Study Skills

Type of motivation

What is it?

Examples

Intrinsic motivation

Motivation from within

• I enjoy learning new things

• I will be better equipped to obtain a degree

Extrinsic motivation

Motivation from external sources

• My parents will be disappointed if I do not succeed

• I will get a pay rise if I finish my degree

Positive motivation

A positive attitude towards the task

• I have the ability to get a degree and I know I can do the work

• My future income will be much greater when I graduate

Negative motivation

A negative attitude towards the task

• My parents will cut off my allowance if I do not study

• My friends will think I am stupid if I fail

• My family will be disappointed if I drop out

Remaining motivated—some ideas to help

Affirm that you can do it!
Recognize the achievements you have attained already.
Devise a list of all the reasons you originally decided to study. Ensure they are positive, and display them in your home and workplace.
Identify your long-term, short-term and mini-goals. Write them down together with your objectives, and display these in your home and workplace. If you are struggling with motivation, place more emphasis on mini-goals, as these tend to be easier to achieve and will help lead to the completion of larger goals.
Construct a realistic study plan and follow it.
Consider your time management and decide if you need to develop a more realistic plan.
Ensure that your study environment is comfortable and conducive to effective study.
Seek support and encouragement—this may be in the form of family, friends or professionals.

4.5 Study Strategies for Different Learning Styles (Cottrell 2008)

4.5.1 Auditory

If you are an auditory learner, it means you will learn best by hearing information. Consider making use of sound in the following ways:

Talk or read aloud to yourself as you learn information;
Talk through and/or review information with friends;
Record information on to tape or disc to enable you to listen back over information;
Ask a friend to read text or lecture notes aloud to you;
Have light, instrumental music playing in the background whilst you read or write;
Work in a silent room.

4.5.2 Visual

Visual learners often learn best from seeing information presented in diagrams, charts or pictures. Try using some of the following visual techniques:

Plan work using spider diagrams, lists or tables, pictograms and mind maps;
Write down all information;
Use coloured pens to highlight important information when reading and to link similar ideas and arguments as you identify them (But only if you are using your own text);
Use coloured paper for different modules or subjects;
Use large wall charts or planners to organize your work;
Try to visualize information and ideas in your mind;
Vary the environment or position in which you work as this may create a link between your visual setting with a particular subject area.

4.5.3 Kinaesthetic

A kinaesthetic learner will learn best by touching, doing or moving. Try to think physically by:

Discussing ideas with friends;
Putting different arguments and ideas on separate pieces of paper when planning essays, allows you to physically organize your answer;
Going over information in your mind whilst walking, jogging or swimming;
Using colour or draw pictures and diagrams alongside written notes;
Moving around your environment during independent study time.

4.5.4 Multi-sensory

It does not matter how you learn as long as you use the methods which suit you. However, a combination of the use of all the senses is the best way to learn.

It appears that on average you will remember:

20 % of what you read;
30 % of what you hear;
40 % of what you see;
50 % of what you say;
60 % of what you do.

But you will remember 90 % of what you say, hear, see and do.

Multi-sensory learning can help anyone to enhance the experience of learning and improve recall of important information. Information is received by the brain through the sensory channels. These channels are as follows:

Visual (seeing information)
Auditory (hearing information)
Kinaesthetic (touching, moving or doing)
Olfactory (smelling and making associations related to smell)
Taste (what we experience from the mouth and tongue)

Consider how strongly a smell, taste or hearing a piece of music can remind you of a previous situation or event. This is because all your sensory channels have worked simultaneously to link into your emotions to create that experience.

Multi-sensory learning involves activating as many of the senses as possible at the same time to aid understanding and recall.

The learning style questionnaire is attached in the Appendix.

4.6 Classroom Applications of Study Skills Research

Over the past two decades, much has been learned about the process of effective studying. Research has demonstrated that success in all academic content areas is often associated with good study skills. Whereas some students develop effective ways to study on their own, the majority of students will not become proficient at studying without systematic instruction and repeated practice. In response to research on the importance of study strategies, comprehensive models have been developed and evaluated for implementing strategy training, including the SIM by Deshler and Shumaker (1988) and Pressley’s Good Information Processing Approach (Pressley et al. 1995). Such models have played a vital role in helping to promote the translation of research on study skills into effective classroom practice. A critical role for school psychologists is to maximize the success of efforts to enhance study skills through an understanding of the nature of study skills and knowledge of evidence-based approaches that facilitate the acquisition of effective study skills. Despite the potential benefits of study skills, instructional challenges exist that may limit the widespread application of study skills training. For strategy instruction to be implemented in classroom contexts, adaptations for group situations may be necessary (Palincsar and Brown 1988; Pressley et al. 1995).

