HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY

Ezenwoke AzubuikeDepartment of Computer and Information Sciences,College of Science and Technology,Covenant University.11th January, 2012

Lecture Outline

• Introduction• Know Thyself• Know your Lecturers• Know your program• Develop a winning strategy• Conclusion

Introduction

• A wise man once said, “The First Best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, The Second best time is NOW”– The implication of this statement is that preparing for

an examination, should have begin longest time ago, but its not too late to start today.

• The Journey to a first Class result begins from being mindful from the very first Class.

• Zig Ziglar said, “Any Dummy can succeed if He knows what it takes.”

Know Thyself

• Self discovery is the Greatest Discovery• Understanding your uniqueness is the key to

your distinction.• Everybody is programmed and wired different

from the rest• Our uniqueness is validated by our individual

purposes In Life.

Know Thyself

• In the study of learning, it has been proven by research that there are 3 main categories of learning approaches– Visual– Auditory– Kinesthetic

• Everyone of us can operate a combination of all of these.

Know Thyself

• Visual Learner– Love to see texts, pictures, graphics and multimedia

before they can appreciate learning contents.• Auditory Learners– Can relate better with Sounds, or auditory signals of

learning contents• Kinesthetic Learners– These group of learners learn best when they are

involved in some learning activity of a particular learning content.

Know thy Lecturers

• The same way everyone of us is different, so also is our lecturers.

• Lecturers in CST differ from lecturers in CDS:– Moreso accounted for by the difference in

discipline (Program), training of the lecturers and their own preferences.

• How lecturer A prepares his notes and teaches will be different from lecturer B’s.

Know Thy Lecturers

• So, its important that each student should strive to understand individual lecturers

• How?– Just walk up to them and ask!– By Observation

Know your Program

• For many students, – the major reason for failure or low academic

performance is lack of interest in their course of study.

• Lack of interest in your program or a particular course will affect your attitude to studying.

• At this stage, you must find your motivation in your present course and re-align your attitude.– Various Examples Mrs. Ada Sonia Peters

Developing Winning Strategy

• Organize, Organize and Organize!• Mike Murdock said, “Pain is the product of

Disorder” he also said that, “The only reason why men fail, is broken focus”

• Focus can only be achieved where there is absolute order.

• Order here or organization refers to how each student is able to acquire, analyze and store and retrieve information/knowledge.

The Winning Strategies

1. Develop and organized method of studying lecture materials

2. Develop a regular time study pattern3. Develop a success-council4. Teach others

Winning Strategy-1

• The world is organized• Knowledge and Information is organized– That is why what a person studies in school is

called a Discipline.– It means that the individual has submitted his/her

self to certain organization of knowledge.– Science is defined as, “an organized body of

knowledge….”

Develop A Winning Strategy-1

• How to I organize my Lecture Materials during my study period?– The Materials has been organized for you!– Each course has a list of topics, sub-topics and

sub-sub topics.– Store the information in the order it is presented,

because the examiner will require from you what he gave to you.

Develop A Winning Strategy-1

• How can I achieve that?• Anytime you want to Study,– Start first by quickly skimming through the

materials.– Develop an organized outline from the material– Know the outline by heart by constant repetition– Read to fill in the gaps in your outlines– Start the process again when next you want to

study

winning Strategy-2

• Another wise man said, “Time is God’s way of not allowing everything to happen at once!”

• Its not enough to know how to organize your materials during study, you must know how to organize your time.

• Don’t read disorderly, develop a particular time study pattern.– E.g.

Winning Strategy-2

• For example,• You find out how many Day(s) you have left

and distribute your courses over those days.• You must ensure discipline in adhering to your

schedule.

Winning Strategy-3

• Develop a “Success-Council”– A group of like minded persons who share your

passion for success.– Spend time in the company of each other and

encourage each other to highest academic performance.

– Also, Have an academic mentor or role-model whom you look up to and learn from their examples

Winning Strategy-4

• Teach Others– “Give and it shall be given unto you…”

• Robert Half said, Anytime one teaches two learn.– Ensure you are helping someone else succeed in

their academic pursuits.– When you can successfully teach someone else,

then you have successfully master the subject.

Conclusion

• Success is not a myth, it is achievable.• Just as Zig Ziglar said, Any Dummy can succeed

if he knows what it takes.• Your commitment to understanding what it

takes to succeed and putting it to work will deliver your academic desires to you sweatlessly.

• S_CCESS is not complete without “U”

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING