5 Effective Study Skills Every Student Needs

Do you always feel anxious whenever exams or tests are fast approaching? Have you been wanting to ace all your exams and tests to improve your academic performance but you still don’t know exactly what to do?

By actively developing effective study skills and studying strategies, you will avoid the anxiety and temptation that comes with writing exams, listening to audio teaching and topic presentations. Whether you are in high school or college, mastering effective study techniques will help you attain your academic goals.

If you want to learn how to study effectively in college, you are at the right place. In this article, we have outlined 15 ways to study effectively for exams and the basic study skills every student needs to adopt to excel in their studies.

What are effective study skills?

Study skills are an array of skills that tackle the process of organizing and taking in new information, retaining information, or dealing with assessments. They include mnemonics, which aid the retention of lists of information; effective reading; concentration techniques; and efficient note-taking.

Importance of study skills

The importance of effective study skills for University students can never be overemphasized.

• Effective study skills help you to study smart. Studying smart is far better than studying hard because by studying smarter, you will actively develop good learning strategies that will help fuel your motivation and help you achieve your study goals.
• These skills will help you develop your cognitive and retentive memory.
• When you have good and effective study skills, it will improve your ability to learn and build up confidence as a student.
• Effective study skills can improve your competence, and encourage high self-esteem.
• These effective study skills will help you get well-prepared and organized to face any exam, an interview, or any related work in academics.

Students who study smartly stand a chance of securing admission into the best schools in the world like Standford and Harvard Universities.

15 effective study skills every student needs

Here are proven ways how to Study Effectively as a high school or college student

• Note-taking
• Listening Skills 
• Writing Skills
• Revision skills
• Time management skills
• Researching Skills
• Effective reading skills 
• Basic ICT skills
• Language skills
• Comunication skills
• Teamwork 
• Emotional intelligence
• Organizational Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Critical Thinking

#1. Note Taking

Note-taking is one of the top three secret study tips every student should adopt. You need to hone your note-taking skills. You may think you will remember something, but chances are that you will forget when noting down valid points, and you will observe how easy it will be for you when studying.

#2. Listening Skills 

 Your ability to listen attentively will help you understand messages easily and this helps you to decode information when studying. And if you are listening to audio teaching, this is where listening skills play a vital role.

#3. Writing Skills

 Improving your writing skills helps you to easily communicate your ideas through writing. An effective writing skill helps you to communicate your message with clarity for the examiner/tutor to understand.

#4. Revision skills

Revision is one skill that guides students on how to study effectively in university. It helps you go through all you have learned during the session of studying.

#5. Time management skills

Time, when wasted, cannot be redeemed. As a student, having good time management skills will help you study effectively and produce results. Time management is one of the effective study skills you need as a student. 

#6. Researching Skills

You need to research the related topics and find more information about each topic you are studying. Your research skill will help you study effectively and thoroughly.

#7. Effective reading skills 

Studying has a lot to do with reading. Develop and hone your reading skills. Reading skills is one core aspect of effective reading skills that you need to develop.

#8. Basic ICT skills

 The world is going digital, and the world of the internet has dominated the globe. You need digital literacy because it will help you study effectively and search for information.

#9. Language skills

Language skills will help you interpret and translate one language to another. The best language skill for most international students studying courses in other languages.

#10. Communication skills

 You need well-developed communication skills for your academic success. When you communicate effectively, studying will no longer be difficult because it will help you understand more of the written words or audio teachings.

#11. Teamwork 

If you want to learn how to effectively study, consider Teamwork. Studying in a team will help you understand topics more and this will help you have confidence about that topic. Teamwork in schools has been so effective, and it is a skill you need to study effectively.

#12. Emotional intelligence

This is an effective study skill that will help you connect your emotions together, and help you make the most decisions when the need be. Whether while studying or when answering questions.

13. Organizational Skills

 Having this skill will help you create a deadline for your study goal and manage your study team. This skill will also help you eliminate ineffectiveness and help you manage your studying time.

#14. Problem-Solving Skills

If you want to learn how to get better at studying, you need to acquire Problem-Solving Skills. These skills will help you tackle every problem given to you, either in numeracy or literacy.

#15. Critical Thinking

This is your ability to think rationally and to be able to connect ideas. This is one of the effective study skills you need as a student and will help you give deep meaning to questions or ideas.

