Study Techniques

When a student fails in his/her studies, maybe it is not only produced by cognitive problems; sometimes it is caused by problems with study techniques. Studying is a very important process that needs to be taken into account with all the importance it has because according to how you study, you can get good or really bad results. There are a lot of students looking for better study techniques in order to improve their performance in their studies. We want to explain three steps or aspects that we always have to use and apply when we study any topic. We believe that these aspects are the base of a good student’s performance. For us, three inevitable steps to be considered when we conduct a study process are: schematize, summarize, and memorize.

Once the reading of the text has been done, we need to prepare a schema using the key information from the text. A schema is the graphical representation of the text summary that helps students to see the main ideas in a fast and simple way. In connection with this, there are several kinds of schemas for example numerical, graphical, diagrams, and mixed. The process of preparing a schema forces students to put in order the ideas and thinking according to chronological events from the text. Finally, organizing ideas through a schema provides a kind of self-test where we can identify if we read the text in a good way and if we have the sense of the content clear.

Making summaries is an easy way to learn the material given in class and get positive results. To write a summary, it is necessary to study various techniques. For example, we can generalize those concepts that have features in common such as the solar system and not all the planets. Then, we can globalize the information, that is, giving a complete sense of the expression without forgetting important details. Finally, we can underline the most important information, rescuing the most relevant ideas.

To read and store a large text, it is necessary to take notes and follow the next advice. Reading the text aloud several times and trying to be quiet for greater retention of information is a very good technique. Copying the text at hand is another useful technique, as this will help students better understand the paragraphs. Reading through the text and creating a short outline, a summary of the main ideas is also an excellent suggestion. Many people prefer to read the text for further compression, but it depends on the person.

Studying is a very personal experience; in fact, everybody is looking for finding the best technique to study. If we discover our technique, we will improve our study process and learning and will increase our academic performance. The use of schemas facilitates the comprehension of a text in a graphical and logical way. Also, the summarization integrates the most important ideas and provides the key aspects that we should not ignore when our knowledge is proved. Finally, memorizing is very necessary because some information cannot be understood in a logical way or in several options; some information or specific data have to be memorized just as it is. We know that there are many study techniques and many types of people, but it is very helpful to find the correct and appropriate form that makes us to feel comfortable and that gives us the best results.