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Improve Your Study Skills

SMU Psychology Professor Alan Brown says most students begin college without any training on how to memorize and learn information. An expert on memory, he wrote The How to Study Book (Barricade Books: New York, 1999) to help students use research-based information to develop better study skills. At the start of a new school year, Brown offers students the following tips:

What are the best studying tips you can give a student?

Go to class. Most students don't appreciate the memory problems caused by skipping class. Always review class notes within an hour after class. Find a study partner and compare class notes, book underlining, etc. Make the study environment resemble the test environment. Over-learn the material beyond simple mastery. Bring an "emergency kit" to every test – ear plugs, aspirin, extra pencils, etc.

Can you identify the number one difficulty that you have seen with study skills?

Students assume a passive, tape recorder model of memory. They assume that information sticks in the brain without an active effort, and that all they have to do is read the book and it will be absorbed like a sponge.

Do all night cram sessions help or hurt? Do they work?

It depends. An all-night session will add some information but fatigue will hinder recall.

How can parents help their children gain study habits?

A study skills book is sufficient if they are motivated. Otherwise, have them take a how-to-study course offered outside of the school.

What can parents of young children do to help them learn to study?

Make learning fun. Go to museums, art galleries and parks, and talk with your kids about the experience. Show them how to learn and discover. Let them see you read, and read books with them.

Does stress or academic failure affect good study habits?

Stress shuts down memory (how about the time you went to introduce a good friend and forgot his name?). Academic failure can reduce motivation, which then reduces memory effectiveness.

Do study groups work and why?

Yes, especially if you are an auditory learner. You can hear the information from somebody else, and this can form a unique memory impression. Also, people in a group can give you clues about important information or concepts that you have overlooked in the reading and in class.

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