Effective Study Skills

Study is necessary in order for you to achieve your maximum potential. The following guide should help you to plan your study schedule.  

Place of Study

Where you study and the conditions under which you study have a considerable effect on how well you learn.

a) Where to Study:Have a permanent place for study, eg bedroom, sitting room etc. Keep all your books, pens, mathematical instruments etc. here. This reduces 'setting-up' time and helps to induce a frame of mind for study. Avoid 'family' areas of the house - these are often noisy and full of distractions. You are also less likely to be able to leave work set up in these rooms.

b) Lighting & Heating:Lighting should be appropriate: too much produces glare and too little causes eye strain. Heating should be comfortable without extremes.

c) Ventilation: Ensure a fresh flow of air into the room. Stuffy rooms produce drowsiness and headaches, which reduce the effectiveness of your studying.

d) Posture & Furniture: Generally it is best to study on a firm-backed chair at a table or desk. The two should match with regard to height so that writing and reading can be done comfortably. Lying on the bed or floor, or sitting in an armchair are not good positions for study, especially if you have to write.

e) Distractions Have a study area as free from noise and visual distractions as possible - TV, radio, telephone, visitors. The room shouldn't be too bleak though!

Study Times

It is very easy to waste time. The efficient use of time is therefore an important skill to learn, because it makes learning easier.

a) When to Study: This varies from person to person but generally it is best done when the subject-matter is still fresh in your mind and you are alert. Therefore it follows that set homework should be done as soon as possible after school, after a short break. Studying when you are tired is not very efficient. Study no later than 10pm and relax before going to bed. Try to do some study every day of the week although it is good to have a break at weekends, eg take Friday evening and either Saturday or Sunday off.  Saturday morning is often a good time to get some studying done. Don't stop studying altogether during holidays. A few short periods of revision during the holidays will save time, effort and worry when exams come around.

Be as consistent as possible. Start study at the same time every day; regular study times will help you to settle down to study quickly (no warm-ups!) and as a result less time will be wasted.

b) How long to Study: This varies from subject to subject and from person to person. For Leaving Certificate students, the minimum amount of time spent on homework should be about two and half hours per night and from two- three hours for revision. If less homework is set then more time can be put into revision. If you miss out on study one night make it up on another occasion.

Getting Organised for Study

You may have a good place to study and a plan of study times, and yet you discover that almost before you realise it, your time has passed. You look back trying to remember what you have learned, only to find that it comes to very little. Why? It is possible that the organization of your study time was poor. If you try to study, without a clear plan in mind and definite goals in view, the time you spend studying will be wasted.

Planning your Study Time

Plan your study time; not only when you will study but also what and how you will study. Make an effort to decide beforehand what you are going to study during the time you have set aside. Do not sit down to study and then try to decide what you should do. Deciding what you will study, for example history, is a start, although it is too general. It is better, to be more specific, for example, to review your notes on Home Rule.

Setting Goals

Plan exactly how much you want to get done in the time available. This means you should set a goal for each study period. Setting a goal is more difficult than it seems though. Do not set a goal that you cannot possibly reach as you will feel dissatisfied and dispirited. It is unlikely that you would be able to give a topic, such as Home Rule, which may have taken up a week of history lessons in class, more than a brief and superficial coverage in 15 minutes. You will have, to work out for yourself how much you can cover in a given length of time. This will depend or, how fast you can read with comprehension, the difficulty of the material and, how quietly you can organize your thoughts and write them down. Always try to meet your goals and deadlines, as this will give you a sense of satisfaction. It you miscalculate and cannot meet a goal do not become upset.  The next time you set yourself a goal take your past experience into account and plan accordingly.

Breaks in Your Study Time

It is a well-known fact of learning that breaking up your study with rest periods leads to better learning. Make your basic study strategy to work for about half an hour, then take a break of about five minutes. It is probably best to allot at least one hour for study, breaking at the half-hour point for five minutes. During break get up, walk around and have a breath of fresh air. You should relax and forget about your books for a short while. Whatever you do, do not study for more than two hours without a break of about half an hour. Long periods of study without breaks will leave you feeling tired, and result in comparatively little being learned.

The Subjects You Should Study

As with most people, there are probably subjects that you either like more or find easier than others. It is these that you will probably be tempted to spend most of your time studying. But, learning more and more about one or two subjects at the expense of others is futile. Even it you have no wish to study certain subjects, you will have to in the end. Putting off study only makes it all the more difficult when the day of reckoning comes.

