How to be an effective student

The list below summarises the essential skills required to be an effective student. You can learn to be an effective and successful students following the list, but whether you will become one eventually will depend on whether you are prepared to make a sustained effort to do so.

1) Take responsibility. No ones owes you a living. Neither do you owe others. Losers make excuses for themselves; winners make their own successes. Don't blame others for your own mistakes.

2) Be organised. Plan and prioritise your time well. Work with weekly timetables and daily To-Do lists with a filofax. God is fair; everyone only has 24 hours a day, nothing more.

3) Be independent. Think and do things by yourself instead of asking others to do it for you.

4) Become an efficient learner. Effective study skills are important for life-long learning. Examples include mind-mapping, speed reading, etc.

5) Be proactive. Success is more likely to look for those who take the initiative to go and get it.

6) Be disciplined. It is very easy to lapse into compromises and postponed schedules. But remember, tomorrow never comes. Remind yourself constantly that you are committed to certain goals and will attain them, whatever effort it takes you. Focus!

7) Start well. Pitch in immediately. The first few weeks are critical. Having a good start will give you the momentum to carry you further.

8) Concentrate. Don't waste time on unfocussed efforts. You won't go anywhere far without concentrating; you will just fall off.

9) Stay healthy. Don't neglect recreation, family and friends. Plan for your social life so that they aren't disruptive to your studies.

Habits of Effective Students

When I was in secondary school and JC, I scored in some subjects, didn't score in others. I often wonder why. Looking back later during my uni days, I realised that there are certain habits that effective students possess, and by adopting these habits for myself consciously (instead of unconsciously during my earlier years), I emerged with a stellar first class honours within the competitive NUS Electrical Engineering faculty. And I have done this journey with minimal tuition help.

So here I am, sharing a few tips and habits with all readers. Hopefully, you will be able to achieve better results than I did!


1. First and foremost, paying attention in class in important. During my time, I paid 100% attention to subjects I liked, and was usually half awake for subjects I didn't really like. Needless to say, I scored for those I paid attention to with minimal efforts. This is because teachers usually go through the different types of questions before your exams. They know what's going to come out, and what's not, and thus prepare you for the questions during class. Make sure you revise and internalise (not just memorise) the example questions beforehand.


2. Complete all your homework by yourself. Try to do as many as you can by yourself before seeking help. This helps to drive in concepts and methods taught in class, and assist you in mastering them well. I have seen people copying homework instead of doing it themselves. These people usually have to put in a much greater effort at the end of the exams to score better, stressing themselves out.


3. Practise even more questions from the same topic. The old adage "practice makes perfect" holds true. With more practice comes more confidence, leading to lesser mental blocks. Speed of doing questions will increase, and number of careless mistakes will decrease. These are extremely important criteria for you to achieve spectacular exam results. You can do this by using the Ten Year Series, past year prelim papers, assessment books, or even free websites like ExamWorld, which provide some free questions and solutions for students.


4. Learn from other students as well. You can do this by looking at good works that have been marked. Look at the different comments by the teacher, learn the different approaches to answering questions and essays, and understand the common pitfalls to avoid them in the future. Afterall, it's always easier to learn from others mistakes right? This was the main method I used to improve my A level economics essay from a fail to an eventual A. I photocopied A grade essays from my classmates to analyse, understand their points, their argument and analysis, etc.


5. Find and discover various ways to check your answers, especially for hard sciences like maths and physics. Looking through your answers and workings again is only one way of checking. Most questions have more than 1 approach (for maths) and by using a different approach and getting the same answer, you are more or less assured of being correct. Other methods can include working backwards to reach what the question wanted to you too. Or perhaps, for proving questions, substituting a value to find that both sides of the equation give you the same results. Or even for physics, by remembering some constants, you can more or less know whether your answer is reasonable a not. Example would be finding the density of oil to be 667 kg per metres cube. Obviously oil is less dense than water (1000 kg per metres cube), so the answer was reasonable. This habit is extremely important, and I usually teach my tuition students how to do so and where to look out for such "free marks".


6. Make short notes to read an hour before your exam. Realise that for subjects like physics, knowing and understanding the concepts well, memorizing the equations and definitions of the different terms, can suffice in scoring As for your exams. The knowing and understanding the concepts should have been covered in points 1 to 4 above. The equations and definitions on your short paper are merely to there to help refresh your memory so that you do not stumble in exams.


7. Teach other students freely when they ask you for help. If you can explain the question well, it truly means that you have internalised and understood perfectly the concepts being tested in the question. I realised during my JC time that questions other students ask are usually of higher standards than simple questions. By helping them, I trained my mind to be able to solve tougher questions as well. And by being able to explain to them, I became even more confident and sure of myself in those concepts. Take it as a surprise test/revision that occurs frequently.

