Studying is defined as a method of applying one's mind to diligently focus on obtaining, retaining, and using new information.
In order to diligently focus on obtaining information it is necessary to first be mentally prepared to obtain information. Obtaining information requires the vocabulary and comprehension skills required to understand the information. As information is being obtained it is required to retained it until it is needed to be recalled. In college it is necessary to recall information in order to pass tests.

Before Enrolling in a College Course
Study Skills: Section 1.1

In order to diligently apply ones mind to concentrate on focusing his or her mental energy on obtaining, retaining, and using new information, it is first necessary to prepare to get into the study zone before beginning to obtain information. Before enrolling in any college course, there are six questions a student needs to answer if he or she is going to be able to focus on obtaining the information required to be learned in a college course.

 

Each unit in Study Skills: Section 1.1 Before Enrolling in a College Course prepares a college student to preparing to focus on obtaining the information required to be successful in a college course. The sequence of the six units in Section 1.1 is arranged in the logical order in which the study skill developed in one unit becomes the prerequisite required for the following unit. Only after preparing to get ready to focus one attention on obtaining the information required in college courses is a student ready to being obtaining it.

Unit 1: Goal Setting - What do I want to accomplish by attending college?
Before enrolling in any college course a student needs to have an educational goal to know what he or she wants to accomplish by taking college courses. When a student does not have purpose to obtain, retain and use the information introduced in their college courses, they have no reason to study. Soon they spend their time primarily in nonacademic activities because they have no interest or reason to learn any information.

Having an educational goal is the first requirement needed for focusing one's attention on preparing to succeed in a college course. For a student who objects to having to take certain basic skills or developmental classes, the assignments in this unit reveals the importance of knowing why the profession they desire to enter requires having these basic skills in order to perform the job requirements.

Unit 2: Time available to study - How much time is required each week to complete the courses I plan to enroll?
Once a student has an educational goal, he or she needs to determine how much time they have available to study before enrolling in any college courses. Knowing how many college courses to enroll is first determined by knowing how much time is available to study after subtracting the time required for one's personal and work activities from the number of hours in a week. Then, by subtracting the time required for the college courses one plans to enroll into the time one has to study it is possible to determine how many courses one has the time available to complete the assigned work. Information is given on how to determine how much preparation time is required by different college courses.

Unit 3: Determining Priorities - What activities must be given greater priority in order to reach my educational goal?
After determining the number of courses one has the time to enroll, it is necessary to prioritize ones activities so that the work required for one's college courses is given greater priority over activities that are not required for one's educational goal. By determining the "requirement" and "urgency" of ones activities as either high or low, it is possible to construct a priority matrix in which to place any activity. The cause and effect (consequence) of each of the four parts of the priority matrix as they relate to success in college is emphasized. The priority matrix identifies a student's activities as one of the following:

		Necessary and not urgent - activity must be done in the future.
		Necessary and urgent - activity must be done immediately.
		Not necessary but urgent - activity is not required but feel it must be done now.
		Not necessary and not urgent - activity needs not to be done now or in the future.

Unit 4: Time Management - When will I schedule the time required to accomplish my educational goals?
After determining one's priorities, it is shown how to construct a prioritized to-do list of activities to schedule the time required to complete the assigned work in one's college courses.

Unit 5: Perseverance - How will I stay motivated to keep working toward my educational goal?
Many times during a semester it becomes easy to "slack off" for a while from doing one's college assignments. It is necessary to know how to use involvement and commitment to stay focused in preparing the assigned course work. A perseverance matrix is developed to determine the involvement and commitment of one's activities. The cause and effect (consequence) of having one's activities in each of the four areas of the perseverance matrix is given. This matrix permits ones activities to be identified as one of the following:

		High commitment with high involvement.
		High commitment with low involvement.
		Low commitment with high involvement.
		Low commitment with Low involvement.

Unit 6: Procrastination - What must be done to prevent procrastination from interfering with reaching an educational goal?
Before beginning to obtain any information it is necessary to know the symptoms and causes of procrastination and how to prevent it before it interferes with completing the work required to be successful in college courses. For those students who know they are procrastinators steps are given to become a recovered procrastinator.

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Obtaining Information
Study Skills: Section 1.2

Most college students never take time to prepare to obtain the information in a textbook chapter. They just start, beginning with the first word of a textbook chapter, reading through the chapter until they come to the last word. This is a very inefficient and ineffective way to obtain information. Study Skills: Section 1.2 gives the information necessary to understand why the strategies introduced in the Vocabulary and Comprehension Sections of this program are required when obtaining the information from a college textbook.

