5 Study Skills That Can Be Taught

Every teacher should devote some time to help students learn how to study. When students have good study skills, teachers spend less time re-teaching the same lessons because students are able to better understand the subject taught the first time around.

Here are five study skills that teachers can easily teach their students.

How to use class time wisely

One of the first study skills students need to master is how to take advantage of the class time they are given. Teachers should point out that the more work accomplished in the classroom, the less work students will have to take home. Additionally, students should be taught that when tests and quizzes are returned, it is imperative to review them. Students need to look at the answers they missed, and if the correct answer was not provided, students should use class time to research the correct answer.

How to get organized

Another important study skill that should be taught is how to get organized. It is important for teachers to realize that not all organization methods will work for all students, so they must teach several different organizational options. When students are organized it’s easy to access the information they need when they need it.

How to take notes

Teachers should not only teach the importance of note taking, but they should also teach effective ways of taking notes. Techniques include using circles, underlines, or different colors of pens to help students highlight important points in their notes. Students also should be taught to review their notes within 24 hours of taking them. This will not only reiterate what was just learned, it will also give the students a chance to fill in any information they may have missed the first time around.

How to master memorization

Simply staring at a page of notes or a textbook will not help anyone memorize anything. Memorization skills, such as using flash cards, need to be taught. Other methods of memorization include repeating the information out loud to a friend, re-writing the information and even singing the information.

How to set goals

Finally, every student needs to be taught the importance of setting a goal. It should also be stressed that small goals are more effective than large goals. When goals are easily met, students are more motivated to keep working on the next goal. When large assignments are broken down into smaller, more manageable tasks, they are more likely to get completed on time.

When time is taken during school to teach students study skills, both the teachers and the students will benefit. Plus, the study skills learned today will benefit the students for years to come.