Dr. Hyatt
Clinical Health Psychologist
Clinical Director and Founding Partner
CALM International
Definition – Study Skills refers to the techniques and principles established by an individual to enhance the learning process. Learning takes place when the individual is able to code information for effective storage, and then retrieve said information on demand. The term Study skills is therefore anything which will aid this process of storage and retrieval for the individual; for example, association, music, drama, re-writing of notes, teaching of self, pop quiz (question cards), group study and so on.
It is also of extreme importance for the individual to discover what techniques work best for him or her. A revision of the work done that day in school is also encouraged.
Personalized Studying
It is important, before choosing a technique, for the individual to formulate a study program that works best for him or her, which calls for some amount of experimentation and questioning. This process is called personalized studying, and commences by answering the following questions:
- Do I study better at evening time, nighttime or during the days?
- Do I study better with or without music or some type of sound?
- Do I study better alone or with a group or another individual?
- Do I study better before or after meals, or while snacking?
- What is my attention-span?
The concept of attention-span in personalized studying is of much importance; that is, how long can I study for without becoming distracted or restless? This is of importance, as it will help in determining how long each study session should be before you take a break. For example, if your attention-span is 20 minutes, then you would study for 20 minutes before taking a 5-minute break and then continuing. For information on how to expand your attention-span, speak with one of your Counselors.
Explanation of the terms
- Association – The art of relating things so as to best remember them; for example, the spaces on the treble cleft in music are FACE. This spells face; therefore, we associate face with the names of the spaces on the treble cleft.
- Music – Some persons make up songs using important topics to form the lyrics. An example of this is “Doe a dear a female dear, Ray a drop of golden sun, Me a name I call myself….” This is a very popular song that helps you to remember the scale on a piano. Others may use reggae or dub-poetry.
- Drama – This is used especially in Literature, where popular books are used to make movies so as to allow students to associate the plot and scenes with the information they are suppose to learn. Examples of this include: Romeo and Juliet, To Kill a Mocking Bird etc. You can also invent plays that will cause you to remember certain information.
- Re-writing of Notes – It is helpful to read through your notes and highlight the important pointers within them. When you have completed that, re-write the notes only to include the highlighted portion. This helps in two ways. (1). Re-writing information helps you to remember it more easily, (2). It condenses the information and causes you to concentrate on the important points, which makes the work look a whole lot less intimidating.
- Teaching the self – This helps to re-enforce the work you were taught in class. Go by yourself and teach the concepts to yourself or pretend to be teaching them to friends. Better yet, get some members of your family or friends, and teach the topics to them, then ask them questions.
- Pop Quiz (question Cards) – Get study cards or cut into squares some folder leaves and paste them onto cardboard strips. Write on one side a question, and on the other the answer. Go through the cards one at a time, asking yourself the questions, then trying to remember the answers without looking at the back. The ones you get correct, put those aside while you keep questioning yourself on the ones you got incorrect, until you know them all.
- Group Study – This has both positive and negative effects. Never go to a study group to learn everything from scratch, only go after you have gone through the material for yourself, then you can use the group time to go through past papers and questions, and refresh your memory.
It is always important to create a Study Timetable, which includes not just your study time, but also your leisure time activities.
