DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE

STUDY STRATEGIES
SKILLS FOR OU STUDY
 Contents
Studying can be Overview3

more enjoyable if Active learning 7

you take time to Learning skills 11

think about Being reflective 13
how you learn Managing your time and space 18
effectively. This In conclusion 28
booklet takes you
through some areas
to think about.
1 OVERVIEW
Your capacity to learn can be improved by:

• being motivated
• having a clear purpose
• analysing how you do things
• being willing to try new things
• recognising what works best for you.

If you take some time to think through how you as an individual

learn effectively, you’ll find that:
• studying will be more enjoyable
• it will be easier to understand module material
• y
 ou’ll tend to remember module themes, concepts or techniques,
which will help when you come to write assignments or prepare
for exams.

Finding out about how you learn can help you to develop study
techniques that suit your needs and the task at hand. Improving
your study strategies will save you time, lighten your workload and
help to improve the quality of your work.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 3

Spend a bit of time taking stock while you’re studying. You’ll be
able to recognise your strengths and make sensible decisions
about how to deal with problems. Learning from feedback on
your module assignments, reflecting and being prepared to try
new things are important aspects of being an independent and
effective learner.

It’s also important to keep in mind two things about learning.

• T
 here’s no single method of learning that guarantees success and
you’ll need to find out which approaches work well for you – this
may also depend on the task at hand.
• A
 lthough we all differ in the way we learn, some approaches and
methods tend to be effective for many of us (e.g. active reading
and being creative in taking notes).

Search the Help Centre for active reading and notetaking

techniques.

Particular subjects do require you to develop particular learning

skills. For example, you can try to learn computer programming by
reading about it, but it’s easier and more appropriate to learn by
actually programming and writing computer programs.

Subjects also have their own particular research traditions,

academic practices and conventions. For example, a psychology
student writing up an experimental report for their module needs
to keep to the accepted practices of reporting research studies in
the field. As you progress in your studies you’ll therefore become
increasingly familiar with specific study approaches, as well as
generic techniques.

If you move between different subject areas (for example, from art
history to a science module) then you’ll soon see that you need to
develop the skills that the new subject requires – interpreting
complex graphs, for example.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 4

1.1 Learning outcomes
Your module has learning outcomes that outline the key intellectual,
practical and professional skills you should gain during your study.
These skills are usually categorised into four groups.
• K
 nowledge and understanding – gaining specific knowledge
related to a subject (e.g. facts and concepts in scientific areas).
• C
 ognitive skills – thinking skills, such as problem solving and
analysis.
• P
 ractical and professional skills – skills related to a vocational area
(e.g. web design or lesson planning).
• K
 ey skills – skills gained as a result of study, such as
communication skills and time management.
Learning outcomes can help you to be clear about what you’ll learn
on a module and the kinds of skills you’ll develop.

1.2 Your learning history

The factors that are likely to affect your approach to learning and
studying include:
• y
 our experiences as a learner, both in formal education (e.g. at
school) and informally (e.g. learning at a museum)
• y
 our motivations (such as the reasons why you’ve chosen a
particular module of study)
• y
 our feelings or emotions that relate to your previous experiences
of learning
• your existing strengths, preferences, habits and skills.
These factors can influence how you approach your current study
and may influence the study techniques you tend to use.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 5

Your experiences as a learner
Think about your experiences of learning, either when you were
growing up or more recently, e.g. at work. Try to identify:
• an enjoyable and effective learning experience
• a
 n experience that wasn’t enjoyable, or where you perhaps
struggled to understand or learn something.

Reflect on why the first was more effective, and what the
difficulties were with the less positive experience.

It’s likely that you’ll have some emotional feelings about why
you remembered these particular experiences. Emotions and
feelings are often part of our learning, and recognising this –
and resolving any tensions in our feelings about learning – is an
important part of developing as a learner.

By looking at your experiences you can:

• begin to take control of your learning
• try effective techniques that will see you through your studies.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 6

2 ACTIVE LEARNING
In active learning you engage with the subject matter or topic areas,
and think through the module themes, methods, ideas and
concepts.