Article also found at http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1529295/habits_of_effective_students.html?cat=4

The Principles of Academic Success

Written and contributed by Tan Jye Yee, NUS Law School Class of 2012

I can isolate three important ingredients to academic success: proactivity, consistency and knowledge of the assessment system.

a) Being proactive means to pay total attention in class, ask questions when you don't agree with the teacher or need clarification, probe deeper than what is "required for the syllabus" to enhance your understanding and not accept what you are taught unless you are genuinely convinced through self-learning and validation.

b) Consistency would strengthen your grasp of what you learn through continual reinforcement. I would recommend at least 3 hours of study every week day, even when examinations are not near, and you should increase the number of hours towards the examination period.

c) Knowledge of the assessment system allows you to tweak your learning and studying process to prepare yourself for the questioning style, content and difficulty of the papers. Find out what you are likely to be tested on through whatever means and try to understand an examiner's point of view: why is the question asked (i.e. what is being tested), what answer would suffice to fully solve the question, what is expected of reasonably competent students of your educational level and what are pitfalls to avoid that might reveal your shaky understanding of the subject at hand? The last part is a crucial balancing act between providing adequate explanation and not revealing what you don't truly understand.

Apart from these instrumentalist tips, it's important to get your mind in the correct paradigm. The "how" question is often asked of academic success, but the "why" question is rarely examined by many students. Do you think academic success is important for you to earn a lot of money in the future? Do you want to truly learn and develop an educated, highly cognitive, analytical yet creative mind? Do you enjoy the compliments and credibility that you get with excellent grades? What are you doing in the classroom, where is it taking you? Think really hard about the real reason, see the world a little more, then decide again on your motive. While your objectives might remain practically stagnant (to succeed), your reasons for succeeding are supposed to be dynamic.

I have always been outstanding at examinations (10 A1s at O Level's and 6 Distinctions at A Levels) but have never really understood what I wanted from studying so persistently. In primary school, I did well because I wanted to make my parents proud. I wanted to earn their respect and increase my worth in their eyes. Now, I study harder to enrich my mind, to broaden my world perspective, to attain crucial, indispensable knowledge and skills as well as to learn how the world works so that I can thrive in it.

It might seem like a waste of time to ponder on this, since it's not as urgent as actual preparation for the examinations. But what is not urgent may be more important than what seems to be so pressing at the moment. Learn to snap out of your hectic life once in a while and do a re-evaluation of your life objectives. Write a personal mission statement and change it from time to time.

Most people are more keen to learn the "how" of success because we all know doing well in examinations generally brings positive outcomes. Yet knowing "why" brings assurance, happiness and a sense of inner stability, and would shift our fundamental paradigm and transform our attitude towards learning. In a sense, knowing "why" ultimately underlies your "want" and determines how successful you will be at utilising the "how".

If you do conclude that there is no good reason for you to study, to learn, so be it. I, however, recommend that you speak to others first about how you feel, get some more exposure in life and be truly convinced that your thinking or decision is the right one for you, taking into account your friends' and family's possible perception and treatment of you, your would-be status in society, your range of probable opportunities in the future, etc. Don't delude yourself just because you don't like to study or are not good at it. Your dislike can be overcome by cultivating an interest, and your competence can improve over time through guidance and effort, but a lost opportunity for education is gone forever.

Survival guide for the last-min Physics student

*Written by a current secondary school physics teacher from a reputable school*

Your Physics Test is coming... not in a month, not in a week... but three days’ time! How do you make the most out of the precious hours? O.K. Here is some straightforward survival tips from an ex-last minute Physics student who has become a Physics teacher.

If you have the luxury of studying over the weekend for a Monday test, your chances of survival is very high. If you are caught in the midst of a school week and your test is a few school days away, you need more determination and discipline in order to make it! I will teach you the different ways to organise your preparation time effectively in both situations.

Survival kit:
Physics Text book
Physics Ten Years Series
Dig out as many physics notes and worksheets AS YOU CAN (Do not sweat if you have trouble doing this)
Calculator
Pencil case and Paper

What to do?
“I hear and I forget. I see and I understand. I do and I remember”
So, remain calm even if you have not been very attentive in class. Do not bother to stare at the complicated formulas and diagrams trying to print the images into your brain. The secret to success in learning is... DOING PHYSICS! In the remaining time you have, your goal is to DO as many questions as you can in the topics to be tested.

Begin with ten year series questions first. They are the most basic and direct questions. Here is the secret: Read through the questions in a topic first even if you don’t have the knowledge or understanding to do them. Just read through the questions first and pick out key words and terms used. You are to notice what stuff are commonly asked in the topic. Next, be determined to attempt the questions as if you are being made to sit for a test. You will probably feel anxious and will only be able to do very few questions. After you are done with this step, close your eyes and reflect what are the questions that gave you the greatest anxiety and which keywords appeared very frequently in the topic. Do this no longer than 10 minutes.
Now, you are allowed to flip open the Text and SCAN through the chapter for 15 min only. Your aim is to pick up simple information that you have forgotten so that you can complete more questions that you did not do earlier on. Do not read into chucks of details. After this, pick up the questions again and this time round, you should be able to do a few more questions.

