How to study effectively?

How to Study
Effectively
by
Aurora Computer Studies
(auoracs.lk)
Aurora Computer Studies 1

Agenda
• Objectives of education
• What is effective studying (Strategy) ?
• How to study effectively?
Aurora Computer Studies (auroracs.lk) 2

Objectives of education

Who is a professional?
“A person who can professionally
practice the knowledge & skills in
legal and ethical manner for own
success & the progress in the
business & social context.”

Objectives of education
• Gather necessary knowledge
• Acquire required skills
o Hard (Technical) skills
o Soft skills
• Build the right attitude

Result of right education
• A self sufficient & intelligent human
o Someone not a burden to family or government
(country)
• A professional who can truly serve the
society
• A citizen who is fit for the social well-
being (legal & ethical aspects)

Productive Studying

Overview
1. Effective
• Doing the right things
2. Efficient
• Doing things right
3. Passion
• Doing what you really love

Effective Studying

Right field(s) of study – How?
1. Select a profession that you really
like
o Make your objective somewhat broader
2. Select a study area(s) that help
your future career
3. Pick a study path that suite your
economy

Right field(s) of study – Why?
"Choose a job you love, and you
will never have to work a day in
your life."
- Confucius

Learn with a purpose

Genuine purposes
• To be knowledgeable
• To be intelligent
• To be a skilled/competent
professional
• To be a respectable citizen

Invalid purposes
• Your parents pushes you
• Certificate will give me jobs

Study efficiently

Overview
• Do not just do it, but manage your
studies
o Plan->Organize->Lead->Control
• Understanding is the key
• Study in brain friendly way
• Make your study pattern in
accordance with natural memory
propagation pattern

Manage your studies

Manage your studies
Plan Organize Lead Execute

Manage your studies - plan
• Managing your studies give you
better chance of achieving the
objectives
• Make your plan realistic
• Make your plan sufficiently agile and
adjust where needed
o A rigid unrealistic plan is as bad as no
planning !

Manage your studies - organize
• Get all the resources gradually
o Syllabuses
o Notes
o Reference books
o Study notes
o Past papers
o Any other supplementary resources

Manage your studies - lead
• You must be in control of your studies
• Teachers are there only to guide &
facilitate
• Acquiring require knowledge, skills and
attitude as well as demonstrate those in
examinations and other evaluations is
your task

Manage your studies - control
• Things do not go according to plan all
the times
• There can be obstacles or challenges
that deviate you
• Its your task to periodically check the
progress and take control measures
where necessary

Understanding

Understanding – the key
“If you learn to remember,
you will ultimately forget.
If you learn to understand,
you will ultimately remember.”
-Unknown

Understanding – overview
• Understanding leads to remembering &
not the other way round !
• Active learning promotes understanding
• You understand best when you are
relaxed
o A common myth is believing that you are efficient
under pressure
• Sorry, it does not work that way

Understanding – how?
1. Get the big picture of the topics
right
2. Identify the connections and
relationships between concepts
3. Think of real world usages
4. Apply the concepts and solve
problems

Understanding – how? (cont..)
• Use mind maps freely
o Give you the big picture
o Show you the connections
o Brain friendly (graphical)

• Relate things with other things
o Look at similarities
o Look at differences
• Look for following aspects of a
concept/theory
o Positive things (advantages)
o Negative things (disadvantages)
o Interesting/unique points

• Think extra yard beyond your comfort
zone
“It's not that I'm so smart, it's just that I
stay with problems longer.“
- Albert Einstein

What, why & how?
• To understand any concept, ask your self
following three questions;
o What?
• Example: What is calculus?
o Why?
• Example: Why do we need (purpose of)
calculus?
o How?
• Example: How to do calculus related problem
solving ?

Simple, clear, short
• Make sure that you can explain any concept
in following way;
o Simple
• “If you can not explain simply, you have not
understood it well enough” - Einstein
o Clear
• If your explanation is not clear (ambiguous), that
means you are not sure enough
o Short
• If your explanation is lengthy, probably you are not
exact to the point

“ The more you understand,
The less to be memorized.. and
happier you are.. “

Study in brain & memory
friendly way

How your memory works?

The three parts of memory
• Sensory buffer
• Short term memory
• Long term memory

Sensory buffer
• Very small capacity
o Few sentences/words
o A part of a diagram
• Very short term
o Few seconds/minutes
• Example usage
o You write down something explained or
written in the board

Short term memory
• Relatively small/medium capacity
• Relatively short term
o 1 to few days
“Only a small percentage of
short term memory data
goes to long term memory !!!”