It’s sometimes too easy to simply get out your materials and read,
rather than working out how to understand the module material.
Take an active approach by:
• building on your existing knowledge
• continually asking questions about the topic you’re studying
• d
 oing things that help make the topic meaningful to you, such as
taking notes.
Think of learning as an ongoing process in which you improve your
understanding. Some people visualise this as a spiral (see Figure 1).
For example, as you ‘move around’ the spiral sometimes you realise
that the ideas you once had difficulty grasping are now clearer to
you, and you want to move on to take in new ideas and think them
through.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 7

Figure 1 The Learning Spiral (adapted from Northedge, A. and Lane, A.,1997)

To be successful in your studies you also need to feel motivated and

want to learn. Ideally, you’re interested in the module and have
identified your own goals. You might have:
• s hort-term goals (e.g. getting to grips with a difficult concept,
completing an assignment)
• long-term goals (e.g. career development, passing a module or
obtaining a qualification).
This approach helps when you need to get going with a study
task and when you want to find ways to manage your time
and prioritise.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 8

Sometimes study strategies or skills are presented as if they’ll work
for most, if not all students. You’ll find preferences, styles or habits
that work for you. It’s worth bearing in mind that strategies may
vary with context, study tasks and activities. Try to identify what
works for you generally, and which strategies are valuable for more
specific activities.

“ I learn mostly by listening. I thought, I’m going

to get myself a digital voice recorder and tape
myself. So now that’s exactly what I do. I tape
myself reading passages in my book, or
whatever, and I record pertinent points on my
digital recorder. Then I can play them back on
my iPod. It’s really good for on the move as well

”
as when I’m at home.

You may find that you prefer to learn from a hands-on approach, for
example, by visiting a museum to help you with a topic in science.
Some students find that they’re good at remembering information
visually and use mind maps or learning posters that they can pin on
the wall. Others prefer to listen to a recording from their module
materials as it’s easier for them to process information this way.

2.1 The importance of feedback

Learning from feedback is important for developing as a learner.
Continuous assessment at The Open University (OU) isn’t just a way
of judging your performance as a student, it’s also part of learning
– but you do need to engage with this process.

A great deal of learning takes place through completing module

activities and assignments and then getting feedback on them.
For example, during the module you may use online discussion
forums for a module activity where you work with other students.
This gives you the chance to get feedback on your ideas or
understanding of a topic.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 9

You’ll get feedback on your assignments and you should look at it
carefully each time as there may be advice you’ll want to use in
future assignments to enhance your marks. Sometimes it helps to
wait a few days to read the feedback again, as you may find that
you can then be more objective.
• Are the comments expected?
• D
 o you agree with the comments? If not, in what ways do you
disagree?
• W
 hat steps can you take to address the issues raised in the
comments?
• What specific skills do you think you need to improve?
Ask your tutor if you have any queries about anything in the
feedback or for advice on improving your study skills.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 10

3 LEARNING SKILLS
Learning skills are also often called study skills or key skills and are
included in the learning outcomes for your module. Examples of
these skills include:
• o
 rganisational skills (e.g. planning and scheduling how to
complete an assignment)
• c
 ommunication skills (e.g. reading and understanding different
sources, and writing in a style that’s appropriate to the task)
• n
 umeracy skills (e.g. constructing graphs and applying statistical
techniques).
Understanding which skills are needed for a task and how effective
you are at using them is important. But learning skills aren’t
acquired in isolation– you have to be studying something to
practise or develop them.

Being aware of what you’re good at and where you need to develop
your skills can be the first step to boosting your confidence and
improving your performance as a student. We all have skills that
we’ve used successfully in our lives, and you can use these
effectively in your studies.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 11

If you find there’s a specific skill that you need to develop, such as
understanding graphs or making notes as you read, then make a
decision to improve that skill and set aside the time to do it.

It’s easy to become stuck in a study routine that isn’t actually very
effective for the task in hand. Thinking about your own skills and
being aware of those you tend to use may help you to:
• see how to make changes
• develop new ways of working
• become more aware of the different techniques you could use.
Try searching the Help Centre for ‘study skills’, or for a particular skill
you’d like to improve.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 12

4 BEING REFLECTIVE
Reflection has an important role to play in learning and
self-development. It could be described as:
• thinking with a purpose
• being critical, but not negative
• analysing how effective your learning is
• questioning and probing
• making judgements and drawing conclusions.
There are different types of reflection. For example, question-based
reflection can be used in a structured way on a module to guide
you through the reflective process. Here you reflect by answering
questions which are used as prompts. In contrast, open reflection is
relatively unstructured, and techniques such as free writing and
mind mapping are used to generate ideas (Cottrell, 2003).

