9780131123403

Study Skills: Do I Really Need This Stuff? is a student-friendly text that presents practical study strategies and tips for immediate application in classroom situations. Features include: bull; bull;The SAC-SIP problem-solving model is used throughout the modules. bull;Workforce case studies show students how to apply study skill strategies in a workplace environment. bull;Exhibits, reflective activities, and success strategies to bring the material to life. bull;Learning styles and multiple intelligences are connected to each module.

Preface

xi

Acknowledgments

xv

About the Author

xvi

Identifying and Meeting Your Challenges

1

(30)

Organizing for Success

What Are These Modules All About Anyway?

2

(15)

The P.O.P.R.A.P. list

3

(1)

Is there a common thread to these modules?

3

(1)

What will not happen by using this material?

4

(1)

What will happen by using this material?

4

(1)

Top 10 challenges all students must face

5

(1)

I really do want to learn---but I just can't!

5

(1)

The Top 10 Challenges

6

(2)

Assessment of Strengths and Weaknesses

8

(2)

Problem solving for school and the workforce

10

(1)

Broad choices: Adapting old skills to new situations

10

(2)

Assessment of Broad Choices

12

(1)

Specific choices: The SAC-SIP problem-solving model

13

(1)

Putting the SAC-SIP Problem-Solving Model into Action

14

(2)

Problem Solving

16

(1)

What Are Study Skills, and Why Do I Need Them?

17

(10)

What does a successful student look like?

17

(1)

Evaluating the Characteristics of a Good Student

18

(3)

What you need to do to be a successful student

21

(1)

A word about self-esteem

22

(1)

One more thing about self-esteem: Handling criticism

22

(1)

Handling Criticism

23

(2)

What do you think of when you hear the term study skills?

25

(1)

If completing an assignment is not studying, what is?

26

(1)

One last thing: A covenant with myself

26

(1)

A Quick Review

27

(4)

Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences

31

(16)

I Don't Learn Like You, You Don't Learn Like Me

Learning Styles

32

(5)

One size does not fit all

32

(1)

How do you learn?

33

(1)

How Do I Learn Best?

34

(2)

What Is My Learning Style?

36

(1)

How does this information help me?

37

(1)

What Are Multiple Intelligences?

37

(7)

The eight intelligences

37

(2)

Prioritizing Your Intelligences

39

(2)

A Friend's Review of Your Intelligences

41

(2)

Okay, what does all this mean to me?

43

(1)

Why don't you become the teacher?

43

(1)

A Quick Review

44

(2)

Checklist: Learning Styles and Multiple Intelligences

46

(1)

Goal Setting

47

(16)

Knowing Where You Are Going and How Best to Get There

Motivational Goal Setting

48

(9)

I don't have time for this stuff!

48

(1)

Fix What?

49

(1)

``Meaningful specific'' or ``wandering generality'': Goals provide direction

50

(1)

What does a clearly stated goal look like?

50

(2)

W.I.N.: Do you know what's important now?

52

(1)

Your Personal Road Map to Achieving Your Goal

53

(1)

Buddy's Goals

54

(1)

Steps to Achieving Your Goals

55

(1)

Evaluate your goals: ``Wanting'' to do something is not the same thing as ``doing'' something

56

(1)

A Quick Review

57

(3)

Checklist: Goals

60

(3)

Time Management

63

(30)

So Many Assignments---So Little Time!

Get Out of Your Own Way!

64

(15)

Organizing time to accomplish the purpose

64

(1)

How much study time is enough?

65

(1)

Let's look at your day: Adjusting to a college schedule

66

(1)

P3 = S: Prime Planning Principle = Simplify

67

(1)

Graphing Out Your Day

68

(1)

Problems In Time Management

69

(2)

Where Did All My Time Go?

71

(3)

That Instructor Must Think Homework Is All There Is to Life

74

(2)

Backward planning

76

(1)

Organization

77

(2)

It's a Matter of Priorities

79

(8)

Urgent vs. important: Prioritizing your activities

81

(1)

Balance and moderation

82

(1)

Calendars

82

(2)

Now, where did I put that calendar?

84

(2)

How do I establish a study schedule?