Next, you are allowed to open up the Text and complete the most difficult questions along aside. You will find that you will be more motivated to read through sections of information in the Text in order to solve the more complicated problems. Also, you would have filtered out the sections which you have scanned through for the simpler questions earlier on.

OK. You have finished the Ten year series and feeling more confident and relieved. Great! Now, to achieve perfection, take out the notes and worksheets that your teacher has given you in class. This is the time to read through the notes slowly and carefully to consolidate and summarise the facts and concepts of the topic. When you are done, look at the worksheets and attempt the questions again.

For those who have the luxury of studying over weekend:
Set up your survival kit on Friday night and place the physics textbook under your pillow and sleep early. Wake up at 6am on Saturday morning, eat a LIGHT breakfast and finish your ten year series before noon. Take a break at around 9 am and eat some snacks to replenish glucose for your brain. After lunch, if you have not finished your ten year series, continue to work on it. You must finish before 3pm in the afternoon. Spend the rest of the time before dinner reading through notes and running through worksheet questions. After dinner, pick up the phone and call up the class geek to ask for help on questions that you really cannot do. Ask him to give you a quick tutorial on the concepts as well to clear things up even more. Thank him and buy him dinner when the test is over. Then, continue practising the questions well into midnight. Go to bed and wake up around late morning on Sunday, go to church if you are a Christian. If you are not, meditate and pray according to your religious inclinations. Spend the rest of the day to consolidate definitions and formulas, drawing mindmaps and practising questions for speed.

For those who do not have the luxury of a weekend:
You need to block out all the after school commitments and so-called “study groups” with peers. Go home as early as you can, explain to people who want your time that you are rushing home to study for a test. Take your meal the very moment you reach home and start the process as prescribed above. But you probably can only finish ten year series on the first day. Then go to bed as usual, do not burn midnight oil. On second day, work on notes and worksheets. The next day, catch the class geek and schedule some time after school to consult him. Then go home and consolidate your stuff and practise for speed and accuracy. You would be ready for test the next day!

This guide applies not only to those studying three days before a test. It also works for those who are not studying last minute. It is just a tested and proven method to prepare for a test in the shortest time possible. I wish you all the best in Physics Tests!


ExamWorld's addition: This methodology can also be applied to other hard science subjects like mathematics, chemistry, and biology as well.

Physics in a Nutshell for Os and As

Breaking down Physics

The best way to solve a big problem is to use a method called divide and conquer; i.e. divide it into smaller parts, then solve each part individually. Why is this the best way? This is because solving a small problem puts lesser stress and uses mental power than a large problem.

The above principle can be used for many things, for example studying. Physics is like the big problem described above. The best way to learn and understand it is to sub-divide into many small parts, then conquer them individually, before finally grouping them together.

So how can we divide physics into smaller parts? In my opinion, there are five parts to physics.

1) Newtonian Mechanics
2) Waves and Oscillations
3) Thermodynamics
4) Electromagnetism
5) Modern Physics

The first step is to understand each and every single part. Once the first step is done, the second step will be to draw linkages between these parts to further improve our problem-solving capabilities. For example, Mechanics can be present in Electromagnetism and vice versa, hence the importance of linkages.



Question-based Approach to Scoring

The second part I’m going to share is the technique of using questions to improve understanding and scoring for exams. The main idea behind this is to read the notes once, then do a large number of questions with your notes/textbook in hand. In this technique, you are allowed to read and search your notes/textbook for the answers. However, you are required to do at least 6 complete test papers worth of questions (means just do a lot of questions).

This method is what I will emphasize more than merely memorizing or/and reading and re-reading of the notes. Why do I say so?

80% of your notes/textbooks are useless junks that are not tested in exams

NOTE that this is not to say 80% does not contribute to greater understanding and interest of the subject. What I really meant is that the most important portions of the notes (that will be tested) lies mainly in 20% of the notes/textbooks. By reading the notes/textbooks as you do questions, you will (i) be able to focus more on this important 20% that will most likely be tested, and (ii) do it in a shorter amount of time. This results in higher throughput; you learn more (only for doing well in your exams) in a shorter period of time. The only setback is that this reduces your exposure to other interesting aspects of physics.

The old adage practice makes perfect still holds true. If you read only your notes again and again, you will only be good at reading notes. However, if you do questions again and again, then you will be good at doing questions, which is what examinations are all about!


Conclusion

The above two approaches can not only be used in physics, but in other subjects (and life situations) too. I wish you success in employing them effectively. Feel free to point out any errors or misunderstandings, or just ask for clarifications.

Thanks.