Habits of high achieving students
LEARNING SKILLS
1. Manage time effectively
What is time management?
The use of time to
increase your
efficiency,
effectiveness, and
productivity.
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Research shows
Effective time management...
• reduces stress
• improves problem solving ability
• improves academic performance
• is the top predictor of Grade Point
Average (GPA)
• is a skill highly valued by employers
Sources: Misra & McKean (2000), George et al. (2010), Josephs & Hahn
(1995)
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3 key skills involved in
time management
a. Goal setting
b. Prioritizing
c. Planning and scheduling
http://sbinfocanada.about.com/od/timemanagement/g/timemanagement.htm
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a. Goal setting: S.M.A.R.T
• Specific
•
•
•
•
Measureable
Attainable
Relevant
Time bound
Which is the S.M.A.R.T goal?
• I will create a new blog this year.
• I will write 500 words for my new blog on best
places to visit in Sydney each week by Dec 2015.
http://www.smart-goals-guide.com/smart-goal-examples.html
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Individual Task
Write down a list of the things you did yesterday.
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b. Prioritising
Put your list of things in this decision matrix
Important and Urgent
Important but Not Urgent
Not Important but Urgent
Not Urgent and Not Important
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/10/23/eisenhower-decision-matrix/
S. Covey, 7 habits of highly effective people
b. Prioritising
Put your list of things in this decision matrix
Important and Urgent
(Crises, deadlines)
Important but Not Urgent
(Relationship building,
planning, recreation)
Not Important but Urgent
Not Urgent and Not Important
(Some phone calls, emails, and (time wasters, pleasant
text messages)
activities: e.g. playing
computer games, checking
Facebook)
http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/10/23/eisenhower-decision-matrix/
S. Covey, 7 habits of highly effective people
How much time do you need
for your study?
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c. Planning and scheduling
Sample online tool: Google Calendar
c. Planning and scheduling
Sample assignment planner
Week
LING210
SOC130
1
2
3
4
Tutorial
Paper
20%
5
Tutorial
Paper
20%
Short
Quiz
15%
Other
activities
7
8
11
Essay
40%
12
13
Short
Quiz
15%
Present
ation
20%
Group
Present
ation
20%
Blue Mt.
Trip
10
Paper
40%
Report
30%
Paper
20%
9
Assignment
20%
Short
Essay
20%
ACC210
IEC100
6
Exam
50%
Long
Essay
30%
Exam
30%
Sister
visiting
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c. Planning and scheduling
Work back from due dates
Week
1
2
3
4
SOC130
5
Short Quiz
15%
Q analysis &
reading
First Draft
IEC100
Short Essay
15%
Final Draft
Paper
20%
Q analysis
& write
outline
Other
activities
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Research &
reading
First Draft
& extra
research
6
Final Draft &
Proofreading
Blue Mountains
Trip
c. Planning and scheduling
Assignment planning calculator
http://owll.massey.ac.nz/academic-writing/assignment-planning-calculator.php
2. Think critically
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=24&v=_L9CYPdqze0
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Is this descriptive or critical writing?
Text A
This year’s annual APEC summit in Bangkok once again
raises the question of the usefulness of this forum. APEC
was established to promote free trade, but from the start
the annual summits were easily sidetracked by noneconomic issues. This year has been no exception, with the
agenda dominated by political and diplomatic issues. At
the same time, APEC’s economic role has also been
reduced because important trade decisions in the region
are left tot the WTO, while a growing number of Asia
Pacific countries are making bilateral trade deals with each
other because multilateral free trade is so slow in coming.
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Source:
Brick, J. (2009). Academic culture: A student’s guide to studying at university,
15
South Yarra: Macmillan Education Australia
Is this descriptive or critical writing?
Text B
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum is a
loose grouping of the countries bordering the Pacific Ocean
that have pledged to facilitate free trade. APEC was
founded in 1989 and consists of 21 countries including
China, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Chile, Mexico and
the United States. Together, its members account for 45%
of world trade. The body is pledged to respect the
independence and integrity of all member states, and
decisions reached at its meetings do not have binding force.
