Studying Abroad Can Change the Way You See The World

Study Abroad Programs give you the opportunity to experience the world as your classroom. Rather than picking things up from books and the Internet, navigating a new landscape may open your eyes to culture, history, a new language or your heritage. Studying Abroad opens the door to personal growth and discovery too. As you learn to say ‘hello’ in a foreign language, make friends, eat exciting new foods, it is bound to boost your confidence, teach you self-reliance and stretch the parameters of your comfort zone.

Study Abroad Programs give you the opportunity to experience the world as your classroom. Rather than picking things up from books and the Internet, navigating a new landscape may open your eyes to culture, history, a new language or your heritage. Studying Abroad opens the door to personal growth and discovery too. As you learn to say ‘hello’ in a foreign language, make friends, eat exciting new foods, it is bound to boost your confidence, teach you self-reliance and stretch the parameters of your comfort zone.

Bait Yourself With Enticing Treats for Study Goals

When you complete a successful study session, for example, reward yourself by doing something fun or buying something you’ve been wanting. It’s about creating extra incentives and more motivation for doing what’s necessary.

Everybody has their own notation method, and what works best for you will usually be influenced by your learning style. Visual learners, for instance, find using color and different sized headlines more useful than auditory or kinesthetic learners do.

• Sit in the center front row taking notes and it becomes almost impossible to not pay attention.
• Be fully prepared when you arrive in class, with all the pens, paper, and highlighters you need.
• If you’re an auditory learner, would it be possible to record the lesson or download it online? If not, are there other supporting materials you can get your hands on?
• “Concentrate on concentrating,” or in other words, make a conscious effort to pay attention to the lesson and completely absorb what’s being communicated. Ask questions to engage when you’re lost.
• Start each lesson on a new page, with a clear heading showing what the lesson is about and its date.
• Develop a note-taking technique that best suits your style. If you are a visual learner, draw diagrams that help you understand the material covered. If you are an audio listener, try writing down what you hear.
• Avoid writing in full sentences. Use bullet points, abbreviations, and symbols for quicker note-taking.
• When possible, convert ideas into your own words when writing them down.

Understand the Study Cycle

The Study Cycle, developed by Frank Christ, breaks down the different parts of studying: previewing, attending class, reviewing, studying, and checking your understanding. Although each step may seem obvious at a glance, all too often students try to take shortcuts and miss opportunities for good learning. For example, you may skip a reading before class because the professor covers the same material in class; doing so misses a key opportunity to learn in different modes (reading and listening) and to benefit from the repetition and distributed practice (see #3 below) that you’ll get from both reading ahead and attending class. Understanding the importance of all stages of this cycle will help make sure you don’t miss opportunities to learn effectively.

One of the most impactful learning strategies is “distributed practice”—spacing out your studying over several short periods of time over several days and weeks (Newport, 2007). The most effective practice is to work a short time on each class every day. The total amount of time spent studying will be the same (or less) than one or two marathon library sessions, but you will learn the information more deeply and retain much more for the long term—which will help get you an A on the final. The important thing is how you use your study time, not how long you study. Long study sessions lead to a lack of concentration and thus a lack of learning and retention.

In order to spread out studying over short periods of time across several days and weeks, you need control over your schedule. Keeping a list of tasks to complete on a daily basis will help you to include regular active studying sessions for each class. Try to do something for each class each day. Be specific and realistic regarding how long you plan to spend on each task—you should not have more tasks on your list than you can reasonably complete during the day.

For example, you may do a few problems per day in math rather than all of them the hour before class. In history, you can spend 15-20 minutes each day actively studying your class notes. Thus, your studying time may still be the same length, but rather than only preparing for one class, you will be preparing for all of your classes in short stretches. This will help focus, stay on top of your work, and retain information.

In addition to learning the material more deeply, spacing out your work helps stave off procrastination. Rather than having to face the dreaded project for four hours on Monday, you can face the dreaded project for 30 minutes each day. The shorter, more consistent time to work on a dreaded project is likely to be more acceptable and less likely to be delayed to the last minute. Finally, if you have to memorize material for class (names, dates, formulas), it is best to make flashcards for this material and review periodically throughout the day rather than one long, memorization session (Wissman and Rawson, 2012). See our handout on memorization strategies to learn more.

It’s good to be intense

Not all studying is equal. You will accomplish more if you study intensively. Intensive study sessions are short and will allow you to get work done with minimal wasted effort. Shorter, intensive study times are more effective than drawn out studying.

In fact, one of the most impactful study strategies is distributing studying over multiple sessions (Newport, 2007). Intensive study sessions can last 30 or 45-minute sessions and include active studying strategies. For example, self-testing is an active study strategy that improves the intensity of studying and efficiency of learning. However, planning to spend hours on end self-testing is likely to cause you to become distracted and lose your attention.

On the other hand, if you plan to quiz yourself on the course material for 45 minutes and then take a break, you are much more likely to maintain your attention and retain the information. Furthermore, the shorter, more intense sessions will likely put the pressure on that is needed to prevent procrastination.

Bait Yourself With Enticing Treats for Study Goals

When you complete a successful study session, for example, reward yourself by doing something fun or buying something you’ve been wanting. It’s about creating extra incentives and more motivation for doing what’s necessary.

Everybody has their own notation method, and what works best for you will usually be influenced by your learning style. Visual learners, for instance, find using color and different sized headlines more useful than auditory or kinesthetic learners do.

• Sit in the center front row taking notes and it becomes almost impossible to not pay attention.
• Be fully prepared when you arrive in class, with all the pens, paper, and highlighters you need.
• If you’re an auditory learner, would it be possible to record the lesson or download it online? If not, are there other supporting materials you can get your hands on?
• “Concentrate on concentrating,” or in other words, make a conscious effort to pay attention to the lesson and completely absorb what’s being communicated. Ask questions to engage when you’re lost.
• Start each lesson on a new page, with a clear heading showing what the lesson is about and its date.
• Develop a note-taking technique that best suits your style. If you are a visual learner, draw diagrams that help you understand the material covered. If you are an audio listener, try writing down what you hear.
• Avoid writing in full sentences. Use bullet points, abbreviations, and symbols for quicker note-taking.
• When possible, convert ideas into your own words when writing them down.

Articles about Studying

Resources:

https://www.studyabroad.com/
https://focusme.com/blog/8-tips-to-study-better/
https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/studying-101-study-smarter-not-harder/
https://focusme.com/blog/8-tips-to-study-better/
https://www.wikihow.com/Category:Studying