Study Guides Tips about how to study and improve study skills

Study Preparation

Posted on 21 Feb 2012 by admin | Filled under: uncategorized

Why preparation is important?

Most students typically begin their preparation by sitting down in front of the TV or bed and either passively start reading a textbook or actively writing out notes or completing an assignment. Although this is probably the most common approach that most students take, it is also one of the worst.

To start with, the study environment is not conducive to effective studying. The Television is a distraction and the bed, although comfortable for sleeping, doesn't provide the body enough support to study.

Preparation also includes gathering all your study material together and having it handy and all in one spot. The bedroom or TV room isn't typically a place where the study materials are, and if the student has to get up every few minutes to find something they need, it wastes valuable study time and detracts from their study focus.

Even when the student has all their study materials together and is using an adequate study environment there is still more preparation that must take place. The mind also needs to be ready.

By ensuring that you are in the right state of mind, you can dramatically increase your study efficiency. By spending a few minutes to change your state of mind before you begin studying, you can save yourself countless hours of inefficient studying.

We have all experienced inefficient studying. This is when you try reading a passage over and over again and it still doesn't make sense. A student who studies inefficiently have to repeatedly review information before it sinks in. By getting yourself in the right 'state of mind' and those alpha brain waves move, you'll be able to study efficiently.

When a student doesn't take the time to prepare for their studying time, they may begin to study inefficiently in other ways. Inefficient studying has many compound effects including:

- contributing to procrastination

- increases academic stress

- causes a fear of failure due to inefficient studying

- causing a feeling of being overwhelmed, and

- creating an overall negative association with studying

By spending just a few minutes to properly prepare before studying, you can improve your study efficiency and make it a more enjoyable activity.

Preparation goals:

Your preparation goals are simple; ensure that your mind and body are relaxed and your study environment is adequate before you begin your study session. You will want to create the best state of mind for learning. To do this you will need a quite, comfortable, study environment and you must also feel relaxed, alert, focused and in the alpha state of mind. Preparing your study environment The first step is ensuring that your place of study is adequate for your needs. The environment in which you study has a direct impact on your study performance and you will need to ensure that they are right for you. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself:

The biggest mistake most students make when preparing is their study environment. Your study environment is your own personal study sanctuary. It should only be used for studying, but for many people this isn't an option. So they resort to other poor study environments such as school cafeterias, coffee shops, in front of the Television, on your bed, in the kitchen, etc. The list can go on.

Typically the best place is a separate room just for studying. For many people this is impossible, so the second best choice would be to have a desk in your bedroom without any external distractions, such as a television. Public venues like library or school study rooms and university study rooms are all good alternatives.

A back-up study place is also helpful for those times where your primary environment is not suitable. Rather than wasting time looking for another study environment, have your backup handy for those odd occasions. A backup study place can also be any of the aforementioned areas.

Comfort is a very important preparation step and because studying is a very sedentary activity, comfort should be a premium requirement. Spend the extra money on a correct height, ergonomic table and chair. Ergonomically designed equipment can relieve the muscle strain and fatigue associated with sitting for long periods of time. Also consider the other factors in your study environment.

The lighting in your study environment has a dramatic impact on your ability to study. There are generally three types of light sources which have three distinct light spectrums; natural light, fluorescent light and incandescent light.

The very best is natural light. If this is not available then incandescent light is the next best alternative which is light which is given off as a result of being heated. Most home use this type of lighting. The poorest form of lighting is fluorescent that caused by exposure to radiation and these are most commonly found in institutions and should be avoided if possible. Preparing your mind Your mind and body function best when they are in top form. However, people generally focus more on body well being and forget to relax the mind. Your brain is where all the action will be taking place when you are studying, so it is just as important to prepare your mental state of mind as it is your body. Visualization Although visualization is an ability we have had for thousands of years, it has only been through recent research in this area that it has noted its benefits.

Most of the studies involve athletics and their improvement through the use of visualization. Some studies have shown that by visualization alone, some participants were able to increase their muscle bulk by up to 40%. This is without even lifting iron.

Visualization is a powerful and simple technique. It involves 'visualizing' the activity you want to do. Gymnasts frequently use this technique to help them learn a new move. They will use visualization to play the move in slow motion in their mind detailing every single move and in multiple angles until they feel comfortable with it. Visualization has allowed many gymnasts to perfect their moves without even being in the gym.

Visualization is also a technique that can be used for study preparation. It can be used by the student to visualize:

-The quantity of work that will be completed during the study session.

- By visualising being in a relaxed state during studying.

- By visualising the material and depth of coverage that needs to be studied.

