Study Skills 2008

8/12/2019 Study Skills 2008

1/9Copyright Enhanced Learning Educational Services 2005 CDNISv4 www.enhanced-learning.net Only to be used in conjunction with an ELES Presentation 1

IMPROVING YOUR RESULTS

Name: __________________

COULD YOU IMPROVE THE WAY YOU STUDY?As humans, we have a physical BODY, which houses and protects our BRAIN:

We use parts of our body, and the senses available to us, to collect and take in information.

Senses we might use at school tend to be:

Once our senses collect the information,it is stored in the sensory bank of our mind:

From the sensory bank, two things can happen. Information can:

OR

Information in your short term

memory can then either

OR

Study is all about getting information you

read or see or hear to move out of the short

term memory, which will not retain theinformation for long periods of time, into the

long term memory which has an amazing

capacity to recall information stored.

Be.

FORGOTTENEnter your

SHORT TERM MEMORY

which holds:

Enter your LONG TERM MEMORY

which holds: 1 000 000 000 +



Sidney and Nelsons Guide to making study notes:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Objects:

Step 4

Summarising is where you identify the key points ormain ideas and then condense these into point form ornotes. The organisation, neatness and legibility ofthese notes are very important. Your brain likespatterns and structure so make sure your study notesare well organised in order to help your brainremember the content.

To make a summary, you should first look throughyour class notes, textbook and any handouts to workout what the main headings or topics are. You mightlike to then make a one page overview mind map.Then for each heading, re-read the material on thistopic and write down the most important points youwill need to remember.Everyones summaries are different. Some people likelots of detail, some people like examples, somepeople like just the main points. Making summaries isalso a good way to see if you really understand thework. It means you are actually revising as you go!

What about Mind Maps??Which category do you fall into..

___ Dont know what they are___ Love them___ Hate Them___ No opinion either way

Mind maps can be used effectively togive you an overview of the topic.They work well when they are the first thingyou do before you start summarising the topic.Your study notes could have a mind mapof the topic (1 page), then point form notesabout the topic (however many pages youneed, but stick to the essentials)



THE TWO ARMS OF STUDYING EFFECTIVELY

Describe how YOU learn and memorise Describe where you get questionscontent: from to do practise:

Do you do questions from a wide rangeof resources?

Do you test yourself to see what you Do you do practise under examcan remember or do you just read it conditions ie time limits and noover and over? looking at notes or answers till the end?

Study is all about getting

information you read or

see or hear to move out of

the short term memory,which will not retain the

information for long

periods of time, into the

long term memory which

has an amazing capacity to

recall information stored.

Many students spend either

too long on learning and not

enough on practicing (in

which case they know theinformation but cant apply

it) or they spend too long

practising but not enough

time learning (in which case

they can do the work

provided they have their

notes to refer to).


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IMPROVING EXAM TECHNIQUES

TIME MANAGEMENT

Allocate your time before you go in by working out how much time you should spend on each section. Keep an eye on

the clock so that you dont get bogged down or spend too much time on one question.

EXAMPLE. Your exam is 1.5 hours or 90 minutes long.Part A is 30 marks, Part B is 50 marks and Part C is 40 marks. Total 120.

To calculate time allocated:

30/120 x 90 = 22.5 minutes

50/120 x 90 = 37.5 minutes

40/120 x 90 = 30 minutes

The morning of the exam ensure you have had a decent breakfast and you arrive well on time with correct

equipment.

At the start of the exam read through all instructions / criteria and look through the whole paper taking

note of choices. Remember your strengths and plan your attack. Some students like to jot points for all

their plans first.

You can memory dump formulas or things you think you might forget, but dont spend too long doing this.

Which questions first? Depends on your style, play to your strengths and do the questions that will help you

build confidence and momentum. Some recommend leaving the multiple choice till last ask your teacher

what is best in their subject.

The marks are an important guideline for the depth of response required by the examiner. Dont just write

everything you know answer the question! Avoid liquid paper, it takes time, you may forget to go back and even worse, you might have been right!

Write neatly so examiners dont waste time deciphering and then feel your work is disjointed.

Allocate and plan out your time before you start. Keep a watch in front of you at all times and dont spend

too long on just one question.

If you finish early, check and check again, especially the details. Attempt EVERY question dont leave

anything out.

If you have a mental blank, leave it and come back: let your subconscious work on it. Stay hydrated though,

dehydration causes massive reduction in short term memory.

GOOD TECHNIQUES COMMON MISTAKES

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Can you list 5 examples of good exam techniques and of common mistakes students make in exams?

You may decide to spend 20 minutes on

Part A, 35 minutes on Part B and 25

minutes on Part C so you have 10 minutes

left for checking.



COULD YOU BE MORE ORGANISED?

