreaming. 4. If your mind wanders, stand up and face away from your books. Don't sit at your desk staring into a book and mumbling about your poor will power. If you do, your book soon becomes associated with daydreaming and guilt. If you must daydream, and we all do it occasionally, get up and turn around. Don't leave the room, Just stand by your desk, daydreaming while you face away from your assignment. The physical act of standing up helps bring your thinking back to the job. Try it! You'll find that soon just telling yourself, "I should stand up now," will be enough to get you back on the track. 5. Stop at the end of each page, and count 10 slowly when you are reading. This is an idea that may increase your study time, and it will be quite useful you if you find you can't concentrate and your mind is wandering. If someone were to ask you, "What have you read about?" and the only answer you could give is, "About thirty minutes," then you need to apply this technique. But remember, it is only useful if you can't concentrate -- as a sort of emergency procedure. 6. Set aside a certain time to begin studying. Certain behavior usually is habitual at certain times of the day. If you examine your day carefully, you'll find that you tend to do certain things at

predictable times. There may be changes from day to day, but, generally parts of your behavior are habitual and time controlled. If you would be honest with yourself, you'd realize that time controlled behavior is fairly easy to start. The point is that if you can make studying - or at least some of your studying - habitual it will be a lot easier to start. And if the behavior is started at a habitual time, you will find that it is easier to start. And if the behavior is started at a habitual time, you will find that it is easier to get going without daydreaming or talking about other things. 7. Don't start any unfinished business just before the time to start studying. Most people tend to think about jobs they haven't finished or obligations they have to fulfill much more than things that they have done and gotten out of the way. Uncompleted activities tend to be remembered much longer than completed ones. If we apply that idea to the habit of daydreaming, you might suspect that uncompleted activities and obligations would be more likely to crop up as a source of daydreaming than completed ones. Therefore, when you know you're about to start studying because it's the time you select to begin, don't get involved in long discussions. Try to be habitual with the time you start, and be careful what you do before you start studying. This can be one way to improve your ability to concentrate. 8. Set small, short-range goals for yourself. Divide your assignment into subsections. Set a time when you will have finished the first page of the assignment, etc. If you are doing math, set a time goal for the solution of each problem. In other words, divide your assignments into small units. Set time goals for each one. You will find that this is a way to increase your ability to study without daydreaming. 9. Keep a reminder pad. Another trick that helps increase your ability to concentrate is to keep pencil and paper by your notebook. If while you're studying you happen to think about something that needs to be done, jot it down. Having written it down you can go back to studying. You'll know that if you look at the pad later, you will be reminded of the things you have to do. It's worrying about forgetting the things you have to do that might be interfering with your studying. 10. Relax completely before you start to study. One approach to concentration is to ask yourself, "Do study and bookwork scare me?" If you have to do something unpleasant, something that you know you may do badly, how do you react? Probably you put it off as long as possible, find yourself daydreaming, and would welcome reasons to stop studying. If you do react this way, you might be said to suffer from learned book-anxiety. The key to breaking this book-anxiety daydream series is learning how to relax. When you are physically, deeply, and completely relaxed, it is almost impossible to feel any anxiety. Associate the book with relaxation, not with tension and anxiety. When you study, study; when you worry, worry. Don't do both at the same time.

The Cornell System

The Cornell system for taking notes is designed to save time but yet be highly efficient. There is no rewriting or retyping of your notes. It is a "DO IT RIGHT IN THE FIRST PLACE" system. 1. First Step - PREPARATION
Use a large, loose-leaf notebook. Use only one side of the paper. (you then can lay your notes out to see the direction of a lecture.) Draw a vertical line 2 1/2 inches from the left side of you paper. This is the recall column. Notes will be taken to the right of this margin. Later key words or phrases can be written in the recall column.

2. Second Step - DURING THE LECTURE

Record notes in paragraph form. Capture general ideas, not illustrative ideas. Skip lines to show end of ideas or thoughts. Using abbreviations will save time. Write legibly.

3. Third Step - AFTER THE LECTURE

Read through your notes and make it more legible if necessary. Now use the column. Jot down ideas or key words which give you the idea of the lecture. (REDUCE) You will have to reread the lecturer's ideas and reflect in your own words. Cover up the right-hand portion of your notes and recite the general ideas and concepts of the lecture. Overlap your notes showing only recall columns and you have your review.

Editing Lecture Notes

1. There are several good reasons for organizing and reviewing your notes as soon as possible after the lecture.
A. While the lecture is still fresh in your mind, you can fill in from memory examples and facts which you did not have time to write down during the lecture. More over, you can recall what parts of the lecture were unclear to you so that you can consult the lecturer, the graduate assistant, a classmate, your text, or additional readings for further information. B. Immediately review results in better retention than review after a longer period of time. Unless a student reviews within 24 hours after the lecture or at least before the next lecture, his retention will drop; and he will be relearning rather than reviewing.

