CHAPTER 10

STUDY TECHNIQUES AND TIME MANAGEMENT

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Study Techniques and Time Management

You have identified Study Techniques and Time Management' as an area of concern. To improve your study time investigate the following on: How do I find out what to study How to study Having a goal Planning for study, weekly and each semester Overcoming procrastination What to do if your motivation is low or finding the motivation to study Overcoming stress How do I manage work and study Organising your degree. Workshops and other information on learning skills are available at the Toowoomba Campus and online. You are encouraged to make an appointment with a study assistance counsellor. Many other study resources are available on ALSOnline.

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Study Techniques
There are many techniques that may be used to

improve the effectiveness of your study. Know What is Important to Learn Test Yourself Taping or Telling Chunking Diagrams, Summaries, Mindmaps Mneumonics Memory Techniques Study Techniques for Groups and Individuals
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Know What is Important to Learn

The first step is to identify what is important to learn.

You do this by analysing and using: course specifications as a checklist for what to learn self-assessment questions and exercises at the end of examinable modules past exam papers or questions provided by your lecturer lecturer's exam hints in the lectures, teletutorials, audiographics and online discussion group

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Test Yourself
To test yourself, you can:

- work on problems in your textbooks and Study Book that are similar to the ones that will be in the exam - try to reproduce your summaries, mind maps, mnemonics etc without looking at them - make up exam questions and answer them, then check with your textbooks etc - use your study group friends and give each other mock tests
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Taping or Telling
This technique has three main strengths. The first is

that you will have to put the work into your own words either out loud, on a tape or to a friend. The strength of doing it with a friend is that you will have to explain it a number of times before he/she understands! In doing this you will be learning a little more each time you repeat it. The other advantage is that you are using another of your senses, hearing, to help you learn. The more senses you can involve, the better you can learn. A study group is a useful avenue for this strategy.
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Chunking
This is a process of reducing your textbook and

lecture notes over and over again. You make summaries of your summaries of your summaries of your summaries of your .... It is best to do this at least three times, preferably five. Each time you make a new summary by reducing the previous one, you are revising the material and learning more of both the detail and main ideas. Each time you summarise you need less writing, headings, outline or detail to remember the same amount of information. Eventually you can lock up whole chunks of material behind a few well-chosen terms or brief lists or skeleton diagrams.
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Diagrams, Summaries, Mind Maps

You will have already come across diagrams and

tables (especially in science) and summaries (especially in history). Mind maps are just a special type of diagram or table, a special type of summary. All of these techniques help to give you a picture of what you are trying to learn and how the bits of it fit together. Pictures are more easily remembered than long lists of words. Just because you are familiar with these ways of organising information, don't forget to use them as often as you can. It is in the process of making these tables, diagrams, summaries and mind maps that you understand and learn.
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Mnemonics

This is a very old, and still effective way to learn information that can be broken down easily into bits. Two common mnemonics are acronyms and acrostics. Acronyms These are probably the most common mnemonic used. First, identify the important or key words in your work. Then take the first letter of each of these words and make another word. You may have to use synonyms of the key words sometimes to make the acronym work better. For example, PASS is an acronym for Plan, Act, Survey, Stop. Acrostics These are useful when you can't easily make an acronym and there is a sequence you have to learn, where the items must be in a particular order. You take the first letter of each word of the sequence and use it for the beginning of words in a sentence you make up. - For example, the planets in order of distance from the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. To convert this list to a mnemonic take the first letter of each planet and make a word. Join the words up in a sentence. Then you have something like: - My Very Eager Mother Just Swam Under the North Pole. - Recalling the sentence helps to trigger recall of the planets in their order from the sun! The possibilities for using this type of memory technique are only limited by your ingenuity. - But remember, the important thing is that mnemonics are a tool for learning, not just something that's a bit of fun that takes up a lot of your time to compose.