- Do you paste in your loose sheets or keep them in a folder? Y / N

- Do you keep your locker at school tidy and organised? Y / N

- Do you date all of your work and sheets? Y / N

- Do you use a consistent pen colour in your work? Y / N

- Do you make headings clear? Y / N

- Do you have all the stationery you need to stay organised? Y / N

SETTING UP YOUR OWN ORGANISATION AND FILING SYSTEM AT HOME

- Do you have a good sized work space? Y / N

- Do you have adequate storage or shelving space? Y / N

- Do you have a supportive chair? Y / N

- Do you have adequate ventilation (fresh air)? Y / N

- Do you have good strong lighting and a desk lamp? Y / N

- Do you have a visible calendar or term planner showing

when things are due? Y / N

- Do you have somewhere to keep assignments or projects

you are working on? Y / N

- Do you have somewhere to keep the books you dont need to

take to school the next day? Y / N

- Do you have somewhere to keep past tests, assignments,

old exercise books so they are all together for each

subject? Y / N

- Do you take everything out of your bag when you get home

and get out the work you need for that night? Y / N

- Do you paste in any loose sheets each afternoon or put

them into folders at home? Y / N

- Do you pack your bag each night with everything youll need

for school the next day? Y / N

What could you do tobe more organised?



CAN YOU IMPROVE THE WAY YOU

MANAGE YOUR TIME?

How much time? ..

What work should you be doing?

1. ______________ all the papers etc. from the day. Paste in any loose sheets and file away others (havefolders at home to file away work that wont fit into your school books).

2. Next work on the ________________from the day.

3. Then work on ___________________ or prepare for any upcoming tests or quizzes.

4. Available time after this should be used to work on ______________, review difficult areas or reading.

Allocate set times for schoolwork.Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

3.30-4 8-9

4-4.30 9-10

4.30-5 10-115-5.30 11-12

5.30-6 12-1

6-6.30 1-2

6.30-7 2-3

7-7.30 3-4

7.30-8 4-5

8-8.30 5-6

8.30-9 6-7

9-9.30 7-89.30-10 8-9

Buy or make a wall planner.This way you can see at a glance when things are due and when the heavy weeks are.

Use a system to decide WHEN you will do all of the work.Use your diary as a planner. Estimate the time it will take and allocate when you will do each step. Remember,

everything ALWAYS takes longer than you will think. Keep track, highlight what you complete and reschedule the work

you run out of time for! Dont write in your homework on the day it was given to you, write it in on the day you will plan

to actually do it.Sat 1

Do research, collect materials for assign

Sat 8

Finish 1stsection of assignment

Sat 15

Put in pictures assignment

Sun 2 Sun 9

Start 2ndsection of assignment

Sun 16

Mon 3 Mon 10 Mon 17

Tues 4

Start 1stsection of assignment

Tues 11 Tues 18

Finalise presentation assignment

Wed 5 Wed 12

Finish 2ndsection of assignment

Wed 19

Thurs 6 Thurs 13 Thurs 20

Fri 7 Fri 14 Fri 21Assignment Due Today

Highlight the work you complete that day. Cross out incomplete work or work you did not have time for and

allocate it to another day. This way you never have to look back to see what you need to do.



STEP 5: Manage your time on a daily basis.

As soon as you get home (or even better, before you leave school), look through the work in your diary

(the homework from the day, and the work you had scheduled out). Prioritise, by numbering from 1 (most

important) to the least important task. This way youll do what is important rather than doing the things

you like first! (The exception to this is that if you have a few easy and quick tasks, you might want to

allocate a half hour to do as many of these fiddly things as possible before moving to the bigger more

important tasks.) Estimate how long each task will take and if you struggle to make yourself do the work,

write down times next to each task. Try and work in half hour blocks.

If you are feeling overwhelmed:

Weekend = organize, study notes, catch-up, assignments.

If you have no time during the week, set aside a few hours every weekend to organize your papers and

start making study notes (you should be doing them each time you finish a topic). Also allocate time on the

weekend for catch-up, to do the things you didnt have time for during the week. Try and get ahead in

your assignments and knock over big chunks of the work.

Make lists and make decisions.

If you are feeling overwhelmed, write out a list of everything you have to do under these headings:

URGENT: Needs to be done

asap.

COMING UP: Assessments or

assignments that you should

start preparing for

POSTPONE: Things that you

simply dont have enough time

for now and can be left for the

holidays.

Take the urgent tasks and fill up in your diary when you will do them.

Now take the tasks coming up and allocate those as well. Once you have a plan in place, even though it

means lots of work, you will feel much better.

Your top distractions:

What changes could you implement to manage

your time and workload better?

1.

2.

3.


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2008 TARGETS!Place this page where you will see it every day during 2008 so you will be reminded of the areas you

need to work on in order to improve your results in secondary school.

What are your goals in each of these areas?

What do you need to do/rememberto make the improvements needed?

Classroom SkillsDo you listen to your teacher

and not talk when youshould be focusing? Do youwork well in class and makethe most of classtime? Do

you participate and getinvolved in the lesson? Do

you respect others ideas?

Homework SkillsDo you complete all the

homework that is set by thedue date? Do you try and put

effort into your homeworkand do it properly? Do youask your teacher for help ifyou cant do or understand

some of the homework?

Assignment Skills

Do you complete allassignments in time by the

due date? Do you startassignments early rather

than leaving them to the lastminute? Do you break your

assignments down intosmaller more manageable

steps?

Study SkillsDo you start studying fortests early? Do you make

study notes on a regularbasis so they are ready atexam time? Do you do lots

of revision questions, askingfor help if needed? Do youtest yourself on your study

notes?

General SkillsAre you on time for school

and classes and bringeverything needed? Are youable to turn off distractions

when working at home?What else could you do to

improve your results?

Documents

Study Skills 2008