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Power Learning

Sheila Akers (This is an adapted version of the original text by Sheila Akers)

Jill had not been as successful in junior high school as she would have liked. Since high school involved much more work, it was no surprise that she was not doing any better.

The reason for her so-so performance was not a lack of effort. She paid attention in most of her classes and read her textbooks. And she never missed any assignments, even if she had to stay up late the night before the homework was due. Still, her grades were quite low. Soon, she came to the conclusion that she just could not do any better.

Then one day, her English teacher said something to her which helped her to change her mind. “You can probably build some sort of house by banging a few boards together,” he said. “But if you want a sturdy home, you’ll have to use the right techniques and tools. Building carefully takes work, but it gets better results. The same is true of your education. There are no shortcuts, but there are some proven study skills that can really help. If you don’t use them, you might end up with a pretty flimsy education.”

Motivated by this advice, Jill signed up for a class in study skills. She then found out a crucial fact – that learning how to learn is the key to success in school. There are certain dependable skills which have made the difference between disappointment and success for generations of students. These techniques will not free you from work, but they will make your work far more productive. They include these three important areas: time control, classroom note-taking, and textbook study.

Time Control

Success in school depends on time control. Time control means that you deliberately organize and plan your time, instead of letting it float away. Planning means that you should never have to have a night-before-the-test “cram”session or turn in a late report or project.

There are three steps involved in time control. The first step is to prepare a large monthly calendar. Buy or make a calendar with a large white block around each date. At the beginning of the school semester, circle important dates – test and exam dates; report and project due dates. This calendar can also be used to schedule weekly study plans. You can jot down your study plans for each day at the beginning of the week. For example, on Sunday night, you might write down “Read Chapter 5 in biology” in the Monday block and “Study for Friday’s math quiz”in the Thursday block. Be sure to keep this calendar in a place where you will see it every day – on your refrigerator, in your bedroom, even in your bathroom!

The second step to time control is to have a weekly study schedule for the semester. To prepare this schedule, make up a chart that covers all the days of the week and all the hours you are awake each day. On your schedule, mark in all the fixed times in each day – times for classes, meals, and travel. Next, mark in times that you can realistically use for study each day. Depending on the homework load and the difficulty of your classes, you might want to plan five, ten, or more hours for study time per week. Remember that you should not schedule time for study that you do not truly intend to use for study; otherwise, your schedule will be a meaningless piece of paper.Also, remember that you should allow time for rest and recreation in your schedule. You will be happiest, and able to accomplish the most, when you have time for both work and play.

The third step in time control is to make a daily or weekly “to do” list. This is probably the most valuable time-control method you will ever use. On this list you write down all the things you need to do for the following day or the following week. If you do a weekly list, write it on Sunday night. If you do a daily list, write it the night before. Use a pocket-sized notebook for this list and carry it around with you all day. Always concentrate on doing the most important items first. Mark high-priority items with a star and give them precedence over low-priority items in order to make the best use of your time. For example, on Thursday after dinner, you may wonder what to do. On your list are “Study for Friday’s math quiz” and “Clean my bicycle.” At this point, studying is clearly more important; you can clean your bike another time. As you finish items on your “to do” list, cross them out. Do not worry too much about unfinished items; you can reschedule them. You will still be accomplishing a lot and making more effective use of your time.

Classroom Note-Taking

One of the most important single things you can do to perform well in school is to take effective class notes. The following hints should help you become a better note taker.

First, attend class and pay attention always. Reading the text on your own or reviewing your friend’s notes, or both, cannot substitute for hearing the ideas in person as someone who truly knows the material explains them to you. Also, in class lectures and discussions, your teacher will usually present and develop the main ideas and facts of the course – the ones you will need to know for the exam.

Another valuable hint is to use abbreviations while taking notes. This saves time when you are trying to jot down a lot of information. Make up abbreviations for words that are used repeatedly during a lecture and put a key for the abbreviations at the top of the page. For example, in a literature class, char could stand for characterization; in biology, A.N.S.could mean autonomic nervous system. In addition, abbreviate words that you often hear in any lecture – info for information; ex for example; def for definition; + for and; and so on. If you use the same abbreviations all the time, you will soon develop your own personal “shorthand” that makes taking notes much easier.

A third hint when taking notes is to look out for signals of importance. Write down whatever your teacher puts on the board – it is probably important; it will probably be on the exam. Always write down definitions and enumerations. Enumerations are lists of items often signaled by words such as: “The four steps in the process are ...”; “There were three reasons for...”; and so on. Always number such enumerations in your notes (1, 2, 3, etc.) These will help you to understand the relationships between ideas and to organize the information. Listen for emphasis words that tell you that something is important. Examples are “This is an important reason...”; “The main cause was...”; “The basic idea is...”; “This will come up again later...”; and so on. Always write down the information which follows emphasis words. Finally, if your teacher repeats a point, you can be sure it is important. You might write R for repeated in the margin of your notes, so you can remember the teacher stressed this point.

Next be sure to write down your teacher’s examples and mark them with an X. The examples help you to understand abstract points. If you do not write them down, you will probably forget them and not understand the abstract points later.

Also, be sure to write down the connections between ideas. Too many students write only the words the teacher puts on the board. They forget that, as time passes, they will forget the connecting ideas and will not understand the information fully. If you write down the connections in class, you will have them to help you understand the information later.

