Maximize Your Learning Efforts - Part 1 or 6

Have you ever felt that you really "studied hard" but did not seem to know the information on the exam?  There are study strategies that are very effective and some that are a waste of your time.  For the next six weeks we will look at how to be the most effective when your are studying and learning.


Part 1 - See the Big Picture


Before you get to the details, you need to understand the overall organization of the material you are trying to learn and understand.  Some ways to do that are:
Textbooks

• Look at the Table of Contents to see what all will be covered and how it will be addressed.
• Look at a sample chapter to see how the author indicates the main and sub points and what extra help they provide.
• If the professor jumps around in the book, take a look at the unassigned chapters prior to what you are to read.  They may have some background knowledge you need.
• Before starting an assignment, look through the entire chapter to see what it is about and how the material is organized.

Lectures

• Read the syllabus to see the overview of the entire course.
• Read any assignments before class.
• Listen to signal words such as THREE points, FIVE causes, on the other hand, but, etc.
• Strive to understand how the current information fits with the previous lecture and professor's overall organization of the course.
• Make sure you can identify the main and sub points in your notes.  Highlight, underline, indent or use what ever strategy you chose, but make your notes clear.

Exams

• Quickly look through the entire exam to see the types of questions and the weight of each.  Don't spend too much time on a questions that is only worth a few points at the expense of a major question.

Next week we will consider the importance of your attitude to your learning success!
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First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.