Writer's Choice Grade 12

Unit 27: Study Skills

Overview

Good study habits will benefit you long after you've graduated from high school—you will use these study skills in college, in the work place, and even during consumer or recreational activities.

Whether you are in class or at a business meeting, note-taking will help you organize and remember important information. When taking notes, use a modified outline form and write only the main ideas and key points. Speakers will often dwell on important points, or they may write significant ideas on a chalkboard or whiteboard. A speaker may also use a visual aid to illustrate main points. To identify segues between topics, listen for transitional words and pay attention to the speaker's body language. Soon after the meeting or lecture ends, try to fill in any gaps in your notes.

When you read information, begin by skimming note titles, headings, boldface terms, and captions for photographs and illustration. Then begin reading in depth, taking two-column notes as you progress through the material. Read critically by trying to distinguish facts from opinions, truth from exaggeration, and objective analysis from unsupported bias. Once you've completed reading, review or scan the material by looking for main points and supporting details.

Keeping a calendar will help you manage long-term projects and plan your work and study time. Before you begin work or school tasks, set attainable goals and divide assignments or projects into manageable units. Take brief breaks between these divisions. Try to keep your workspace free from distractions and make certain you have enough room to spread out necessary materials.

Graphics are often used to clarify complex relationships, emphasize important points, or summarize key ideas. Financial decisions, career choices, and purchasing decisions can benefit from your ability to read and evaluate graphic information. Tables present several categories of detailed statistical data. Line graphs show trends, movements, and cycles over a period of time. Bar graphs compare amounts of items, and pie charts show proportions of a whole by visually reflecting the percentage each part represents. Diagrams, like organizational maps or trees, illustrate the steps in a process or the breakdown of abstract concepts into concrete terms.

Graphics have limitations, however. First, they may not always give the complete picture, or they may be misleading in their presentation. Although a graph may indicate a trend for a given period, don't assume the trend has continued or will continue beyond that period. And finally, be careful about inferring a cause-and-effect relationship among the categories.