Strategy instruction that requires lengthy one-to-one interaction between the teacher and student is not feasible in most classrooms. Scanlon et al. (1994) found that many teachers were not willing to sacrifice coverage of curriculum content in order to teach study skills to students who need them. One way to address this concern is for teachers to merge their teaching of specific content with the teaching of study strategies that aid students in learning the content. That is, teachers can teach and prompt the application of specific study strategies that are effective for their particular course content. In a study by Scanlon et al. (1996), for example, teachers were taught to incorporate intensive and explicit study strategy instruction within the context of their social studies teaching. In this study, teachers exhibited relatively low levels of implementation of strategy teaching (less than half of the targeted teaching behaviours), raising questions about the extent to which teachers are able to successfully merge instruction with strategy training.

Additional key principles derived from research on improving study skills are important to keep in mind when designing study skills training. First, students must recognize the need for varied approaches to studying. Not all strategies are appropriate for all study tasks. For example, the most effective strategy for studying spelling words is likely to be different from an effective approach for studying for a history test. Furthermore, any single study tactic will likely require some modification and personalization on the part of students themselves. In developing an awareness of different strategies, students should be encouraged to explain the appropriateness of a particular study strategy for different tasks.

Second, the key to effective study strategy training is to help students guide their own thinking, organizing and study behaviours. The most effective study strategy instruction helps children to develop strategies that work for them. Unlike the focus of commercially available study skills curricula, students should be actively involved in developing their own, personalized study strategies, instead of being taught a scripted set of steps. Including students in developing their own strategies enhances maintenance and generalization to other study situations. Future research is needed to identify instructional conditions that are most conducive to the successful integration of study strategy instruction with classroom learning. For example, given the relationship between study skills and other academic enablers, effective strategy training should include some means of motivating students to engage in study strategy usage, to reinforce engagement in studying and to increase parental encouragement and support of studying.

4.7 Study Schedule: How to Make One and Stick to It

Study/Revision Planner (Table 4.2)

Table 4.2

Study/revision planner

Time	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
8–9 a.m.
9–10 a.m.
10–11 a.m.
11 a.m.–12 p.m.
12–1 p.m.
1–2 p.m.
2–3 p.m.
3–4 p.m.
4–5 p.m.
5–6 p.m.
6–7 p.m.
7–8 p.m.
8–9 p.m.
9–10 p.m.
10–11 p.m.

Week beginning …………/………/……….

4.8 How to Study

4.8.1 Goal Setting

Many people have a dream of where they want to be or what they want to do in the future. Their dream provides a clear vision or goal that is ideal to them, and the motivation to achieve that goal. In order to obtain the “dream”, it is important to set specific goals and work out realistic steps to achieve those goals.

The best way to set and achieve your goals is to write them down, so think about it. What do you want to achieve?

4.8.1.1 Long-term Goals

Long–term goals relating to your studies are outcomes you would like to achieve after you finish your course. These goals are generally set around three to five years into the future. For example, you may want to work as a counsellor in private practice, work as a school guidance counsellor, set up your own business in conflict resolution and mediation, work as a clinical psychologist, or be a more effective leader in management.

4.8.1.2 Short-term Goals

Short–term goals relating to your studies are outcomes you would like to achieve over the next year and up to the completion of your course. They tend to be stepping stones towards your long-term goals. For example, completing three units successfully over the next term of study, achieving a credit average in each of your subjects over the year or finishing your degree by the end of the following year are all short-term goals.

Mini-goals relating to your studies are outcomes you would like to achieve over the next day or week, or by the end of the term. They tend to be stepping stones towards your short-term goals. Breaking larger tasks into smaller ones will help to provide a sense of achievement. For example, spend two hours completing your weekly readings tonight, write a plan for your essay by the end of tomorrow and complete a first draft of your assessment by the end of the week. Mini-goals can also include goals that relate to extracurricular activities along with academic goals.

In order to complete any goal, you must decide what needs to be done to attain this outcome. An objective is something you can do to achieve your goal. Like goals, objectives must be specific and will detail what will be done, how and when.

For example,

My goal is to achieve a credit average in each unit this term.
My objectives are to attend each class/log on each week, engage with the material of the subject, complete the assigned readings each week, review my notes several days after the class/frequently, and begin each assessment according to my timetable.

Your goal-setting plan may look something like what is depicted in Table 4.3.

