STUDY TECHNIQUES for STUDENTS

Gan, Chennai
Created : 05/July/2011 Revision : 00
Circulate Freely without Modifying Contents
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PRELUDE

Studying is a Mental Process. It requires Interest + Initiative + Involvement Interest alone will make it a Great Success. All Doors to Golden gates of Success is possible with a Single Formula

SUCEESS = INTEREST

For those students who have Interest, this presentation will help Fine Tune the Studying Process.
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Rule #1 ORGANIZING

A Perfect Study Desk

Do You have a

Definite Study Place ?

This Decides First 20% Success

Place of Study

Place of Study is the Most Vital aspect. The Place must be comfortable and Bright

All study Equipments should be within Hand Reach like Stapler, Punching M/C, Books, Note Books, Pen, Pencil, Scale, etc.
No Radio, TV, Internet, Cell Phone, Ipod, Computer, Laptop etc in place of study, unless extremely essential. Door should be preferably closed. No one else allowed Switch off Cell Phones . No Distractions permitted No News Papers, Magazines, Story Books in Study Place Your Study Place is your Temple. Respect it. Never Study in Your Bed. This is the Starting point of Lethargy. The more you study in Bed, the more you will become Lethargic. It will start with Sitting in Bed, then to Lying and Finally end up in Sleeping.
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With Proper STUDY PLACE You have Achieved

20%
Success
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Rule #2 PLANNING

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Do You have a

Definite Study Time ?

This Decides Next 20% Success

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Time of Study (Golden Hours)

Concentration comes very easily by
getting down to reading at the same time, in the same spot every day. SAME TIME . SAME PLACE. EVERY DAY. Fix the Study Schedule called Golden Hours of Study:: My Golden Hours:: 8pm-11pm (3 Hrs) or Morning :: 4am- 7am ( 3 Hrs). Rigorously Follow it. Never compromise the Golden Hours. Whether you study or not sit at the same place, same time and do something on studies. First Bring it a Practice to Sit. Make it a Habit to Sit without fail during the Golden Hours. This is the most crucial aspect in the study Process. If you dont sit during Golden Hours, even God can not help you.
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With Proper STUDY TIME You have Achieved

40%
Success
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Do You have a

Definite Study Schedule ?

This Decides Next 20% Success

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What to Study (Study Schedule)

Now you are well organized. Place is Ready. Time is Ready. Only thing is to study. Now, You have achieved 40% success.

Plan the Study Schedule. Write it and clip it on a Pad and place it in your vicinity. File these papers properly
Eg: 7.00pm 8.00 pm - Maths 8.00 pm 8.10pm Rest 8.10pm 9.00pm Physics 9.00pm 9.10 pm Rest 9.10pm 10.10 pm Chemistry .. Etc.

Never worry about success of the Plans. Your plans may not work properly. Only over a period of months you will understand to plan properly.
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State Rankers Study Schedule

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With Proper STUDY SCHEDULE You have Achieved

60%
Success
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Rule #3 STUDYING

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Studying is Essential Irrespective of Talent

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Study comprises of

Pre - Reading Reading

Taking Hints
Understanding

Recalling
Reviewing
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Pre Reading

Pre- Reading is a Scanning Process for few 1-5 Minutes All Difficult subjects require Pre-Reading thro Glancing In Pre-Reading you will scan through the Title, Headings, Bold Lines and Read paragraphs in a Fast Action and Try to understand a glimpse of the entire Study Topic. In Pre Reading you may understand roughly 10% only Pre-Reading allows you to understand the Theme, Central Difficulty Level of the subject topic. Idea,

Even if you understand 0% only, Dont Worry

Just try to Grasp the Headings . It is like going thro a Map. Take a Birds Eye View of the Topic. Make a Survey. Pre-Reading is a confidence building Process.
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Reading
Reading also follows the same Pre-Reading Technique
Looks for the Sign-Posts : Title, Heading, Illustrations, Pictures, Photographs, Graphs, Formulas etc

Now try to understand the Paragraph and link it to few Key

Phrases.

Words or

Now try to Frame a Question on your Own of the Paragraph and try to
link the Key words and understand.

Use What, Where, Why, When, Who, How etc for framing the
questions

Now you would have understood nearly 25% of the subject with first
reading
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Hints Note book

Taking hints is crucial to Understanding the Subject

Use Colour Pencil, Pens, Sketch Pens, Highlighter etc for Hints taking.

Allocate a Separate File/Note Book for the Hints taking Purpose. Do not use Scribbling Pad and loose it later. Now try to Re-Read the entire Paragraph. Take some Valuable Hints. This can be in the form of Key Words, Phrases without occupying much space. If there is a Sketch and it requires importance in Exam Point of You, try to draw the Sketches in Rough Sheet. Use Colours. Underline or Write in RED.GREEN.VIOLET etc to take Hints.
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Reading cum Taking Hints

Read the Book and try to link it with the Hints/Key Words

Dont move Fingers over lines. This will slow down reading must

If reading thro Lips is Psychologically beneficial do it. But it is not a

Dont Move your Head. Move your Eyes only

Underline the Key Words in the Text Book which you want to remember
Try to Imagine like Possible Question & Answers from the passages being read. Take Hints of the same

Your Hints Note Book marked in Various Colors is the reference for future studies
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Understanding & Recalling

Now close the Book and try to recall the passage from the Hints taken.

