MASTERING STUDY SKILLS MACMILLAN MASTER SERIES Basic Management Biology Chemistry Commerce Computer Programming Computers Data Processing Economics Electronics English Language French German Italian Marketing Mathematics Modern World History Office Practice Physics Principles of Accounts Sociology Spanish Statistics Study Skills MASTERING STUDY SKILLS R. FREEMAN M © National Extension College Trust Ltd 1982 © Illustrations: Barry Jackson 1982 © Text-figure illustrations: The Macmillan Press Ltd 1982 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without permission. First edition 1982 Reprinted 1982 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESS L TD Companies and representatives throughout the world Typeset by Reproduction Drawings Ud, Sutton, Surrey Printed and bound by Unwin Brothers Ltd. The Gresham Press, Old Woking, Surrey ISBN 978-0-333-30448-8 ISBN 978-1-349-86074-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-86074-6 The paperback editions of this book are sold sub ject to the condition that they shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which they are published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. CONTENTS Preface vii Acknowledgements ix 1 Where and how to 1.1 Plans and timetables study 1.2 The weekly timetable 1.3 How long should study periods be? 3 1.4 Relaxation 6 1.5 Where to study 7 1.6 Checklist 8 2 Learning efficiently 2.1 Attention and interest 9 2.2 Memory 10 2.3 Differences between learners 14 2.4 Motivation, goals and know- ledge of progress 15 2.5 Learning 16 2.6 Rote learning 18 2.7 Organising material 19 2.8 Relating material to the outside world 20 2.9 Use of discussion to promote learning 22 2.10 Developing learning habits 22 2.11 Checklist 24 3 Reading 3.1 Types of reading 25 3.2 Have you a reading speed problem? 29 3.3 Extending your vocabulary 36 3.4 SQ3R 38 3.5 Choosing books 40 3.6 Checklist 41 4 Other learning 4.1 Note-taking 42 techniques 4.2 Filing 48 4.3 Checklist 52 5 Essay writing 5.1 Introduction 54 5.2 Looking at the title 54 5.3 Gathering your material 57 5.4 Planning the outline 57 CONTENTS 5.5 Writing the essay 59 5.6 Paragraphs 62 5.7 Diagrams and illustrations 63 5.8 Reviewing the essay 64 5.9 Checklist 65 6 Thinking c1early 6.1 Why think clearly? 66 6.2 Foundations of clear thought 68 6.3 Some common faults in thinking 75 6.4 Ways to better thinking 77 6.5 Checklist 79 7 Revision and exams 7.1 Revision 80 7.2 Preparing for exams 82 7.3 Checklist 86 Activities key 87 PREFACE Mastering Study Skills is specially written for students who find the pro cesses of study difficult. Many people have difficulty in remembering things or are mystified by the process of writing an essay. All too easily students accept that they can't do these things because they are just poor students. Yet usually the reason for their difficulties is simply that they never actually leamt how to memorise, how to make notes, or how to write an essay. This book teaches just those skills. Mastering Study Skills is not, however, just a book which teIls you about how to leam. Such books exist but you won't improve your leaming skills by reading such books any more than you will play better tennis by reading a book about tennis playing. Mastering Study Skills is a course. That is it's a book you have to work at through carrying out its numerous activities which both explore your current range of study skills and give you practice in acquiring new ones. By the end of the book you will not only know more about effective study techniques but you will have put into practice new approaches to planning and timetabling, memory, understanding, notetaking, essay writing and examination technique. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author and publishers wish to thank the following, who have kindly given permission for the use of copyright material: George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ud for an extract from Authority and the Individual by Bertrand Russell. Guardian Newspapers Ud for extracts from issues of The Guardian. London Express News and Feature Services for an extract from the Sun newspaper article 'Stand Firm Maggie'. Longman Group Ud for entry no. 705 from Roget's Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. Oxford University Press for an extract from Karl Marx: Selected Writings, edited by David McLellan (1977). SAAB (Gt Britain) Ud for an advertisement of the SAAB 900 Turbo car. Scuola di Barbiana, Florence, for an extract from Letter to a Teacher. CHAPTER 1 WHERE AND HOW TO STUDY 1.1 PLANS AND TIMETABLES Successful students invariably have well-designed plans and timetables. (They may not have them written d1>Wn, but almost certainly thay have a plan in their heads.) A plan is an overall view of the course of study and will usually cover a term or a year. A timetable is a more detailed day-to day division of time and covers not only study but, to some extent, the other activities which are essential to your life. Timetables are great aids to efficiency. First, they enable you to analyse the use you are making of your time. Is it the most effective scheme? Are the hours allocated to study the best ones? A timetable also takes a load off your mind. Just as listing pressing commitments (see Chapter 2) enables you to concentrate on the one task in hand, so timetabling the day's or week's routine ensures that all the decisions have been taken in advance. Without a timetable you will have to make a hundred decisions each week as you try to fit everything in. The very making of the decisions will tax your energy and leave you less ready for study. 1.2 THE WEEKL Y TIMET ABLE The basic element in your planning is probably the weekly timetable. A week is a suitable period of time not only because it is the module of time used for most college timetables, but also becuase it is about as far ahead as most of us can plan with confidence. But whether your planning period is two days, a week or a month, your timetable must be realistic. An unrealistic timetable may be worse than no timetable at all since its neatly displayed allocation of activities can deceive you into thinking that all will get done in time. So what is realistic? WeIl, (hat depends on you and all your circumstances so, for your first activity, I am going to ask you to look at the way you use your time at the moment.