86

(1)

Efficiency vs. effectiveness

87

(1)

A Quick Review

87

(4)

Checklist: Time Management

91

(2)

The Classroom Experience

93

(30)

Achieving the Best Result

What in the World is That Teacher Doing in Front of the Room?

94

(8)

Teacher style and emphasis

94

(1)

Identifying What Your Instructors Want From You

95

(1)

Identification of teacher style + expectations = classroom success

95

(1)

What Does My Teacher Expect From Me?

96

(3)

Does Instructor Behavior Affect My Behavior?

99

(1)

I really want to pay attention in class . . . but it's not easy

100

(1)

What Can You Do to Fight Distractions?

101

(1)

What in the World Am I Doing in the Back of the Room?

102

(12)

A word about being ``cool''

102

(1)

Creating a positive classroom experience

102

(1)

Active learning

103

(1)

Is your notebook open, pen ready, and mind receptive?

103

(1)

Note-taking styles

104

(4)

Now that you have your notes, what should you do next? Applying the 3Rs

108

(1)

Okay . . . but I still don't get the big picture

109

(1)

Developing TSDs

110

(2)

Step-by-Step Analysis of a Problematic Topic

112

(1)

Managing your studies with a notebook

113

(1)

Practice

114

(1)

A Quick Review

114

(5)

Checklist: The Classroom Experience

119

(4)

Reading with a Purpose

123

(18)

I Have to Read 1,000 Pages by When?

Establishing the Reading Objective

124

(2)

I read my assignment! So, why don't I know what I read?

124

(1)

Identifying the purpose

125

(1)

Tackling a reading assignment

126

(1)

Dealing with a Boring Textbook

126

(9)

How does the instructor expect me to get through this boring textbook?

126

(1)

The plan

126

(1)

A Plan for Successfully Completing a Reading Assignment

127

(3)

Developing Your Own Questions from Chapter Headings

130

(3)

Now, what do I do with my reading notes?

133

(1)

My instructor always falls behind schedule

133

(1)

I've followed the plan but my reading comprehension is still lousy!

134

(1)

The reading plan is fine for textbooks, but what about novels?

134

(1)

A Quick Review

135

(4)

Checklist: Reading Strategies

139

(2)

Basic Writing Tips

141

(34)

Keeping It Simple

Stating It, Supporting It, Concluding It, and Evaluating It

142

(20)

Your English instructor knows best

142

(2)

Analyzing a Prompt and Developing an Outline

144

I always think my essay is great---too bad my instructor doesn't share the same view

143

(1)

Writing decisions

144

(1)

Look at your T.O.E.S.: The basic components of an essay

144

(1)

Reinforcing the Concept of T.O.E.S.

145

(1)

Stating it: Thesis statements

145

(1)

Writing Main-Idea (Thesis) Statements

146

(3)

Supporting it: The body of the essay---The 5 x 5 principle

149

(2)

What do I do about writer's block?

151

(1)

Concluding it: The clincher

152

(1)

The big picture

152

(5)

The Five-Paragraph Essay

157

(1)

What you've learned so far

158

(1)

Evaluating it: How do you know if you have written an acceptable essay?

158

(1)

Postwriting Essay Assessment: A Checklist

159

(1)

Effective Communication

160

(2)

Research and the Library

162

(7)

Writing a research paper

162

(1)

Help! I don't know what to write about!

162

(1)

Organizing a Schedule for Your Research Paper

163

(1)

Narrowing the Focus of Your Research

163

(1)

How do I prove my opinion?

164

(1)

How do I gather my evidence?

164

(1)

Narrowing your research topic

164

(2)

Help! I'm lost in the library and I can't get out!

166

(1)

How do I know what stuff is important?

167

(1)

How do I know if an Internet site is ``good''?

167

(1)

Evaluating a Website

168

(1)

A Quick Review

169

(4)

Checklist: Writing Strategies

173

(2)

Memory

175

(20)

Whatshisname Scheduled a Whatchamacallit for When?

Why Do We Forget?

176

(4)

Know what you can forget

176

(1)

First, you must notice

177

(1)

Why do you forget?

