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Your study technique toolbox

Getting off to a good start

Where we left off ...

Danish academic culture is based on the individual, critical response

• Knowledge (not information) and analysis• Your ablity to reflect on what you have

learnt• Sharing/discussing your thoughts with

others• Communicating your ideas CLEARLY

’Read, mark, learn and inwardly digest’

...inward digest?

• Retaining what you’ve learnt

• Making your knowledge useful - to yourself and others

For this, you need good study techniques...

..but you also need motivation

Get into good habits

• Check course requirements

• Plan your term • Have fixed working

hours (independent study)

• Choose your study environment (’work place’)

• Refine your study skills

The basics of a good study technique

• Read (appropriate technique)• Reflect on what you read (process your

material)• Share your thoughts

(teachers/colleagues)• Review your material regularly

Your study technique tool box

• Planning• Reading technique• Note-taking

technique• Active participation

in class • Generating ideas

Planning your time

Planning your time

Check:• Course requirements• Course plan • Type of exam and date• Reading load: primary/secondary

literature

Work out a study plan

• Long-term plan (overview of tasks month/term)

• Short-term plan (timetable for a week/day)

• Include extra-curricular activities

• Prioritise your tasks (ex. colour code)

• Set deadlines (be realistic!)

Reading techniques

Suit your technique to the status of the text

Before choosing your reading technique, you need to define

• text type?• aim of text?• relevance of text

Select your reading technique

• Overview reading• Skimming• Selective reading • Normal reading• Intensive reading....or a combination

Overview reading (’library reading’)

Purpose: • to familiarise yourself with various types of

text

How?• Read abstract or back cover• Check list of contents• Quick scan through text• Perhaps read parts of introduction and

conclusion

Skimming

Purpose: • To get a general idea of the text’s

content

How?• Quick scan through text• General notes when you’ve finished

Selective reading

Purpose: • Find specific information/explanation

which you need to use

How?• Read with a particular issue in focus• Take notes to the specific topic

Normal reading

Purpose: • understand the entire argument of the

text

How?• Read entire text• Take notes as you read• Summarise the text’s argument

Intensive reading

Purpose: • Know the text in detail

How?• Read text cover-to-cover• Take notes as you read• Final notes (progression of argument + your

response)

The SQ3R reading method

• Survey: Skim the text through before taking notes

• Question: What’s this about/what do I already know

• Read: Read thoroughly and take notes

• Recite: Summarise the main points (orally/in writing)

• Review: Go over notes regularly

The ultimate reading test

Put the text’s argument into your own words.

If you can’t, you’ve not understood the text!

Taking notes

Class notes

Purpose:• Record what went on in

class• Writing as an aid to

memory• Short and concise• Use your own

shorthand/page layout• Important notes in

quotes (watch out for plagiarism!)

Shorthand examples

• Def. definition• Ref. reference• Ex. example• + and/addition• => leads to/results in• = equals/the same as• < or > larger than/smaller than• ~ almost the same as/corresponds

to

Note-taking methods

• The Cornell method• The outline method• The mapping method• The charting method

Reference: sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/notetaking.systems.html

The Cornell method

• Left margin for ’cues’/headlines/main points

• Notes to the right• Bottom of page for

main ideas (review)

Outline method

• Headline/main point• Space indention for

subpoints• Outlines content

relationships + levels of importance

• Need accurate organisation

The mapping method

• Visual/graphic representation of content of lecture

• Overview• Emphasizes critical

thinking• Easy to add

numbers, underline, colour-coding

The charting method

• Columns and headings

• Clear identification of lecture categories

• Easy to review• Limit amount of

notes

The four methods

Exercise - lecture notes

• Listen to the extract from part I of Anthony Giddens’ lecture series, Runaway World - on Globalisation

• Select your note-taking technique• Take notes while listening• Compare notes in pairs - discuss

pros/cons

Ex. lecture notes (Giddens)

• Intro. anecdote => impact of glob.• ’globalisation’ (term) - over past 10 years - meaning not clear -

great debate => • Two camps

• A. ’Sceptics’– Status quo - economy not different - regional exchange, not

global (ex. trading blocs, EU, NA, Asia) => the old left (free market agitators)

• B. ’Radicals’– Global market highly dev. ( % nation states - a fiction)

• Giddens: Radicals are right!• World trade, services, finance - ’new electronic global

economy’• BUT:’glob is political, technological, and cultural as well as

economic’

What to do with class notes?

• Fair copy of your notes when you get home- use headlines- summarise/put into your own words- classify topics into seperate files

• Recap: read over your lesson notes before the next seminar/lecture

• Questions? Clarify issues asap with colleagues/lecturer

Reading notes

’An unmarked text is an unread text’

Reading notes• Use the margins (content notes and your own

comments)

• Highlight the text (colour coding/post-it notes)

• Use note-taking techniques (cp. class notes)

• Synthesize your reading notes

• Devise a logical filing system

Exercise - reading notes

• Read through the text on the hand-out (Giddens/globalisation excerpt)

• Select a new note taking techique and use it for your reading notes.

• 10 min.

Checklist for text summaries (synthesis)

• Topic?• Issues addressed (synopsis)?• Argument?• Methods used (and why)?• Conclusions (and why)?• Your response

Mindmapping - generating ideas

Exercise - mindmap your thoughts

Draw a mindmap of your associations to any of the following topics:

• Disaster management• Networking• Improving public health in the third world• First impressions of Denmark

Active participation in class

Your sessions

• Lectures• Student presentations• Class discussions• Group work/discussions

Active participation from you is expected!

Active participation

• Take the floor early on - get use to speaking in class

• Contribute to discussions• Ask questions• Listen to your colleagues - share your

thoughts• Make sure your contribution is relevant

and constructive

Studying is work in progress ...

and study techniques only get better through constant practice