STUDY SKILLS: If you turn to the web in your search for help with studying you will stumble upon a a quagmire of information - some extremely useful, some utterly redundant. Anne Byrne helps you wade through it
An online search for study skills will unleash a plethora of advice from all over the world onto your screen. As with any subject you choose to research on the web, you will unearth nuggets of information, gems of wisdom and bucketfuls of downright nonsense.
In fact, it can be such an absorbing pastime that it's tempting to spend the evening reading about various tips and tricks and not getting any study done at all.
Much of the online advice comes down to plain common sense and finding a way to study that suits you best, whether you're at second or third level. So, from the BBC www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/essentials/student/revision/healthy.shtml, we read that food is fuel and a balanced diet helps keep you healthy. "Eat well every day and you're sorted. Skipping meals may give you extra cramming time, but it can also leave you hungry and unable to concentrate. Try to eat regularly, grab a sandwich and some fruit at least. Trips to the fridge are a great to escape revision but avoid over-eating." Some suggest brain fuels are bread, pasta and potatoes which "release energy slowly and may help you work longer". Be warned. Food like chips and crisps are high in fat and should be kept for treats. Hardly earth-shattering news.
The BBC site also extols the benefits of an "air fix" to stop you flagging and help you relax. And there's advice from celebrity soccer player David Ginola on how to deal with stress as well as two-minute audio clip in which he describes his first big match.
Closer to home, TCD's student counselling service has put a substantial amount of information on study skills and strategies on its website www.tcd.ie/Student_Counselling/Study_Skills.htm. It's a dense tract of text, with no image, but it repays reading. If you have problems with motivation (and many students do) then think about what you're telling yourself. This may sound daft, but the internal dialogue we have with ourselves is very influential on our emotions and behaviours, according to this website.
Various strategies to increase motivation are suggested. "Identify destructive thoughts that are inhibiting your study. When you find yourself thinking these thoughts, tell yourself to STOP! (under your breath of course!). This is called 'thought stopping'. Immediately replace with some constructive thoughts. It's best to have a standard list that are well rehearsed and can be used when necessary. Examples: 'I have been successful at my study this week - keep up the good work' or 'I am able to concentrate and I will do even better tomorrow'. They need to realistic and tailor-made so that you can believe them. Redirect your attention back to the study task." A reading strategy - SQ3R - is recommended to help students read more effectively. It involves five steps that can be applied to books, articles or chapters. It stands for Survey, Question, Read, Recall, Review.
If you have problems concentrating when you study, the website suggests becoming more active in the study process. This could involve thinking of applications for the information or "trying to teach someone else (or even something else, like the couch!)".
Mind-wandering and daydreaming can be controlled by strategies such as keeping track of it with a tick in the margin of your notes whenever your mind wanders; the goal is to reduce the number of ticks per page. Alternatively, try an elastic band around the wrist that you snap every time your mind drifts.
"If your mind tends towards worry about falling behind or personal problems, write them down and make a decision to 'worry' about them later. Do not ignore them but reschedule a better time to deal with them. Return to task." There are useful revision, examination and time management strategies.
Another Irish site, www.daycourse.com/study/ takes a completely opposite tack to TCD when it comes to presenting information. The introduction reads: "Exam preparation - it's hell on earth. But fear not, young pretender, for the great oracle that is us hast decreed to alleviate your suffering with tips, tricks, and eighteen hundred inflatable nuns. God speed." Not an approach designed to appeal to all.
Underneath this, there are six icons with short blocks of text beside them, designed to entice the reader to click, and learn more. Try this. "Six of the best: by this we mean six of the best paths to exam success, and not six of the best activities one may enjoy with another consenting adults. Obviously."
The tips themselves are pretty obvious: get organised, find somewhere you can concentrate, get comfortable, get a little extra help www.sparknotes.com, written by Harvard graduates and students is suggested, exercise, and, finally, "get real... although exams are important, they do not set the blueprint for the rest of your life". And, who could argue with that?
