The Best Study Skills - Five Strategies You Need to Know and Use

The Best Study Skills

Five Strategies You Need to Know and Use

Think Social Studies2Reduce Interference What is it???Maria vs. MaryOverlearn the Material: Better you know the material, the less likely that interference will occurTo overlearn, continue studying past the point where you can just barely recall the information. Research shows that overlearning strengthens memory for any material, and one of the ways it does this is by reducing possible interference

Make It Meaningful:FamiliarityRhymesPatterns

3Other Ideas to Reduce Interferences Minimize Intervening Activity

Don't Study Similar Subjects Together

Study Different Subjects in Different Rooms

Use Separate Study Sessions:Research shows that there is better remembering and less interference if only one subject is learned during a particular study session

(Minimize Intervening Activity) Interference increases as the amount of activity between study time and the time to recall the material increases(Dont study similar Subjects Together) Forgetting due to interference will also increase if you try to study similar subject close together(Study Different Subjects in Different Rooms) Another proven way to reduce interference is to study in different contexts for different subjects that might interfere with one another. (Use separate Study Sessions) Avoid studying all your subjects at the same time. Research shows that there is better remembering and less interference if only one subject is learned during a particular study session.

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Space It Out Breaking up the material of several different subjects into multiple, separate study sessions

- Enhances memory for the material

Limits of Attention: There is a limit to how long you can focus on a given set of material

During Breaks: Research suggests that your brain strengthens memories during breaks

Differing Contexts/Moods: Memory is aided by environmental context: The room you study in, the type of pen or pencil you use when studying, or even your mood can link what you learned during studying with what you can recall of the material during testing

Use Whole and Part Learning Whole Method with Extra Studying for Parts.Read through everything carefully once or twiceSeparate out the more difficult sections for extra study timeWhole-Part-Whole Method.Go through all the material a couple of times Break up the material into logical parts that you study separatelyGo back and review everything from beginning to end. Effective for long and difficult material.Progressive Part Method.Break up the material into sections and begin studyingMove on to studying the second part -study the first part again along with the second partHelps prevent you from forgetting the materialyou learned at the beginning as you go along- Helps you organize all the material conceptually in your brain

Recite ItWhen studying, pause, look away from the material, and try to remember the facts of what you just learned When studying alone, consider saying the information out loud-> forces you to pay attention

*How to Study1. Begin by reading through the section headings of the chapter2. Try to recall, If you have trouble -Make a connection-Explain the chapter to yourself or someone else3. Study Aids: Create flash cards-Helps in testing your memory for a large amount of material4. Study with a partner and quiz each other-Effective if each partner is prepared5. Recite the facts in the chapter from memory until you know them

Benefits of RecitingOne of the best study skills:

-Active learning which engages more than one of your sensesIt gives you feedback so you know what part of the material you need to spend more time on It forces you to concentrate & pay attention to the material.

***Recitation is exactly what you do when being testedrecall the material as accurately as possible from memory

It makes perfect sense to practice during your study sessions what you are going to be doing on the test

Use a Study System*SQ3R: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, ReviewSurvey: Get a grasp of the informationRead the preface, table of contents, and the chapter summaries. Read all the main headings and subheadings within the chapters. Carefully examine any graphs or pictures, and read the captions. When surveying you want to study everythingexceptthe actual meat of the material

Question: Ask yourself questions about each oneThinking of questions keeps you focused.

Read: Read straight through everything without taking notes Make sure to read through the graphs, chapters summaries You probably want to avoid underlining as you read through the first time

Use a Study SystemRecite: To ask and answer questions about the information. Go through the chapter Reciting step by step through the chapter will give you a very accurate picture of how well you know the material. Experts recommend you spendat least half of your timereciting

Review: The review consists of reciting your way through the material againThe more times you can review before your exam, spaced out over hours or days if possible, the better you will likely remember the material

***Can be used for English, History, Science, Math, and related subjects Using the SQ3R method takes a bit of extra time, but will you save time.