You might have forgotten some points. Some points may be out of
order. After few readings write the same in the Notebook. Check it with the Text Book and make correction using Red Ink.

Slowly, you are learning to come out of the dependence of the Text Book. Every correction you made in the Note Book will go into your mind and will be easily remembered.
Consider the Hints Note Book as Instant Reference for you in the future.
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Understanding & Recalling

Write the Hints in terms of Points. It should be Neat and Precise. Leave space between points. Dont scribble too much and get confused.

The 50 Words in the Hint Notebook = 5000 Words in the Book

Slowly, you are learning to come out of the dependence of the Text Book. Every correction you made in the Hint Note Book will go into your mind and will be easily remembered.

Consider the Hints Note Book for future reference.

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Mind Maps

A Mind map showing the "Impacts of Global warming"

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Mind Maps

Mind mapping is nothing but your natural flow of thoughts on paper. It is the mental projection of what is in your mind. This is a very efficient tool in studying. This is the best way of Organizing the Subject Matter and presenting it in a Condensed Form.
Mind mapping involves the use of images, symbols and keywords to represent ideas and concepts in a visual form where the central theme or topic is located at the centre of the mind map and subtopics are arranged around a central image or keyword. The reason they are so effective is because they utilize both images and words and therefore both hemispheres of the brain. The mind like the body functions better when both sides are used. Instead of wasting time in reading tonnes of paragraphs, we put the entire details through images and words to make easy reference for memory. We think on something for a lot of time and one thing leads to some other and that in turn leads to something else and grows in to a Tree like structure.
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With Proper

Reading Techniques
You have Achieved

80%
Success
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Reviewing

Review what you have learnt when you are Free, Next day evening, while you go for Walk, in the Hall etc. Discuss the Points with like minded boys

Explain the points to poor graded students so that you may remember the points well in turn.

Try to see your progress over a period of time and feel satisfied.
This inner satisfaction will boost your confidence and make learning much more easy You can develop your own techniques to study and recall over a period of time.
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Tips Test Papers Follow up

Do not throw away the Test Sheets. File them. Review the Mistakes done in the Test Sheets Review the Test Papers Properly. You are most likely to commit the same mistakes again and again. Attach a white paper to your Test Sheets and rework the mistakes portions Test Sheets are Life Lines. Review them often.

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Tips Formula Pad

Chapter wise write all Formulas in a Small Pad Carry the Pad often and read. Few people carry them even to Toilet
and Read the Formulas

Devise new techniques to remember formulas

For Example : Force = Mass x Acceleration F = MA Remember this as FATHER = MOTHER

Develop New Techniques to remember formulas

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Tips Maths Subject

Chapter wise write all Formulas in a Small Pad. Carry the Pad often and read. Few people carry them even to Toilet and Read the Formulas. Maths is a Step-by-step process. Going step by step can solve any problem. Neatness is very vital in Maths. Many careless mistakes arise only due to less Neatness. So write steps very Neatly. Write the given data of the problem check each line then the problem as a whole. Do it slowly but steadily.

Never be Hurried in Maths. This will be Most Disastrous. Careless mistakes account for 50% of Errors in Maths.
MATHS means PRACTICE. PRACTICE. PRACTICE.
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Tips Reading before Lectures

If you are a smart student you will study the lessons prior to attending lectures. This will enable you to have First Hand Information in the Class Room when the Teacher takes the class Your Class room session itself will become a Review Session for you as you are well prepared prior to the class. Ask Questions in the Class Hours, then and there when doubts arise. This is the First Sign of an Intelligent Student. If the Teacher does not permit asking question during lecture hours, get them clarified during the end of the session.
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5 Devils that Spoil Studies

Television Computers Internet Facebook, Twitter, Orkut , Games etc Mobile Phones Cinema Ipod, MP4, MP3 and Music Players

The above do more Harm to Studies . Hence the name Devils. These make students lose interest over studies pushing them to the brink of Disaster.
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Dos and Donts

Choose your Friends very carefully. They make or break your studies. Never Lie Down in Bed and Study. Never Listen to Television and Study or Do Maths Never Listen to Songs and Study or Do Maths Switch off Mobile Phones while Studying Group Study many times may do harm than Good Play Mozart or Subliminal Music while Studying.

Last but not the Least :: Respect Elders. They may not have subject knowledge. But they know where and how Life will Lead one to.
No one can stop your Success if you are fully determined
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Procrastination

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 Means Always

Never Procrastinate

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How to overcome Procrastination

Resist the Urge and Temptations: Say NO

Never take up a New Task unless you complete your Prior Schedules. Learn to say No to all temptations.

List Top 10 Study Priorities and Sincerely Finish them Draw up a list of 10 actions on your to do list . Identify the top 2 items on that list. Pursue those two items until you have Completed them and moved onto the remainder of your list This will enable you to overcome Procrastination

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Teach others if you want to understand more

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With Proper

Reviewing Techniques
You have Achieved

100%
Success
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The Greatest Hidden Truth

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"You cannot teach someone. They can only learn"

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Thanks for a Patient Listening

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