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How To Prepare To Study

Posted on 20 Feb 2012 by admin | Filled under: uncategorized

While no one studies the exact same way as another the common link between students can come with preparation. Often times the educator and student as well place the focus on studying the material and information before the big exam, but what about the notes and other materials? Those are just as important if not more so than the actual studying session itself. It sounds funny, but if students will prepare to study the session will go more smoothly and they will get the most out of their allotted study time.

Organize Materials

It does not matter whether a student is the best note taker or smartest in the class. If they are unorganized they will not perform as well on the test and in the class as they could have. Organization is essential in studying, test taking and everyday life for that matter. Taking notes is very important and time consuming so students should ensure that they place their notes in a place where they can find them and also so that they will not get damaged. It is very difficult to study from a coffee stained page of notes or pages that have been thrown in the garbage. How a student organizes is a personal choice, but the key factor is organizing it in a way that is accessible.

Prioritize

Studying is the easiest thing to ditch, after all there are football games on, social events and well even the laundry looks good. Studying often gets put on the back burner and put off until the very last minute, which is not a good idea. First, the student is tired and really doesn't feel like studying at all. Secondly, they are frustrated because now they must cram the information to even hope for a passing grade. Thirdly, there is no possible way to study a months worth of information in an hour or two so many students give up all hope. By prioritizing and scheduling time to study it can eliminate the frustration and impossibility of studying. Cramming the night before has actually shown to be more detrimental than effective or helpful. That is because the information is all jumbled in no particular order therefore confusing and causing anxiety and stress. So prioritize your time and place events and needs in chronological order so that they all get attended too.

Recall

The brain is like a big computer that categorizes, classifies and stores information. When a student is studying or entering information into their "built in" computer the brain has a system of storage. This storage system has to do with what is called recall, or how the person can access the information when they need it, say for a test. The student can help with how the mind stores the information and this in turn helps them remember the information when it is time. Say that a person is studying about roses and the information about roses is stored with what they ate that day, what color their room is and lots of other things that are a part of the person's life. If the student makes the assumption and link between the information about the rose smell and the studied information the brain will likely classify the two together. Now when the student is testing and needs to recall the learned information they can simply remember the smell of the rose and it will likely draw down the necessary information.

Avoid Brain Fatigue

Brain fatigue? Now there is a term that you do not hear everyday, but it is a very possible problem that many students suffer from. If you think about all the information and demands placed on the human body and brain it only makes sense that there could be fatigue involved. The brain can only take so much abuse before it shows some signs of slowing or other memory problems. Students often decrease sleep time for every other need in their life. They miss a couple of hours of sleep for that party that everyone was going too, a few hours to study and then there are work and family obligations. It adds up and in fact most Americans are sleep deprived, which leads to some serious problems. The problems are not only psychological, but also health problems and frequent illness. This causes grades to suffer and makes it more difficult to remember information, recall it and get a good grade.

Preparation for just about anything is important and studying is no different. This process should be taken seriously by the student to ensure that they are getting the most out of their allotted study time. If the two hours that are set aside for studying are spent looking for materials or wasted because of fatigue, the time is a waste.

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Ten Tips for Garnering Press Coverage for Your Company Case Study

Posted on 19 Feb 2012 by admin | Filled under: uncategorized

We all know that case studies serve as a great method of educating and attracting new customers to your product or service. But don't forget that published case studies can also attract journalists and media coverage about your company. This attraction and coverage can bring you more customers.

The following are ten tips to follow when sending out press releases associated with a new case study's publication on your site.

1. Just the facts, ma'am - Keep the facts concise. Tell the prospective journalist or customer, why the case study is important.

2. Pitch, pitch and re-pitch - Think about doing a couple of different releases about your case study with different angles targeted at different verticals. For instance, if your product works exceedingly well in both the legal and financial arena, then come up with two releases that highlight specifically how it works well within those arenas and target your release to the publications that cover those in-depth.

3. Keep it to a page - If you can't say it in a page, a journalist can't pitch it in less than two minutes to his or her editor. What this means is keep your release down to a page. Journalists regularly scour wires for good topical stories to pitch in their hurried and often harried conversations with editors. They have to pitch quickly, and so does your release to garner their interest.

4. Address the who, what, where, when and why - All of these questions might not come into play for a release on your latest case study. On the other hand they may, and so make certain you list all the pertinent information for the 5 W's.

5. Relevancy is key - Keep the release relevant to your audience. Keep it simple and don't use a lot of high-tech jargon or flowery phrasing to build up the release.

6. Congruency in messaging - Keep your message aligned with the case study's content and topic coverage. For example, if your case study is highlighting the power of GPS positioning software used on delivery trucks, make sure your release text is consistent with your case study text.

7. Keep in mind when crafting your release that journalists might contact your company to see if you have another company that they might contact to write up a case study about. So make certain you have a couple of good customers who might be willing to talk to a journalist.

8. Make it compelling - Remember, your case study release should make folks want to go and download the case study in full. Pick out the most compelling content or quotes in your case study and highlight those in the body of your release.

