STRATEGIES FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE PART 4

PART IV: BEST STUDY STRATEGIES

The session exposes the students to different methods that can be employed for proper studying. Each of the methods has its own advantages and disadvantages hence will be best option for different subjects or study area while those that can be applied to the same area are not at same level of success as some are more result oriented than others.

STRATEGY 50: SQ3R or SQRRR

The SQ3R or SQRRR is one of the most notable and most effective study strategies adopted worldwide. It simply means:

Survey (S): This step is to ascertain if the material will satisfy your need in the area of interest. So it is best to assess the material from the topic to the outline to establish a relationship between what you require and the content of the material.
Questions (Q): Develop questions from your surveying process or from past question papers. This step is to assess the material if it can answer the old or current questions as it relates to the area of interest e.g. from a material on English Language you may ask, does it contain concord?
Read (R): This is the careful and critical reading process, a contemplative reading, which can be more than once while employing good study habits as explained in strategy 30. In the process you use the questions as set in step Q to guide you as you read or re-read the material or topic.
Recall (R): This is to recall, recite or repeat what you have read to yourself without the use of the material and to revise your jottings. It helps you ascertain the level of retention of information, which will inform you to either go through it again or progress.
Review (R): This step is to go through all that had been read to view the level of understanding and satisfaction derived from the material to the area of interest.

In this strategy, the first thing to do to commence study is to check if the textbook or note book contains the basic areas required by the subject. Secondly, you ask some questions either formed by you or from a past question paper and note if the material can answer the questions. Questions can be generated from the title, subtitles, graphs, pictorial representations, e.t.c. If the materials fulfills the above steps that is contains the required areas necessary to the subject and can answer the question associated with the subject then the next step – “read” is carried out. In this step you apply all the steps for proper understanding of any material as highlighted in the strategy – good study habit. At the end of your reading, go through your jottings, recite or recall all that you have read to ascertain the level of your understanding. Finally, from the result of the previous step recall, review the areas you did not quite get or understand properly. When you follow these steps in this strategy, your mental capacity is enhanced and its retention ability is also increase.

Quotes:

It is better to ask some of the questions than to know all the answers. -James Thurber

We have learned the answers, all the answers: It is the question that we do not know.-Archibald MacLeish

STRATEGY 51: PQRST

The PQRST strategy is another universal study strategy that promotes better result and performance of students. The acronym PQRST simply means:

Preview (P): This step involves the flipping through the pages of the study material to verify if it contains the areas of interest in a subject or course as stipulated in its syllabus.
Question (Q): Ask questions from the material in view, which are then used to ascertain the efficacy of the material in its relevance to the subject or course.
Read (R): The material is read in a contemplative manner to get all necessary information from it using your questions as guide to read all the vital parts with great understanding.
Summary (S): Write down what you have learnt in your own words using sentences, diagrams, mnemonics, e.t.c.
Test (T): Answer the questions that were set in step two to show if you efficiently gained the necessary understanding of the topic.

This strategy can make you a far better student should you follow its instructions judiciously and step-wisely especially in management and science subjects. Firstly, before you study, preview the material of interest to establish its usefulness by skimming through the topics, sub-topics, introduction and conclusion. Next, formulate questions as it relates to the topic in the subject/course syllabus and then read the material to chew out its juice. During the reading process jot down notes, underline salient points, use mnemonics where necessary and apply important strategies to help your retention of what you have read as discussed in good study habits. After reading, make summary of all you have read by re-writing the points in your own words, recite and recall them. Finally, test your retention by answering the questions previously set without using your jottings or the study material.

STRATEGY 52: OK4R or OKRRRR

The OK4R strategy is another study strategy that has proved to be effective in getting the best out of any student the acronym means:

Overview (O): It is the assessing of a study material to show if it contains the main ideas of the subject or topic by reading the table of content, the titles, subtitles, the introduction and summary of the material.
Key Points (K): This is the stage that provides the reader the main ideas or key ideas of the material through the reading of the introduction and conclusion. Example: a material on democratic state will in its introduction highlights that there are three arms in the government, which are the executive, judiciary and legislature. The key points here are executive, judiciary and legislature.
Read (R): This is the thorough contemplative reading of the material to get the best of it as the key points, which serve as guide to the reading. During this process, make full use of the good study habits, which will help you in your recite.
Recite (R): To recall or repeat what you have read based on what you have jotted down.
Reflect (R): This is a point of reflection and pondering over what has been read and relating it to things that are common to you or that is more conversant so as to form the bedrock of understanding of what you have learnt.
Review (R): This is the revision of the material to review the part in the studied material you do not properly understand after considering you jottings during recite and reflect.

