Study...

**Kittyhawk** · 13th November 2007, 21:31

Ok I have intelligent like questions....

What techniques are effective for studying??

Any good books out there which can be reccomended for learning to study with good results?

What works and what dosent?

**Macstar** · 13th November 2007, 21:51

You need to work out what kind of person you are and what stimulates your brain. For example so people are visual learners (me) and I need to do mind maps with connecting lines and pictures and things. Other people learn / memorise my discussing theories aloud and going over concepts etc. Some people need to read and then write things out over and over again. Acronomes etc etc. A lot of techniques out there. Can't recommend any books but I'm sure if you spent 2 minutes online you'd come up with a few books. Your education provider should also have some advice to offer in this department too.

**Curious_AJ** · 13th November 2007, 22:01

yeah, i'm a writer, but I also like to learn by reading and talking aloud to myself... I find that if you use many different techniques it sticks better.

**Grahameeboy** · 13th November 2007, 22:05

Find a subject you like first?

**Sanx** · 13th November 2007, 22:55

Vodka. Large quantities of.

Doesn't make you remember stuff any better, but you cease to be concerned about your inability to do so.

**Headbanger** · 13th November 2007, 23:21

I find its easiest if you start off knowing everything already.......

**HTFU** · 14th November 2007, 00:11

Firstly, stop posting on KB at this hour of the night, get good sleep and do you study early morning rather than at night. (some of us are working so have an excuse). Secondly, by the time you have read the book on how to study you more than likely would be sick of learning anything more. Keep it simple is the best thing this late into the exam season.

The following is a technique I personally used and now use with Secondary Students.

I get my students to firstly break down each topic by using A3 sheets of paper to summerise every aspect of the topic they may be examined on. Its like a big overview of how everything fits into the topic and they do this using the notes they have taken during the year. A3 works well because you can start to see the links that may exist and this wider view gives you a general knowledge from which you can attack a more specific question.

If the exam was on how does a motorbike work then I would do the following.

Put all the bits of a motorbike on A3 so you know you have covered every possible area of the topic, you can add a little of the specifics of each part but not too much at this stage. Use colour, pictures, mnemonics etc on this overview sheet to aid memory and then before moving on to the specifics, try and rewrite this sheet from memory, trying to put down each part of the bike as you had it on the original. When you can do this you can then be confident you know the basics of the topic. The Bread and Butter and more than likely, a C pass or an achieved with very little work.

Once you can do this it is then time to take each of the areas and make a A3 sheet up for each of them, so one sheet would have the clutch and how it works on it, another would have the brakes etc.

I see a lot of students get bogged down in study because they have tried to tackle the real fine points of a topic first, like working on how the clutch works first before learning about the whole bike and its parts.

I have found most students prefer this method to looking at A4 sheets of notes, although there are exceptions of course. But arming yourself with A3 sheets of paper with all you notes summerised in one area, it makes it easy to learn a topic as well as memorise it. I always aim to use this to learn about a topic then the memory takes care of itself.

**0arbreaka** · 14th November 2007, 01:12

A room with everything you need to learn and nothing else, no distractions or anything along those lines. Allow yourself breaks every 15-30mins.

**Nasty** · 14th November 2007, 05:31

Speak to Mrs Kendog .. she has been studying for a while at home etc. and has some good techniques.

**BarBender** · 14th November 2007, 07:18

Originally Posted by Kittyhawk

Ok I have intelligent like questions....
What techniques are effective for studying??
Any good books out there which can be reccomended for learning to study with good results?
What works and what dosent?

What is the exam format?
Is it essay, multichoice, practical etc....

Do you know your prefered learning style?
http://www.ldpride.net/learningstyles.MI.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles

**yungatart** · 14th November 2007, 07:24

The most effective form of study is the one that works for you taking in to account your particular learning style.
Me, I need healthy food to nibble on, some good music (classical, baroque), playing softly and decent lighting. I can not study at a desk or table, much prefer to be lying on the floor ar the couch. Don't overload yourself...20 mins to half an hour bursts are best, then go do something completely different, before returning to the books again.
Good luck!

**Ragingrob** · 14th November 2007, 08:02

Mornings are magic. Honestly, if you get up early you can do two hours of said study and it's only 9am for your first break! Compared to the whole getting up at 10, doing an hours worth of distracted study, then watching the day fade into night as you just watch tv and muck around.

Get started early as and it motivates you.

**Stickchick** · 14th November 2007, 08:29

Hey Kitty. I'm styudying through the Open Polytechnic and they provide you with a booklet on Study tips. it provides different tips for different types of people. They may ahve something online that you could read in regards to it, not really sure as I have never at a look but here is their website

www.openpolytechnic.ac.nz

Good Luck with your Study, its not easy but its definitely rewarding

**Mikkel** · 14th November 2007, 08:51

Originally Posted by Ragingrob

Mornings are magic. Honestly, if you get up early you can do two hours of said study and it's only 9am for your first break! Compared to the whole getting up at 10, doing an hours worth of distracted study, then watching the day fade into night as you just watch tv and muck around.

Get started early as and it motivates you.

Depends on how you're put together.

I function best from 8 pm onwards and don't even start getting tired until 3 am. I can force myself to adapt to a "normal" schedule - but the night thing is what I naturally adapt by myself if given half a chance.

**Romeo** · 14th November 2007, 09:56

I've just completed 30,000+ words of documentation for my degree - 60 hours worth of writing spread over 6 days.

The best way for me was to implement a metric based approach and spread it out. Break your day down into half hour chunks, then spread exactly what you have to do over a few blocks of time. Then stick to the plan and tick off the chunks as you go - if you get behind, then thats just more stress to make you work harder. If your constantly falling behind then that's an early warning that you have to make some drastic changes.

Code:

 TIME            TASK + Goal                      OUTCOME
2:00pm     -    Task 1 (start)         -   [started on time]
2:30pm     -    Task 1 (350 words)     -   [564 words complete]
3:00pm     -    Task 1 (700 words)     -   [1,109 words complete]
3:30pm     -    Task 1 (1000 words)    -   [took a break]

4:00pm     -    Task 2 (250 words)
4:30pm     -    Task 2 (500 words)

Good stuff - it sounds kind of regemented and unnecessary. But if you're genuine about getting something large done properly, it's a good way to go.