Studying and Learning

RULES OF CLASS ATTENDANCE Throughout the world people congregate at various places to be taught by sages, professors, facilitators, and mentors. The wide range of things that can be learnt fuel the growth and proliferation of people meeting to share ideas and learn. The only way that such gathering can achieve the purpose for which it was created is to obey and strictly follow some certain laid down rules. As the society becomes more and more sophisticated, the need for rules and regulations would keep coming to the fore and for a congregation of people to be taught and learn, rules must be obeyed to get maximum benefit from such gatherings. Classes throughout the world have their unique format, settings and aims but some rules as to its organization and running are quite universal. The order must be upheld All classes must be orderly. Students and teachers alike must endeavor to comport themselves like people who are on a mission to achieve something. The chairs or sett...

RULES OF DOING ASSIGNMENTS In schools all over the world, it is the fundamental duty of teachers to give students assignments to reinforce their understanding of the key concepts in a subject area. A lot of students have been made to go through the scrutinizing eye of assignments to ensure that skills and knowledge gained become ingrained. These assignments usually take different formats for different education settings but a set of rules form the common base upon which most assignments regardless of their settings and special make-up rests. Some of these rules include: Take down questions correctly All assignments are usually given orally or in written formats. The format used notwithstanding, all questions and tasks given must be noted correctly. If the question is given orally, students must make the conscious and deliberate effort of putting down the dictated question in writing. When writing questions that are dictated, students must ensure that it is the exact me...

RULES OF DOING GROUP PROJECTS The complexity of things can only get deeper and more convoluted as time passes on. Knowledge will keep increasing at an exponential rate and the amount of information that must be known and kept at the fingertip will keep rising. This is true and this reality is the reason why teamwork has become the bedrock of any tangible achievement in the world today. Individualism has reduced to the barest minimum for all the right reasons and failure to realize this always leads to painful consequences. In the world of learning, people come together to carry out inquisitive and exploratory activities with the view of getting satisfactory answers to some of the most troubling questions and issues in life. In all areas of possible learning and development, the burden of fact-finding and fact usage has reached epic proportions and thus the need to bring together groups of people and give them the  mandate to work together to get solutions and answers t...

RULES OF PREPARING FOR CLASS PRESENTATIONS The classroom is an epitome of mentor-ship and talent building. It has moulded the destiny and lives of billions of people. In the classroom, the part of the human psyche that is capable of doing the extraordinary is alerted, piqued and brought to the fore. The enormous potential of the classroom to reveal the strength and weakness of students is staggering. This brings no surprise that the classroom is revered like the shrine and given its full due in respect and comportment. A lot of activities take place in a classroom and one of these is the most revered class presentation. Class presentation is a very interesting activity that can be both exciting and scary. The following points elucidate some rules that must be followed to ensure a successful and fraud free class presentation. Get the topic the way it is got When class presentations are to be made, each classroom has its unique way it generates topics of interest and titles ...

Studying Methods (SQ3R and the 4Rs) There are several methods of studying but some of the most common methods are: the SQ3R, SQ4R, PQ4R and OK4R. OK4R O stands for Overview K stands for Key Ideas 4R stands for Read, Recall, Reflect and Review. Overview : The Preface, Abstract, Introduction and Table of Content are thoroughly read to have a good idea about what the material to be studied is all about. Key ideas : The material to be studied is browsed through to get a little more detail about the central focus of each part of the text by looking closely at first paragraphs, conclusions and diagrams. Read : The material or text is then thoroughly read from the beginning to the end of it. Recall : The book is then closed and effort is made to remember all the key points that were addressed in the book. This has been proven to help reinforce understanding and retention. Reflect : Here, the content of the material is compared to things that have been experienced or...

THE STUDY PUSH A lot of reasons can be given for studying but very few people are committed to studying. If there were any other way to get things done without studying, majority of the human race would opt for it. The only reason why it seems like everyone studies at some point or the other is the inevitability of studying. There is no escape route, we all must study. A lot of factors give studying its inevitability and they can be termed study’s push factors. The study push gives meaning to the necessary and mandatory nature of studying. It calls to bear all the arsenals in the world of studying that makes it impossible to escape from it. The study push is reminiscent of a lot of friendly and not too friendly terms that is associated with the word, push. Plenty of the time and effort expended in studying is the result of study’s push and relentless demands. The study push may not be too friendly and sweet but it is the one push that sends the world into the spiral of unprecede...

The Master Critic of the Thinker The world today is affected by several things and transformed by several phenomena. At the core of these transformations are thinkers. People think on a daily basis. Professionals, parents, students, leaders and in fact every human being thinks. But the type of thinking considered by this expository is not the general ability to ruminate over various facts, information and issues to decide the next course of action but the rigorous and time consuming process of trying to get answers to pertinent and troubling “why” questions and problems. The thinker described here is one who engages the mind and intellect in a very profound way with the aim of finding solutions and answers to various issues. This type of thinking is never easy. It demands from the body considerable amount of “Nerve force” or nervous energy. The thinker navigates through waves of facts, beliefs, evidences and even the unknown to arrive at a conclusion. The only pitfall of the t...

PLACED ON WHAT POSITION? In schools, institutes of various names and many other citadels of learning, results are given with place values in terms of the position a recipient occupies in relation to every other candidate or applicant. These results give some degree of reverence to those who could perform better than most of their peers. In many primary and secondary schools, a lot of fanfare accompanies the collection of results as students and teachers share information about the performance of each child in relation to others. The hot point in these moments is the discovery of the student that got the number one position. The student occupying the coveted top position feels elated and content. In fact, in many climes, guardians, parents and friends place serious emphasis on the position. The usual question asked is, which position do you occupy? The position occupied has become so important that no other information on the report sheet is consequential. A lot of studen...

Making the Best Use of Time If time is limitless, then why do we have to optimize it use? The fact is, in as much as time is limitless, the user of time is most painfully limited in how time can be used. The reality of the biological clock is proof enough to show that time is extremely limited in its use. As abundant as times’ resource may seem, time is brutal in its allocation of its precious resource to man. Twenty four hours a day, seven days a week and three hundred and sixty five days a year. Never get beguiled, this somewhat generous allocation of time could turn around and sting in a much unexpected way. The first and probably most important way to make the best use of time is to grab opportunities and openings as they come. Never say or assume that opportunities will present itself to you another time because it may never be regained. A chance to learn how to play an instrument of music, learn a new skill and become knowledgeable in a new area of human endeavor is ...

What is the True Value of Time? Is it even possible to value time? A phenomenon that is highly feared as one that waits for no man. Time is an enigma of epic proportions and it continues to confound the mind of man. The hour glass which stands to this day as one of man’s earliest effort in valuing time falls short of the mark. The clock, calendar and other gadgets that aid in understanding time have so far only made sense of time and its reality more intense. Yes, the second, minute, hour, day and year are known but has this knowledge really shown the true value of time? Mathematics tends to give only the platonic and superficial value of time by using symbols and numbers. This has made it possible to draw inferences on various happenings based on when they actually occurred, are occurring or will occur. Statements like “’The earth is several millions years old”, “The final match between the two rival teams have begun” and “An eclipse of the sun will occur in two weeks’ ti...