Why learn about study skills?

Throughout your college career, you’ll be responsible for completing a lot of different types of assessments: pre-quizzes, essays, group projects, tests, exams, and more. Teachers assign them in order to evaluate your learning. In order to prepare for these assessments, it’s important that you study—and study effectively.

Marcel is just starting his freshman year of college. He knows he has to study to get good grades, but he finds himself pushing off his homework until the last minute. Marcel rarely completes his reading assignments—even when he doesn’t understand the material discussed in class. As the semester goes on, he finds himself doing a multi-hour cram session right before each test starts, hoping he’ll retain the material at least as long as it takes to complete the test.

What are the problems in Marcel’s study habits? Can you identify more effective strategies he could use?

In this section, we’ll learn how to effectively prepare for different assignments and how to use your results to shape your later studies.