Classroom studies are very important to receive quality education but self-studies are equally important to perform well in education being received. Only what students learn in the classroom is not enough to become successful in scoring high academic scores. After attending classes, students have to revise and learn on their own as well. Let us discuss some benefits of self-studies to the students.
- Helps to actively participate in classes.
- Improves interaction and engagement in learning.
- Better comprehension and retention of information.
- Helps to do self-evaluation
- Better scores and grades in exams.
- The experience of learning becomes better.
Self-studies don’t mean studying all the time when at home but utilizing a decent amount of time to achieve educational goals and objectives effectively. Let us discuss some effective tips that students can use to improve the productivity and quality of their self-studies.
Improve self-studies: tips for students
1. Use a variety of learning tools
Looking and reading from the same textbooks, again and again, will not help in making self-learning more productive. By reading the same content repetitively, our brains become habitual and monotonous because of this. To improve the quality of self-studies, students should use different learning resources. Today a variety of digital tools are available which students can easily access.
For example, along with using textbooks and notes, students can use PowerPoint presentations, modules, educational videos on youtube, picture cards, animations, and a lot more content that is available on the internet. Along with this using an online teaching app for accessing quizzes, riddles and puzzles can be a great idea too. For a slight change, you can do a live video call with your friends to share the knowledge and information. All these tools will enhance the quality of your self-studies.
2. Self-testing
Students to improve the quality of their self-studies should regularly self-test themselves. By checking and analyzing knowledge yourself, students can take the required steps for improvement and betterment of their learning quality. Self-evaluation is the best tool to enhance self-studies. In classroom assessments, students have the fear of being judged but in self-testing, this is completely absent and hence all students can do this comfortably.
The passive practice of only learning by reading books and notes, not checking how much you have retained out of it must be changed. The active practice of self-testing should be adopted by learners to identify where they are lacking behind, what are the weaker areas where more focus and revisions are required. Students can write the textbook questions, can use quizzes, riddles, puzzles, and multiple question answers to solve and test. Also using the previous year’s question papers and mock papers can be a great idea too.
3. Take breaks
Instead of studying for continuous four to five hours, divide the time into smaller sections of one hour so that you get time for a short break. After studying for one hour, take a break of ten to fifteen minutes to relax. Our brain is not an electronic machine, hence it needs some time to breathe and relax as well.
During this break, you can do any activity which you like for example walking on the balcony, making a live video call to a friend, eating your favorite snacks, listening to songs, taking a small nap, or simply relaxing and sitting. Also, don’t take a very long break. A long break can make you procrastinate, or become less productive in your studies. A small break for a maximum of fifteen minutes is enough to rebuild your focus, concentration, energy and become more productive in self-learning.
4. Make notes
Note-making must be included in self-studies to make it more beneficial and effective. The old and traditional methods of making handwritten, pen, and paper notes are helpful to improve the quality of learning. With this practice, understanding and memorizing information becomes easy and better. Also, the note-making process helps students to remember or retain the content for longer. Therefore all students when reading their textbooks or guides should make notes along with it.
5. Study at a proper place
To improve the quality of self-study, all students should find or make a proper study space for themselves. A noisy place, full of distractions can affect the focus and concentration level of the students. But at the same time, maintaining a space that is organized, free of distractions, quiet and peaceful, helps to retain the lessons better.
Conclusion
Self-studies are very important to become successful in education. The more proper the self-learning practices are, the better the scores and grades in the examinations. Many students struggle with how they can make their self-learning better and effective. By following the above-mentioned tips and techniques the quality of self-learning will surely be improved for the students.