TABLE OF CONTENTS

GETTING STARTED Reading skills, Writing Skills, Listening Skills.
LEARNING Developmental Levels of Learning.
THE TEXTBOOK Title, Copyright Page, Table of Contents, Preface, Chapter Titles, Subheadings, Chapter Summaries, Study Questions, Appendix, Glossary, Reference Page, Index, Study Guide.
NOTES Highlighting, Lecture Note Taking, Textbook Outlining, Study Sheet, Flash Cards, Tape Recording Notes.
TIME MANAGEMENT Calendar, To Do List, Studying Time.
STUDYING PROCEDURES Study Place, Work Area, Study Method, Studying with Others.
TESTS Types of Tests, Multiple Choice, True/False, Matching, Sentence Completion, Fill in the Blank, Essay, Open Book Tests, Study Strategies for Questions, Test Taking Techniques, Things to Do Beforea Test, Relax After a Test.
MANAGING STRESS Ways to reduce stress.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE GRADE

Text used by permission.

Introduction

This book was written to fill a void, a void, which lasted for many years. From grade school through the doctoral program, I was never taught how to study. The system was too busy teaching me and ignored my needs to learn how to learn. I was one of the majority who struggled with learning not because I did not have the ability but simply because I did not have the proper training on how to study the material I needed to learn.

College was going to be different, or at least I thought it was. Boy, was I fooled! I remember one of my first college classes where the instructor said, "The biggest problem students have in school is they do not know how to study." During the following years many other instructors made the same claim, though no one did anything about it.

Think back through your own years of education. Were you ever taught how to study? You had to do homework assignments, take tests, prepare book reports, and even give oral presentations. Do you remember being taught how to study? Even in college, everyone assumes you already have obtained the required skills that will guarantee your success in college. It is ironic that you are given all this knowledge and held responsible for it, yet the system overlooks telling you the best way to learn it.

After many years of struggling and a lot of trial and error, I developed a system that worked for me. It lessened the amount of time required to study and considerably increased my productivity and grade point average. The trick was not to study more but to study more wisely and to make the time I spent studying work for me. It is the quality of studying that counts; not the quantity of time spent studying. The key elements are ability, desire, motivation, attitude, and the proper study techniques. Ability by itself will not do it.

I also learned I was the one responsible for learning how to study. It was not the responsibility of the higher education system to teach me how to study. The responsibility was all mine.

When I sat at my desk (actually it was the kitchen table and sometimes even spread out on the bed) with all my study materials, I usually spent more time daydreaming than I did studying. Does this sound familiar? I took mental trips to the beach, fishing, or just daydreaming about anything and everything that had nothing in the world to do with studying. I spent hours, only going through the paces of studying. This is what I, like most students, called studying. What it really came down to was that I had spent very little time actually studying. I was not being productive at all.

It was not that I did not want to study; I just did not know how to study. I did not even know how to start the process. The only thing I had on my side was a determination to sit there until I learned the material. As I learned later, this is a good attitude to have but a poor approach to studying. You will learn it is not the amount of time spent studying that counts. Rather, it is being more efficient and effective with your time that is important. Getting the most out of your studying efforts means being productive when you study.

Those were extremely trying and confusing times. I made the same statement you probably have made after taking a test on which I did not do well: "I don’t know why I didn’t do well on that test; I spent hours studying." When, in fact, I had not. I had spent hours going through the paces but accomplishing very little productive studying. Therefore I did not learn the material.

Not doing well on a test that you think you have studied for can destroy self-confidence and make you doubt your own abilities. It can, if you let it, destroy your hopes and dreams. It may even create doubt about your abilities as a college student. This is one very important reason for creating productive study skills.

The more concerned you are with learning, the better your grades will be. There is a definite relationship between the amount of productive time spent studying and the grades earned. Grades are a reflection of how well you have learned the material.

Working in the college and university environment I have seen students who had spent many hours studying and still do poorly on exams for which they thought, or at least said, they were prepared. They became confused and frustrated when they received their poor grades. If this pattern continued, they usually became dropouts or students who did not live up to their potential. Most students in this situation will not seek any type of help. The sad part of this is they will struggle for no good reason.

Help is available. Learning to study is not as difficult as it is made out to be. Once you learn how to study, productive studying can be fun. That’s right, FUN! If you do not think learning is fun, then the first thing you have to do is change your attitude about the learning process. Poor study habits will cause a negative attitude about learning. It is now time to change that attitude.

The joy of learning cannot be matched.

You are very fortunate to live in a country that allows everyone the opportunity to better themselves through higher education. This country is so supportive of education for all that it not only makes education available to everyone, it even makes education mandatory for its youth.

You are allowed to fulfill your goals through college and vocational training. This country appropriates billions of dollars in financial aid to help those who could not attend college without some financial assistance.

With this commitment to education, it is ironic that we rank almost last in academic skills when compared to other countries. When educators are asked what the number one problem students have in school, they generally answer, "Students do not know how to study." This is your opportunity not to become a statistic.

College can and should be one of the best times of your life. College exposes you to new horizons, ideas, and concepts. It will change you as a person and change your entire life forever. This is why it is so important to have productive study skills that will allow you the time to enjoy college life. Productive Study Techniques will help lessen any undue stress associated with college. Remember that this is not just restricted to college. You can apply Productive Study Skills to any form of learning.

Learning should be done for the sake of learning.

Capabilities get you started. Performance completes the task.