Pedagogy and Practice

Study Skills 

Tips for Successful Study

Below are some tips that will help you make the most of your study time.

Studying well is a skill that can be practiced and improved. 

Knowing that studying involves a dedicated amount of your time, effort and concentration is important when setting yourself up to study well.

Top 10 Study Tips

• DECIDE.  Make a real decision that you are going to study.
• TIME.  Create a schedule that indicates WHEN you will study.
• SPACE.  Create a dedicated study SPACE for you to use.
• DISTRACTIONS. Remove all distractions from your study space.

No Phones or social media

No Music

No TV

No Procrastinating

• BUDDIES. Join up with a friend(s) who is equally determined to study.
• SLEEP. Keep up regular sleep patterns. Approx 8 hours per night.
• NUTRITION. Maintain a balanced diet with plenty of water.

Avoid caffeine and energy drinks

Avoid high sugar, high salt, high fat snacks

• EXERCISE. Keep up the physical movement. 

About 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day

•  FAMILY. This is your most important support system. Speak with them
  
  
•  PRAYER. Take time to pray and reflect. This will help keep you centered.

Ways to Study
Study Techniques

• Write summary notes. Keep your summary notes indexed in folders.
  
  
• Write your notes. Handwriting is essential in your exams - practice it.
  
  
• Complete Past Papers. Do this under timed, exam conditions.

• Ask a peer to mark your work and provide their feedback.

• Try the “Refinement Process”, where you explain how to do something to another person. 
  
  
• Adopt “Spaced Practice”, where you break study up into smaller chunks over a longer period of time.
  
  
• Experiment with “Retrieval Practice”, where you write down all that you can recall about a particular topic. 
  
  
• Complete Review and Extension questions from your textbooks.
  
  
• Access other textbooks and resources. Extend your level of understanding.
  
  
• Complete on-line revision quizzes. These can provide instant results/feedback. 

Visit the NESA site for more useful information:

• Past exam papers which include marking guidelines and marker notes

• HSC Study Guide  - detailed study resource

STUDY DON’Ts

• Don’t wait until the last moment to start - Cramming is not a successful strategy.
  
• Don’t pretend that you have studied. Planning to study is not studying.
  
  
• Don’t ignore weekends - these can be used as study time also.
  
  
• Don’t be afraid to ask for help. You are supported and assistance is available.

Paul Haras
Leader of Pedagogy and Practice