Do you have any techniques that help you study?

[Zonda]

Okay fams, I'm in a bit of a tight spot here. University started for me recently, and I'm battling a bit with the coursework. I know I'm fully capable of getting it done, but my head is never in the game when I go to study, so I'll end up browsing sep7agon/ZD/Bungie forums for a few hours on end. As it stands I'm 3 weeks behind on coursework, and something needs to change.

I'm trying to self motivate but it's not working, and my attention span can use some work. Any tips? How do you approach your studies (where applicable)?

 

[Emma]

Everyone ridicules me and gets furious when I say this, but it works. What you should do is not think of it as studying, you need to learn it. People use those words interchangeably but they are not the same thing. Study is short term, learn is long term. You can't think of it in terms of "I just need to hold onto this long enough to do the work". You need to try to learn it, not study it. Once you have set out to learn something, not just study, you have to find a way that works best for you to get that information in. It could be encyclopedia articles, perhaps its documentaries, maybe educational videos on youtube. Something that works for you, yourself, instead of a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. Try to make it as enjoyable as you can rather than a chore, that'll make it easier to retain it. If you try to learn something, answers on a homework assignment, or a test, will come way, way easier to you than if you merely studied.

 

[TheFourthTriangle]

It might be useful to try and work out what kind of learner you are. I'm sure you've probably heard this kinda 'study skills' garbage spouted a bunch of times, but there are some good ideas behind it.

By learner, I mean specifically Auditory, Kinaesthetic, or Visual. I'm personally more of an auditory learner, so I've found that a technique I use to revise is to record myself saying the information, and then play it back. Recently, I put the audio files onto my phone and I listen to it whenever I'm out and about. I have the benefit of being near some nice countryside, so I can go on a hike as I listen to something. I have the same problem as you in that I get easily distracted by the internet or video games, and this is a neat way to remove those distractions and yet still provide yourself with a way to retain information.

It's also possible, however, that this method of learning just doesn't work for you; you might be more visual or kinaesthetic, e.g. you might learn better by just sitting on a park bench and reading through your notes, or by reciting stuff as you walk back and forth bouncing a ball.

I'm hardly an education guru though, so its probably worth plugging 'revision strategies' into google or asking one of your lecturers about it.

Hope this helped a little bit!