<p>On a recent post I was concerned that my D in 11th grade did poorly on a few tests. A few posters brought up the issue of study skills. I think they're on to something. For kids who have coasted along by just showing up for class and maybe skimming their notes the day of a test, the entire concept of "Studying" is new. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to "Study"? What methods are effective? How do you get a page of jumbled notes into a coherent study guide? How do you use a study guide? How do you work with a teacher who doesn't go over the information that is on the test?
And, how can you get all of this info onto an Ipod, so kids would be interested in learning these skills?</p>
<p>I don't know if there is a "Studying 101" class out there. But if there is, sign my D up!!!</p>
<p>Google study skills. The first link that shows up looks promising.
My S once helped a student with his biology assignment. The tutee could read the materials, all right, but was not able to extract the relevant information from the text. So he was spending more time laboriously reading and memorizing than my S did, casting his eye on the text and figuring out what was the point of the writing, what was the supporting evidence, the examples, etc... Without the ability to distill, the student is unable to answer a question on the very topic s/he has studied.
Many students take bad notes. They remember great anecdotes and forget the point that the anecdote was supposed to illustrate. When it comes to science, they are not able to generalize from the examples or exercises that were provided. To be fair, often the teachers do not underline the points they are trying to make, either.
Besides looking up some potentially useful websties, your D might benefit from having a tutor for a few sessions at least. Do you have access to college students who could perform this function?</p>
<p>For me, the key to studying is considering it homework. I have a planner where I write down my assingments and I check them off as I finnish them, and if I put down study for a test I find I am much more likely to actually study for it because I get some weird kind of joy from being able to check things off my list. Now, for actually studying, everyone is different. For me, I like to ease into it. I usually start by skimming the material, looking for things I don't know well. Then I gradually start really working through the material. If it's math, I do lots and lots of practice problems, if it's science, I make sure I understand the concepts and it's much like studying for math. For foreign language, I memorize my vocab (I personally like flashcards) and I make sure that I practice some listening and reading (from stuff online). For history I go over the how's and why's. It's tedious, but necesary. And for English, it depends, but typically I go over the reading, or literary terms, or whatever it's about.</p>
<p>A good study guide is a list or a set of questions that are going to be on the test, and not just the simplest version of the question. To make a study guide, go through homework, , notes, quizzes, questions and concepts in the books, etc. </p>
<p>99/100 talkinhg to the teacher one-on-one about the test materials, and they'll tell you what you're expected to know. Or, if they don't, you just have to study every possible thing, and brainstorm with others about you've covered. I hope this helps a little</p>
<p>My mother was Val of her class at Berkeley. Here is her system:</p>
<p>-do reading before class.
-Go to class, take notes.
-immediately after the class, go to library and study the class notes and the reading; distill them both in 2nd set of notes.
-within a week or so, distill notes one more time</p>
<p>Obviously you do have to know what to distill, what the key points are, what is the architecture of the information.</p>
<p>My son was taught, with reading assignments: </p>
<p>-skim first
-then with a general sense of the thrust of the chapter, read carefully, with highlighting
-then take notes on the reading in ABC, 123 form.<br>
-then make flashcards on the notes.</p>
<p>If you asked most bank tellers how many times the number one appears on a dollar bill, they wouldn't know, because they have looked at thousands of bills without really studying any one of them. If I asked you to help me look on a park lawn for a lost ring, you would find things besides my ring, because when the human brain is in search mode it learns more from its environment. So my first suggest ion is to put your self in search mode with a number of questions that you hope to be able to answer after studying. Even if you can't answer one of those questions, you will probably have found out a lot of other stuff while you looked.</p>
<p>For most middle school and high school students they need to es tablish a study habit, so it is to the advantage of some students to have the same place and time, preferrably a well lit place away from distraction. If you schedule three hours and only have two hours of homework, re-read notes and read ahead...but keep your study time full to develop stamina...if nothing else.</p>
