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What are effective study habits/skills?

These are regular practices adopted by a person while studying. It is also seen as attitude or set of behavior used by people in studying academic materials while preparing for tests or examination.

Study skills are set of developed strategies and practical result-oriented approaches used by individuals to learn and study academic materials.

Good study habits and skills are essential in preparing for examinations/tests. They also help in information retention and success in academics. Appropriate study skills/habits help increase one’s enthusiasm in academics especially getting good grades and life-long learning.

Below are the effective study habits/skills you really need;

·     1    Find a suitable study area:  This place should have a little or no movement of people and objects. It should be well lit with enough ventilation. It should be simple and devoid of communications. A good study area shouldn’t have factors that can disrupt a person’s train of thought.

·     2    Get things in order and organized:  you are required to draw your timetable, make to-do lists and plan your reading schedule. Your study area should also be planned to avoid distractions and focus strains. Remove most nonacademic images, pictures and objects which may draw your attention intermittently. You are also required to develop a study plan(outlines study times and learning goals).

 Organization and education when they interact with each other, they strengthen each other, they are mutually supportive.- Noam Chomsky.
 Organization isn’t about perfection; it’s about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money and improving your overall quality of life- Christina Schalise.
   For every minute spent organising, an hour is earned - Benjamin Franklin

·     3    Start with the most difficult subject first:  If you are required to study more than one subject; it works very fine to study difficult subjects first.

·      4    Develop a study routine and space out your work:  you should have a daily study routine with clearly spaced out schedules. Don’t endeavor to study all the chapters of your text in just one session. You have to maintain a study routine and don’t procrastinate or skip you already planned study session.

·        5   Adopt effective group study: your study group should be well planned and coordinated. Normally your study group should contain 3 to 4 members. A study group is essential, since two heads are better than one. Though it is not compulsory for everyone to have study group, but if the need arises, strive to have one. Also note that uncoordinated or ineffective study group can worsen your study. You should carefully select and manage a study group you can easily benefit from. Select members that are currently more academically sound than you and have similar academic goals/directions especially persons of same sex.
                                                                                                                  
          BENEFITS OF STUDY GROUPS

·         It helps students to understand concepts easily and thoroughly by means of interaction, discussion and debates

·         It helps students to carry out their assignments and projects with ease and timely

·         It accelerates learning and study

·         Positive longtime relationship with people in academics may be established 

6   Reviewing/revising of coursework and notes: one is required to review his/her school notes, assignments and school materials from time to time especially on weekends. This helps them to stay on track and prepares them mentally for subsequent academic work. This also helps students in aspect of information retention, remembering of concepts and ideas and further understanding of topics

7    Get the best materials for your study: having standard texts, i.e., those written in simple language and understandable format are crucial for good learning cum academic success. You may have two to three texts on a particular subject. If you fail to understand a description or definition in one text properly, you switch to other texts. You are expected to get requisite materials that will enhance your studies, such as pen(write down useful facts, make sketches), note and exercise books(note-taking, solving and self evaluation), calculator(computing), maths set(draw, sketch, calculations), eraser/correction fluid( wipe errors), jotter(write down facts, ideas and hints).

8   Correct reading posture: some students may form the habit of studying inside the bedroom especially while leaning on fixtures/furniture or lying on the bed which are usually not appropriate. Such postures don’t facilitate good study. A standard study desk and chair is needed for effective study. Posture people adopt usually affect retention, memory and understanding. Since some time is devoted to study, such posture can cause body harm. Effective studying requires some degree of discipline on the part of the individual. You have to some extent be self disciplined in order to adopt and maintain effective study habits to achieve success.

9   Adopt self-evaluation and memory games: self-evaluation simply means an approach taken by an individual to examine/test oneself based on the activities covered pertaining to learning and study.

 On the other hand, memory games or mnemonic devices are methods of remembering pieces of information by means of simple association of letters or common words. In Nigerian schools, one memory game used in geography to name all the planets in the right order is given below

Mama        Viky        Erichago        Moimoi         Jeneth        Siri         unu         na         papa

Mercury    venus      earth            mars              Jupiter         Saturn   Uranus  Neptune  Pluto.

(Mama Vicky had eaten the moimoi Jeneth cooked for you all and papa).

  Isn't that fun?

     Back to land, furthermore,

  Self evaluation can be done in some ways;

By attempting questions from past exams.

By allowing peers/friends or relations ask you questions in your field of study.

By asking yourself questions in your mind.

By looking at concepts in the textbook and trying to explain or define them without using the text, either in your own words or near exact definition given in the text. You can also imagine teaching the topics you have studied to others.

 Self-evaluation helps one to improve before going through official school evaluation while memory games/mnemonics can help you to remember some information in different topics/subjects. Fun associated with it can create enthusiasm towards learning. It can be used alongside self-evaluation for nice result.
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