Unit 7: Study Skills
This unit is a deep dive into studying. What does effective studying entail? You are guided to correlate good study habits with effective reading skills, writing skills, and presentation skills. You are also invited to examine your perceptions about quantitative skills, like those involved with mathematics. Overall, this unit helps you gain new strategies and employ effective techniques for performing well in major types of college assignments.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 5 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- identify reading and vocabulary strategies for completing college-level assignments;
- describe how to succeed in college-level writing assignments;
- articulate writing-process steps for the development of academic writing, including revision, proofreading and sourcing;
- identify success strategies for taking common types of college-level tests;
- identify successful approaches to fulfilling college-level presentation tasks; and
- describe and compare effective strategies for succeeding in quantitative courses.
- identify reading and vocabulary strategies for completing college-level assignments;
7.1: Why It Matters: Study Skills
Throughout your college career you’ll be responsible for completing many different types of assessments, like quizzes, essays, group projects, tests, exams, and more. In order to prepare well for these activities, it’s important that you study effectively.
Learn how to effectively prepare for various assignments, and how to use the new skills to continually shape your study habits.
7.2: Reading Strategies
Edmund Burke, a political theorist and philosopher in the 1700s, said, “To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.” Can you imagine eating without digesting? To fully digest what you read—that is, strengthen your reading comprehension—you can benefit from learning about and applying effective reading strategies and vocabulary-building techniques.
7.3: Writing Strategies
Good writing skills are essential to succeeding in college and the professional world. Learn about the purpose for various college-level writing assignments and how to identify standards for good writing that your instructors might expect. Learn how to proofread, revise, cite sources, use quotes, and summarize.
7.4: Testing Strategies
From early childhood until perhaps advanced years, we engage with tests in countless ways – formally and informally, and often with anticipation and nerves. Take a closer look at common types of tests and exams. What is their purpose? What are some strategies for preventing and controlling anxiety? Gain new skills in preparing for and taking tests and exams.
7.5: Presentation Strategies
Making effective presentations is a skill you will need to hone as a college student and very likely, too, as a professional. What are the formats of various presentations you might make? How do you prepare well for making a presentation? What are the standards of quality that you might best adhere to? Learn how to prepare for and make an interesting and informative presentation.
7.6: Quantitative Strategies
You may think of yourself as a “math person” or perhaps “not a math person.” But regardless of your perception, would you like to feel more at ease when working with quantitative material? Learn about strategies for taking notes and organizing your notes, keeping homework journals, and doing homework.
Gain new stills in studying, taking math exams, and learning from any test-taking errors.
7.7: Putting It Together: Study Skills
As you study, pay attention to the skills you’re using and the habits you have. By simply paying attention to how you study, you can often find problematic behaviors, which can help you correct them more easily.