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Setting and Keeping Goals

As a university student you will have numerous goals concerning your study plans, career, life style and happiness. Your goals will be long, medium or short term. You should record your goals and note the elements of a useful goal. 1) Long-term Goals Long-term goals are goals you wish to achieve after you have successfully completed your course. These are related to your employment and life after you have completed your studies, at least five years in the future. Here are some examples. Business manager by age of 30 Design engineer within 6 years School teacher in northern NSW Enrolled in a doctorate program What are your long-term goals? If you feel uncertain about your long-term goals, contact a careers guidance counsellor 2) Medium-term Goals Goals you wish to achieve in the next year or so, up to the end of your course. These will be the stepping-stones to achieving your long-term goals. Here are some examples. Complete a Bachelor of Business majoring in marketing with a grade point average of at least 5.5 by the end of semester 3 Complete 4 units at least at a credit level by the end of semester 3 and a successful practical project Complete a total of 8 units at least at a credit level by the end of semester 2 next year What are your medium-term goals? 3) Short-term Goals Goals you wish to achieve in the next day, week, and by the end of semester. These are the stepping-stones to achieving your medium-term goals. Use the course specification to plan for the semester and for each week. What are your short-term goals?
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Elements of a Useful Goal

Specific: Describes what you want to accomplish with as much

detail as possible Measurable: Describes your goal in terms that can clearly be evaluated Challenging: Takes energy and discipline to accomplish Realistic: A goal you know you are actually capable of obtaining Stated Completion Date: Goals that break longer term goals into shorter pieces and clearly specify target completion dates

Make a list of your long-term, medium-term and short-term goals and display them in a visible place to assist with your motivation to study.

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Weekly planning

Actions to Take Print out the Weekly Study Schedule*. Mark in all your life support' times, eg sleeping, meals, shopping. Mark in all your work-related or other commitments, eg travel to and from work, working hours, travel to and from children's schools, children's activities, other important regular family duties, important social and recreational activities. The remaining times are when you can study. Consider the following: What times of the day or night are you most alert? Allocate your study sessions to as many of these times as possible. What day can you take off from all study? You need a break like this if you can manage it. You need a few sessions of 1 hour but most sessions should be 2 hours at least. Study sessions should be spread throughout the week for maximum study efficiency and effectiveness. Check that you have enough time to complete all assignment and study on time. Place your study schedule in a visible place.

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Semester planning
Actions to Take 1. Find the Course Specification for each course you are enrolled in this semester. Ask yourself: What are the course objectives? Each course you are enrolled in has a defined set of objectives. This is what you will be assessed on in your assignments and other activities. What are the assessments for this course? Check under assessments in the course specification. Don't forget to make a copy of each assessment before you submit it. When are the assessments due? Dates indicated are the dates when assessments are handed in or mailed. Evidence of mailing is usually required. 2. Obtain a calendar for the semester and include the assessment dates for all your courses in the calendar. Draft study schedules are often provided in lectures or in online and distance education materials. 3. What other important events are happening while you are studying? We all lead busy lives. Think about any other important events that are happening during your study that you might have to plan around e.g. practical work in other courses, planned surgery, sporting commitments, birth of a baby, work commitments, etc. Note holidays don't really fit into this category. If events are so intrusive that you cannot plan around them then you should consider withdrawing from the course. Discuss this with your lecturer (Examiner). Students can withdraw from the course within the first few weeks of enrolment without academic or HECS penalty. Student Services provides support for students with personal difficulties. 4. Put all of the above information together into a Semester Timetable*. My Planner Use the new My Planner feature to build an enrolment plan for your whole program. Once you have set up your study plan in My Planner, it will help streamline the process when you enrol each year. You can find more information about this on the Student Centre page.
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Time Management
If one issue is common to all students its how to best manage your time

when you have the competing demands of study, work, family and friends. Key to your success in managing your time are your motivation to study current and future goals Some students will be able to start managing themselves from the word go by using assessment due dates and course specifications to plan their semester. See what to do to plan for the semester. If you are new to study you may not know how much time to spend and how to balance this with work and other activities essential to you. If this is the case why not in the first weeks of your study record how much time you spend studying. See how to record your weekly plan. For personal advice on how best to manage your study talk with one of your colleges Study Counsellors (eg; PA, Coordinator, Lecturers).

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Effective Study
. Motivation and planning offers many useful hints for managing

yourself, including setting and keeping goals, weekly and semester planning. Using course specifications provides advice about what the University is offering and what expectations are for students. There are different ways of studying effectively and study techniques explains some of these. However, not every technique suits every student, as that depends on individual learning styles. An important part of effective study is getting academic help and knowing when to ask for help. Becoming familiar with the library is important as it contains a wealth of resources. The USQ Library conducts library classes at the beginning of each semester of the academic year. The ability to use computers is increasingly vital for university study and this section contains hints about computer basics, and points to resources about effective computer use.
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