 

 

Unit 7: Questions - How are questions used to keep focused when obtaining information?
Before beginning to read information from any source it is necessary to have a purpose for reading it. When reading a college textbook, the way to develop a purpose is to develop questions to keep one's mind focused on what information needs to be obtained. When questions are developed before beginning to read, reading becomes a process of locating answers to questions.

It is explained how to use a Taxonomy of Cognitive Skills to develop the kinds of questions required to obtain the information required to understand the information required to be known in a college course. In the units in the Vocabulary Section and Comprehension Section of TLW it is practiced to develop the questions needed to keep one in the study zone to focus on obtaining the information required to predict test questions.

Unit 8: Cognitive Map and Outline - What kind of structure is required to hold or place information as it is being obtained?
After information is located to answer the questions developed, it is necessary to place it into a structure. Because it is inefficient and time consuming to review information by rereading it in a textbook, an outline or cognitive map is required to review the information unit it is understood and retained. This unit explains why cognitive maps and outlining are introduced in both the vocabulary and comprehension sections of TLW. The cognitive maps introduced in TLW are uniquely designed to promote understanding of a topic.

Unit 9: Reading Rate.
While obtaining information it is necessary to use intrapersonal communication or self-talk to obtain information. It is explained how to use self-talk or intrapersonal communication when varying one's reading rate to obtain information. The bad reading habits that cause a slow and an infective rate of reading are given along with suggestions on how to break bad reading habits. The reading rates introduced in TLW are skimming, scanning and study reading.

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Retaining and Recalling Information
Study Skills: Section 1.3

As information is being obtained it is necessary at the same time to prepare to focus on the strategies required to retain and later recall it. Obtaining information without preparing to retain and recall it is a waste of time. The amount of time required to learn information is reduced when obtaining information strategies are used to retaining it.

Unit 10: Retention - What strategies are used to retain the information as it is being obtained?
Because forgetting information is a normal occurrence sixteen retention strategies are introduced to use so that information can be retained as it is being obtained. Five retention strategies are given to help prevent physical and mental factors from interfering with the retention of newly obtained information.

Unit 11: Recall - What strategies are used to recall information after it has been retained?
Information becomes known only when it can be recalled or retrieved from ones memory. Information is recalled through the use of a retrieval clue. A retrieval cue is any stimulus that aids in retrieving information stored in one's memory. In order to recall information it is necessary to have the information organized into a cognitive map or network prior to needing to recall it. Information stored in one's mind is recalled by using what is called “lines-of-recall.” Lines-of-recall are the connections made between the different items of information known about a topic. This is the reason why information in a cognitive map can be recalled easily. (see unit 8)

A common problem in recalling information is called the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is being completely unable at the moment to recall information which is known to be stored in one's mind. Three different forms of the tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon are given along with suggestions on how to recall the required information when this phenomenon occurs.

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Test Taking Strategies
Study Skills: Section 1.4

While retaining information it is necessary to predict how it will be used. In college information will be used to pass tests. Therefore, it is necessary to predict what kind of test questions could be asked on the information obtained.

Unit 12.1: Before - Preparing for the Test - What are the strategies used to prepare to successfully pass a college test?
Eleven test preparation strategies are given in order to properly prepare to focus on obtaining and retaining the information measured by a college test. It is explained how the Information Preparation Checklist and Test Preparation Checklist are used to determine if one is adequately prepared to pass a college test and suggestions are given on developing areas that need improvement.

Unit 12.2: During - Taking the Test - What are the strategies used to answer the questions on a college test?
Seven strategies are given to apply when answering the different kinds of objective and recall test questions.

Unit 12.3: After - Debriefing - What are the strategies used to debrief oneself so that it is possible to be better prepared for future tests?
The importance of debriefing oneself after taking a test is necessary so that study skills that need improved before taking future test are known. A checklist is given in the following four areas to determine which study strategies were helpful and which study strategies need improvement.

	Question 1:	How accurate were instructor's hints as to what information will be asked on the test?
	Question 2:	What was the source of the test questions?
	Question 3:	What kind of information was required to answer objective test questions? a. facts b. concepts c. principles
	Question 4:	Questions to ask to determine specific test taking problems a. Vocabulary b. Information c. Time d. Essay questions

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