Study Skills

Nau mai haere mai - welcome to the study skills page!

On this page you will find a range of strategies and resources that will support you to develop your ability to study effectively. Some of the strategies and resources below may be familiar to you, others will be new. Importantly, these strategies and resources will provide you with a range of ways to study individually, or with others.

This page has been formatted so that the year 9 and 10 students who are participating in the study skills day, can work through the tasks one after the other. If you are a senior student accessing this page, please utilise the resources as you like.

Before starting any of the tasks on this page, please begin by watching the two important videos below. These videos remind us about our ability to grow our minds, to master new and difficult tasks, and about the importance of studying effectively.

Growth Mindset

Effective Study

Effective Ways to Study: Strategies for Studying

After watching the videos above, read carefully through the study strategy information below. These are the strategies you will be learning/practicing today. As you read, think about how you can use these strategies to study some of the topics you are learning about at the moment.

Strategy A: Spaced Practice

No cramming: Space out your study sessions over a period of time. Cramming for hours the night before a test or exam, is far less effective than spaced out study sessions over a few weeks.
Make a plan: use a study schedule template to plan your study sessions, then stick to your schedule.
Each day when you study, share your study time between revising new content, and going back over content from the past week (few weeks), to keep it fresh in your mind.
Use a range of study strategies when you study.

Strategy B: Interleaving

Switch between similar topics and ideas (within the same subject area) as you study. Don't just stick to one topic for a long period of time.
Switching between ideas will highlight or contrast the similarities or differences between topics or types of questions.
Make links between ideas as you switch between them. Write notes or draw diagrams to help you make these connections.

Strategy C: Elaboration - Ask, Explain & Connect

Use this strategy when you have your notes and books in front of you/accessible.
Write a list of the ideas/things you need to know about a topic, then ask your self questions about how and why things work. Find answers to all of the questions you have written by referring to your notes and textbooks, and write detailed answers in your book.
Explain and describe your answers in as much detail as possible.
Think about how the information might relate to things you already know, or things in your everyday life - connect the new information to what you already know. Asking how and why questions helps us to understand how any two things might be similar or different, and to make connections.

Strategy D: Concrete Examples

Using concrete examples helps to demonstrate and explain ideas and concepts in a way that we can understand them better.
Use real life examples (not abstract examples), to help you understand an abstract idea.
Come up with a concrete example for a new concept or idea, then check the example to ensure it is accurate and relevant (and therefore helpful). You can check your examples by referring to your coursework or asking your teacher.

Strategy E: Words & Visuals

Use words and visuals when you are studying. This will give you two ways of understanding and remembering information.
Look through your course material or textbook and make connections between the visuals provided and the written explanations. Link the written explanation to the visuals.
If there is no visual provided, draw your own picture/diagram to explain the words you read about a topic.

Strategy F: Retrieval Practice - Recall What You Know

Without using your notes or books - write, sketch, draw and mind-map on a piece of paper, everything you already know about the topic you are studying. Retrieving your knowledge reinforces what you have learnt, and makes it easier to recall that information later.
Practicing recalling information will make you better at it, which is especially important if you will be tested on that information. Try to use this strategy each time you sit down to study.
Once you have written and drawn everything you know about a topic onto a piece of paper, you will be able to identify what you do and don't know. Use this new knowledge to determine what you should study moving forward, in order to fill the gaps in your knowledge or understanding.
Compare what you have written/drawn against your class material, and take note of what is correct, what is incorrect, or what you didn't write down/recall at all. If you have forgotten to write down/draw visuals of some key information, make sure you spend more time revising that content.
Complete as many practice tests or exams as possible, to help you practice and develop your ability to recall information.

General Tasks & Resources

Below are a range of tasks to complete using each of the study strategies you read about above (Strategies A-F).

Complete each task as per the instructions - make sure you read the instructions carefully. Most tasks should be completed in your book, but some will require you to complete an activity on your device.

You should aim to complete all of the 'General Tasks' activities before the end of period 2.

Strategy A: Spaced Practice

Hei mahi:

Create a folder in your google drive labelled 'Study Resources'
Make a copy of this template, and save it in your 'Study Resources' folder.
Plan your study for this week, by writing the name of the subject/topic you will study during each your allocated study hours.
Keep a copy of this template in your folder, so you can create a new schedule each week.

Strategy B: Interleaving

Hei mahi:

Learn how to use a Venn Diagram to make connections between two different idea/topics/things. Follow this link, and read through the example on Venn Diagrams. Complete the task as per the instructions on the sheet.
Follow this link, to complete the next Venn Diagram task. Follow the instructions on the google document.
Mind mapping is a helpful and effective way to make connections when learning about new ideas/information. Follow this link and complete the task as per the instructions.

Strategy C: Elaboration - Ask, Explain & Connect

Hei mahi:

To develop your ability to understand information enough to elaborate, we will start by using this strategy with a topic that might be somewhat familiar to you: performing a cultural ceremony to welcome guests (or a similar cultural practice you know about).
Follow this link and read through the example of how to complete each step of this process. Note: I have used baking a cake as the topic for this example.
Now, using the topic of a cultural welcoming ceremony, complete this process again. Listed below are each of the steps you need to complete. Start by copying the steps into your book. Remember that it is vital that you include how and why questions in order for this strategy to be effective.

Write a range of questions down the side of your page about the cultural process of welcoming guests that you have chosen for this task. You want to include questions that you'll need to know the answer for, in order to be able to explain the process in detail. Make sure each question includes a how and why aspect to it,

E.g. Who says the first welcoming speech, and why is it important that they speak first?

