by Dr. Gregory Hall
Bentley College

Study skills!? "I've been studying my whole life...why do I need this?" Good question! All of your professors are going to assume that you know how to prepare for course lectures, assignments and tests effectively and efficiently. Trust me, the vast majority of good students study but, they do so very inefficiently and somewhat ineffectively. Take a four-question quiz to determine if your study skills need some work.

1. Have you have ever sat in class thinking to yourself, "doesn't this professor realize I have four other courses!"
2. When you sit down to read a chapter in a text do you first turn to the end of the chapter to determine how many pages you have to suffer through?
3. Have you ever sat down to read a text book and after thirty minutes look up only to realize you don't remember a single word of the last twenty pages?
4. Have you ever looked at a question on an exam and said to yourself, "I know the answer to this!" but no matter how hard you tried you could not come up with the answer? The most maddening thing is walking out of the exam and bingo, you recall the answer!

If you answered yes to these questions than, you probably, are among the 'vast majority of good students' who could benefit from more effective study skills. The good news is, developing more effective study skills is not hard to accomplish. Efficient and effective study skills usually result in higher grades and lower stress; improved academic self-confidence and a reduced frequency of procrastination, and; a higher retention of material studied with less time studying.

Now for the bad news, developing improved study skills requires a consistent commitment in trying new methods. Developing efficient study skills may be seen by some of your peers as a 'wimpy' thing to do; so maybe you should keep it a secret! Finally, I have to be honest, developing effective and efficient study skills is about as exciting as watching paint dry!

Getting Started
Well, after reading the good and the bad you are willing to give it a whirl, here are some ways to get started. However, before we go any further click on this link and try this test: www.unomaha.edu/~wwwlc/testyourcollegestudy.htm

1. First, you need to clarify your goals and manage your time.



2. Reading a text book someone else requires of you is far different than reading a novel you have selected personally. Most people cannot read required technical or academic material for more than fifteen minutes before the mind begins to wander and daydream. That is one of the reasons most texts are broken into smaller sections with sub-headings. There is a basic method to spending less time and retaining more of the chapter. The method is commonly referred to as the SQ3R method. It stands for Study, Question, Read, Recite, Review. The basic steps are as follows:
   
   
   • Survey the chapter. Skim through the chapter outline. Looking away from the text, repeat allowed as many of the outline topics as you can recall. Now flip to the end of the chapter and skim the summary. Looking away from the summary, repeat as many of the points as you can recall.
   • Question yourself asking aloud, "what is this chapter about?" Answer allowed based upon the outline and chapter summary.
   • Now skim through the chapter reading just the bold chapter headings. Upon completion, repeat as many of the bold headings as you can recall.
   • Stop. The previous steps should have taken you no more than fifteen minutes. In bullet format write on an index card or scrap paper the important topics to be covered in this chapter. Use the note card as a bookmark and close the book.
   • Switch to a different course and spend about fifteen minutes either reading (following the steps above) or working on an assignment.
   • You have now been working for about thirty minutes. Take a ten-minute break.
   • Return to the book you began with opening to your bookmark. Skim through the bold headings once again. This time read the first sentence after each bold heading. Usually this will clarify the importance of the topic. Completing this for the chapter should take about five minutes. Repeat as many of the important points as you can recall.
   • At this point you will have worked on the chapter for a total of about twenty minutes. You will probably have a much better idea of the chapter organization, the author's main points and the critical topics. Now you are ready to read the chapter and highlight important points.
   • Read a section or two (again, about fifteen minutes) and switch to another subject.
   
   
   
   This process may seem awkward at first because it is so different than the methods you have used in the past. However, if you give it time, you will see the results of greater efficiency and effectiveness.



3. Timing is everything! Complete the assigned reading before the lecture on the material. Sounds like wimpy advice however, trust me, the lecture will make much more sense and so will the class notes you take.



4. Know your biorhythms. For example, if you aren't a morning person don't attempt to study challenging material at 7:00am! Rather, study at the time of day when you are most energized.

If you give these initial tips and methods a fair trial (using them consistently for two weeks) and like the results, than learn more about additional effective study skills. There are probably resources available on your campus.