While many students have good intentions about studying, obstacles often arise.
The following tips are suggested strategies to start studying!
I feel overwhelmed by so much material to study.
Begin by listing what chapters / terms to review. Next, prioritize! Break your review into manageable chunks. Begin studying early so you don’t rush. Determine how long you can study before losing your concentration. Schedule study sessions and breaks.
The material puts me to sleep.
Be an active learner by setting a purpose before reading or studying. Interact with the text by asking questions of the author and writing your reactions in the margins. Underline key concepts. Form a study group to encourage discussing material.
I understand when I read the book but I don’t remember it the next day.
One learns best when information has purpose or relevance to one’s life. Try connecting new material to what you already know. By linking new information with your existing knowledge, additional facts are easily integrated into your long-term knowledge. Chunking is an effective strategy for grouping information into meaningful units.
To remember the colors in the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) requires memorizing seven bits of information. However, by taking the first letter of each color, one can spell Roy G. Biv, and reduce the information into three meaningful chunks.
I understood the information while I was reading it.
Students, who immediately forget what was just read, experience short-term information processing difficulties. Try paraphrasing information in your own words after reading a section. If this is difficult, re-read the section or try paraphrasing shorter amounts of text.
I always study lying down.
It is important to study in an environment that is similar to test conditions. Create a study environment that facilitates mental, emotional and physical conditions similar to test context.
I learn best by cramming during an ‘all nighter’
Learning actually occurs through repeated exposures. The more one reads or studies material, the more throughly it is incorporated into one’s knowledge. Thus, this information is easier to recall. An all nighter only leads to mental exhaustion.
I was so sure I understood the material.
Thinking you mastered the facts and knowing the facts are two different things. To prove to yourself you KNOW the material, test yourself. Transform section headings into questions. For example, the subheading The Five Good Emperors might be changed into the following questions: Who were the five good emperors? For what is each man remembered? In which Roman era did these men rule? Next, try answering these questions in writing. There will be no question whether you know the answer.
Good luck studying!
source: www.sju.edu