Post by The Big PINK One♥ on Nov 28, 2007 12:19:15 GMT -5
How to Study One Hour a Day and Get Straight A's
If you're like most college students, you don't like to study. It can be confusing, lengthy, difficult, and can be an onslaught to your social life at times, which may discourage the average student. Most students don't know how to study, and the ones who do study think more is better: liberal use of the highlighter, reading pages of texts over and over, making sure to memorize every little detail, and taking notes of everything the professor mentions, in case the unthinkable happens and you get the dreaded pop quiz. These are ineffective ways to study, however, and common mistakes every student makes. What are the more effective ways to study, then? How can you study effectively and condense it into 1 hour? Very simple - follow these tips.
Use the question-answer method. It is extremely unnecessary to highlight every detail in your textbook, and will contribute nothing to your learning experience. Use the question-answer method (a method detailed in Walter Pauk's book, "How to Study in College") to highlight your text.
What is the question-answer method? The question-answer method is very simple. Read over your text and see if you can find any sentences that could be turned into questions. Only highlight parts that are directly connected to the section title. In example, if your section title is How Molecules Are Formed, only highlight text that directly answers that. After you highlight that part, turn the sentence into a question. If you highlighted "they are formed by the process of etc.", you turn it into a simple question, such as "What process forms molecules?". Write this question in the margin of your text, by the highlighted section. This makes you think about the sentence in particular, and you retain the information better because you are not simply reading it - you are actively participating in it. This is how you learn, and cuts the time of studying in half.
Fill up "dead time". Dead time is a small increment when you may be doing very little, like taking the bus, eating a meal, or waiting for a class to start. Even if it is a couple of minutes, use that time to review your notes. The amount of dead time in a single day is a lot more than you think, and using that time to study adds up quickly. Sometimes you won't need to study after class because of this!
Take effective notes. Apply the question-answer method to note-taking and write down only parts that answer the section's title. Each section should have its name labeled on the top, with the key points arranged in bullets. If your professor focuses on something in particular, write it down also - chances are, it will be on a test or upcoming assignment. After class is finished, review your notes and highlight text according to the question-answer method.
Find a distraction-free environment. Find a quiet, uncluttered place to study. This is usually your bedroom, but libraries are another great spot. Once you've picked your study area, make sure you are mentally and physically devoted to studying - that means turning off your mobile phone, telling your friends to chat later, and "taking care of other problems" beforehand.
What do you mean by taking care of problems? Another method detailed in Walter Pauk's book How to Study in College, you take care of any problems beforehand by writing it on a post it note. If you want to resolve an issue with a friend, write it down so you won't have to worry about it while studying. As odd as it sounds, it works.
Make a list of what you need to do. You need to have plans and goals when you study, so that you know what you're doing. Make a list of what needs to finished and your goals beforehand. Doing this gives you something to accomplish and you know when to stop studying.
Keep it under 1 hour. If you follow most of these tips it should be easy to keep it under 1 hour, but if you can't, make sure not to study over 1 consecutive hour. Your concentration and retaining rate (or how much you retain information) drops immediately after the first hour, and makes studying ineffective. If you need more than 1 hour, take a 1 hour break and study again.
Following these tips should ensure great grades because you are studying actively, along with reducing your study time by half. For more detailed information, Walter Pauk's book How to Study in College is a very informative read, and suggested by many teachers. StudyTips.org is also another great source for becoming a more productive student.
Takeaways
- Using the question-answer method cuts your studying time in half.
- Utilizing dead time for studying may cut out study time completely.
- Make goals before you study, so you know when to stop.
If you're like most college students, you don't like to study. It can be confusing, lengthy, difficult, and can be an onslaught to your social life at times, which may discourage the average student. Most students don't know how to study, and the ones who do study think more is better: liberal use of the highlighter, reading pages of texts over and over, making sure to memorize every little detail, and taking notes of everything the professor mentions, in case the unthinkable happens and you get the dreaded pop quiz. These are ineffective ways to study, however, and common mistakes every student makes. What are the more effective ways to study, then? How can you study effectively and condense it into 1 hour? Very simple - follow these tips.
Use the question-answer method. It is extremely unnecessary to highlight every detail in your textbook, and will contribute nothing to your learning experience. Use the question-answer method (a method detailed in Walter Pauk's book, "How to Study in College") to highlight your text.
What is the question-answer method? The question-answer method is very simple. Read over your text and see if you can find any sentences that could be turned into questions. Only highlight parts that are directly connected to the section title. In example, if your section title is How Molecules Are Formed, only highlight text that directly answers that. After you highlight that part, turn the sentence into a question. If you highlighted "they are formed by the process of etc.", you turn it into a simple question, such as "What process forms molecules?". Write this question in the margin of your text, by the highlighted section. This makes you think about the sentence in particular, and you retain the information better because you are not simply reading it - you are actively participating in it. This is how you learn, and cuts the time of studying in half.
Fill up "dead time". Dead time is a small increment when you may be doing very little, like taking the bus, eating a meal, or waiting for a class to start. Even if it is a couple of minutes, use that time to review your notes. The amount of dead time in a single day is a lot more than you think, and using that time to study adds up quickly. Sometimes you won't need to study after class because of this!
Take effective notes. Apply the question-answer method to note-taking and write down only parts that answer the section's title. Each section should have its name labeled on the top, with the key points arranged in bullets. If your professor focuses on something in particular, write it down also - chances are, it will be on a test or upcoming assignment. After class is finished, review your notes and highlight text according to the question-answer method.
Find a distraction-free environment. Find a quiet, uncluttered place to study. This is usually your bedroom, but libraries are another great spot. Once you've picked your study area, make sure you are mentally and physically devoted to studying - that means turning off your mobile phone, telling your friends to chat later, and "taking care of other problems" beforehand.
What do you mean by taking care of problems? Another method detailed in Walter Pauk's book How to Study in College, you take care of any problems beforehand by writing it on a post it note. If you want to resolve an issue with a friend, write it down so you won't have to worry about it while studying. As odd as it sounds, it works.
Make a list of what you need to do. You need to have plans and goals when you study, so that you know what you're doing. Make a list of what needs to finished and your goals beforehand. Doing this gives you something to accomplish and you know when to stop studying.
Keep it under 1 hour. If you follow most of these tips it should be easy to keep it under 1 hour, but if you can't, make sure not to study over 1 consecutive hour. Your concentration and retaining rate (or how much you retain information) drops immediately after the first hour, and makes studying ineffective. If you need more than 1 hour, take a 1 hour break and study again.
Following these tips should ensure great grades because you are studying actively, along with reducing your study time by half. For more detailed information, Walter Pauk's book How to Study in College is a very informative read, and suggested by many teachers. StudyTips.org is also another great source for becoming a more productive student.