Use the information you have access to/know, to write detailed answers to each of your questions. If you were completing this task for a topic you had studied in class, you would use your class notes/textbook to find the information you need for your answers. However, for this exercise, use what you know, and search online for any information you don't know.
Relate each answer to something familiar to you.
Draw/table/sketch some visual representations of your answers, under the written answers. For a welcoming ceremony process, this could include a flow chart of each step of the process, one after the other.

After completing this task you should have a detailed written explanation on your chosen welcoming ceremony, examples that relate it to things you already know, and visual depictions of the information/process.

Strategy D: Concrete Examples

Hei mahi:

For this task you need to practice coming up with concrete examples for ideas/concepts, to help you better understand and remember them.

In pairs, write each of the ideas/concepts below in your book. Click on each of the links to access a definition of the idea/concept.
Next to each idea in your book, write and explain a concrete example. Remember you want to think carefully about the example you chose, so that it is appropriate and helpful for your understanding.
Once you have written an example for every idea/concept, ask the teacher to go through them with you to check that they are appropriate and relevant. If any of your examples do not quite fit - try again!

He Tauira: Example

Concept: Kaitiakitanga/Guardianship

Example: In Māori culture, a rāhui is a sacred practice that follows the basic philosophy of protecting through prohibition. It is imposed by a local tribe (iwi) to temporarily ban the harvesting of essential resources in the forest, land or sea, so that the area in question can naturally restore itself.

Ideas/Concepts

Strategy E: Words & Visuals

Hei mahi:

Remember that when we use both words and visuals to learn and explain information, our brain is far more likely to remember it.
For this task, chose 2 of the 3 topics from the list below and write them at the top of a new page in your book. If the topics are not familiar to you, and you need more information to complete this task, search the heading using your device.
Under each topic, write a brief explanation of the topic/process in your own words (4-6 lines).
In your book, below each of the headings, draw/create something visual to explain the words. Your picture/diagram does not need to be a beautiful, it also does not need to make sense to anyone else - it just needs to be a visual that you understand, and that helps you to process and remember the information.
Topics:

How to make a TikTok/YouTube video
The main rules of your favorite sport or game (can be a board/card game)
The McAuley School Song: key themes and messages

Once you've completed your pictures/diagrams in your book, reflect on the process you went through to complete this task. Think about how deeply you had to consider each step of the process, or how you had to decide what were the key themes and values, in order to decide how you would depict them visually. This process is very helpful for developing your understanding of knowledge, and for helping you to remember key pieces of information.

Strategy F: Retrieval Practice - Recall What You Know

Hei mahi:

This study strategy will help you to retrieve your knowledge on a topic, it will help to reinforce new information you learn, and will develop your ability to recall this information later, when you need it.
For this task, write each of the topics below at the top of a new page in your book.
Without using your notes or books - write, sketch, draw and mind-map on a piece of paper, everything you already know about the topic. Retrieving your knowledge reinforces what you have learnt, and makes it easier to recall that information later.
Once you have written and drawn everything you know about each topic in your book, you will be able to identify what you do know, and what you don't know. Use this new knowledge to decide on 3 things you still need to learn about this topic, and write them at the bottom of each page.
Note: If you were completing this task about content you had been taught in class, you would now use your book and textbook to compare what you have written/drawn, against your notes. This process enables you to check what is correct, what is incorrect, or what you did not write down/recall at all.

Topics:

The life and work of Catherine McAuley
A cultural/traditional method of cooking cultural food OR a cultural practice you know about.

Subject Specific Study Tasks

Now it's time to complete some actual study using each of the strategies you have practiced today. You will need to use topics and content that you have learnt in class this year, to complete the following tasks.

Complete each of the study strategy tasks below using one of the topics you have covered this year in class. You should focus on a different subject for each of the tasks.

Complete each task in your book (unless instructed otherwise).

Follow the instructions on each of the google docs. Use the instructions above to help you, if you forget how to complete a task.

You should aim to complete each of the tasks below (using topics from a range of subjects), by the end of period 4.

Strategy B: Interleaving Mind-Map Task

Strategy B: Interleaving Venn-Diagram Task

Strategy C: Elaboration Task

Strategy D: Examples Task

Strategy E: Words & Visuals

Hei mahi:

For this task, choose a topic you have studied in one of your classes this year. Use your notes/textbook to write a paragraph on your chosen topic - an example of this could be a brief explanation of a scientific process you have learnt, such as mitosis and meiosis.
In your book, under the written explanation, draw/create something visual to explain the words. Your picture/diagram does not need to be a beautiful or easy for anyone else to understand - it just needs to be a visual that you understand, and that helps you to remember the information.

Once you have completed your pictures/diagrams in your book, reflect on the process you went through to complete this task. Think about how deeply you had to consider each step of the process in order to create a visual representation of it.

Strategy F: Recall What You Know

Hei mahi:

For this task, write a topic you have studied in class at the top of a new page in your book.
Without using your notes or books - write, sketch, draw and mind-map on your page, everything you already know about the topic. Retrieving your knowledge reinforces what you have learnt, and makes it easier to recall that information later.
Once you have written and drawn everything you know about the topic onto the page, you will be able to identify what you do know, and what you don't know. Use this new knowledge to determine what you should study now moving forward, in order to fill the gaps in your knowledge or understanding. Write three things you need to learn more about, for this topic.
Compare what you have written/drawn against your notes in your books/textbook, and check what is correct, what is incorrect, and what you didn't write down/recall at all. If you have forgotten to write down/draw visuals of some key information, make sure you spend more time revising that content going forward.

Additional Study Strategies & Tasks

Once you complete all of the tasks above, follow the links below to complete more helpful study skills tasks.

Hei Mahi:

T Chart: Task 1

T Chart: Task 2

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