Sixth Form Study Guide

Transcription

1 Sixth Form Study Guide Ashlawn School

2 CONTENTS 1. Essential Study Skills 2. Reading 3. Scanning 4. Taking Notes 5. What the research says 6. Subject Specific Guidance

3 1. ESSENTIAL STUDY SKILLS THE EXACT STUDY SKILLS YOU WILL NEED WILL BE DEPENDENT ON THE SUBJECTS YOU ARE STUDYING AND YOUR STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES. HOWEVER, HERE ARE 10 TOP TIPS THAT YOU CAN FOLLOW! Be organised always keep your planner up to date, list all of the work set, deadlines for homework/assignments,. work that you have already completed and any work outstanding. Plan a regular work rota and try to stick to it! Do a little bit of study often, rather than leaving it to the last minute. Late work is rushed, often incomplete and of inferior quality. By starting early, you will get the chance to ask staff for help, support and advice if you need it. Remember: Most A Level and BTEC students need to work for an additional 5 hours per week per subject OUTSIDE of lessons. Work in a studious environment, not somewhere where you will be distracted. At home, work somewhere where you will not be disturbed and where you can leave books and folders safely. If you are working on a computer, do not sign in to social networking sites. In this way you will avoid distractions. Make sure you understand what is expected of you. Always ask for clarification if you are uncertain about essay titles, homework tasks and so forth. Do not be afraid to ask for help when you need it. Do not pretend you understand something when you don t. Never suffer in silence! Do use all the resources available to you. These include: teachers, textbooks, libraries, the Internet, newspapers, television and radio, other students. Get a dictionary and a thesaurus! Exam boards will penalise poor spelling and grammar. The thesaurus will help you to improve and widen your vocabulary. Work smartly by planning study periods. Very few students can work effectively for more than one hour before their concentration starts to fade (this is particularly the case with revision). Divide your working time into units of minutes, followed by short breaks. Motivate yourself. Always have a goal to aim for in the short term. It may be to watch a favourite TV programme when an assignment has been completed, or on a longer timescale, a university grade offer or even a career aspiration. Remember, the more you put in, the more you will get out, in terms of your results and enjoyment.

4 2. READING READING IS ONE OF THE MAIN ACTIVITIES OF STUDYING. IN SIXTH FORM AT ASHLAWN YOU WILL FACE 3 PARTICULAR CHALLENGES: The volume of reading (the amount of reading to be done). The complexity of the material (how complicated or intricate the material is). Trying to remember what you read. READING STYLES As a reader, you should vary your reading speed and method to suit the material and the task. For example, you read a telephone directory differently than a novel. There are several approaches to reading. Here are some more techniques.

5 Skimming THIS INVOLVES LOOKING QUICKLY THROUGH THE TEXT AND READING THINGS LIKE: CONTENTS, INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS. IT IS A QUICK AND EFFICIENT WAY OF FAMILIARISING YOURSELF WITH A PUBLICATION/TEXT AND USEFUL IF YOU WISH TO CHECK IF A BOOK IS RELEVANT, OR FOR FINDING PARTICULAR INFORMATION. YOU MAY SKIM THE NEWSPAPER TO FIND ARTICLES YOU WANT TO READ OR A TEXTBOOK TO IDENTIFY A RELEVANT CHAPTER. HOW TO SKIM Working quickly when skimming Read the title if there is one. Read the introduction or the first paragraph if there is one. Read the first sentence of every other paragraph. Notice any pictures, charts, or graphs. Notice any italicised or boldface words or phrases. Read the summary or last paragraph if there is one.

6 3. SCANNING SCANNING IS READING HOW TO SCAN State the specific information you are looking for. Try to anticipate how the answer will appear and what clues you might use to help locate the answer. For example, if you were looking for a certain date, you would quickly read the paragraph looking only for numbers. Use headings and any other aids that will help you identify which sections might contain the information you are looking for. Selectively read and skip through sections of the passage.

7 Conclusion Skimming and scanning are used when reading all types of documents. If you skim you will get the idea of what a document is about before you actually begin to read the details. As you skim you will Think about the topic Think about what you already know about the topic Start to guess or anticipate the details you are going to read about You scan for specific information. Skimming and scanning will help you to work quickly. READING STYLE To study efficiently you must learn to vary your reading style. By developing the ability to switch from one method to another, you will increase your studying efficiency. LANGUAGE Reading is more difficult when the author uses technical terms or complex language. If they do, never guess the meanings use dictionaries and subject glossaries to help you with definitions. RESPONDING TO THE MATERIAL Reading is not a passive activity! You should be thinking about what you read. Do you agree with the author? What is the quality of the author s argument? Do you have a different point of view? What counter-arguments could you use?

8 4. TAKING NOTES CLEAR, ACCURATE AND COMPREHENSIVE NOTES ARE VITAL TO SUCCESS IN THE SIXTH FORM AT ASHLAWN ACADEMY. DIFFERENT LEARNERS WILL WANT TO MAKE NOTES IN DIFFERENT WAYS, DEPENDING ON THEIR LEARNING STYLES. THE PROCESS OF NOTE TAKING Highlight and underline texts if they belong to you and are not the pr5operty of Ashlawn Academy. Highlighting and underlining focus your attention and make you think about the key concepts and issues. Taking notes forces you to think because you have to decide what to write down and how to say it. If you do not make notes, you will find that ideas will be forgotten. NOTES SHOULD: Summarise the main theme of an article/chapter. You could product: 10 bullet points or 1 sentence per paragraph or 1 key word for each paragraph BULLET POINT Bullet points can be a useful method of making notes because:- They encourage you to write in note form, rather than in full sentences. they help you organise ideas. they are easy to skim-read later. Highlight the key ideas and arguments used. List any important statistics/facts. USEFUL TIPS Notes can be presented in point form or under sub headings with key ideas/points underlined and highlighted. They may contain quotes. Notes should be detailed enough but not too details. Notes can be made more concise by the use of abbreviations. WHILE MAKING NOTES YOU CAN USE ABBREVIATIONS Full text Twentieth century President F.D. Roosevelt Development Abbreviation C20 Pr FDR Devt YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN ABBREVIATIONS Full text Increased Decreased Abbreviation YOU CAN USE MATHEMATICAL NOTATIONS Equals = Plus, and + Therefore

9 MIND MAPPING Notes could be more visual by producing mind maps of topic arteas/sections/chapters. Start with the main topic e.g. Write down the things that directly relate to it on each branch. For each branch, write down the things that relate to that on new branches etc. PYRAMIDS Draw a page sized pyramid In the top layer, write down the overall topic/key idea etc. In the next layer write down the main points. In the next layer, write down the details to those main points. You can test yourself by drawing out the pyramid again and again. OTHER FORMS OF NOTE MAKING Diagrams and other visual representation for example: Formulae, drawings, pictures or sets of images with few words. Tables or graphs can help to categorise or analyse, and to sort ideas or information in a way that is easy to handle and remember.

10 5. WHAT THE RESEARCH SAYS Study Strategies for Successful Learners You may be studying/revising in a way that is not the most effective strategy to be using, check out the latest research on what gets the best outcomes and maybe try something different. What the research says Below are two of web links you may find useful to help with your approach to your studies: How to Study: Top 6 Effective Strategies A scholarly article on Strengthening the Student Tool Box: Strategies on Effective Learning

11 6. SUBJECT SPECIFIC GUIDELINES