Table 4.3

Goal-setting plan outline

Goal	Objectives	Time frame	Done?
1. Complete my developmental psychology Assignment for internal examination	• Ensure I understand the essay topic	• 2 h	√
	• Complete extensive research and ensure I fully understand the material	• 3–4.5 days
	• Complete an essay plan	• 2–3 h
	• Develop the first draft of the essay	• 2 days
	• Ask a trusted friend/colleague to proofread my draft and suggest feedback	• 1 day
	• Redraft	• 1 day
	• Submit essay on time

Goal-setting plan

Goal	Objectives	Time frame	Done?
	1. What I need to do to achieve my goal?
	2. Steps I need to take to achieve my goal
1.
2.
3.

The Smart Technique

The SMART technique helps in planning and organizing your study schedule to enhance one’s performance:

S—Study only a specific topic/area to begin with, e.g. Section 3 “from the history lesson”
M—What you are studying should be measurable or your goal should be able to be quantified.
A—The goal that you set for yourself should be achievable; thus, it keeps you motivated to keep going
R—You should reward yourself when the goal is achieved in order to provide yourself some incentive and keep yourself motivated, e.g., deciding to watch your favourite TV show that you have recorded only after having completing your specific goal/task that you had set for yourself.
T—The goal that you set for yourself should be “time bound” so you have a deadline to follow.

The following can be an example to summarize the SMART technique: “I have to complete section 2.1 of history lesson “which is 2 pages long in 40 min which according to me is an achievable goal and once I complete this task I set for myself, I will reward myself with the chocolate I have really been wanting to eat”.

The SQ3R Method

Another useful tool for reading effectively is the SQ3R model, the details of which are presented in this Table 4.4.

Table 4.4

SQ3R model as an effective reading tool

Survey	Scan the section of text in order to get an overview. You are not trying to read in detail for understanding here, just to get an overall idea of the content of the text. This may involve reading subheadings, the abstract, the section, summarize the first and last paragraphs and/or review questions
Question	As you survey, ask questions yourself. You may do this by turning chapter or section headings into questions, or by asking yourself how this new information relates to previously learned information
Read	As you start to read, look for answers to the questions you first raised. Note any words that have been underlined, italicized or bold printed. Study any diagrams, charts, graphs, etc. Slow down your reading and if necessary re-read parts which are not clear. After a short section, stop and recite what you have understood
Recite	Summarize the text in your own words, and say your summary aloud
Review	Create flashcards with the new terms or ideas, develop questions about the content and then answer them, briefly re-survey the text (as you did in the survey section), create a glossary page with key terms, develop a mind map of new ideas, or use mnemonic devices to remember the material

Adapted from: Study Guides and Strategies. (nd). The SQ3R reading method. Retrieved from http://www.studygs.net.

4.9 Effective Time Management and Organization (Cottrell 1999)

Misuse of time is probably the most common form of sabotage that students use to undermine their attempts to study. However, planning your time makes you think about it strategically and, even if you have to alter your study plans, you will benefit from having previously defined your tasks and prioritizing your activities.

Why is it important to manage your time?

There are many good reasons to try to manage your time. Benefits of time management include the following:

It is essential for success.
It allows you to spread your workload over the course.
It helps you to prioritize your workload.
It helps you to work out how to use your time as efficiently as possible.
It reduces the anxiety and stress that is common whilst meeting the demands of study.
It decreases the likelihood of tasks being left to the last minute which often compromises your performance.

It helps you to schedule time for fun (Table 4.5).

Table 4.5

Common problems and solutions centring around time management

Common time problems	Possible solutions
Are you disorganized and frequently misplace things?	Organize your learning space. Take control of where you work, and you can then control how you work
	• Keep a clear desktop
	• Place pens, pencils, etc. in a desk tidy or jar
	• Organize your notes by using a separate ring binder for each subject
	• Use coloured dividers to separate lecture notes into date order
	• File handouts with the appropriate lecture notes
Put off doing coursework and assignments	Use a diary or wall planner to clearly mark assignment deadlines for every module
	• Start tasks sooner rather than later
	• Be realistic about how long things will take and set appropriate time slots for specific tasks, e.g., planning an essay will take longer than reading a short extract
	• Break tasks down into manageable parts and allow time to tackle some of it every week
Easily distracted	Negotiate study time with friends and flatmates so that they know when you are not to be disturbed
	• Be aware of the times of day you can learn and concentrate
	• Set clear start and finish times for each study session
	• Take regular short breaks
Over commitment and leaving things to the last minute	Try not to over commit your time
	• Plan social time into your week and mark clearly in a diary or wall planner
	• Prioritize tasks; do the most urgent tasks first