Soc

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Life and Study Skills

Week 3

LSS 1003

Activities:

Study Skills health check Effective study strategies Active learning Note taking and reading techniques

Follow up:

Try two active learning strategies Record this in your learning log

Study Skills Health Check

How confident are you in the following areas:

Rate from 1-5.

5=very confident 1=not confident

Finding space & time to work 1 2 3 4 5Planning your study 1 2 3 4 5Time management 1 2 3 4 5Using computers & internet 1 2 3 4 5Taking useful notes 1 2 3 4 5Reading for learning 1 2 3 4 5Academic writing 1 2 3 4 5Managing stress 1 2 3 4 5Working with others 1 2 3 4 5Reading & thinking critically 1 2 3 4 5

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Study Skills activity 2

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How many hours study per week should

you do?__________

What kind of activities are studying?

What are effective/ineffective

study methods?

How long does it take to complete an

assignment?

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Effective study methods

Make a timetable, including assignment deadlines Familiarise yourself with the structure of your course Study for 40-60 minutes then take a break Review, review, review Set goals for each period Learn actively Study in groups Make mind maps Take notes as you read, in your own words Create a study environment Avoid rewriting Find out the what, why & how of all your subjects Think about what you are learning, do you understand it? Connect what you are studying to what you already know Read selectively Take notes in class

Ineffective study methods

Read every book from cover to cover Write very detailed notes Rewrite lecture notes Work for long periods without breaks Work alone Learning chunks of information off by heart Copying chunks from textbooks Work when you are too tired to concentrate Listen or read without questioning and challenging what you hear or

read Don’t ask for help when you need it Reading over and over notes

Active Learning: Why is it important to develop the habit of active learning techniques?

Characteristics of passive learning Characteristics of active learning

You wait for directions and information to be fed to you

You look for ways of being more involved in what you are learning

Information is delivered to you-you just follow what is said or written

You are an independent learner

Different pieces of information are treated as separate units

You look for links between different things you discover

You repeat information without understanding

You make an effort to find meaning in what you learn

You don’t reflect upon what you have learnt

You are involved in reflection and self evaluation

You may become bored and tired easily Your attention span is longer because your mind is already engaged

You use surface processing which means you are less likely to understand & remember

Long term memory is assisted, if you understand what you learn, and keep relating it to what you already know

What you study may seem irrelevant Learning is personalised and interesting

You expect others to prompt you or to remind you of steps, stages and deadlines so you often feel uncertain about what to do next

You take charge of your learning and manage it like a project, so you feel confident that you know what to do, when and why

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Are your study habits active or passive? (think, pair, share)

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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Active Learning strategies

1. Put a tick by any of these active learning strategies you could try2. Select two to try this week

Summarise a passage in 8-12 words, this makes you think about what you have read

Make a mind map

Think of 3-5 real life examples of what you have learned. This helps you apply what you have learned

List questions about one aspect of a subject (what, why, who, where, when, how) this helps you explore the subject

Write action plans of things to do today, this week, or this semester

Keep a reflective study journal

Sum up the three most important points of a lecture

Make a wall chart, linking all you have learned about an aspect of your studies

Pretend you disagree with everything you are reading- how would you argue your case? What examples and evidence would you use?

How does what you have learning link with everyday life or your work?

List all the key points of a topic

Discuss your ideas or your difficulties with other people

Contribute to your course chat room

Write key points on index cards or post its. Juggle these around to see how many ways you could organise the same information

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