2. A method of annotation is usually preferable to recopying notes. The following suggestions for annotating may be helpful:
A. Underline key statements or important concepts. B. Use asterisks or other signal marks to indicate importance. C. Use margins or blank pages for coordinating notes with the text. Perhaps indicate relevant pages of the text beside the corresponding information in the notes. D. Use a key and a summary. Use one of the margins to keep a key to important names, formulas, dates, concepts, and the like. This forces you to anticipate questions of an objective nature and provides specific facts that you need to develop essays. Use the other margin to write a short summary of the topics on the page, relating the contents of the page to the whole lecture or to the lecture of the day before. Condensing the notes in this way not only helps you to learn them but also prepares you for the kind of thinking required on essay exams and many so-called "objective" exams.

Constructive suggestions regarding motivation

It is your responsibility to make college a growth experience for you. The following suggestions and resources may be helpful.

1. Attack the problem of goal setting directly.

A. Gather information about your interests, abilities, values, and needs. The following may be useful in this process; Tests Counseling Self-evaluation B. Gather information about occupations. Career Services at Virginia Tech has files of this type of information. Use the Occupational Outlook Handbook. Talk to personnel in Career Services. Get first-hand information from people working in this field. C. Gather information about training requirements and training programs. Using Career Services occupational files. Using college and other catalogs. Get first-hand information from professors or those in the field. D. On the basis of the information, start making decisions which lead you in directions you want to go.

2. Attack personal problems directly. The following may be helpful:

A. Using the services of the Counseling Center. Individual counseling or therapy. Self-help materials. Group counseling or therapy. B. Attack the problem yourself. Self-evaluation. Direct confrontation of others involved in the problem. Accept responsibilities for initiating changes you want to make.

MOTIVATION CHECKLIST
The following checklist may prove helpful in getting at the sources of poor motivation. If you want to improve your motivation you may want to choose a self-directed improvement program or use the information as a focus for counseling.
1. Really preferring something other than attending this university: ____Would prefer not to go to college. ____Would rather attend another college. ____Would prefer a different kind of training. 2. College as means to ends other than learning: ____To avoid getting a job ____To find a mate ____To have a good time ____To get away from home ____To prove self-worth 3. Distracting personal problems: ____Conflict with same sex ____Conflict with opposite sex ____Conflict with parents ____Lack of confidence ____Undefined resistance to college ____Angry at the world ____Overuse of drugs or alcohol ____Fear of evaluation ____Difficulty in making decisions ____Lack of financial resources ____Marriage problems ____Phobias and other anxieties ____Insecurity ____Loneliness 4. Lack of interest

____Undefined vocational goals ____Undefined educational goals ____Course material is not what I think is important ____Interest in school is not the "in" thing among my friends. 5. Continuing self-defeating behavior patterns: ____Excessive dependence on parents or others ____Fear as a motivator ____Parents as motivators ____Grades or academic achievement as motivator ____High school habits

Note taking and in-class skills

Adequate notes are a necessary adjunct to efficient study and learning in college. Think over the following suggestions and improve your note- taking system where needed.
Listen actively - if possible think before you write - but don't get behind. Be open minded about points you disagree on. Don't let arguing interfere with your note-taking. Raise questions if appropriate. Develop and use a standard method of note-taking including punctuation, abbreviations, margins, etc. Take and keep notes in a large notebook. The only merit to a small notebook is ease of carrying and that is not your main objective. A large notebook allows you to adequately indent and use an outline form. Leave a few spaces blank as you move from one point to the next so that you can fill in additional points later if necessary. Your objective is to take helpful notes, not to save paper. Do not try to take down everything that the lecturer says. It is impossible in the first place and unnecessary in the second place because not everything is of equal importance. Spend more time listening and attempt to take down the main points. If you are writing as fast as you can, you cannot be as discriminating a listener. There may be some times, however, when it is more important to write than to think. Listen for cues as to important points, transition form one point to the next, repetition of points for emphasis, changes in voice inflections, enumeration of a series of points, etc. Many lecturers attempt to present a few major points and several minor points in a lecture. The rest is explanatory material and samples. Try to see the main points and do not get lost in a barrage of minor points which do not seem related to each other. The relationship is there if you will listen for it. Be alert to cues about what the professor thinks is important. Make your original notes legible enough for your own reading, but use abbreviations of your own invention when possible. The effort required to recopy notes can be better spent in rereading them and thinking about them. Although neatness is a virtue in some respect, it does not necessarily increase your learning. Copy down everything on the board, regardless. Did you ever stop to think that every blackboard scribble may be a clue to an exam item? You may not be able to integrate what is on the board into your lecture notes, but if you copy it, it may serve as a useful clue for you later. If not, what the heck -- you haven't wasted anything. You were in the classroom anyway. Sit as close to the front of the class, there are fewer distractions and it is easier to hear, see and attend to important material. Get assignments and suggestions precisely - ask questions if you're not sure.

