DU’s Study Tip 3: UNDERSTAND THE OBJECTIVES

Hopefully you’ve started to get ready for your next term or semester after reading Daily-Update’s first two study tips. Here now is our third tip for studying effectively:

TIP THREE: UNDERSTAND THE OBJECTIVES OF THE SUBJECT.
Some students skip over the Objectives section at the start of each chapter in a textbook or at the start of the course materials. Make sure you pay attention to them, though. The objectives in a textbook help you understand what you are going to learn. The objectives in a university handbook show you what your lecturer wants you to understand and learn.
The objectives therefore provide direction and give you focus. You don’t waste your time studying irrelevant things when you don’t have much time to spare (although if you have spare time, it is always beneficial to know your subject broadly as well as deeply).

After you have finished the chapter or course of study, you can go back to the objectives and check that you have fully met them. The objectives will also usually be used in your lecturer’s marking criteria. A deep understanding of each objective, together with an ability to apply and express such knowledge, will yield the highest marks.

At around this time, you can start gathering materials for any assignments that you know about. Start with general background reading and start photocopying and filing articles as you gradually zoom in on the topic. Index cards are traditionally a good method for organizing data, but if you have access to a laptop or PC, databases will probably save you time.

Catch you again next time when we start to talk about active learning.

Cameron Russell

DU Publishers for reasonably priced English e-books (www.dupublishers.com)
DU English Club for learners and teachers of English (www.ducourses.com)
Online English College for guaranteed results in English (www.onlineenglishcollege.com)

Cameron Russell is a director of DUPublishers.com, a leading publisher of high-quality English
e-books. His English membership sites are DU English Club - for English teachers and learners and Online English College - for fast English results. Cameron is also the author of numerous English books and he teaches students English before they enter university. Copyright Daily-Update Pty Ltd 2008 All Rights Reserved