Quality and Not Quantity counts
What would you do if you were a single mum with two teenage kids, a busy job and barely any knowledge of English? I bet, few would consider going to an English-speaking University part-time.
My mum did, and now with the second semester coming to an end I can proudly announce she does well and loves it. Which leads to the strange coincident that we both study part-time while having a job. Hence, most of our conversations are around the Why's and How's of studying itself and managing life and all the other challenges.
Because I'm more and more get fascinated by the process of learning I constantly try to find better means to lifelong learning, and at the moment more efficient study techniques. As time is of essence in my mum's and my life, having efficient study habits as well as the right attitude is of great importance. That's why I looked into the many different learning techniques available. But first the right attitude has to exist.
The attitude I try to display is mostly covered by my 'Five Golden Rules'. I wish I would have known and understood them sooner. A lot of pain could have been avoided. But its never too late, I'm aware of them know.
Study techniques are a completely different matter - I haven't known about the many possible methods to learn which are available. I might have thought about them myself but always considered them to extravagant and continued to learn the old fashioned way. Needless to say, the results were poor.
For this semester's classes, as both are very number oriented and time consuming, I started to use study guides as the main basis of my learning, Added to that are concept maps, extremely helpful in providing an overview of the topic and its various interconnections, and solving the many accounting and math problems available on the e-learning platform.
My study guides follow the basic structure of the 'Cornell System' - paper is vertically split in 1/3 - 2/3, the left margin is used to note keywords, questions and connection to other topics, in the right margin notes are taken.
When preparing for classes I already take key-notes of my readings in my study guide. But only on one page, the second page serves as extra space for in-class note taking. Thus, when in class I add any relevant additional information on the back side of the page, or if enough space is even in my reading notes, I add it there.
At the end of a topic in class, I grab my study guide, clean it up, and create my concept map, To be able to really show the various links in-between I have to understand the material. For later reviews I simply concentrate on the concept map, only if I need help with the problems I look in my study guides.
While time consuming at the beginning study guides make reviewing much easier as all relevant information is available in one place, created by myself. And yeah, In additional bonus is that I can take my study guides wherever I go.
Results after three months: I have no problem keeping up with my classes, and much less stress than expected. This is a tactic I will continue to use.
My mum did, and now with the second semester coming to an end I can proudly announce she does well and loves it. Which leads to the strange coincident that we both study part-time while having a job. Hence, most of our conversations are around the Why's and How's of studying itself and managing life and all the other challenges.
Because I'm more and more get fascinated by the process of learning I constantly try to find better means to lifelong learning, and at the moment more efficient study techniques. As time is of essence in my mum's and my life, having efficient study habits as well as the right attitude is of great importance. That's why I looked into the many different learning techniques available. But first the right attitude has to exist.
The attitude I try to display is mostly covered by my 'Five Golden Rules'. I wish I would have known and understood them sooner. A lot of pain could have been avoided. But its never too late, I'm aware of them know.
Study techniques are a completely different matter - I haven't known about the many possible methods to learn which are available. I might have thought about them myself but always considered them to extravagant and continued to learn the old fashioned way. Needless to say, the results were poor.
For this semester's classes, as both are very number oriented and time consuming, I started to use study guides as the main basis of my learning, Added to that are concept maps, extremely helpful in providing an overview of the topic and its various interconnections, and solving the many accounting and math problems available on the e-learning platform.
My study guides follow the basic structure of the 'Cornell System' - paper is vertically split in 1/3 - 2/3, the left margin is used to note keywords, questions and connection to other topics, in the right margin notes are taken.
When preparing for classes I already take key-notes of my readings in my study guide. But only on one page, the second page serves as extra space for in-class note taking. Thus, when in class I add any relevant additional information on the back side of the page, or if enough space is even in my reading notes, I add it there.
At the end of a topic in class, I grab my study guide, clean it up, and create my concept map, To be able to really show the various links in-between I have to understand the material. For later reviews I simply concentrate on the concept map, only if I need help with the problems I look in my study guides.
While time consuming at the beginning study guides make reviewing much easier as all relevant information is available in one place, created by myself. And yeah, In additional bonus is that I can take my study guides wherever I go.
Results after three months: I have no problem keeping up with my classes, and much less stress than expected. This is a tactic I will continue to use.