Time & Place Study Skills Concentration & Recall

Time & Place Early rather than late Bright, quiet place, without distractions No TV in room Mobile phone switched off Study in 40 minute sections Same time & place every evening

Skills To succeed you need good: -classwork; -homework; -study; and -revision. The keys to these are: -listening skills; -planning -concentration & recall

Study Techniques – PQ5R Preview – Read quickly and pick out headings Question – Turn the headings into questions Read– Each section carefully looking for the answers to your questions Reflect – Think about what you have read. Do you understand it? Recite – Close the book and recite the key points Review – Read over the whole chapter and make out flash cards or a summary diagram to pull all you have learned together Revise – Read over what you did a week ago/3 weeks ago etc.,

Concentration & Recall Concentration is the ability to keep our minds on what we are doing, hearing or reading. Concentration is the basis of all successful class work and study. Our ability to concentrate is what helps us to remember and recall information in examinations.

How to improve our ability to recall what we study To improve our ability to recall what we are studying we should: Repeat whatever it is we want to learn Try to connect what we are learning to things we already know or are familiar with Go back over what we have done every few minutes Work in short bursts of not more than 40 minutes Avoid interruptions, distractions or anything which causes our minds to wander.

Are there exercises we can do to improve our ability to concentrate? Try the following and don’t give up when your mind wanders just start again: In class or when studying, keep a sheet of paper beside you and every time you notice that your mind is wandering put a tick on the paper. See if you can reduce the number of times it happens in 40 minutes. The first step to improving your concentration is to become aware of it. When reading try to hear yourself reading the words in your mind. Close your eyes and try to picture your classmates in a particular classroom sitting where they normally sit. See how many you can get in the right order.