Study Skills

The Skills You Need

Guide for Students
 The Skills You Need Guide for Students

STUDY SKILLS

Skills You Need

This is one of a series of eBooks by Skills You Need available for sale at:
www.skillsyouneed.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any
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ISBN: 978-1-911084-10-5
Published by Skills You Need Ltd
© 2016 Skills You Need Ltd
This version was published in September 2016

2 Study Skills
CONTENTS

Introduction 8

Chapter 1 Study Skills and Learning Styles 13

What are Study Skills? 13

Learning Styles and Study Skills 14

Kolb’s Experiential Learning Cycle 14

Four Different Learning Styles 15

VAK Model of Learning 17

Practical Implications of Learning Styles 18

Learn and Adapt 20

Top Tips for Studying 22

Chapter 2 Before You Start: Getting Organised to Study 26

A Place to Study 27

Considering Your Study Environment 27

Organising Your Materials 28

When to Study 29

Developing a Study Timetable 30

Setting Personal SMART Goals 32

Developing a Support Network for Study 33

Study Skills 3
Chapter 3 Staying Organised and Motivated 35

Managing Your Time Effectively 36

The Key to Good Time Management: Understanding the Difference Between
36
Urgent and Important
Further Principles of Good Time Management 37

Stay Calm and Keep Things In Perspective 38

Minimising Distractions 39

Avoiding Procrastination 40

What is Procrastination? 40

Why do People Procrastinate? 40

Avoiding Procrastination 41
Staying Motivated 43

What is Motivation? 43

What is Your Motive? 43

The Importance of Obligation 44

Skills Involved in Self-Motivation 44

Keep Motivated 45

Chapter 4 Developing Your Academic Reading Skills 47

How Reading Develops 48

The Goal of Reading 49

The Goal of Academic Reading 49

Developing a Reading Strategy 50

Following SQ3R 51

Necessary Reading Materials 52

Sources of Information 53

Finding Information 53

Types of Documents 53

Where to Get Your Information 54

Recognising Writing Styles 57

Academic Writing Style 57

Academic Journals 57

4 Study Skills
Journalistic Writing Style 59

Fiction 60

Non-Fiction 61

Chapter 5 Critical Reading and Other Analytical Skills 63

Breaking Down Analytical Skills 64

What is Critical Reading? 66

Critical Thinking is an Extension of Critical Reading 67

What is Critical Thinking? 67

Skills for Critical Thinking 68

The Critical Thinking Process 68

Chapter 6 Problem-Solving 71

Problem-Solving 72

What is a Problem? 72

Stages of Problem-Solving 72

Chapter 7 Taking Notes 77

What is Note-Taking? 78

Taking Notes About Reading 79

Effective Steps for Note-Taking 80

Note-Taking From Lectures, Classes and Seminars 82

Tips for Effective Note-Taking in Lectures and Classes 82

Organising Your Notes 85

Study Skills 5
Chapter 8 Writing 87

Styles of Writing 88

Choosing a Suitable Writing Style 88

Formal and Informal Writing Styles 89

Informal Writing Style 89

Formal Writing Style 89

When to Use Formal and Informal Writing 89

Preparing Assignments 91

Before You Start… 92

Planning Your Essay 93
Essay Writing 96

Structuring Your Essay 96

Signposting or Guiding your Reader 98

Constructing Paragraphs 98

Essay Style 99

Report Writing 100

What is a Report? 100

Getting Started: Prior Preparation and Planning 100

What Should You Include in a Report? 101

The Structure of a Report 101

A Word on Report-Writing Style 102

Writing an Executive Summary 103

Executive Summary Content 103

Writing your Executive Summary 104

Academic Referencing 107

Why Do We Cite and Reference? 107

Referencing Styles 107

What is Plagiarism? 108

How to Avoid Problems with Inadvertent Plagiarism 109

References vs. Citations 110

What Needs to be Recorded? 111

Direct Quotes 112

6 Study Skills
Other Useful Information 113

Finishing Touches 114

Knowing Your Deadline 114

Presentation Basics 115

Re-Reading and ‘Tweaking’ 116

Proofreading 117

Problems with Written Assignments 119

Reflecting on Marked Work 120

Types of Feedback 120

General Feedback 120

More Specific Feedback 121

Chapter 9 Research 125

What is Theory? 126

Understanding Theory 126

Types of Research: Primary and Secondary 129

Data Sources 129

Chapter 10 Revision Skills 131

How to Revise: Revision Tips and Techniques 132

More about Revision: Using Your Learning Style 135

Learning Styles Revisited 135

Revising Different Subjects Effectively 138

Chapter 11 Dealing with Stress 140

Top Ten Tips to Combat Stress 141

Conclusion 144

Study Skills 7
INTRODUCTION
One of the most frequent complaints heard from students is that nobody has ever taught them to
study.

Wherever you live or go to school, learning at school tends to be very structured: you attend
lessons, taught by teachers working within a clear curriculum of subjects. You are likely to be given
assignments to be completed independently, particularly as you get older and move through the
school system, but deadlines are often firmly fixed, and schools try to timetable work to avoid putting
too much stress on their students with competing deadlines.

Contrast this with college or university, where learning is expected to be student-led. After all, you
chose to be there, so you must know what you want to learn, or so the thinking goes. Study subjects
are often optional, and many students are expected to pick their own courses and decide what they
want to study when.

No wonder that many students find the move from school to university or college a challenge.