Get used to reviewing and reflecting as part of your everyday

learning. In this way, each experience, whether positive or negative,
contributes to your development and personal growth. An
experience that’s repeated without reflection is just a repetition,
which doesn’t help you to learn.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 13

• See reflection as complementary to your study.
• Use it to clarify your thoughts and focus on your development.
• R
 ecord your thoughts on any difficulties or challenges you’re
facing.
• T
 hink about any strategies that might help you deal with difficult
tasks or assignments.
• U
 se reflection to help you think about how the module topics
relate to other areas of your experience.

4.1 Tools for reflection

The areas you focus on for reflection are specific to you, as are the
tools you use to record your reflections. You may need to try a few
before you find one that suits you best, and your choice may change
as time goes by (see Figure 2 and Figure 3). Tools for reflection include:
• learning journals or diaries
• structured forms
• mind maps
• recording yourself on audio.
Writing a reflective learning journal is a common and valuable
approach. You can structure each journal entry with, for example,
the date, what you did and your reflections about what you think
you learnt. It’s worth experimenting with different structures.
• Some could be ready-made, such as a diary with a day to a page.
• O
 r use your own creation – a note book in which you’ve stuck your
study timetable and perhaps some postcards here and there to
inspire you.

“ I’ve come a long way since doing my first TMA – I

suppose I’m starting to develop some reflective
skills in that I’m looking back at how my study
sessions have gone and having a go at identifying

”
the strategies that work well for me.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 14

Figure 2 An example of structured reflection

Developing Effective Study Strategies 15

Figure 3 An example entry from a learning journal

Developing Effective Study Strategies 16

 Keeping a reflective learning journal
Here are some tips for keeping a learning journal or diary.
• Write regularly – short entries are fine.
• F
 ocus on a specific issue or problem for an individual entry
– think about how you could address or resolve the issue, or
what you’d like to improve.
• U
 se questions or prompts – these can help you focus on the
task.
• A
 void descriptive writing – instead, be critical and analytical in
your approach. You need to question, disagree, argue and
evaluate.
• U
 se creative notetaking techniques such as mind mapping, or
draw diagrams, sketches or cartoons. Use colour to make
these more engaging and memorable.
• R
 eview your entries over a period of time (e.g. in the past few
weeks, or for a study activity, such as completing an
assignment). See if you can find themes in your entries and
recognise what long-term action you might need to take
(e.g. to improve a particular study skill).

The process of writing itself can be a learning tool. It is a way to explore

ideas as a way of understanding them.
For many of us, reflection becomes more meaningful if it can be
shared, either in a group or with another individual. Putting your
thoughts and ideas into words and getting a response from someone
else, then perhaps listening to their reactions, makes the process
more interactive and developmental. This can be face-to-face, by
telephone or online, with another student or with a friend.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 17

5 MANAGING YOUR TIME
AND SPACE
When it comes to effective learning you’ll want to make the best
use of your time (see Figure 4). To study and learn successfully try to
master these three main areas relating to time management.
• Getting organised and finding appropriate places to study.
• Planning and prioritising on an ongoing basis.
• Dealing with distractions.

5.1 Getting organised and finding places

to study
You need somewhere to study and somewhere to keep your
module materials, files and books. You’ll also need access to a
computer. It’s not always possible to have a room to yourself that’s
always available.
• You could regularly use the kitchen or dining room table.
• B
 oxes or bags can be used to store materials you’re currently using
to say, prepare for an assignment. A bag can even have its own

Developing Effective Study Strategies 18

 filing system and you can take it wherever you need to go – on the
train to work, in the garden if you feel like some fresh air, or to the
local library.

Figure 4 Managing your time for learning

Developing Effective Study Strategies 19

It can be good to use a particular study space regularly because
when you go and sit there it becomes habitual to start studying.
You can use this kind of established space for fairly long periods of
study, but you could easily use other study places for shorter bursts
of activity. You can achieve a lot in only 10–20 minutes.
• Listen to an audio recording in your car to review module material.
• Study in a waiting room before an appointment.
Think ahead about the study materials you’ll need to have with you
for these times, e.g. taking books or downloading materials to a
mobile device in advance. Once you get in the habit of finding
opportunities to study it becomes second nature.

Search the Help Centre to find out more about using audio for
your studies.

You’ll also need to find the places and times that work best for
you. Perhaps your optimum study session is:
• in a quiet area without distraction, or with background noise
or music
• in short bursts, or marathon sessions (but remember to take
breaks)
• early morning, daytime, evenings or nights
• using a computer, or making handwritten notes
• walking about, or sitting with snacks and drinks.

