How to Study *Study is hard work. Study takes time.

Study is solitary work between you and your books. Students often fail because they know only that they want to succeed. They know what rewards they want, but they do not want to recognize that ON ! "O#$ "% &'T TH'( TH'S' #'")#*S. %n short, students often fail because they are T#!%N& TO &'T SO('TH%N& +O# NOTH%N&. *Some students thint that to study means to memorize, to read or to do some kind of s,ecial thinking. "hat does good studying re-uire. Study is most effecti/e when0 1you know what you are studying 1you care about what you are studying 1you a,,roach your wrok feeling confident 1you try to get the (OST out of your studies, NOT 2ust enough to get by 1you work for 3N*'#ST)N*%N&, NOT 43ST &#)*'S 1you de/ote alloted time ,eriods ,er day to a sub2ect and you stick to that schedule5 routines tend to be ,roducti/e *you need -uiet and solitude5 good light5 no distractions5 desk s,ace to work on, etc. *you need to do e/ery assignment 1 ON T%('1 and do each as well as you ,ossibly can *There are other benefits to good studying0 1the more you6ll learn 1the better your grades will be 1the better your chances of getting into college 1you6ll de/elo, good study habits for college 1the more res,onsible ,erson you6ll become 1the better chances you ha/e for getting a 2ob 1you6ll be reliable and know how to a,,ly yourself 1the more you will be rela7ed and en2oy school *8ommon study ,roblems0 1,rocrastination 9waiting until the )ST minute: 1reading, but not getting anything out of it 1% don6t know how to study; 1%t6s hard for me to concentrate; 1% didn6t used to ha/e to try hard for good grades, now % do; 1% do e/erything else before my homework and then it6s late; 1%(<#O<'# 3S' O+ T%(' 1it6s hard to get started *!O3 "% NOT )3TO()T%8) ! ')#N TO ST3*! %N 8O '&'0 *o not wait to get hit by lightning. %t won6t ha,,en0 the study habits of =>? college freshmen were tested when they entered college and again when they finished their freshmen year. Su,risingly, it was found that the study habits of these students were <OO#'# after a year in college than they were u,on entering college. %n addition, the students had a more negati/e attitude.

*"hen a ,erson wants to im,ro/e himself, he must first disco/er what he already does well and what mistakes he needs to correct. 9*on6t study what you already know5 dig in on what you don6t@: =: %m,ro/e your study conditions0 works,ace, -uiet, light, no interru,tions, ,osture, room tem,erature, time of day, rest occasionally and culti/ate a rece,ti/e mood. A: )nalyze how you learn best5 learn to think critically0 use your own s,ecial strengths to learn. 9some learn by seeing, some by hearing, writing, drawing, discussing:. *etermine which of these is most effecti/e for you and utilize that mode. B: 3se your time wisely. %n class, ,ay attention and learn. )sk -uestions. (ake sure you understand what is going on. %f you understand an e7,lanation during class, then you can use your time at home to learn more about the sub2ect, not to learn it for the first time 9and with no one around to hel,:. *ecide what is im,ortant to remember@ Summarize and sim,lify the information into units you can handle. 3se diagrams, whate/er, to ca,ture the main ideas. )lways ask -uestions and ,artici,ate in class. !ou learn more when you take ,art. *o work during class if gi/en the time. This is a definite time sa/er. "rite down the assignment clearly and com,letely so there is no confusion at a later time. <lan your time and stick to the schedule. &et into the habit of studying on time. <utting it off usually results in ho,elessness and inade-uate time. *o your studying first so that you can en2oy your s,are time without worrying. C: *o your assignments thoroughly. *oing them late 9or not at all: will hurt your grade and kee, you from truly understanting the material. %t may mean that you will not understand other, related assignments. +ollow directions, be neat, be com,lete, do it yourself, do the assignment on time and reflect on what hte assignment is intended to achie/e and what it6s done for you. The ,ur,ose of doing assignments is to hel, you learn. !ou don6t do them strictly because the teacher said so, or e/en for a grade. !ou are not 2ust learning facts and information, you are learning how to learn and think. These are ,rocesses that take ,ractice. '*38)T%ON %S NOT 43ST #'<O#T 8)#*S O# T'ST S8O#'S5 %T %S ) <#O8'SS O+ D#%N&%N& O3T 3N*'#ST)N*%N& +#O( !O3, NOT ST3++%N& %N+O#()T%ON %NTO !O3. E: #e/iew what you ha/e learned. #e/iewing greatly increases learning. #e,etition makes things familiar. %t would seem foolish for a fisherman to hook a fish and not to reel it in. !et many students do 2ust that with their learning. They do their assignments, but they ne/er reel in the ideas they ha/e caught. They do the work, but they gain no lasting understanding of what they ha/e done. #ecitation 9self1 testing:, ,sychologists tell us, hel,s more than anything else to make learning ,ermanent. F: earn how to read better. <oor reading ability is the most common characteristic of students who dro, out of school. )n enormous amound of information you study in high school is found in ,rinted materials, therefore it makes good sense to im,ro/e your com,rhension. 9,ractice reading by reading something that interests you.: Think as you read. )nalyze. ?: earn how to use the library. 3se as many materials as ,ossible.

