Study Skills
Course Description
The main purpose of this course is to guide students in their first year of learning and impart basic study skills. It is designed with the view to enable them to take immediate control of their learning. The course will enable students to devise and follow “study systems” and equip them with the ability to think critically and adopt effective learning strategies. With the help of various study techniques and styles and other available resources, the students will be able to improve their academic performance.
Course Objectives
- To help students learn basic self-management and study skills
- To enable them to use combination of skills to minimize risks of failure
- To make them become confident and successful in the new learning environment
Course Contents
- Seeking Success in University
- Knowing your campus and its resources
- Form An Academic Support Group
- Know Where to Find Help
- Stay Informed
- Get Involved
- Motivating Yourself to Learn
- Assess Academic Strengths and Weaknesses
- Discover and use your learning style
- Develop Critical Thinking & Study Skills
- Adapt learning style to teaching method
- Using Critical Thinking Strategies
- Examine Your Assumption
- Make Predictions
- Read With A Purpose
- Sharpen Your Interpretations
- Find Implications in What You Learn
- Read and Understand Graphics
- Evaluate what you learn
- Setting Goals and Solving Problems
- Set goals for success in college
- How to develop a positive attitude
- Sharpening Your Classroom Skills
- Prepare for Class
- Become an Active Listener
- Develop A Personal Note-Taking System
- Guidelines for Note Taking
- The Informal Outline/Key Words System
- The Cornell Method
- Matching Note-Taking Style and Learning Style
- Learn To Make Effective Presentations
- Making the Most of Your Time
- How to GRAB Some Time
- Scheduling Your Time
- Time Management and Learning Style
- Procrastination
- Creating Your Study System
- SQ3R: The Basic System
- Devising Your Study System
- Organizing Information for Study
- Memorization
- Concept or Information Maps
- Comparison Charts
- Time Lines
- Process Diagrams
- Informal Outlines
- Branching Diagrams
- Controlling Your Concentration
- Concentrations
- Eliminate Distractions
- Use A Study System
- Strategies to Improve Concentration
- Preparing for Tests
- How To Prepare for Tests: Three Steps
- Develop a Test-taking Routine
- Master Objective Tests
- Know How to Answer Essay Questions
- Becoming an Active Reader
- Reading Actively
- Find the Main Idea, Details, and Implications
- Using a Textbook Marking System
- How to use a dictionary
- Building Career Skills
- Working in the New Economy
- Where the Jobs will be
- Choosing Your Future
- Your course of Study
- Your Plan
- What Employers Want
- Career Skills to Develop
- Workplace Ethics
- From University to Work
- Your Resume and Cover Letter
- The Interview
Recommended Readings
- Bain, Ken. (2012). What the best college students do.
- Kanar, Carol C. (2001). The Confident Student. Houghton Mifflin Co.
- Mcmillan, Kathleen. (2011). The Study skills book. Pearson.
- Pauk, Walter. How to Study in College.
- Wallace, M.J. (1980). Study Skills in English.