Review your notes as soon as possible after class. For example, you might find fifteen minutes the same evening to look over your notes. Make sure that you can read your notes, that you understand your abbreviations, and that words are spelled correctly. Add any needed connecting ideas to help you understand. Make sure that all important ideas are clearly marked and organized, so you can see at a glance what the main points are and how they are related.

Finally, keep your notes; do not lose them. Forgetting starts immediately. Studies show that after two weeks, most people forget 80% of what they have heard, and after four weeks, remember only 5%. The more complete your notes are at the time of study, the more you are likely to learn.

Textbook Study

In many high school and college courses, success means being able to read and study a textbook skillfully. For many students, unfortunately, textbooks are heavy going. After an hour or two of studying, the textbook is formless and confusing. But there is a way to attack even the most difficult textbook and make sense of it. Use a sequence in which you preview a chapter, mark it, take notes on it, and then study the notes.

Previewing. Previewing is an important first step to understanding. Taking the time to preview a section or chapter can give you a “bird’s eye view” of the way the information is organized – you will have a sense of where you are beginning, what you will cover, and where you will end.

There are several steps in previewing a selection. First, study the title. The title is the shortest possible summary of a selection and often tells you the limits of the material you will cover. For example, the title "Tony Blair and Foreign Policy” tells you to expect to read about Tony Blair’s foreign policies, but probably not about his dealings with the British justice system or his personal life. Next read quickly the first and last paragraphs of the selection; these probably contain important introductions to and summaries of the main ideas. Then examine briefly the headings and subheadings, which are a general outline of the selection you are reading. Headings are often main ideas or important concepts in capsule form; subheadings are breakdowns of ideas within main areas. Finally read the first sentence of some paragraphs; look for words in boldface, in italics, or underlined ; and look at pictures or diagrams. After you have previewed a selection in this way, you should have a good general sense of the material to be read.

Marking. You should marka textbook selection at the same time that you read it carefully. Use a highlighter pen to highlightmaterial that seems important, or use a regular pen and put symbols in the margin next to the material: stars, checks, or eye glasses (means LOOK). What to mark is not as mysterious as some students believe. You should try to find main ideas by looking for the following clues: definitions and examples, enumerations, and emphasis words.

  1. Definitions and examples: Definitions are among the most important ideas in a selection. They are the specialized vocabulary of that subject; they are the “language” of biology or algebra or whatever the subject is.

Many definitions are abstract, and so they are usually followed by one or more examples to help clarify their meaning. Always mark definitions and at least one example that makes a definition clear to you. For example, in a literature textbook, we are told that an “internal conflict is a problem which the character faces within herself/himself.” Several examples follow, including: “A young prince, faced with many ceremonial formalities, struggles with a deep down desire to be free and lead a simple life.”

  1. Enumerations: Enumerations are lists of items (causes, reasons, types, and so on) that are numbered 1, 2, 3, ... or that could easily be numbered in an outline. They are often signaled in a textbook by addition words like first of all, another, in addition, and finally. This is a very common and effective organizational method.
  2. Emphasis words: Emphasis words tell you that an idea is important. Common emphasis words include phrases such as a major event, a key feature, important to note, and most of all. Here is an example: “The most important modern use of marketing is its use in non-business, such as politics.”

Note-Taking. Next, you should take notes. Go through the chapter a second time, re-reading the most important parts. Try to write down the main ideas in a simple outline form. For example, in taking notes on a Health selection, you might write down the heading “Epidemics –Local and Global.” Below the heading you would number and explain additional information, giving examples to help you understand. Look at this example:

Epidemics – Local and Global

  1. Definition: an outbreak of disease
  2. Level of outbreak

(1) epidemic: an outbreak in a certain location – a community, a city, a whole country

example: SARS, southern Asia, early 21st century

(2) pandemic: a global outbreak

example: Spanish Influenza, worldwide, 1918

Studying Notes. To study your notes, use the method of repeated self-testing. For example, look at the heading “Epidemics – Local and Global” and ask yourself, “What does epidemic mean?” When you can define it without looking at the paper, then ask yourself, “What are the levels of outbreak?” “What is the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic?” “What is an example of a pandemic?” After you learn each section, review it, and then go on to the next section.

Do not only look at your notes; keep looking away and seeing if you can recite them to yourself. If you cannot, look again, and then try again to recite them. This self-testing is the key to effective learning.

In summary, remember this sequence in order to deal with a textbook: previewing, marking, taking notes, studying the notes. Approaching a textbook in this methodical way will give you positive results. You will no longer feel weighed down under a ton of words, unable to figure out what you are expected to know for the test. Instead, you will understand exactly what you have to do and how to do it.

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Take a minute now and reflect on your own study habits. Do you practice many or any of these skills in order to control your time, take effective classroom notes, and learn from your textbooks? The skills are not magic, but they are too valuable to ignore. Use them carefully and consistently, and they will make success in school possible for you. Try them, and you will not need convincing.

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Vocabulary

“cram” session

work load

“to do” list

high-priority

low-priority

precedence

abbreviations

“shorthand”

definitions

enumerations

emphasis

margin

abstract

heavy going

sequence

“bird’s eye view”

headings

subheadings

outline

capsule

breakdowns

highlighter pen

symbols

specialized vocabulary

self-testing

recite

methodical

weighed down

figure out

reflect on

study habits