A guide to the 10 most effective things students can do to improve the way they study and learn. This based on 'Visible Learning' by John Hattie which is the most significant study to date into what does and does not work when learning.

1. Top 10 Study Skills
Mr Field

2. Introduction
 Does studying at home make you feel like this?
 This PowerPoint summarises the 10 most effective
things that science says you can do to study better.

3. Number 10: Self-Monitoring
 What It Means:
 Keeping track of what you have
learnt and how well you have learnt
it.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Get a copy of your syllabus
document
 Tick things off on the syllabus once
you have learnt them
 You could colour code
green/orange/red to show how well you
think you understand
 When studying, make a list of each
thing you have studied; seeing the
list grow will help you see what you
have achieved and make you feel
good
 Make a graph showing the grades
you get for each assessment, and
add to it whenever you get a new one

4. Number 9: Reviewing Records
 What It Means:
 Reviewing the notes from a
class in order to prepare for the
next one.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Spend 20 minutes every evening reading the notes you
took in class that day.
 Spend 60 seconds before a lesson starts re-reading the
notes from the lesson before
 Use the ‘two-thirds-one-third’ note making technique
(see Number 6)

5. Number 8: Goal-Setting/Planning
 What It Means:
 Setting a goal for what you want to achieve
and writing a plan for how you will get there.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Set yourself a target grade that you want to
achieve
 Be realistic: if you are on a D, an A is not a
good target, a C would be a better target.
Once you have the C, then think about a B and
so on.
 Think about time: if you are on a D at the
beginning of the year, but want to be on an A
by the end, perhaps set a goal of a C by
Christmas, a B by Easter and so on.
 Write a plan for how you will achieve this
goal
 Be specific: ‘study more’ or ‘work harder’ are
not good because they are too vague, ‘re-read
my notes every evening and turn them into a

6. Number 7: Rehearsing and Memorising
 What It Means:
 Doing what it takes to memorise key
facts and information.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Just reading and re-reading
something will not help here.
 Use active techniques such as;
 Making flash cards
 Making and reviewing mind-maps
 Re-writing your notes using fewer
words
 Writing things down from memory,
then checking against your notes

7. Number 6: Keeping Records
 What It Means:
 Recording of information related to study
tasks….basically taking notes!
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Do not just copy what the teacher writes
 Take notes
 Use the two-thirds-one-third technique
 Draw a line down your page a third of the way
across it
 Write your notes in class on the right-hand side
 In the evening, review your notes and write the
key points on the left-hand side
Write
notes
here
Review
notes
here

8. Number 5: Help-seeking
 What It Means:
 As simple as it sounds, ask for help when
you need it, and don’t be scared to seek
support.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Study with a study partner
 In class use the three-then-me approach
 Ask three friends
 If your friends can’t help, ask a teacher
 When studying at home, make a list of
things you don’t understand so you can
ask the teacher next lesson.

9. Number 4: Self-evaluation
 What It Means:
 Checking that what you have done is
the best it can be before you hand it
in.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Make sure you properly proof-read
your work before you hand it in
 When working on an assignment,
make sure you have a copy of the
assessment criteria or mark scheme
so that you can check your work
against it
 Tick off each thing on the assessment
criteria once you think you have
achieved it

10. Number 3: Self-instruction
 What It Means:
 Talk yourself through problems that you
are trying to solve…yes actually say the
words out loud! It may seem silly, but it
works by making you much more aware of
your thought processes.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Write out the series of steps involved in a
task (for example writing an essay,
completing a lab-report, solving a maths
problem)
 When you are working, talk yourself
through what you are doing:
 ‘OK, so first a need to plan my experiment.
What is a good plan like?’
 If you don’t have a list, put yourself in your
teacher’s shoes and ask:
 WWTD: What Would Teacher Do?

11. Number 2: Self-consequences
 What It Means:
 Giving yourself rewards for completing
certain tasks
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Decide a reward for yourself:
 Small: ½ hour on Facebook, 1 hour on the
PlayStation etc
 Large: shopping trip at the weekend, night
out with friends
 Decide what you will need to do achieve in order to earn your reward
 This should be specific: a particular practice exam paper, or assignment, or page
of notes…something that you can physically see when it has been achieved.
 This requires a lot of mental strength, and you may want to get your
parents’ help in making sure you stick to it....just don’t blame them when if
don’t get your reward!

12. Number 1: Organising and Transforming
 What It Means:
 Turning subject material from one form
into another, and looking for the
connections that help it to make sense.
 Putting it Into Practice:
 Summarising a chapter from a book as
a mind-map
 Turning a series of steps for solving a
problem into a flow-chart
 Summarising the notes for an entire
topic in a single page
 Drawing a diagram to represent an idea
 Writing a plan before completing an
assignment

13. Credits
This list comes from Visible
Learning: A Synthesis of
Over 800 Meta-Analyses
Relating To Achievement
by John Hattie, published by
Routledge in 2009