1. Schedule for regular study time each day. This discourages putting homework off and letting it pile up.


2. Be sure you understand each assignment before you leave class. Know the purpose, what to do, and how to do it. If you don't understand, ask. It is easier to remember if you keep a special assignment section in your notebook.


3. You can save time spent searching through your book bag and supplies by color-coding your notebooks with a different color for each subject.


4. Practice predicting how much time you need to complete each assignment. By timing your assignments, you are more likely to concentrate and less likely to become bored.


5. Discover your best times to study and plan around them. Do you study better at night or in the morning?


6. Set a “stopping time” for study sessions. This will encourage hard work in anticipation of being through by a set time. Sometimes trying to “beat the clock” may help you concentrate harder.


7. Time yourself to see how long it takes to read five pages of your textbook. This helps you estimate how long it takes to complete reading assignments. Because a textbook is loaded with information, you may have to read some sections more than once. Allow time to think about what you read.


8. Pay attention to charts and diagrams. They can help you understand the written sections.


9. When a reading assignment is made, you can expect to have a discussion of the material or a quiz in class. Write down the main ideas and review your notes just before class.


10. Every time you study, spend 10 minutes reviewing previous assignments. These “refresher shots” are the secret for long-term memory. This habit of frequent review also results in less time needed to study for a major test.


11. Take a 5-minute break for every 40 minutes you study. This refreshes your mind so you can concentrate better and finish faster.


12. Don’t cram for hours the night before a major test. Instead, schedule half hour study sessions over a period of days before the test.


13. Learning is not done all at once. It takes time for new ideas to come together with previous learning from lectures, readings and lab experiments. You have to continuously make the connections and associations in your own mind. Putting it all together is easier if you schedule daily time to read, think, reflect and review.

Taken in part from A Guidebook for Teaching Study Skills and Motivation, Second Edition by Bernice Jensen Bragstad and Sharyn Mueller Stumpf. Copyright 1987 by Allyn and Bacon, Inc.
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