How to study effectively for exams- Best Tips

Here are some tips on how to study smart, especially when preparing for exams:

• Create a guide and study topic by topic.
• Form questions and answer them completely when studying.
• Try to equate what you have read to your personal experience by deriving examples.
• Create a map or diagram that explains the topic to you personally.
• Find out the best studying environment that suits your personality.
• Studying with more than one textbook will give you a clear picture of the topic.
• Don’t wait till the night before you read. Give yourself enough time to study.
• Form a reading team and encourage each other. Divide topics and discuss the topics with your team.
• Ensure you have a clear, organized table and study room and this will help make the environment conducive to learning.
• Try explaining what you have read to others, even to your parents or siblings and most importantly, to your reading team.
• Take regular breaks and time off. Even when it seems you are reading and it’s not entering, just relax, give yourself time, sleep eat well and then come back to it.

How to study effectively at home

Studying at home can be very challenging because of the numerous distractions that come around. I have outlined some effective study tips that can help you maximize your studying and make the very best out of it while at home.

• Create a routine – Treat your study at home as if you are in a school environment. It can help restructure your brain to know when exactly to be studying.
• Have a study place– If you have a spare room, you can turn it into your study room or home library, your relaxing position shouldn’t be your study space.
• Eliminate all forms of distraction – Let everyone at home know and respect your study time. Let them know that your study time is so important. Also, put your phone away turn off all social media notifications and close all irrelevant web pages. This will help maximize distraction.
• Make time for fun activities to balance your social life.
• Try to avoid multitasking – This can disorganize you. Do things one at a time.
• Get enough sleep at night and study at the right time. We all have the perfect time for studying. Some are like night owls while others study more in the morning. Figure out your best time for study and utilize it well.
• You should create a timetable to track your studies. Use a timer to help track time and make sure you stick to the timetable you created.

How to improve your effective study skills

Here are the best study habits every student should adopt

• Have an academic and life balance.
• Study at your own pace.
• Improve your note-taking skill
• Develop effective listening skills.
• Use good and effective time management to improve your study skills 
• Follow your learning style.
• Develop a study checklist that will help guide you.
• Avoid all forms of distractions.

7 secret methods for studying

1. Breathe in
2. Read well
3. Sleep well
4. Eat well
5. Think well
6. Socialize 
7. Drink enough water.

How to study effectively at university

•  Don’t procrastinate on your study time.
• Plan when to study.
• Study each time with a specific goal. 
• Eliminate distractions before studying.
• Have good listening ability.
• Read to know and also to pass.
• Doesn’t mix study with social activities.
• That asks questions to learn more.
• Have a study checklist.

Effective study skills key points every student should know.

• Study skills should not be subject-specific, you can apply them to every subject.
• Effective study skills are what you can improve over time.
• These skills are not just for school students alone.
• Reading is not the same as studying.
• Effective study skills are not just for exams.

Mobile Applications to help you develop effective study skills

There are so many applications that have been created that help to increase the effective study skills of students.

• Trello – You can use this mobile app to organize your study project and your study plan.
• Quizlet– This app allows you to create flashcards that allow you to revise information you have created in it. You can share these flashcards with your study group.
• Duolingo– This allows you to study new languages.
• WordHippo– This is an online dictionary that allows you to find similar words and opposite words. This app provides you with examples of how to use words in a sentence or a phrase. And you can translate from one language to another 
• Microsoft to do – This app is for time task management. It helps you to get organized and to help you manage your task well.
•  My study Life– This is a mobile application for any student who wants to develop good and effective study skills. It makes your study life more and more manageable because it helps you store your notes, questions, and homework in the cloud. It should be a must-have app for all students.
• Coursera – It is an app where you can learn so many skills and as well where you can learn more of what they taught you in schools.

Conclusion

If you can start learning and implementing the above-listed skills, there’s no way you won’t be successful in the university. Though most times study strategies are referred to as study skills, I have compiled the strategies and organized them under skills that help you execute those study strategies. And I hope this article will help you a lot.

What are the top 3 secret study tips?

• Listening
• Note Taking
• Critical thinking

what is effective study skills?

Effective study skills are the various strategies one can apply when learning.

What are the importance of study skills?

• To develop your cognitive and retentive memory
• Improve your competence
• Encourage high self-esteem
• Prepares and organizes you to face any exam

Reference

• https://www.skillsforstudy.com
• https://www.skillsyouneed.com
• https://www.oxfordlearning.com

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