Most students know they need to take handwritten notes. It’s kind of the “go-to” for study skills. “Need better grades? Have you tried taking notes?” It’s common sense, right? If you want to remember something, you need to write it down. If I have something to-do, but I didn’t write it down, it’s a coin […]
6 Tips to Finding Research Paper Sources that Set You Apart
Research paper sources can be difficult to find – especially if you want the good ones. And we want good ones. One of the exercises we often have our students in our online study skills courses do (you can find info on them here) is to think about your teacher having to read all of […]
3 lesser-used (but effective) writing skills for students
I know how most students write papers. I have had extensive practice myself. I’ve been a student for over two decades, and most of those years have involved writing papers. My writing skills were much like those we see in our student’s lives. So how do most writing skills look for students? Well, see if […]
5 strategies to make reading a novel easy
Reading a novel seems somewhat self-explanatory. Start reading at one cover and don’t stop until you get to the other. But the world’s most successful students know that reading a novel is a unique type of reading. Just as there are important keys for reading any type of literary genre (check out our tips on […]
When should I listen to music while studying (if at all)?
One of the most common questions we get from students is, “Should I listen to music while studying?” It makes sense. It’s a great question. So how about you? Do you listen to music while studying? Honestly, it’s one of those questions we think students have to answer for themselves. We can’t tell students exactly […]
Studying with a highlighter (the right way)
We return to our discussion on studying with a highlighter. As we suggested in our last blog on highlighting a textbook, highlighters aren’t that helpful when used incorrectly. That doesn’t mean they’re useless. It just means you need to know what you’re doing with it. It’s kind of like a sledge hammer. It’s great if […]
3 Reasons Highlighting a Textbook is worse than Taking Notes
Today we’re dealing with the most deceptive tool on the study skills workbench: the highlighter. And deceptive is the right word, specifically when highlighting a textbook. Highlighting a textbook as you read does help make you feel great. It looks like you’ve done an enormous amount of studying. Many students sit down, start reading their […]
What a “futures orientation” can do for student success
We’re all trying to figure out what factors breed student success. And why wouldn’t we? The faster we’re able to break down the various aspects of student success, the faster we’ll be able to improve success rates. Since educators across the globe are all working on this, occasionally we like to report on their findings. […]