#queststudyskills

A simple summary...

1. Have a monthly planner for important assesment dates, due dates, socials, sports etc. This shows busy periods so you can plan accordingly.

2. Have a yearly planner for a very highlevel view of important dates, and busy times of the year.

3. Have a weekly planner for set schedules such as classtimes, specific study review periods per subject you set, homework timeslots, exercise, movie session, gaming et.

4. Have a day planner for your tasks and reminders for each day. Cross them out as you complete each task.

5. Have a project planner for big assignments and projects. Set important dates, milestones and track progress. This is worth more than its weight in paper !

By the way, this planning infographic is available in the QUEST Study Skills Journal pictured here. The journal has readily-available planning templates on faint dot grid pages and 30 pages of study hack illustrations. Check it out on www.queststudyskills.com

#100studytips LISTEN CAREFULLY FOR HINTS IN CLASS

Have you ever found yourself in a class or lecture so madly and rapidly writing notes that you miss a tonne of what the teacher is saying? And you sometimes have to ask the person next to you so you can ‘get with the program’ …. At this most ordinary juncture, you can forget trying to capture exam hints dropped by the teacher, you are simply in ‘survival mode’!

#100studytips TALK YOUR NOTES OUT

When you see people studying they’re normally fairly quiet if not sleeping. This study method may sound a bit odd at first, but it’s a very valuable study hack. Here’s how and why it works.

1. CREATE YOUR STUDY MATERIAL. Just as you normally (well hopefully) would. Create your usual study materials extracted from your messy class and/ or text book notes. eg. flash cards, mind maps, audio notes, diagramed notes etc.

2. TIP. Make sure these study materials are chunked and categorised per topic and sub-topic. This is fairly obvious.

3. TIP. Make sure your study notes are associated and are able to answer and address a number of questions that could be asked. ie. Teacher-type questions that would be found on a test.

4. TALK YOUR NOTES OUT. Go to a private place where you won’t look like a loon. Study your notes, and then recite and talk them out aloud. Because you’re so focused on talking them out correctly, your brain naturally triggers more memory pathways in the brain. It creates a physical context and memory association to the information, which in turn helps when you need to recall that information in a test.

5. EXTRA TIP. Even better than ‘talking your notes out’ is teaching someone else the information. It has a similar effect, but it probably keeps you a lot more focused on the task, because when you’re involving someone else, you inadvertently try even harder and ultimately learn the information even faster and more efficiently.

#100studytips CORNELL NOTES

Have you heard of the Cornell Note Taking system? This note-taking method has been around for ages, but I think the value of it gets forgotten. So I thought I’d give it a bit of a plug today.

It’s a very concise and organised way to compile and collect notes prior to study. Here’s a quick summary of it, but do take the time to research a bit more about it, if you want more info.

1. SPLIT THE PAGE INTO 4. A section at the top for the subject, topic, date etc; a large margin worth 1/3 of the page on the left; a large note-taking section on the right; and finally a space at the bottom for the Summary. 

2. WRITE THE ESSENTIALS AT THE TOP. That’s fairly self-explanatory, otherwise notes can get all jumbled.

3. THE NOTES. When in class, write your notes in the Note-Taking Area. Write in point form with bullets, include diagrams, arrows of information relationship, mind-maps, and use abbreviations. 

4. KEY WORDS/ CUE WORDS. Once you’ve written the notes, then write the que/key words on the left margin. This is essential, as it makes you critically think about ‘what’ you have actually written. It’s also good to write ‘teacher-type’ questions here. The ones you might find in a test.

5. SUMMARY. In the summary section write a summary (duh obviously) about the notes on the page. This is an important step, as it tests whether or not you know what you just wrote about. If there are holes in the information, and you’re not able to write the summary, then you need to get more info or ask the teacher. 

6. REFLECTION. Write a reflection about the information in the summary section too. Focus on how you think this info relates to the rest of the info in the unit, or how it relates to the whole subject in general. This makes you think even more critically about the content, rather than just trying to rote learn like a robot. Sorry.