177

(1)

Memory blocks

177

(1)

The brain's attic

178

(1)

Retrieval failure---and what you can do about it

178

(2)

Memory ≠ understanding

180

(1)

Memory = the foundation

180

(1)

It's a Matter of Focusing Energies

180

(9)

Desire

180

(1)

Active listening = improved memory

181

(1)

Memory

182

(1)

Retrieval

183

(1)

Mental pictures

184

(1)

Names

185

(2)

Mnemonics

187

(2)

Practice

189

(1)

A Quick Review

189

(3)

Checklist: Memory and Relationships

192

(3)

Test Preparation

195

(20)

There's No Business Like Prep Business

Bringing It All Together

196

(5)

Test anxiety

196

(1)

Why Are You Anxious About Exams?

197

(2)

Test anxiety or inefficient test-taking strategies?

199

(1)

Putting your study skills to work for you: Everything is connected

199

(2)

Competence + confidence = improved self-esteem

201

(1)

The Final Checklist

201

(8)

Successful students have a plan

201

(1)

Test Preparation Checklist

202

(3)

Postexam analysis

205

(1)

Hey, isn't this where we started? Assessment of strengths and weaknesses

205

(1)

Emergency studying

205

(1)

Test-taking strategies

206

(2)

Test Preparation

208

(1)

A Quick Review

209

(3)

Checklist: Test Preparation

212

(2)

A 14-Step Guide to Better Study Habits

214

(1)

In Closing

214

(1)

Selected Bibliography

215

(2)

Index

217

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Study Skills: Do I Really Need This Stuff?is a student-friendly volume of practical study strategies and tips for immediate application in classroom situations. The numerous reflective activities are designed to help students become more aware of their strengths and challenges. This book also demonstrates howacademicstudy skills readily relate to the world o f work.Students lead busy lives. Too often, they are left wondering what the connection is between the classroom and the real world. This book bridges that gap. FEATURES OF THIS BOOK The SAC-SIP problem-solving model is used throughout the modules. A section on multiple intelligences is provided in Module 2. A section on handling criticism is included. Guidelines for evaluating Internet sites give students tips for determining the credibility and validity of sites. Workforce case studies show students how to apply study skill strategies in a workplace environment. Tips and strategies are clearly labeled throughout the modules as "success strategies," accompanied by, the icon you see in the margin. Module overviews show how the particular module fits into the overall structure of the book. Specific module headings are also featured. More than 30 reflective activities, along with 6 workplace case studies, complement the strategies. Forty-five exhibits enhance the concepts with visual explanations. End-of-module data retrieval charts help to organize main points and correlate with learning styles and multiple intelligences. End-of-module questions provide a quick check on key points. Footnotes provide students with readily accessible additional information. A bibliography of selected resources provides direction to complementary source material. An index allows specific information to be easily located. THE STRUCTURE OF THIS BOOKAlthough organization is the basis for all study skills, not every student needs to devote equal time to each skill. "So," I asked myself, "why make a student wade through an entire book? Why not break the material into more bite-sized and meaningful parts?"The result you have in your hands. This layout is designed to help you become a more efficient and effective student. A brief overview of the modules follows. You may reorder (butneverignore!) the information in a way that best serves your needs. Module 1: Identifying and meeting your challenges It comes down to a couple of principles. The P.O.P. R.A.P.2 list summarizes the main principles of the modules. These strategies work in the classroom and will have practical application in everyday life--honestly! Review the strategies in these modules. Select according to your personality and what works for you. These strategies have helped students minimize failures and maximize successes. They can help you, too. Discussion focuses on the top 10 challenges all students face, as well as the characteristics of successful students. A strategy to handle criticism effectively is introduced. A workforce case study allows you to apply newly learned skills. The SAC-SIP problem-solving model is introduced. A workforce case study provides the opportunity for you to apply newly learned skills. A "Covenant with Myself" asks for a personal commitment to student success. Module 2: Learning styles and multiple intelligences The concept of learning styles is introduced. An informal learning style assessment is presented. This information sets the foundation for the rest of the book. Each succeeding module ends with suggested ways to correlate learning style to some of the strategies presented in the preceding pages. An overview of multiple intelligences presents more strategies for success. Each succeeding module will match selected intelligences to m

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Study Skills

Study Skills

0131123408

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