<p>Most people will be able to tell you the itsey bitse spider went up the ______ spout, even if they haven't sung the song in twenty years. Repition can help us master some learning...particuarly memorizing iinformation. I found pocket flash cards made from index cards to be extremely useful. The terms on one side, definitions, graphs, or pictures on the other. Carry about twenty of these and go through them during the day, while you are waiting on line, for the phone to ring or what ever..l.the more you see the information the stronger it will be. I still remember coase's therom after thirty years.</p>
<p>Taking notes, and re taking notes. I learned a little short hand before college and then made up my own symbols for new words (explaining their meaning upon introduction) but the Cornell system of notetaking was particularly useful to me. The terms are written on the far left side and the definitions and notes are on the right 2/3rds of the page with lots of space between terms, key ideas and concepts.</p>
<p>As soon as possible after the class is over...going throught the abreviated notes and retyping them or inputing them to remind yourself what took place while it is still fresh in your mind is an excellent idea. I suggest lots of space to add/supplement class notes with information from readings.</p>
<p>Sorry for the typos but I am using my d's laptop and my fingers barely fit.</p>
<p>NO. THERE IS NO BIGGER WASTE IN EDUCATION THAN A ROOM FULL OF STUDENTS TAKING NOTES. IT IS ALL BUT IMPOSSIBLE TO LISTEN, LEARN AND TAKE NOTES AT THE SAME TIME.</p>
<p>Sorry if I offended anyone by shouting, but I think this is really important and many, many students don't get this right. My D is of average intelligence. She has been able to do very well academically and take heavy course loads. I remember my W asking how she did this when she seemed to spend such a small amount of time outside of class. (At the time she was investing about 25 hrs/week on music.) She answered (like celebrian) that she did her homework assignments, but never studied. My W did not understand this, but I did. My D kept up with her assignments and spent a few minutes reading in advance for those courses where the teacher followed the textbook. In class, she spent the time learning. There were no (or very few) notes to try to decipher and rewrite. I believe that every note I took during HS and through 4 years of graduate school would not fill a single notepad.</p>
<p>Marite hit on another very important learning concept which she called the ability to distill. I once had a teacher who allowed us to bring a single sheet - one side only - of "notes" to class for exams. At the time I thought this was unusual and silly. It turned out to be one of the most important exercises I ever did. From that point on I did the same exercise for every course, even though I could not bring that "distilled" summary to the exams. That one sheet contained every fact, formula, concept, and memory jogger that I thought important and was worried about forgetting. In addition to being a great way to "distill", it was a great confidence builder. If I understood my one sheet, then I knew I had learned the material needed to do well in the course.</p>
<p>Each of us will learn somewhat differently and we can all develop techniques which work best. Inspite of the differences, I think extensive notetaking is almost always a poor technique. Classroom time is the time to learn and the best time to try to understand difficult concepts. How can anyone enjoy learning if it involves tedious hours of re-writing and studying notes?</p>
<p>I think that your D can benifit by having a professional access her learning style b/c there is more than one way to study. Some high schools offer classes in study skills, but you may be better off just hiring someone privately to help your daughter develop better study skills.</p>
<p>Edad, I think you may well be right, as I recollect what I did in college. The problem with not taking notes is that sometimes, although they are few, the professors take test from their notes and NOT from the book. There is lies the problem. You don't always know when this will be the case. If the professor teaches right from the book then you can avoid taking notes in class except to elaborate on difficulty issues.</p>
<p>Edad makes an excellent point about note-taking in class. As the prof speaks, the students scribble furiously, trying to keep pace with what the prof is saying but not being able to assess what is important to note down, what is just embellishment, anecdote, digression. It would be better for students to take notes after the class is over, but I doubt any of them do so; furthermore, they are usually racing to another class. The problem is magnified when the prof uses visuals while continuing to lecture. Students just cannot listen, watch absorb the visuals and take notes at the same time.</p>
<p>It's different when reading books, and especially doing research for papers. Writing things down is a way of distilling what one is reading, of being a more active reader than one who does not take notes. I have nagged my S to write down the source of whatever information he writes down. He knows it saves huge amounts of time tracking down sources for footnotes when it comes to writing his papers though he does not always do so. </p>