In order to use this strategy, firstly, you must overview the material in which process evaluate it if it contains the basic ideas and take notes of the key points that will guide you in its reading. Next is to read in detail the topic, during which make jottings of salient points to recall what had been read then reflect on the points by relating them with other ideas or something common that will help its understanding. After the reflect on areas, then go through the material again to get a better understanding of difficult or unclear areas and those of poor understanding. It is most useful in subject areas with more of continuous reading than analysis such as the management sciences, commercial and art subjects.

STRATEGY 53: 3S3R or SSSRRR

The 3S3R strategy is a strategy that is mostly necessary for art subjects or subject with little or no calculation. The acronym 3S3R means:

Survey (S): Survey the material as following the laid down procedure explained in strategies 32 above.
Study-Read (S): After surveying, slowly and carefully read the material
Speed-Read (S): read with increased speed and with high level of concentration to cover up for loopholes or difficult areas where applicable.
Recite/Record (R): During the reading process record your points by jotting, underlining and the use of mnemonics to keep record of salient points and to promote storage of information and knowledge.
Review (R): Review your study the way it had been explained in other strategies.
Reflect (R): Reflect on your points and on what you have studied by following the structured pattern laid down in previous strategies.

This strategy involves the above steps of surveying, study-read, speed-read, recite, review and finally reflecting on the studied areas and key points. With this strategy you do not necessarily need to formulate or ask questions but have to read the material two times, first at a slow pace, then with speed. It is most advised for the art subjects, which have little or no calculative aspect such as literature with voluminous novels to read, history and religious knowledge with several stories to cover.

STRATEGY 54: P4R or PRRRR

The P4R strategy is one of the simplest study strategies, which is widely used by many students unknowingly especially with less calculative like the art and social sciences. The acronym means

Preview (P): Preview the material following the guide as discussed in the PQRST strategy.
Read (R): Read the material with full concentration an follow the guide for proper reading using the good study habits described in strategy 30 above.
Recall (R): Recall what you have studied and go through all your jottings.
Re-read (R): This is the reading afresh of the material again from the beginning but do not require you to preview the material again.
Review (R): Review the areas with difficulty the way it had been explained in other strategies.

This strategy is simple because it only requires less activities and steps, preview, read, recall and review, hence use for subjects without formulae and calculations. Simply preview the material and then read. After the first reading, go through your salient points underlined or jotted and read the material all over again before reviewing the work you have read.

STRATEGY 55: SQUIRES

The strategy SQUIRES is a modeled strategy for students who want to achieve satisfaction from their study periods and prefer a simple application with lucid steps during the study. The acronym means

Survey (S): Survey the material as described in other strategies.
Questions (Q): Formulate questions or get past questions on the area of interest to guide your study as explained in the other strategies
Ultra-Read (U): Read with great intensity and full concentration and apply all the good study habits as described in strategy 30 and other study strategies.
Interpret (I): Interpret words and terminologies unknown to you with the aid of dictionary and reference materials. Also, interpret formulae and understand their derivation as well as the applications where necessary.
Record/Recite (R): Take notes of important points, develop mnemonics where necessary and cross check your jottings if they provide answers to the questions you have previously set for the study.
Review (E): Go over your jottings and relate the points with that of other materials to make clear the ambiguous areas. Then read through the difficult areas again to better your understanding.
Summary (S): use simple statements to summarize the whole materials e.g. mnemonics, formulae, diagram or graphs.

This strategy can be applied for all subject area especially for the sciences as it provides the platform for understanding formulae and give room for calculation during the interpretation step of this strategy and gives the reader an opportunity to sue common tools or habits to safeguard the information gained during study in from of summary, where points or processes are summarized using pictorial representation, graphs or mnemonics.

For more on this aspect of study skill, you can contact the Children Building Centre for either online or one-on-one training childrenbuildingcentre@gmail.com or agbebirejoseph@yahoo.com or call +2348067501266, +2347088153030. Where you cannot contact us, please locate any professional counselor on study

STUDENTS’ ACTIVITY SERIES 3

State 4 study strategies.

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Why is survey important before an in-depth study?

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Why is questioning important during study?

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State 5 important things to do during reading

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Do you know your best study time? Yes, state it . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . if not what time do you like and enjoy studying . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .
State some habits you do practice during reading and now aware are bad study habits

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