 Develop ways to read books more quickly and effectively
1. Make sure you try to scan your textbook prior to arriving at your class.
2. When scanning a book make sure you are reading for both details and ideas.
3. Always read any assignment guides and materials in FULL.
4. Try to always look for what are the main or central ideas that need to be covered and what exactly will be assessed.
5. A useful measure to recall the material you have read is to get another person to ask you questions or alternatively ask yourself questions about the material you have read. i.e. What is the main assessment criteria?
6. Carry out reflection by transferring the different information that you have read into useful and practical knowledge. (i.e." Why exactly is this criteria or point important?)
7. Write brief summaries.
How to improve learning in the classroom
1. Always go to your class. . . . Each lesson is important. It is highly recommended to skip lessons.
2. Try to think about the specific subject prior to you attending the class. Also, try to anticipate what you think will be discussed in class.
3. Make sure you always pay attention for the entire class and do not allow yourself to become distracted.
4. Concentrate on what your teacher is doing and saying, not on the people walking down the corridor or the notices on the class notice board.
5. Always focus on what the teacher/speaker is actually saying. It is a good idea to learn how to tune out the teacher/speaker's voice quality, mannerisms, appearance, accent etc.
6. It is always important to make sure you are listening with your mind not judging what is said with your emotions.
7. Try to develop the skills of listening for the important word cues that illustrate or reveal the teacher/speaker’s emphasis. They include words like most important, on the other hand, in addition to etc.
Tips on note taking.
1. Be sure you take as complete notes as possible. You may practice your note taking skills. Get to know how to abbreviate words and develop you own shorthand methods. One important tip is to leave out vowels (wrk hrd) and use a ‘g’ for ‘ing’ (stdyng). It is better to use other common single letters or different symbols. For instance:
| The letter or symbol | Replaces | | ? | question | | w/o | without | | b/c | because | | 2 | to, too, two | | & | and | | 4 | for, four | | ch | chapter | | p | page | | # | number | | b4 | before | | etc. | and others | | G8 | great | | $ | dollars |
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