This guide from Skills You Need is designed as a practical help to students, both at school and beyond,
to help them to develop the skills to study effectively. It is aimed at learners across all disciplines and in
different life circumstances: full and part-time students, those returning to education later in life, those
engaged in professional development and anybody who wants to learn how to learn effectively.

From basic organisational skills like time management and self-motivation, through to effective reading
and note-taking techniques and essay-writing, it provides help and advice on how to manage both
yourself and your studies.

HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

This book is divided into sections covering different areas of skills that
you will need to develop for successful study: getting organised, staying
organised and motivated, reading and thinking, problem-solving and
analysis, note-taking, writing, research and revision.

It contains information to help you understand why particular skills are

important and how they can help you, and advice about how to develop
them.

Practical advice can be identified by the use of the ‘toolkit’ logo next to
the section, and is often contained in text boxes.

8 Study Skills
THE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOK
THIS BOOK COVERS A VARIETY OF SKILLS RELATED TO STUDY,
INCLUDING:
1. STUDY SKILLS AND LEARNING STYLES
This first chapter introduces the idea of study skills, and also learning styles. Each of us has a preferred
learning style, and this chapter explains two models: Honey and Mumford’s learning styles, and the
visual-auditory-kinaesthetic model very popular in schools.

This section explains how to use different experiences and types of

learning to improve your learning experiences, and get more out of your
study.

2. GETTING ORGANISED TO STUDY

Getting organised is an important first step to effective study. You need to consider some basic
organisational skills – fundamentals such as where and when to study, and the importance of
developing a network of contacts who can help you when you need it.

You also need to find time to study. We discuss the basic principles of time management with
reference to study. If you manage your time badly, you will be less productive, which can lead to stress
and anxiety.

This section will help you by outlining the importance of a personal study
timetable and how to set goals and prioritise your time.

3. STAYING ORGANISED AND MOTIVATED

It is one thing to get organised, and quite another to remain organised and motivated throughout a
course of study, especially one lasting several years. This section discusses some useful ideas to help
with ongoing time management and prioritisation, together with how to minimise distractions and
avoid procrastination. It also discusses possible motivations, as it may be easier to stay motivated if
you understand why you are studying.

This section describes the Priority Matrix, a very useful time

management tool, and also a list of things you can do to avoid
procrastination.

Study Skills 9
4. READING AND THINKING
You may think that you know how to read and think. After all, you have been doing this since you
were tiny. But there is a huge difference between simply allowing your eyes to pass across words,
and critically examining their content. When studying, it is likely that you will need to read a lot of
information – and you will wish to use this time as effectively as possible by developing your reading
skills.

Discover ways that you can engage with your reading, form links,
understand opinions and put ideas and research into perspective. In
short, develop your reading skills.

This section also discusses the importance of critical reading and thinking, and explains why these
skills are fundamental to true learning, personal development and advancement.

This section covers how to develop a personal reading strategy and use it
to help you manage your reading.

5. PROBLEM-SOLVING AND ANALYTICAL SKILLS

Being able to solve problems, including analysing situations, and also to use analytical skills to critically
examine your reading, are crucial skills for students. Problem-solving will be useful both in and outside
the classroom.

This section provides a framework for problem-solving which can be

applied to any problem, and also outlines the essential questions to
consider when reading and analysing information.

6. MAKING NOTES
Whatever your course of study, being able to make effective notes will enable you to review and, later,
recall what you have read and heard about the subject. You will probably need to make notes from
both your reading, and from lectures, seminars and classes.

This section explains how to take notes effectively from reading, or from
lectures and classes, to enable you to refresh your memory later.

10 Study Skills
7. WRITING
As a student, you will almost certainly have to submit written assignments, including essays and
reports, and possibly a longer piece of work such as a dissertation or thesis.

It pays to think carefully about and plan an essay or other piece of written work before you start
writing, and the writing process itself can also be a challenge. Many students also struggle to reference
correctly.

This section discusses how to choose a suitable writing style. It also

provides a framework for planning and writing assignments that will help
ensure your work is relevant, well-constructed and produced efficiently.

It explains how to find style guides, and work out how to format your
references.

Finally, we provide a checklist to use before you submit your assignment

to help you avoid potentially embarrassing or costly mistakes and
increase the credibility of your work.

You should not regard submitting your work as the end of the process. You can learn a lot by engaging
with the feedback you receive from a marker when your work is returned.

This section helps you to develop habits of reflecting on your marked

work. It is important not just to look at the bottom line, the mark, but
also to understand the comments and feedback and learn from any
mistakes.

8. RESEARCH
Your course of study may or may not require you to do any ‘new’ research: that is, research on a new
area which has not previously been studied. However, you will be required to do extensive research to
learn more about subjects which you are studying.

As a learner you will be required to engage with theory, but exactly what is a theory? A theory is an
attempt to provide understanding - theories attempt to answer the question ‘why?’ and therefore
satisfy curiosity.

This discusses sources of information for study and how you can source
such information in a library or online. It provides a brief introduction to
some of the ideas behind research design.

Study Skills 11
9. REVISION SKILLS
Revising for examinations can be a real challenge for many people. Regardless of how many exams
you have taken in the past, there are always new techniques that you can try to help with your revision
process.

This section provides some key skills to make your revision time as
productive and effective as possible, leaving you better prepared for
exams and tests.

We hope that you will find this book useful in helping with your learning process.

The Skills You Need Team.

12 Study Skills
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Part of The Skills You Need Guide for Students