STUDY TIPS AND METHODS

STUDY TIPS AND METHODS

Many of the study tips are included in the lesson itself, and in the literature study guide.

General tips

 Carefully read the passages for comprehension and summary. o In a test or exam, it’s sometimes a good idea to read the questions first to get an idea of what is required – then, when you read the passages, you will already be attuned to this. o In the case of lessons, it is more important to read the passages first, two or three times – because you are, after all, practising your reading skills and not only being tested on them.  Read questions carefully and take note of mark allocation. You have to give your answer and justify it – explain your reasoning. This generally does not apply to grammar questions (e.g. “What is the purpose of the full stop in this sentence?”).  Take mark allocation into account. It is very important to make sure that you give a sufficiently detailed answer! However, do not ramble on, keep to the point.  If there are a number of facts to remember, think of a rhyme to help you: e.g. the coordinating conjunctions are and, but, or, yet: ABOY. Co-ordinating conjunctions make compound sentences, where the clauses are equally important. This is seen in the word co-ordinating – suggests balance, and the repeated “o” is found in the word compound.  Diagrams on your wall (a suitably sized whiteboard is a good idea because you can clean and replace the work on a regular basis): Mind maps, writing up something that you continually forget, or want to remember.  When writing the exam, you do not have to start at Question 1 and work your way through the questions. In the Language paper, for instance, you can start with Question 3 or 4 (the advert and cartoon questions) and leave Question 2 (summary) for last. As long as you keep the whole of each question together, i.e. don’t do 3.1 and then 3.5 and then later in the paper do 3.2. You may choose to answer the questions you find easier first and leave the difficult ones until the end.  Find out what type of learner you are – visual, auditory, or kinaesthetic – and adapt your learning methods accordingly. If you’re kinaesthetic, for instance, you might want to doodle while learning, or get up and walk around; an auditory learner needs to talk and hear, etc. There are several websites that provide a reasonable test of this such as faculty.mu.edu.sa/download.php?fid=24012. You can then adapt your learning methods to suit your style by following the links.