Five Bad Study Habits 1. Writing down【T1】________of a lecture Solution: Put the information into a chart or【T2】________

Five bad study habits
    Have you ever wondered how you can bomb a test after studying for hours? A poor test result after many hours of faithful studying is a real confidence buster. If this happens to you, it’s possible that your current study habits are failing you. The following study habits are least helpful when used alone.
    Firstly, taking linear notes. Linear notes are lecture notes that students take when they attempt to write down every word of a lecture. It’s not bad to capture every word of a lecture, but it is bad to think you’re studying effectively if you don’t mess with your linear notes in some way. Now, here comes our solution to this bad habit. To reinforce information and to make it sink in, you must also recreate all your class notes in another form. You have to revisit the information and put it all into a chart or shrinking outline. Right before every new lecture, you should review your notes from days past and predict the next day’s material. You should reflect and make relationships between key concepts before you sit down for a new lecture. You should prepare for your exams by creating a fill in the blank test from your notes.
    Secondly, highlighting the book. Bright colors on a page make a big visual impact, so it seems that a lot of good studying is going on when you read and highlight. Highlighting does make important information stand out on a page, but reading highlighted words again and again is not active enough. Our solution to this is to use the information you highlight to create a practice exam. Put highlighted words on flashcards and practice until you know every term and concept.
    Thirdly, rewriting notes. Students rewrite notes under the assumption that repetition is good for memorization. Repetition is valuable as a first step, but it’s not that effective all alone. You should rewrite your notes in the shrinking outline method, but follow up with self testing methods. Better still, switch class notes with a classmate and create a practice exam from his her notes.
    Fourthly, Rereading the chapter. Students are often encouraged to reread a chapter on the night before an exam to reinforce what they’ve learned. Just like the other study habits mentioned above, rereading is only one part of a puzzle. My advice is that make sure to use active steps like charts, shrinking outlines and practice tests, and follow up with rereading your chapter.
    Fifthly, Memorizing definitions once you’ve exited middle school, you can’t expect to do well in an exam by memorizing the definitions of terms. You must learn to memorize a definition and then define the significance of the new vocabulary terms you encounter.
    Our solution to this is something like this. Once you have memorized the definitions of your terms, give yourself a short essay practice test. Make sure you are able to define a term and explain why it is significant. Be able to compare and contrast your term to other terms of similar significance. The act of testing and retesting yourself somehow makes the information stick.