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“JIM PREPARES A CIVICS REPORT ON LABOR UNIONS. HE USES FOUR DIFFERENT TYPES OF READING: SCANNING, RAPID READING, CAREFUL SLOW READING & RE-READING. HE ORGANIZES HIS INFORMATION, COLLECTS FURTHER DATA, WRITES HIS REPORT.”
NEW VERSION with improved video & sound:
Public domain film from the Prelinger Archive, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. They are generally critical to success in school, considered essential for acquiring good grades, and useful for learning throughout one’s life.
There are an array of study skills, which may tackle the process of organizing and taking in new information, retaining information, or dealing with assessments. They include mnemonics, which aid the retention of lists of information, effective reading and concentration techniques, as well as efficient notetaking.
While often left up to the student and their support network, study skills are increasingly taught in High School and at the University level. A number of books and websites are available, from works on specific techniques such as Tony Buzan’s books on mind-mapping, to general guides to successful study such as those by Stella Cottrell.
More broadly, any skill which boosts a person’s ability to study and pass exams can be termed a study skill, and this could include time management and motivational techniques.
Study Skills are discrete techniques that can be learned, usually in a short time, and applied to all or most fields of study. They must therefore be distinguished from strategies that are specific to a particular field of study e.g. music or technology, and from abilities inherent in the student, such as aspects of intelligence or learning styles…
Historical context…
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, college instructors in the fields of psychology and the study of education used research, theory, and experience with their own students in writing manuals. Marvin Cohn based the advice for parents in his 1979 book Helping Your Teen-Age Student on his experience as a researcher and head of a university reading clinic that tutored teenagers and young adults. In 1986, when Dr. Gary Gruber’s Essential Guide to Test Taking for Kids was first published, the author had written 22 books on taking standardized tests….
Types
Methods based on memorization such as rehearsal and rote learning
One of the most basic approaches to learning any information is simply to repeat it by rote. Typically this will include reading over notes or a textbook, and re-writing notes.
Methods based on communication skills e.g. reading and listening
The weakness with rote learning is that it implies a passive reading or listening style. Educators such as John Dewey have argued that students need to learn critical thinking – questioning and weighing up evidence as they learn. This can be done during lectures or when reading books.
One method used to focus on key information when studying from books is the PQRST method. This method prioritizes the information in a way that relates directly to how they will be asked to use that information in an exam. PQRST is an acronym for Preview, Question, Read, Summary, Test…
Methods based on cues e.g. flashcard training
Flash Cards are visual cues on cards. These have numerous uses in teaching and learning, but can be used for revision. Students often make their own flash cards, or more detailed index cards – cards designed for filing, often A5 size, on which short summaries are written. Being discrete and separate, they have the advantage of allowing students to re-order them, pick a selection to read over, or choose randomly to for self-testing.
Methods based on condensing information, summarizing and the use of keywords
Summary methods vary depending on the topic, but most involve condensing the large amount of information from a course or book into shorter notes. Often these notes are then condensed further into key facts…
Methods based on visual imagery
Some learners are thought to have a visual learning style, and will benefit greatly from taking information from their studies which is often heavily verbal, and using visual techniques to help encode and retain it in memory.
Methods based on acronyms and mnemonics
A mnemonic is a method of organizing and memorizing information. Some use a simple phrase or fact as a trigger for a longer list of information…