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earn how to do s,ecial assignments 9,ro2ects, re,orts, notes, etc.: <ut some heart into it. !ou ha/e to do it so make the most of the o,,ortunity. G: earn how to ,re,are for and take tests. Tests are im,ortatn because tehy measuer hoe much you ha/e learned and how well you ha/e understood what you ha/e learned. Tests are also learning e7,eriences in themsel/es1 you learn while you take one and you learn from the feedback they ,ro/ide. #egular study ,re,ares you for a test. The better you do during a semester, the better you will do at the end. "hat kind of test you are taking influences your testtaking strategy. *TrueH+alse0 carefully read the e7act wording of the statement. De sure you understand the meaning of each word, one word can easily change the meaning of a statement form true to false@ %f the words always or ne/er; are ,resent, be sus,icious. The item is ,robably false. *(ulti,le 8hoice0 it is always hel,ful to cross out the answers which you know are wrong. This narrows your choice. *(atching0 similar to (ulti,le 8hoice. *+ill in the blanks0 re-uire that you recall e7act information, this re-uires careful study. *'ssay0 you ha/e to think, remember, organize and e7,lain. <lus, you ha/e to watch the time, budget yourself. %n ,articular, essay tests need s,ecial attention to the cause and effect of things1 the reasons for. De s,ecific, generalizations are not enough. Outline the main ,oints. Start with the -uestion you feel the most comfortable with. %f time is left o/er, reread your work. #'I%'" 'I'#!TH%N&@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ !our notes, your te7t, the assignments you ha/e done, ask yourself -uestions, ha/e friends -uiz you, make flash cards, reco,y your notes. *o not go on with your study until you are sure that you ha/e mastered each ,art. 8onsidercause and effect. #eflect on the rele/ance of the material. +or a final e7am, it is im,ossible to reread the entire book. 4ust go through the headings of the cha,ters and e7,lain to yourself what6s there. %f you don6t know, re/iew this. (ake note of it. $ee, a list of things you know you need to focus on. *on6t waste time studying what you already know, e/en thought that is reassuring. &uess what -uestions could be asked on this to,ic. Try to answer them. <racticing answering -uestions is /ery useful. <racticing anything makes you better at it 1 this includes test1taking. (ake outlines. 8ramming leads to confusion and ,anic. The brain cannot form memory ,atterns that -uickly. #egularHroutine study and re/iew are the only effecti/e routes to long term understanding and retention. #est before a test. !ou cannot think clearly if you are tired. =J: Sol/e ,ersonal ,roblems that interfere with studying. !our ability to study is affected by any feelings of frustration, anger, resentment, etc that you may ha/e. !ou can6t concentrate if you fear failure, see a counselor@ De honest with yourself on this issue and o/ercome it. %t is not ,roducti/e or healthy. *%f you ha/e ,hysical ,roblems with learning, tell someone. Someone out there will be delighted to 9or trained to: hel, you. *on6t short yourself for no reason. )SS3(' #'S<ONS%D% %T! +O# !O3#S' +. This ,art of growing u,, so it6s good ,ractice to start now. %mmaturity is de,endency on others instead of yourself to sol/e a

,roblem. (aturity is de/elo,ment of ,roblem1sol/ing skills. These are habit rorming res,onses to situations@ 9Note1 it can be mature to seek hel,: "ise selection of goalsHcourses is as im,ortant as knowing how to study0 *know facts about the courses you are taking and their re-uirements *what choices are o,en to you and what are the re-uirements. *what are the conse-uences of your decision, one way or the other. 1the goal is to match yourself to a future in which you can be ha,,y, successful and ,roducti/e1 neither throwing away your talents nor stri/ing toward unattainable goals #emember, you li/e with the results of your decisions.