9. Context, context, context - Sometimes it is helpful to provide historical data, trends and an analyst contact for the reporter to draw on.

10. Contact, contact, contact - Provide direct spokesperson contact information so the reporter can reach someone quickly. You might even want to provide a ready-made quote about the case study and what it reveals so that a reporter can use that without contacting you.

A final piece of advice: DON'T GIVE UP! One of the fundamental things I tell people about getting coverage in the media is to always "pitch and swerve," what that means is don't give up on the first press release. Keep repurposing your pitch directly to editors and journalists, and tell them why this case study and its contents mean something to their readership.

(Parts of this article originally appeared in WhitePaperSource.com.)

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Study Tips for Students Taking Tests

Posted on 17 Feb 2012 by admin | Filled under: uncategorized

You're in the thick of the school year. It seems like there are so many things going on, like assignments, projects, and extracurricular activities. Now a test is coming up and you've got to do well on it. How should you study so you do better on that test?

First of all, when you study for a test, you shouldn't be learning something completely new. It is faster and easier to recall something you have already learned than to learn something completely new. After each day of classes, it is a good idea to review everything you have learned. It doesn't have to be a long review either. Simply jog through the day's topics. That way, you give your brain another chance to soak up the information. Hopefully, this review will make future studying less time consuming and less of a learning process.

Where you study is important. Find a place that's readily available with minimal distractions. A popular place to study is home. However, for some, home can be too distracting as it is easy to get sidetracked. What may help is if you study in a place that's similar to the place where you're going to take the test. When you study, you might associate certain topics with the environment. So if you take the test in a similar environment, you can more easily retrieve these associations. For example, if you're going to write a test in a gymnasium, it may help to study in a gymnasium.

Some people study well in a group since they can get help from others in areas in which they are lacking. They may also gain insight from others on what they have overlooked and which areas to focus on for the test. On the other hand, some people study well alone. They know what they have to study. Also, a group can be distracting as they engage in off-topic conversation or try to do everything but study. You're the one who knows yourself the best, so determine what works best for you.

There are a variety of methods you can use when studying. For example, when studying for a test, you can do different things, like reading through your textbook, reading through course notes, answering textbook questions, redoing past assignments, reviewing previous tests, researching online, talking with others, and more. You can also use memory-improving techniques like mnemonics, visualization, and association. Try a combination of different studying methods and track your results.

A method that works well for most people is studying in small pieces instead of large blocks of time. Studying in large blocks of time increases the chance that you will overwhelm your brain with information and start forgetting things. If you study in small pieces of time, you aren't absorbing all of this information at once and get chances to rest. Furthermore, you should rehearse what you study and do it in expanding time intervals. For example, if you study ten digits of PI, you could attempt to rehearse the ten digits in one minute, then two minutes, then four minutes, and so on.

In addition, state of being is important for studying. It has been shown that if you study while intoxicated, you will do better if you take the test while intoxicated. If you study while sober, you will do better if you take the test while sober. The sober case showed better results than the intoxicated case. Thus it's better to stay away from the drinks while studying and while taking the test.

Finally, make sure you eat healthy and get a good night's sleep before the test. If you think there is not enough time to sleep, take a look at some time management tips so you can help use and manage your time more efficiently.

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Psychological Tips for Effective Studying

Posted on 16 Feb 2012 by admin | Filled under: uncategorized

STUDY STRATEGIES

* Revise regularly- Revision should be continuous if you are to gain a deep understanding of the subject. It should not be superficial and rushed. Cramming might help you remember a few facts but it will not give you the overall understanding of a subject, which you should be studying for in your University Education.

* Be systematic- You should begin organizing a study schedule as soon as possible in the start of the semester

* Use varied techniques- besides making summaries of your lecture notes, use varying strategies for your revision. Draw up schemes showing the relationship between the concepts you have studied in your subjects or form study groups with your fellow students to discuss the different topics and the relationships between them to reinforce both understanding and recall.

* Use relationship to memorize- Understanding the relationships between pieces of information, such as their similarities and differences, and using their relationship to information already known is a definite advantage during stress of an examination.

* Practice previous exam papers- You should obtain copies of previous exam papers as early as possible in the revision process. Doing these exams in the required time limit will give you practice in applying what you have learnt to specific topics and practice in examination techniques. This will also give you a good idea of the format, time limit and the number of questions in the examination.

* Attend lectures- Pay attention in lectures and tutorials and so on for information relevant to exams. For example what topic might be expected in a test etc?

Stress the following areas in your revision:

o Points emphasized in class or in the text

o Areas the Professor has advised for study

o Questions in study guides, past questions and reviews at the end of textbook chapters.

STUDY HABITS

* Decide what to study (choose a reasonable task) and how long or how many chapters, pages, problems, etc. Set and stick to deadline.