Remembering
College students are confronted with two kinds or types of memory work. The first and more common is general remembering or remembering the idea without using the exact words of the book or professor. General memory is called for in all subjects; however, the arts, social sciences and literature probably make the greatest use of this particular kind of remembering. The other type of memory work is the verbatim memorizing or remembering the identical words by which something is expressed. This type of memorizing may be called for in all subjects but especially in law, dramatics, science, engineering, mathematics, and foreign language where the exact wording of formulas, rules, norms, law, lines in a play, or vocabulary must be remembered.

Other kinds of memory have their place and it is important for the student to know when to stop with the general idea and when to fix in mind the exact words, numbers, and symbols.
1.

Understand thoroughly what is to be remembered and memorized. When something is understood, be it a name or a chemical chain it is almost completely learned, for anything thoroughly understood is well on the way toward being memorized. In the very process of trying to understand, to get clearly in mind a complex series of events, or chain of reasoning, the best possible process of trying to fix in mind for later use is being followed.

2.

Spot what is to be memorized verbatim. It is a good plan to use a special marking symbol in text and notebook to indicate parts and passages, rules, data, and all other elements which need to be memorized instead of just understood and remembered.

3.

If verbatim memory is required, go over the material or try to repeat at odd times, as, for example, while going back and forth to school.

4.

Think about what you are trying to learn. Find an interest in the material if you wish to memorize it with ease.

5. 6.

Study first the items you want to remember longest. Learn complete units at one time as that is the way it will have to be recalled.

7.

Overlearn to make certain.

8.

Analyze material and strive to intensify the impressions the material makes.

9.

Fix concrete imagery whenever possible. Close your eyes and get a picture of the explanation and summary answer. Try to see it on the page. See the key words underlined.

10. Make your own applications, examples, and

illustrations.
11. Reduce the material to be remembered to your own

self-made system or series of numbered steps.

12. Represent the idea graphically by use of pictorial or

diagrammatic forms.
13. Make a list of key words most useful in explaining the

idea or content of the lesson.

14. Form a variety of associations among the points you

wish to remember. The richer the associations, the better memory.

15. Try making the idea clear to a friend without referring

to your book or notes.

16. Actually write out examination questions on the

material that you think you might get at the end of the term. Then write answers to your own questions. Since you now have the chance, consult the text or your notes to improve your answers.
17. Follow suggestions for reviewing. This is an important

part of remembering.

SQ3R - A Reading and Study Skill System

SURVEY - gather the information necessary to focus and formulate goals.

1. Read the title - help your mind prepare to receive the subject at hand. 2. Read the introduction and/or summary - orient yourself to how this chapter fits the author's purposes, and focus on the author's statement of most important points. 3. Notice each boldface heading and subheading - organize your mind before you begin to read - build a structure for the thoughts and details to come. 4. Notice any graphics - charts, maps, diagrams, etc. are there to make a point - don't miss them. 5. Notice reading aids - italics, bold face print, chapter objective, end-of -chapter questions are all included to help you sort, comprehend, and remember.

QUESTION - help your mind engage and concentrate.

One section at a time, turn the boldface heading into as many questions as you think will be answered in that section. The better the questions, the better your comprehension is likely to be. You may always add further questions as you proceed. When your mind is actively searching for answers to questions it becomes engaged in learning.

READ - fill in the information around the mental structures you've been building.
Read each section (one at a time) with your questions in mind. Look for the answers, and notice if you need to make up some new questions.

RECITE - retrain your mind to concentrate and learn as it reads.

After each section - stop, recall your questions, and see if you can answer them from memory. If not, look back again (as often as necessary) but don't go on to the next section until you can recite.

REVIEW - refine your mental organization and begin building memory.

Once you've finished the entire chapter using the preceding steps, go back over all the questions from all the headings. See if you can still answer them. If not, look back and refresh your

memory, then continue.

REMEMBER: THE INFORMATION YOU GAIN FROM READING IS IMPORTANT. IF YOU JUST "DO IT" WITHOUT LEARNING SOMETHING. YOU'RE WASTING A LOT OF TIME. TRAIN YOUR MIND TO LEARN!!!

