“I can’t remember what I study, I learn today and forget tomorrow. I just can’t seem to concentrate. How do I pay attention in class?”
The above sentences are probably familiar to you. Studying occupies a very important place in your lives, especially before examinations Many of you are pressurised either by your own expectations or those of other significant people in your lives, to perform well. Your examination performance will be determined to some extent by how well you organise your study habits.
Learning styles refer to specific skills required to study efficiently. Visual learners rely primarily on their sense of sight to take in information, understand it, and remember it. This could be in the form of notes, diagrams, symbols or pictures. For auditory learners, information becomes more meaningful when it is spoken out loud. Some auditory learners concentrate better on a task when they have music or white noise in the background, or retain new information better when they say it out loud. Kinesthetic learners are known as physical learners. These are the persons who enjoy hands-on activities such as dismantling electrical equipment to see how it works. For them learning most often occurs through imitation and practice.
The SQ3RW method of learning is a very useful method of learning where, ‘S’ stands for Survey; ‘Q’ stands for Question; ‘3R’ stands for Read, Recite and Review while ‘W’ stands for Write. There are six steps involved in learning:
1) Survey or check out what the particular chapter contains, scan through for the contents, number of sub topics, length of the chapter, illustrations, graphs, and appendices. It will give you an overview of what to expect in the chapter.
2) After surveying a chapter you need to have questions in your mind. These questions give you the purpose for reading and help you stay focused on the assignment. In broad topics there will be some sub topics, which could be converted into questions.
3) Read the information that follows each sub topic to find the answer to each question you formed. Underline key words in the paragraph.
4) After reading, look away from the book and try to recite the answer to your questions in your own words. If you cannot do this or feel you have missed out a part of the answer, glance over the section again. Relate this to what you already know.
5) The next step involves reviewing the whole lesson learnt. Try reciting main points under each sub topic and in this way review the whole chapter. See if you can answer the questions at the end. If you are not sure, go back and read.
6) After you have reviewed you can write down each question and its answer. Read each of your answers to be sure that each one contains all the important information.
The SQ3RW is only one strategy. There are many others so find one that works for you. Some may work and some won’t. Do not lose hope and continue to put an effort and time.