This thread is to help share ideas on academics with empahasis specifically on reading,examination and study tips.contribution will be gladly received from other members.for purpose of clarity, submission may take any or all of the following


1.personal views and institution experience


2.sharing of online articles and source.


3.introduction and referral to other study,examination and academic performance enhancenent tips,apps,online sites.

Conclusively as an opening salvo i welcome you fellow students to this interractive session.God bless nairaland.God bless us all.

in the name of God and Aristotle the great teacher i declare this session open officially.





***fireworks

ONLINE MATERIALS.1
FOR UNIVERSITY FRESHERS.



Time & Energy Management
In high school, your schedule is
pretty well set for you, and your
parents are always around,
looking over your shoulder.
Then you get to college and each
day is an ocean of time that is all
yours to decide what to do with.

This is both a
wonderful, glorious freedom and
a great challenge. But mastering
that challenge by learning how to
successfully manage your time
will reap you great benefits not
only in school, but for the rest of
your life.
Following the advice below, it’s
possible to excel in school,
while working part-time, and
while still having a social life.


Create a master weekly study
schedule before every semester.
In his book, First Things First,
Stephen Covey introduces the
idea of “Big Rock” planning. The
gist of it is that you should set
aside time for your most
important things first (your Big
Rocks) and then plan everything
else in your life around them.



When you’re young and in school,
your biggest Big Rock is your
education. You should (ideally)
plan everything else around your
schooling. To ensure that you
actually make school a priority,
block off the time during the
week that you’ll devote to class
and studying before the semester
starts.contd below...

Plan weekly. Once you have your
master weekly schedule set up,
every week set aside time for
planning out the week’s
variables–those activities that
change from week to week. Write
down in your schedule when you
have to work or the times for
any extracurricular meetings.
Remember, try to plan around
your Big Rocks if possible.



Reverse engineer big projects
and final exam prep. Throughout
the semester, you’ll probably have
big projects like term papers to
turn in. One thing that helped me
complete these tasks on time and
with little stress was reverse
engineering the task. As soon as I
knew the due date for a paper, I
marked it in my calendar.
Working backwards from that
due date, I established mini-
deadlines for myself. For example,
a week before the actual due
date, I might have a deadline to
complete the rough draft. Two
weeks before the actual due date
the mini-deadline might be to
write half of the paper. Three
weeks before the actual due date,
the mini-deadline might be to
have the research complete. And
so on.


I did this sort of reverse
engineering for my law school
finals as well. About mid-way
through the semester, I sat down
and planned out my finals prep
for the subsequent six weeks,
working backwards from the
final exam and creating tasks for
myself to complete as I got closer
and closer to finals.
This takes some discipline, but
this approach is much less
stressful than waiting until the
last minute to complete a project
or study for a final.

INTRODUCING THE 45/15 STUDY TECHNIQUE.




Apply the 45/15 rule. People can
focus on something for a solid 45
minute block before their brains
start getting pooped and antsy,
and their mental performance
starts to diminish. To keep your
brain running on all six cylinders,
implement the 45/15 rule, or
Pomodoro Technique. Under the
45/15 rule, you work nonstop for
45 minutes, and all your focus is
on the task at hand for that block
of time. When the 45 minutes is
up, take a break for 15. Surf the
web or get up and go for a quick
stroll outside. As soon as the 15
minutes are over, get back to
work. Just knowing that you
always have a set break coming
up can keep you on task.

Reading Assignments and
Homework


Try to get ahead on reading. If
your schedule permits, try to get
ahead on your reading by
reading the entire week’s
assignments on the weekend. I
did this in law school and it freed
up a bunch of time for me during
the week. On Saturdays and
Sundays, I’d devote a couple of
hours to completing all the
reading assignments for the
coming week. That allowed me to
devote more time to outlining,
memorization, and even working
on The Art of Manliness and
writing our first Art of Manliness
book during the week.



Read actively. When you read,
read actively. Highlight, underline,
and write notes in the margins.
This will ready you for any class
discussion or questions from the
professor. Also, actively reading
simply helps you better retain the
information.



Learn to speed read. Speed
reading is a skill that I suggest all
college students learn. It’s a huge
help in getting through those
100 page reading assignments.
As with any tool, you should use
speed reading with discernment.
Some class material might require
slow, concentrated reading. My
philosophy classes in college
were like that. Other classes you
can speed read right through the
text and be in good shape.
Quickly skim your reading notes
and highlights before class starts.
Before class starts, take a few
minutes to quickly scan over any
notes and highlights you made in
your book. You want to be ready
to answer any questions that
come your way.
Do all your homework (even if it’s
not graded). Your professors
assign homework for a reason:
to help you learn the material so
you can pass the final exam. One
big difference between high
school and college is that
professors will often assign
homework problems but won’t
pick them up for grading. For
many college freshmen, it’s
tempting to just skip this
homework altogether. Don’t do
this.
I succumbed to this temptation
my first semester of college. My
calc class had homework
problems assigned every class. As
soon as I learned that the
assignments weren’t graded, I
pretty much stopped doing them.
Result? My first (and, thankfully,
only) D grade.
Make the Most of Class Time
Attend all your classes. Another
temptation that new college
students face is regularly
skipping class. Unlike high school,
you don’t have parents
or truancy laws making sure your
butt’s in a classroom desk every
day at college. It’s completely up
to you whether you go to class or
not. My advice is to make it a goal
to go to every class during the
semester.



Learning requires constant
reinforcement. Class time is part
of that reinforcement process.
More importantly, attending class
simply saves you time. Every time
I missed a class, I often spent
double the amount of time
studying to make up what I
missed. If you want a life outside
of studying, go to class.