3. Setting Goals
Why set goals for your life?
goals bring meaning to our lives
goals give direction to our lives
goals bring order to our lives
4. Staying Focused
Define your goals:
The GPA of Success
Goals-should reflect your wants and needs.
Plan-maps the route you plan to take in order to
reach your goal.
Action-brings your goal and your plan to life.
5. What if the problem is that
I can’t concentrate?
Clear your mind
Focus
Don’t worry
Switch subjects frequently
Do not get disturbed by other people/things
Get enough sleep!
6. Now is the time!
Setting a goal to obtain a college education, or
to gain marketable skills will require learning
how to study. The first goal for being
successful in your academic journey and
accomplishments is learning how to study
effectively.
7. Why learn to study?
Because tests are a part of life and taking tests will
continue throughout your career
Recertification tests are required in the medical and
teaching professions, as well as for realtors and
counselors
Hairdressers, electricians, and plumbers must
recertify themselves,
Tests are required for many professions in obtaining
higher salaries and more prominent positions within
corporations and institutions
9. What is studying?
The act of applying the mind so as to acquire
knowledge or understanding as by
reading, investigating, and examination of any
subject or event
An earnest effort of the mind or a state of
mental absorption
Application of mental faculties to the
acquisition of knowledge
10. Your study environment.
A study is a place to study, create your own
study, make it a place you really want to spend
time.
Your study space should also be a place you
can GET WORK DONE!
11. Concentration
Warm up your brain by reviewing your notes and text
reading assignment
Summarizing what you have learned
Decide what you will accomplish and how much time
you spend on a particular subject
Take a short break every 30-40 minutes
If your mind resists or begins to wander, tell it to “be
here now.”
13. Survey
Quickly preview the chapter and devise a plan
for reading
Note the chapter headings
Notice any
maps, charts, graphs, diagrams, pictures, etc.
Pay attention to bold terms and vocabulary
14. Questions
Discover if there are any discussion questions
at the end of the chapter and keep them in
mind while you are doing reading assignments
Headings and vocabulary terms
16. R-3 Recite
Say out loud what you are learning
Discuss what you are learning with friends and
family
Use a tape recorder to recite information and play
it back to yourself
Anything that can give you an auditory connection
with the subject
17. R-3 Review
Review your notes as many times as it takes
until
you can actually see the information in your
mind
hear the information in you head
Re-read your notes right after class to make
sure they make sense
Review notes at least once a week to help
enforce memory and retain concepts
18. Statistics
A study revealed that those who read
textbooks:
Forgot 46% of text the next day
Forgot 79% after 14 days
Remembered only 19% in less than one month
Why are humans so forgetful?
19. Improving Your Memory
Using mnemonic devices
Acrostics
Acronyms
Methods of loci
Rhyming
20. Remember: More to college
success than just studying!
Keep a good relationship with your professor
Keep a good relationship with your classmates
Keep dedicated to your class work and
commitment to the class
College life
21. Workshop Quiz
Type the following webpage link in your
browser:
libguides.hgtc.edu/sstc
Click on the “On Demand Workshops and
Quizzes” tab
Locate the quiz associated with this workshop title
and click on the workshop image to enter the quiz
Evaluate what you have learned through this
workshop!
Don’t forget to enter your first and last name
Editor's Notes
This is a webinar on how to study effectively. It was created by the Student Success and technology center at Horry georgetown technical college.
The first part of this webinar will focus on setting personal goals, staying focused, the purpose of studying, and acting now.
Setting goals give us a reason to get up in the morning and goals motivate us to work hard. Setting goals help us learn patience, perseverance, and once achieved offer us great satisfaction.
Start by defining your goals. We call this the GPA of Success.Goals-should reflect your wants and needs. Make it large and ambitious without being vague. Write it down.Plan-maps the route you plan to take in order to reach your goal. It should be efficient and specific. Good advice and personal experience combine to create most effective plans.Action-brings your goal and your plan to life. Requires confidence, self-discipline, and a power over procrastination.
If you can’t concentrate, try to start byClear your mind – jot down a ‘to-do’ listFocus – tell yourself that you will study hard right now for this test, and later is time to daydreamDon’t worry – set any personal problems aside that you are experiencingSwitch subjects frequently- this will keep yourself interested in what you are studyingDo not get disturbed by other people/things- make sure it is known you are studying: this will create less interruptions. Get enough sleep! At least 8 hours a night- or what you are studying won’t stick!
Now is the time! Don’t wait to set your goals.
In part 2 we are going to discuss what it means to study, what study environments offer the most success, and methods of concentration
The New World Dictionary of the American language and Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines studying and gives us an idea of how dynamic the exercise of studying can be. Studying requires physical and mental exertion. It is not a passive state of mind.
Find a place where you will not be tempted to fall asleepA large flat surface provides a place where you can organize your books, computer, notebooks, etc.A comfortable chair, but not too comfortableGood lighting and clock Eliminate all devices that are distractions: cell phones, ipods, make sure you are not available online for IM, turn off the TV
Creating a study area where you can study will help you to be able to concentrate for sustained periods of time. When you arrive at your “study” to study, practice these warm ups.
A proven step-by-step process for studying involves surveying the material as a whole, asking and discovering new questions about the material, and finally reading, reciting and reviewing said materials.
When beginning a topic or chapter in your text: Quickly preview the chapter and devise a plan for reading Note the chapter headingsNotice any maps, charts, graphs, diagrams, pictures, etc.Pay attention to bold terms and vocabulary
Discover if there are any discussion questions at the end of the chapter and keep them in mind while you are doing reading assignmentsYou can turn the headings, vocabulary terms and other information into questions. Often, this is where your professor may get questions for quizzes and tests.
Time to start reading!Read with a pen in your hand for underlining and making comments in the margins, this practice maintains concentration, or use a highlighter for isolating parts of the text that you feel are important.
Review your notes as many times as it takesuntil you can actually see the information in your mind hear the information in you headAsk yourself: have those initial questions about the chapter been answered? If not, you should probably review the chapter again.
This may be because textbooks are not as interesting reading as other types of print. Statistics are even more discouraging when one is listening.
You can also:Be selective – remember key factsRepeat out loud what you need to rememberIntend to remember – same way a waiter decides to remember your order Like what you learn – details are then easier to rememberFind meaning in the information you study
Keep a good relationship with your professorLearn from him or herLet him or her help you learn easierKeep a good relationship with your classmatesSet up study groups, if possibleReinforce ideas and concepts in class Keep dedicated to your class work and commitment to the class College lifeGet involved! Be active in all areas of your lifeGet a well-rounded education