Long term memory
• Very high capacity 
• Less volatile 
o Retain for long
o Difficult to forget

“Once you remember something, it is
almost impossible to forget….
The more you try to forget,
The more you remember….  ”

How you remember things?
• Human memory remember things as
visual images/symbols and relations
o Unlike computers, human memory is not good
at storing texts !!!
o That is why when you see traditional text
books/notes, you get sleepy

Memory friendly study - Tactics
• Try and understand the concepts while
its still fresh in the short term memory
o There is higher chance of you understanding
o There is higher chance of getting those into long
term memory
• Study day to day stuffs then & there
without waiting till exams or
assignments are near

Memory friendly study - Tactics
• Use visual metaphors
• Relate concepts like a story
• Relate concepts into useful
practical usages

Effective Classroom
Behaviors

Effective Classroom Behaviors
• Ask right questions and get
clarified then and there
• Help others after the class, if they
request you to clarify something
or missed lesson
oExplaining some one else is beneficial
to both him/her and you

Other Study Tips

Study Tips
• Select a convenient place
o Most of the time your home/apartment will work
o But it has some issues like ventilation/humidity or
disturbances, pick alternative place
• Select convenient time for you
o Remember that sleepless studying will add stress and
counter productive
• Have a informal plan
o No plan will get you nowhere
o Too much plan stresses you

Study Tips (Con.)
• Do single task at a time
o Humans are usually bad at multi-tasking
• Study in small sessions
o Take small breaks between
• Drink enough water
o Increase concentration
• Do more active studying than passive
studying
o Prepare mind map
o Do some exercises/quizzes

Study with passion

“You remember what you like,
what you love, or what you think
useful”

Enjoy your study
• Enjoy your study & work
o Selection of right field matters here
o Study challenging things
o Study something practically useful to you and
others
o Share your knowledge with others
o Use your knowledge & skills and start
helping/serving others

“Study & having fun should not
be mutually exclusive”

Verify

States of understanding
1. You understand & you know that
you have understood. 
o Understood & verified
o The wining situation
2. You understand, but you do not
know that you have understood
o Have not verified
o Resulting lack of confidence and undue worries

States of understanding (Con.)
3. You have not understood & you
know that you have not.
o It gives you the opportunity to work harder and look
for understanding
4. You have not understood (or
misunderstood) & you think you
have understood. 
o Worst & dangerous scenario
o You will be in trouble sooner or later

Verify your understanding
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't
understand it well enough."
- Albert Einstein
• Discuss and/or explain it to someone
else
• Write in a blog or social media, publish
article on studied topics

How to verify? (informally)
• Can I precisely define the concept?
• Can I explain it using an example?
• Do I know why (usages) we learn it?

How to verify? (Formally)
• Exams
• Assignments
• Demonstrations/Viva

Exam preparation tips

Exam preparation – why?
• Your primary objective is learning, not
mere passing exams
• But once you learn, it is equally
important to prove the world and
yourself that you have done it in great
fashion!

Exam preparation – tactics
• Consider it as a challenge!
o Yes, we all love challenges
o We want to win over challenges
• Plan and organize before hand
o Otherwise you will loose the challenge
• At least rush through some past papers
before exam targeted final preparation
o Then you know which areas are more important for the
exam and which areas are less important
o It will increase your productivity of studying

Exam preparation – tactics (Con.)
• Do at least three past papers before the
real exam and verify if you are up to the
challenge
o You do not go for exams to practice, rather practice
beforehand and go for the challenge
• You cover required contents, understand
relevant concepts before the exam
o Remember that you do not go for a challenge without
required weapons

Tips on answering exam
papers

Facing MCQs
• Calculate the time for each question and
manage time accordingly.
• Answer in rounds (In general in three rounds)
o 1 st round – Answer simple and less time consuming questions
o 2 nd round – Answer intermediary questions
o 3 rd round – Answer complex and time consuming questions as
time permit
• Answer all questions
• But do not answer any of the questions mere
believe in luck.
o Use elimination method to increase probability of correct answer(s)
o Pay extra attention if negative marking is applicable

Facing essay papers
• Check the number of questions to answer and if
there are mandatory questions
• Calculate the time for each question and
manage time accordingly.
• Answer in rounds (In general in three rounds)
o 1 st round – Answer simple and less time consuming questions
o 2 nd round – Answer intermediary questions
o 3 rd round – Review answered questions and attempt more
difficult questions if time permit
• Answer the essay and structured essay papers
accordingly.

Facing essay papers (Cont.)
• In general, answer simple, straight
and brief
o Too short answers show that you lack details
o Too long and indirect or irrelevant answers show that
you lack confidence on the subject.
• Do not write too general points, rather
present specific points.
o .Do not answer like throwing at a tree without real
aim, hoping one or two will be hit.
o Examiners know this 

• Play close attention to terms like
define, state, explain and discuss.
• Write your best points first.
• Sketch diagrams where necessary
• Provide examples where useful.

• Use clear (not necessarily beautiful)
hand-writing.
• Use a pleasant language.
• Write interesting and unique points
when relevant.
o Especially, in answering discuss type questions.

Final thoughts

Final thoughts
• Understanding and skills are more
important than mere certificate
• Believe in understanding more than
reciting
• Study with purpose, not because of
others
• Take exams as a challenge
• Believe only in yourself, not in myths &
external powers

Thank You !
Presented by
Nalaka Gamage
Aurora Computer Studies
(auoracs.lk)
70

"We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act,
but a habit."
~ Aristotle.

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o http://auroracs.lk/al-ict/
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o http://auroracs.lk/bit/
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o http://auroracs.lk/bcs/

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