The art of studying.

The Art of Studying

When the word Art is used, what first comes to the mind is the quality of how a thing is done. Art denotes skill, competency and wherewithal. The art of doing something is a strong indicator of the fact that there is always room for improvement, mastering and creativity. Studying as an art shows that studying can be done wrongly and ineffectively. To get the best out of studying, the most essential elements of studying must be known and combined in the best way that suits the individual. The various key components of studying include:

Reading skills

There are various ways of reading; scanning, skimming, light reading to mention but a few. The most relevant reading skill to the study process or art of studying is “Reading to Study”. This type of reading is the slowest because it is deliberate and aims to understand, recollect and retain the contents of what is studied.

Survey

The material to be studied is quickly looked through from the title page to the last page. The essence of surveying is to have a feel of the entire package of what is studied, with a view to getting the main points and general content.

Question

This has to do with formulating a list of questions based on what has been read through. The list of questions written helps to ensure that reading is thorough and has touched all important parts of the material being studied.

Recite

This is a very powerful tool in the study process. It ensures that answers are not merely assumed to be known but spoken out loud to the hearing. This gives room for adjustments and corrections that would not have been possible from just assuming the answer to a question is known. A famous way of going about it is to ask a question and answer it by speaking clearly to the hearing. Is the answer correct? The brain, ears, eyes and texts know best.

Revise or Review

Information kept in the brain for recollection tends to fade with the passage of time. Revision helps to ensure that information stored in the brain stays there! The already mastered material is looked through again after it has become clear that all its contents have being understood.

Overview

This is similar to surveying and it is used to get a general feel of the entire content of the material to be studied. It is usually done fairly quickly.

Preview

This is also similar to surveying and involves getting a generalized knowledge of materials being studied.

Reflect

This is similar to the revising and reviewing process. The aim is to ensure that crosscheck the brain’s capacity to recollect all that have been studied.

Listening skills

Lectures, Audio tapes and Recordings are listened to. Listening skills involve striking a balance between listening too hard and not listening at all. It comes with its own unique set of competencies and when used in combination with the components of studying, contributes their quota to the study process. The ability to listen well and effectively could greatly ease the study process.

These various components of studying are combined in different forms to get the most effective for the individual that has to study. Some people prefer to start “study reading” right away without having to survey while others feel it is of paramount importance that materials to be studied are previewed before any “study reading” begins. There is no hard and fast rule on how to study. Studying is an art, so it involves a lot of creativity, improvement and mastering on the part of the individual that wishes to develop a style unique and most useful in reaching study goals.

The most important thing that must not be overlooked in developing a study style or art is its effectiveness. All studying must be effective enough to ensure confidence and good performance (in examination, presentation, teaching etc.). If individuals know all about their inherent strengths and weaknesses, a good study method can be crafted, one that suits them enough to ensure confidence and good performance. Adjustments can be done when study method seems inadequate to get optimum results.