Strategies to use with difficult exam questions

A. Translate the questions into your own words. B. Read each option carefully. C. Use a strategy.
Attack unfamiliar words by sounding them out, by breaking them into familiar parts with meanings you know, by looking at the surrounding words and sentences for clues to the meaning of the word. Use your general knowledge. Ask yourself, "What do I already know about ____________"? Anticipate the answer and look for the one most like what you expect. Be flexible. You may not always find exactly the choice you are looking for. Then, you must choose the best of the options available. Use logical reasoning. For each possible answer, ask yourself, "What would happen if . . . "? Use process of elimination with multiple choice questions for which more than one option is correct.

Pick out the options you are sure are correct. Pick out the options you are sure are incorrect. Rule out all answers which contain wrong options. Rule out all answers which omit options you are sure of. Select the best remaining answer. Look for Test-Wiseness cues if the other strategies don't work. If you guess at an answer, check your guess against what you already know and against what your logical reasoning tells you. Adapted from Kentucky State University Reading Lab

Study Environment Analysis

The purpose of this inventory is to help you evaluate the three places you study most frequently. Begin by identifying these three locations in the blanks below. List them in the order in which you use them most frequently. Then answer each question according to whether the statement is mostly true or mostly false about each of the three places you have identified.
A
1. There are few distractions, such as phone, computer, or TV, in this location.
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C
Place A Place B Place C

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2. Other people rarely interrupt me when I study in this location.

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3. This is a quiet location, with almost no interruptions from phones ringing, people talking or music playing. 4. I take a limited number of breaks when I study in this environment.
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5. I study here regularly during the week.

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6. I tend to keep my breaks short when I study in this location.

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7. I rarely talk with people when I study here.

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8. The temperature in this place is very comfortable for studying most of the time.
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9. The chair in this place is very conducive to studying.

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10. The desk/table in this place is very conducive to studying.

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11. The lighting in this place is very conducive to studying.

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12. There are few things in this location that are unrelated to studying or school work.
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When you have answered all 12 questions, click the AddButton to calculate the number of "True" responses you made for each of the three places where you study most frequently. The place with the highest total may provide the best environment for studying. Try to do as much of your studying in this location as possible.
Reset

Place A

Place B

Place C

Vocabulary: an ongoing process

How do I begin to increase my vocabulary?
Vocabulary is an ongoing process. It continues throughout your life. What you have done is to slow your effective method of learning vocabulary down to a snail's pace. When you were younger you learned something day in and day out. You kept squeezing every moment of the day into a new and different learning situation. You continually asked questions and drove yourself to learn more. Look at the following examples: o o o o o o o o at the age of 4 you probably knew 5,600 words at the age of 5 you probably knew 9,600 words at the age of 6 you probably knew 14,700 words at the age of 7 you probably knew 21,200 words at the age of 8 you probably knew 26,300 words at the age of 9 you probably knew 29,300 words at the age of 10 you probably knew 34,300 words college sophomore you probably knew 120,000 words What this tells you is the more you learn, the more vocabulary you will know. No matter what your age, you must continue to learn. Words are "symbols" for ideas. These ideas formulate knowledge and knowledge is gained largely through words.

Some suggestions which may help you: o o o o Read. the more you read, the more words you will come in contact with. Use new found vocabulary in your everyday communication (writing, speaking). Become familiar with the glossary of your textbooks. Become familiar with the dictionary. Understand the pronunciation keys as well as why there are multiple meanings for words. o Try to learn 5 new words a day. If you know these words - use them in your communication process. Without using these new words, it is a waste of your time.

Read. Read books from fields other than your major. Read books which interest you and concentrate while you read.

Writing Papers
Students too often put off a written assignment, considering it a chore too formidable to approach until the last minute. As a result, grades inevitably suffer. Writing is not a talent reserved for a select few, it is a skill that can be learned. Planning and organization are its essentials. With a knowledge of these, the student can through effort and practice improve his writing ability. Suggested below is a guide to organized writing. Use this outline in writing class assignments, essay tests, and term papers.

1. INTRODUCTION - OPENING PARAGRAPH

a. Begin with a general statement. b. Narrow it down to the controlling idea (for thesis statement).

2. BODY - THREE DEVELOPING PARAGRAPHS

In each paragraph: a. Use transitions (repetition of key words and ideas) to connect paragraphs together. b. Develop the topic sentence with details, definitions, illustrations, comparisons, and contrasts. c. Conclude the paragraph with a summary of the main idea.

3. CONCLUSION - FINISHING PARAGRAPH

a. Restate the thesis. b. End with a general statement finalizing the discussion.