“I have learned the importance of understanding nature in creating manmade landscapes and how art involves politics, business, and economics, in addition to providing beauty and inspiration.”
Jennifer Sullivan,
Business Administration
smart study strategies
The students who get the highest grades aren't the ones with the highest IQs or the ones who work hardest. They're the ones who use the best learning strategies.
If you're not sure you know the best strategies for learning in your courses, come to James House. We can help you determine the ways you learn best as well as the best ways to learn in a particular course.
General Study strategies
Study actively
In order to make the connections in your brain that mean you're really learning, you need to actively use information. Say it aloud. Have a study partner ask you questions. See if you can visualize a chart or diagram with your eyes shut. Transform information into your own words. Reorganize information into a chart. Apply the information to a real situation.Use what you want to learn; don't just look at it!
Preview and Review
You'll understand more, concentrate better, and remember more from a lecture or reading if you spend a few minutes getting the big picture of the ideas ahead of time and a few minutes reconstructing the key ideas afterwards. It's the smart way to study!
Know the expectations
Get to know your course syllabus. Refer to it regularly to make sure that you're on track.
Start early
(This means you, procrastinators!) Doing a little work on an assignment each week will spread out your workload and give you time to do better quality work with much less anxiety.
Solve problems
For problem-solving courses such as math and statistics, your study time should be spent doing problems. That's how you learn and also how you demonstrate learning in these courses. Don't spend too much time on any one problem though. Go on to other problems and ask for help on the ones that cause you difficulty.
Make connections
Notice how ideas are related to one another. Note how the ideas you are learning relate to your experience or ideas that you already know. Look for patterns. Making connections will improve your learning and deepen your understanding. It's the easiest way to learn!
Other questions about smart studying? Call us at The Academic Development Center. We can help you study smarter!