<p>One more comment: When I listen, I scribble. My handwriting is illegigble, but writing seems to help with listening. When I was in college, one student drove her prof crazy because she used to knit in class. She told him that she needed to have her hands occupied for her ears to function. At the end of the course, she gave him the scarf she'd been knitting all semester. If I remember correctly, she got a pretty good grade in that class.</p>
<p>Marite, I also took notes when I read. I view this as a different process than trying to take notes during a class or lecture. I also tended to keep my hands busy during class. I scribble on one page and keep notes, if any, on another. At the end of the class, the scribbles went in the trash.</p>
<p>The comments about embellishment, anecdote and digression were a little more negative than I would choose. Many teachers use different examples and approaches to explaining difficult concepts. I have also had courses without any textbooks. This can make notetaking more of a challenge. The basic principle remains the same. Take was few notes as possible. </p>
<p>It may be possible to find someone who can teach study skills, but I have my doubts. People who really study the psychology of learning and have some understanding of the learning process are few and not likely to be accessible to most of us. You would think this would be a part of teacher education, but it does not seem to work that way. I suspect we have barely stratched the surface when it comes to the science of education. Extra effort, group study, or teacher conferences and study sessions are likely to be of much more value to the student who is having problems with a course.</p>
<p>edad, I agree that there is more to know about how people learn. I do think, however, that there are educators, and psychologists that can help teach a person study skills (ie: techniques, time management, organization, how to take notes, how to comprehend textbook material, and the list goes on...). This has actually become a big business and I am sure some students benifit and others do not benifit much.</p>
<p>I don't know what is taught in study skills classes. I would hope that it would be a highly interactive process where a student is asked to read a passage, for example, and then to distill that passage. Depending on the answer, the tutor could try to guide the student to ash him/herself what is the point of the passage, what evidence is used to support the argument. Many colleges produce writing guides that are actually half reading guides. </p>
<p>I've listened to many lectures. And there are plenty of anecdotes and digressions. Not all lectures are tightly structured and progress smoothly and coherently. Profs try to liven up their presentations with anecdotes (My S recently recounted a funny one from his math prof. Very funny, and nothing to do with math. I must hope S remembered the math from the class as well as he remembered the funny story)</p>
<p>I also learn by writing, and my notes are illegible to others. do the same in work now. Sometimes 3 lines, sometmes more. Its great if I can write up notes immediately for charts, but often no time. The few notes jog my memory. Some of my suprvisees take notes and currently, 1 does not. I find forgetfulness. I've suggested keeping a special journal for supervision, and writing a notes during or after meetings. A former supervisee was finally asked to go when clear her learning wasn't improving. I questioned her study skills in grad school, and she noted that she always borrowed notes Anyway, i do thnk learning stles can differ, but some truths remain the same. One doesn't scramble to take as many notes if they know the material is covered in the chapter. This means glancing at the book beforehand. Typing up notes afterwards is always helpful to organize material and reinforce learning.
I can never have idle hands. I take notes, doodle, and back in college, actually knit (& also gave scarf to my prof). Before the computer, I use to write personal letters when in class. Now I have to avoid eating thru seminars; notes and drawing are better optons.</p>
<p>Learning how to take notes and to listen is a study skill worth learning. In college and high school a number of teachers add information outside and in addition to the text. Whether it is on the test or not it is still information that contributes to your education. Outside of school, I go to meetings and take notes, when I run meetings I take notes of comments and after reading these notes have a better understanding of which direction a group is headed, and it gives me something to look at when they ask if the minutes of a previous meeting are correct.</p>
<p>Notes taken while listening are often parts and need to be put together afterwoods, as SBMom's mom found out at Berkeley. </p>
<p>People do learn differently, but most people benefit from hearing, writing, seeing and speaking about what they have learned, tactile seems to help some, but I never have time to write my notes in sand or on sand paper. </p>
<p>I wouldn't want a trial lawyer who couldn't take notes.</p>
<p>Mr. B I agree with everything you said, but it is the court reporter that takes notes in court and often at depositions. A trial lawyer does need to take good notes too, so that you can settle the situation much sooner than trial, and save your wallet!</p>
<p>And at meetings, the note-taker is usually not the person taking part in discussions. It would be hard to listen, answer and take notes all at the same time.</p>