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Source:
Brick, J. (2009). Academic culture: A student’s guide to studying at university,
16
South Yarra: Macmillan Education Australia
3. Be an active learner
 Listen and read actively and critically
 Participate in class/tutorials
 Learn collaboratively
 Transform the information you
receive:
• take notes of main points
• summarise
• make diagrams
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Benefits of active learning
Active learning improves your interest levels and motivates. If you are
actively involved in what you are learning, you can remember much more.
Text to notes
Text to diagram
Active learning
improves:
motivation
interest
memory
Active
learning
improves
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• interest
• motivation
• memory
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Individual Task
Transform this text
Did you know that students remember only about
10% of what they read? When they see and hear,
this figure increases to 20%. When something is
demonstrated to them, they remember more about 30%. However, if they actually discuss
something, they remember 50% of what they hear.
The amount remembered increases to 75% if they
practise doing something. But the highest
retention rate occurs when students have to teach
something to others – it rises to 90%!
http://www.willatworklearning.com/2006/05/people_remember.html
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Possible transformations
Stds remember
from:
• Reading 10%
• See/hear 20%
• Demo 30%
• Discussion 50%
• Do 75%
• Teach 90%
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4. Approach assignments strategically
Break down the assignment into tasks
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5. Preparing effectively for exams
Results from a research study
More effective
Less effective
• Taking practice tests
• Writing summaries (of
various lengths) of to-belearned texts*
• Revising small amounts
regularly (‘spaced’ practice)
• Generating an explanation
for why an explicitly stated
fact or concept is true
• Explaining how new
information is related to
known information, or
explaining steps taken
during problem solving
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• Highlighting and
underlining text
• Using keywords and
mental imagery to
associate with words/text
• Rereading (your notes,
textbook, etc.)
SOURCE: Dunsosky etal. (2013)
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6. Maintain a healthy life style
Task: Group discussion
• What is a healthy life style?
• How healthy do you think your lifestyle is
right now?
• Do you think this will change once your start
your semester? If yes, what do you think you
can do about it?
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7. Know where to find help
(and seek it when you need it)
Learning Skills
Numeracy Centre
LibGuides
Campus Wellbeing
Academic advisers
ask.mq.edu.au
IT Help: [email protected]
9850-4357
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High achieving students…
1. manage time effectively
2. think critically
3. are active learners
4. approach assignments strategically
5. prepare effectively for exams
6. maintain a healthy lifestyle
7. know where to find help (and seek it when you
need it)
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CENTRE I LEARNING SKILLS GROUP 2015
Bibliography
Britton, B.K., & Glynn, S.M. (1989). Mental management and creativity: A cognitive model of time
management for intellectual productivity. In J.A. Glover, R.R. Ronning & C.R. Reynolds (Eds.),
Handout of Creativity, pp.429-440. New York: Plenum Press.
Covey, S.R. (1989). Seven habits of highly effective people: Powerful lessons in personal change. New
York: Simon & Schuster.
Dunlovsky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J., Nathan, M.J. & Willingham, D.T. (2013). Improving students’
learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational
psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58.
George, D., Dixon, S., Stansal, E., Lund, S. & Pheri, T. (2010). Time diary and questionnaire assessment
of factors associated with academic and personal success among university undergraduates. Journal of
American College Health, 56(6), 706-715.
Josephs, R.A. & Hahn, E.D. (1995). Bias and accuracy in estimates of task duration. Organizational
Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 61, 202-213.
Misra, R. & Mckean, M. (2000). College students’ academic stress and its relation to their anxiety, time
management, and leisure satisfaction. American Journal of Health Studies, 16. Retrieved from
http://www.biomedsearch.com/article/College-students-academic-stress-its/65640245.html
Thank you!
[email protected]
mq.edu.au/learningskills