* Do difficult tasks first. For procrastination, start with an easy interesting aspect of the project.

* Have special places to study. Take into consideration, lighting, temperature, and availability of materials.

* Study 50 minutes and then take a 10 minutes break. Stretch, relax, have energy snack.

* If you get tired or bored, switch task/activity. Stop studying when you are no longer being productive.

* Do rough memory tasks and review, especially detail, just before you fall asleep.

* Study with a friend. Quiz each other compare notes and predicted test questions.

STUDY SKILLS

o Physical environment- Choose situations, which make you feel comfortable, for example a particular space in the library, in your own home or study room in halls of residence.

o Plan a time table- Use a time schedule to prioritise study times and try to stick to your schedule.

o Mental activity- Remember that your concentration span is limited. So do not sit for 3-4 hours at a time starting at one page of notes. Wait for an hour or so reading and making extra notes. Draft out or use real exam questions from past papers and consider how little you know and understand

o Stop to take a break- Have a coffee or short walk and mentally review what you have achieved. Return to your studies.

o You will find that the process of activity and review will be useful and will help you to set a pattern of study.

o Quality of study- Remember that it is not time itself spent on studying which matters, it is the quality of the exercise of studying. Develop an understanding of the material you are working on. Information simply committed to memory will rarely see you safely through your exams.

o Choice of material- Don't shy away from material which you find most difficult to understand because if you do it will be precisely this material which will be problematic for you in the exam. Take this material first.

o Problems- If there are sections of the syllabus, which you cannot understand, try to find the appropriate lecturer to help you. But try not to leave this until the day before the exam. Ask someone on the same course as you. If these strategies don't work for you try using a variety of different textbooks, some authors explain difficult concepts better than others.

CONCENTRATION

Concentration is the ability to direct one's thinking in whatever direction one would
intend. We all have the ability to concentrate sometimes.

Think of the time when you were engrossed in super novel or in a cinema -Total
concentration. But at other times your thoughts are scattered and you mind races from
one thing to another. Learn and practice concentration strategies.

Poor concentration- External causes

-Internal causes

REVISION

Revision is a process of looking over past work as preparation for examination. It is an activity which can produce good results and reduce 'exam nerves' if it is carefully planned and carried out in a systematic way. Black coffee and sleepless nights just before your exams rarely allow you to do justice to your talents.

Towards end of a course, a review of your completed written work and of past examination papers will often indicate the existence of close links between exam questions and essays, assignments and project work. On this basis, you select your own best work and use it for revision. Work, which has been less successful, should contain advice from a tutor and this can be followed up.

What revisions can do for you:

* Extends your ability to assess your own knowledge and understanding.

* Provides an opportunity to analyze this in relation to the requirements of the examination.

* Enable you to pass examination and gain recognition for your talents.

GUIDELINES FOR SUCCESSFUL REVISION

* Make sure you know well in advance the topics to be covered in the particular exam.

* Keep copies of all course documents, projects, essay questions, title of assignments and reading list on file.

* Make this the basis of your revision. Resist the temptation to try to start your course all over again from the beginning.

* Review your own the assessed work, making a selection of that with the best grade.

* Compare your own work with the question asked as past question papers.

* At this stage it is vital that you will have enough material to answer all the likely questions.

* If you decide on to expand what you have already got, look at less successful papers and see if you can improve them by careful editing, filling in gaps, correcting errors of fact or understanding.

* Reduce each piece of work to note form.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Avoid overload.
Organize your hours to include ample time for rest, relaxation, sleep, eating, exercising and socializing.
Break the study time into manageable amounts of time to avoid boredom and loss of concentration. Sessions lasting 20-30 minutes are the best Studying for six half hour sessions is much more effective than studying for 3 straight hours.

Don't put everything off until the last minute.

PRACTICE EFFECTIVE STUDY TECHNIQUES

Have appropriate study environments.

Split large task into more manageable tasks.

Read for comprehension rather than get to the end of the chapter.

Be prepared to ask questions as they come up during study, rather than waiting until just before and exam.

Don't wait until the last minute to complete your projects.

Read the syllabus as soon as you get it and note all due dates( and milestone times) on your calendar.

Be a model student.

Be attentive and participative in the class and punctual, prepared and eager to learn.

BE ABLE TO BE FLEXIBILE

The unexpected happenings, e.g. Sickness, need to be able to fit into our schedule.

Know how to rearrange your schedule when necessary (so that it doesn't manage you, but you manage it).

HAVE A VISION

Don't forget the big picture.

Why are you doing the task? Is it important for your long-term goals?
Have and follow a personal mission statement (personal and career) Are your activities ultimately helping you to achieve your goals.

Know what is important to you.

(What do you value most)

Have a positive attitude.

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