We've put together a list of study skills and tools that you can use to study smarter. Find out what they are and how they can help you master your learning!
As college and university students, the path to academic success is paved with challenges that require honed study skills. Developing and refining these skills is not only a task but also an investment in your future.
Effective study skills are essential to maximise your time. With multiple subjects and assignments to complete, efficient time management becomes necessary. Prioritising tasks, setting realistic goals, and creating a structured study schedule ensures that you can handle your coursework while maintaining a healthy balance.
To manage your time effectively, create a schedule with manageable goals and specific time slots for each task. Include short breaks to reduce stress and increase productivity. Stay flexible and adjust your schedule as needed to maintain a balanced and efficient approach to studying. Check out the Marinara Timer resource below!
Improved study skills can significantly increase understanding and memory retention. Methods like active reading, note-taking and summarisation can help you gain a deeper comprehension of the subject matter. Not only can these skills assist you in achieving better exam scores, but they can also create a solid base for retaining knowledge in the long run.
- SQ3R Method - Break the book into chapters and identify key features. Develop questions and find answers while reading. Summarise each section in your own words, answering previous questions. Review to ensure understanding.
- Feynman Technique - To understand study material better, try explaining it in simple terms. Firstly, write down simple explanations of the material. Then, go through what you have written and correct any mistakes. Lastly, simplify any technical terms so that anyone with no prior knowledge of the subject can understand what you have written.
- Leitner System - Create flashcards for your subject and divide them into 3 boxes. Start with all cards in box 1. Move a card to box 2 if you can recite it; otherwise, leave it in box 1. Study box 1 cards every day, box 2 every second day, and box 3 every four days. Move the card up a box if you can recite it, down one if you can't (except for box 1 cards).
Furthermore, honing study skills fosters critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. As you engage with your coursework in a systematic manner, you develop analytical skills that are invaluable not only in academics but also in real-world scenarios.
ChatGPT helps students develop practical analytical skills applicable to academic and professional life. It offers a versatile toolkit for academic success, from quickly answering questions to aiding in coherent idea drafting. With ChatGPT's assistance, one can efficiently plan and structure written work or presentations, review and analyse written materials, generate data presentation ideas, and even summarize notes from critical readings or lectures. Additionally, ChatGPT excels in quickly transcribing spoken words and describing image contents, making it an indispensable tool for a wide range of academic tasks.
ChatGPT identifies patterns in data, lacks emotional intelligence, may misunderstand, and cannot guarantee accuracy or the latest information. Soley relying on it for academic help risks plagiarism. Using its responses verbatim without proper attribution may lead to unintentional plagiarism, compromising academic integrity.
Improve your study skills to succeed academically. It's a valuable approach that helps you perform better in your current courses and provides lifelong learning tools. Embrace the art of studying to unlock your academic potential. The Advice Service has made a list of some resources that students will find useful in improving their study skills and their academic writing. If you find any of these resources useful, please let us know.
Additional Resources
Grammarly – It reviews spelling, grammar, punctuation, clarity, engagement, and delivery mistakes in English texts, detects plagiarism, and suggests replacements for the identified errors. (Free & Subscription)
ChatGPT - Free-to-use AI system.
Academic Phrasebank - This resource for academic writers provides examples of commonly used phrases organized by the main sections of a research paper or dissertation. It's useful for reporting research work, and you can use the phrases to help with content and organization. (Free)
WordCounter - Apart from counting words and characters, our online editor can help you to improve word choice and writing style (Free)
Zotero - Zotero is a web-based tool that helps you store, manage, and cite your bibliographic references, including books and articles. Each of these references is called an 'item'. In addition to this, Zotero is an excellent resource for collecting and organising research information and sources. (Free)
Cite This For Me - For source types like websites, journal articles, and books, the Cite This For Me™ citation generator automatically tries to find your source's information. (Free & Subscription)
Marinara Timer - This site offers Pomodoro timers to track your study-to-breaktime ratio. After 25 minutes of focused work, take a 5-minute break. After four work intervals, take a 15-minute break. This technique improves productivity. (Free)
Read & Write - A Chrome extension tool that provides assistive features for reading and writing, including text-to-speech, phonetic spell checking, word prediction, a speaking dictionary, and a scanning tool. (Free)
Hemmingway - Get feedback on the readability of your writing. Simply paste your text into the site and receive a breakdown of strong and weak sentences and structures. (Free)