Always try to:

• do the most difficult work when your concentration is strongest
• take regular breaks, perhaps every hour
• b
 e flexible and reflect on whether your study pattern is
successful – for example, if you’re getting less done in the
evenings than you hoped, try something different, perhaps by
studying in the early morning.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 20

“ I’m really a morning person, but I might think
about doing a bit before dinner though if I’m
home at a reasonable time. It’s worth studying
for half an hour or so at a time – over a week it

”
adds up.

Being organised isn’t necessarily about being tidy – it’s about

having a system that works for you. You want it to be easy to find
things while you’re tackling difficult study tasks and trying to fit
study in to your life.

5.2 Planning and prioritising

Identify your goals relating to your studies and then plan
accordingly.
• L
 ong-term goals – plan ahead so you can confidently set short-
term goals. When are the assignment deadlines for my module?
What are my commitments and plans for the year (e.g. a
holiday)? Do I have events coming up at work that will cut in to
my study time?
• S
 hort-term goals – what shall I do with the study time I’ve put
aside today? What’s important today for this week’s goals? How
am I feeling? Would I be better off if I actively read a section of
module material, or worked out the tasks I need to do to complete
my assignment?

Long-term goals
You could create a schedule that includes all your commitments
relating to study, your work and personal or social life. A wall planner
can be effective so you can see the big picture.

Make sure you are very familiar with your module when you’re
thinking about long-term goals.
• What’s required to pass the module?
• When are the assignment cut-off dates?

Developing Effective Study Strategies 21

• What are the learning outcomes?
• How much time do you need to allocate to study?

Short-term goals
Think about your short-term goals, such as completing an
assignment. You can use a more detailed plan or timetable to break
down an activity into more manageable chunks, which you can
tackle in the study sessions you have available. This schedule might
be for the next week or few weeks. Put your plan where you can
easily see it – and try to keep to it (see Figure 5).

Consider using incentives and rewards to help you to:

• motivate yourself to get started on a particular study task
• stick to your study schedule
• achieve your short-term goals.
What do you really like doing? Promise yourself a relaxing swim,
lunch with a friend or time for your favourite TV programme if, for
example, you:
• do at least two hours of study one day
• keep to your schedule
• send your assignment in on time.
Rewards help you stick to your plans, but you may still need to
revise schedules from time to time. Sometimes certain bits of a
module just take longer than you expected so you’ll need to tweak
your schedule, but you’ll find that with practice you’ll get better at
estimating how long particular study tasks will take you.

“ I now make sure that whatever I’m working on I

give myself a reward after forty-five minutes. It’s
something to look forward to and it keeps me
going. I might only stop for about two or three
minutes and other times I take up to fifteen
minutes – it depends how I feel. It’s made a

”
tremendous difference.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 22

Weekly schedules or timetables can help you to see how much
time you have available to study, as you can block out times when
you’ll be working or spending time with the family for example. You
may need to reorganise how you use your time to fit sufficient
study hours into your week.

Figure 5 Example time plan

Use daily or weekly ‘to-do’ lists to help you to plan and prioritise.
Lists help to clear your mind and clarify what’s really important for
your studies, and they can also help you make a commitment to

Developing Effective Study Strategies 23

yourself that you’ll do what you have planned and listed. It can be
satisfying to tick off the tasks you’ve completed on a list.

Planning doesn’t guarantee that everything will get done or that

deadlines will be met, but the process of making a plan helps you
focus on where your priorities lie and gives direction and purpose to
your study.

Using action plans

An action plan can help you to identify what you want to achieve in
the long term, and think through the steps you need to take in the
short term to achieve this, making it easier to realise your goals.
Your action plan could include these elements (see Figure 6).
• Goal
• What?
• How?
• Resources?
• When?
An action plan can be just a list of things to do, a chart giving
deadlines, a diagram showing how the various parts of your plan
interact, or a set of sticky notes on a sheet of card that you move
around when each task is done. If you break down the overall task
into a series of smaller targets, you can chart your progress in more
detail. It’s useful to have a way of recording your progress as well as
a way of listing any sources of help that you need.

Search the Help Centre to find out more about managing your
time effectively.