How can you make yourself work on disliked subjects? Well you could either force yourself by sheer willpower or you could try one of the three methods suggested here:

(a) The Premack Principle

You like Studying subject A, but hate studying subject B. The idea Of the Premack Principle is that you deny yourself the enjoyment of studying subject A until you have done some work on subject B. Begin with only a few minutes work on subject B before changing to subject A. then gradually increase the time. In this way, studying subject B becomes less distasteful because of the comparatively enjoyable event that occurs after it, ie. studying Subject A. If you dislike study of all school subjects you must find another way of rewarding yourself for studying them, for example, by letting yourself watch TV, by reading a magazine, or by socializing. The basic principle is to reward yourself for doing something you consider unpleasant.

(b) Vary the Order in Which You Study Subjects  

Probably you leave the study of subjects you dislike till to last, when you are tired. Consequently, you learn little. Draw up a programme of study in which you vary the order of order of study for each subject. On some nights plan to work on the disliked subject first. By studying the disliked subject when you are fresh, your learning will be more effective. As you come to know more about your disliked subject, you may begin to find it more interesting.

(c) Programme a Time and Keep to It

Another way of ensuring you study a disliked subject is to set time aside for it, the same amount of time that you spend on other subjects. Initially spend this time reading about the subject or just trying to do examples. Do not worry about how much you have learned. Once you are in the habit of spending time on this subject you can begin to measure how much you have learned in each session.

How Much Time for Each Subject?

Ideally, you should spend an equal amount of time on each subject. However, you may find that because you have neglected a certain subject, or because you find it more difficult, you may need to spend more time on it. If you do give more time to a certain subject make sure you do not neglect the other subjects. Ensure the time you spend studying any subject does not fall below 21/2-3 hours a week. If there is a backlog of work on a certain subject to be caught up with find the time by increasing the total amount of time you spend studying rather than reducing the time you spend on other subjects.

Different Ways for Different Subjects

You cannot study in exactly the same way for different subjects. It is, however, not possible to consider all the ways of studying every subject in this article: you will have to do some thinking of your own on this. Some of the ways you can study are discussed together with two common principles which apply to study for all subjects. The two general rules that apply to all subjects, are:

(a) Concentrate on general ideas rather than specific facts. This will lead to a greater understating of the subject than the mere memorizing of facts will achieve. Moreover, it you concentrate on the general ideas, you will find it easier to learn and remember the facts which support these ideas. So always look for the general idea within each topic.

(b) Keep up to date. This is possibly the most important rule of learning. If you allow yourself to get behind in learning what you need to know in any subject you will soon find it almost impossible to catch up. There are two main reasons for this: firstly, the larger the backlog of things you must study, the less willing you will be to tackle it; secondly, as most subjects rely on what you already know to help you learn the next step if you do not keep up you will find it harder and harder to understand what you are being taught.

Organisation of the Materials Needed for Study

You will not be making the best use of your study time if you spend part of it looking for the things you want to use. Much time can be wasted looking for a pen or a pencil, a book that has been carelessly covered by a magazine, and so on.

Even more time can be lost if your notebooks and folders are untidy and disorganized. Having to search for notes that are important to your study is both frustrating and a waste of time. It is best if you keep the notes for each subject separate, Never write notes for different subjects on the same sheet of paper; this is certain to lead to confusion and difficulty in finding the material you need. It is also useful to 'flag' topics in your subject folders for rapid location of your notes. Tape a piece of Firm paper with the topic name written on it to the first page of notes on that topic, so that it sticks out past the edge of the pages. Start by putting these 'flags' at the top of the page and staggering them so they can all be seen at once. Now your notes on any topic can be found quickly.

Conclusion

This article has suggested ways in which you can organize your study time and increase your learning efficiency. It would be useful to you it before you begin to study, you posed the following questions to yourself:

(a) What subjects have I planned to study today? (This information will come from your study plan.)

(b) What topics of these subjects will I study?

(c) What do I want to achieve today?

(d) Have I got all the equipment, books, notes, etc., that I need?

(e) Am I putting off the study of any particular topic or subject?

(f) If I have an assignment to do, do I know exactly what I'm expected to do?

If you can give satisfactory answers to these six questions, then you are well on the way to a productive study session.

Summary