5.3 Distractions and procrastination

Sometimes it’s difficult to make a start on your studies because you
have distractions to deal with, and you may find that you put off a
study task. Distractions can be very real (e.g. your child needs your
attention), but they can also be displacement or replacement
activities, or ways of procrastinating in disguise.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 24

Instead of getting on with the reading for your assignment you find
that all of a sudden you really need to sort out the garden shed, or
spring clean a cupboard. We all experience this from time to time,
but it’s worth getting to know what kind of displacement activities
you tend to engage in – you’ll learn to recognise and deal with them
so that you can get down to your important study tasks.

Figure 6 Example action plan

Developing Effective Study Strategies 25

 Deal with distractions by:
• s etting realistic goals for your study session (e.g. “I’ll read this
section, or work for 40 minutes before I make that coffee”)
• a
 iming to minimise real interruptions (e.g. putting on your
answer phone, politely asking friends not to disturb you).

Working under pressure

Some people say that they need the pressure of a deadline to get
on with a (now urgent) study task, such as finally writing an
assignment. If you do this, ask yourself whether this way of working
is really effective – you could be putting yourself under unnecessary
pressure. Although you might feel that you’re producing good-
quality work like this, you might produce even better work under
less stress. Try to stick to short-term deadlines for important study
activities like completing an assignment by the cut-off date.

You might be getting sidetracked or putting off the task.

Sometimes the distraction relates to your studies – for example, you
don’t feel ready to start writing your assignment because you think
you need to spend more time reading or taking notes. Or
sometimes you just feel too busy to devote time to it. You need to
find ways to ensure that you can meet deadlines.
• You could ask others for help – what could you delegate?
• T
 ry not to feel that you need to produce the perfect assignment or
project.
• Avoid taking on too many commitments – learn to politely say ‘no’.
• Learn to prioritise your tasks.
• D
 o a deal with yourself – “Okay, I’ll go to the pub with my friend
who’s just phoned, but this means that I’ll need to get up early on
Sunday to study instead”.
• Y
 ou may find that the task doesn’t take as long as you expected
and you’ll feel much better for getting it out of the way.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 26

In other words, it’s worth looking to see if you (unintentionally) put
important things off by doing something else. By recognising your
own behaviour patterns you can prioritise and get down to your
study tasks.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 27

6 IN CONCLUSION
As a student you’ll develop study strategies that suit you and learn
to recognise which study skills and techniques are valuable for
particular tasks and challenges. You’ll also find that reflecting on
what works well in your studies will help you to develop as you try
out different approaches and review their effectiveness.

During your studies you’ll use some skills you already have (e.g.
organisational and planning skills) and learn new ones, which you
can use in other areas of your life (e.g. in paid or voluntary work).
These include transferable or ‘employability’ skills such as initiative,
problem solving and computer literacy.

Recognising when you need help and knowing where to go for it is

important when you want to improve particular study skills. Sources
of help may be your tutor or student support team.

You don’t always have to study on your own. Use your online
module forums and try to take part in any tutorials available on your
module, either face-to-face or online, to keep in touch with other
students and share ideas, techniques and tips. You can also connect
with other students using social media, many students form
support networks in this way.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 28

References
Cottrell, S. (2003) Skills for Success. The Personal Development
Planning Handbook. Palgrave Macmillan. New York.

Northedge, A. and Lane, A. (1997) ‘What is learning?’ In Northedge,

A., Thomas, J., Lane, A. and Peasgood, A., The Sciences Good Study
Guide, Milton Keynes, Open University, pp. 20-2.

Developing Effective Study Strategies 29

The Open University Walton Hall, Milton Keynes MK7 6AA Copyright © 2019
The Open University

First Edition published 2007.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a

retrieval system, transmitted or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without written permission
from the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd.
Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from
the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London
W1T 4LP.

Open University materials may also be made available in electronic formats for
use by students of the University. All rights, including copyright and related
rights and database rights, in electronic course materials and their contents are
owned by or licensed to The Open University, or otherwise used by The Open
University as permitted by applicable law.

In using electronic course materials and their contents you agree that your use
will be solely for the purposes of following an Open University course of study
or otherwise as licensed by The Open University or its assigns.

Except as permitted above you undertake not to copy, store in any medium
(including electronic storage or use in a website), distribute, transmit or
re-transmit, broadcast, modify or show in public such electronic materials in
whole or in part without the prior written consent of The Open University or in
accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The Open University is incorporated by Royal Charter (RC 000391), an exempt

charity in England &Wales and a charity registered in Scotland (SC 038302).
The Open University is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct
Authority.

Edited, designed and typeset by The Open University.

ISBN 978-0-7492-1268-1

1.1