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From the From the Mouths of TutorsMouths of Tutors

Study Skills Advice from theStudy Skills Advice from theAcademic Skills CenterAcademic Skills Center

Dr. Marsha UrbanNanci FowlerAcademic Skills CenterAcademic Skills Center

Study Skill Advice from Tutors for:

• General.• Math and science.• Accounting and economic.• Foreign languages.• Political science.• Core Humanities.

Academic Skills CenterAcademic Skills Center

General Study Skills Advice

• Read the book before you go to class.• If you don’t understand something in class, ask

the professor at that moment or mark it in your notebook to ask about it during office hours or during your tutoring session.

• Take copious notes.• Give yourself a full week to study and then you

can sleep the night before the test.• Go over your notes until you now what’s going

on.


General Study Skills continued

• Talk to the professor.• Read the book and listen to the lecture—then

organize your notes to make it best for you.• Go to class (don’t miss more than two classes

during the semester).• Don’t get behind.• Tell yourself that you can do it—be confident,

even if you don’t feel that way at first.• Generally, look for patterns and similarities.


Math and SciencesStudy Skills

• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE.• Get sample tests and mix up examples. Go

over them for 30 to 60 seconds each. Then ask yourself: what problems could you do and what ones couldn’t you do? Was it easy, was it hard, or what scared you?

• Always do your homework.• Learn definitions and theories—and know how

to use them.


Math and Sciencecontinued

• Do multiple practices with a concept. Look at it from different perspectives: lectures, handouts, notes, and books.

• Before a test, go through all your homework, marking the ones you know, the ones you think you know, and the ones you don’t know. Go through the ones you don’t know and the ones you are not sure of multiple times.

• Do not overuse your calculator.



• Always write the formula when you do the homework and do it every time. That way you know it for the test.

• Make connections to practical things when possible.

• Review all the time. Do mini-lectures of your own.• Right after the lecture, go through the practice

problems. Take 10 minutes right after class.• Do homework more than required and more than

once.



• Break things down into layman’s terms to understand the concept.

• Make sure you know the underlying principles. Don’t just plug and chug.

• By the time you finish your homework, you should be able to do the problems on your own—without the book or notes.

• Pre-read and revision reading—even in math.• Organize the different reactions in organic

chemistry, so they are easier to remember.


Accounting and Economics Study Skills

• Do your egrade problems (accounting), the problems in class, and cover your notes when you do them.

• Read the chapter closely. Try to relate what you’re reading to the graph and real life while you read it.

• Ask the professor for help in and out of class.• Be familiar with the examples, know that

formulas and basic steps, and do more practice.


Foreign Languages Study Skills

• Before you start the chapter, learn the vocabulary.

• Practice! Speak it!• Study the verbs—tense is important!• It takes a great deal of studying—it’s not a

lack of intelligence.


Political ScienceStudy Skills

• Keep up on current events.• Read the New Yorker and the Economist.• Synthesize the material and make

connections.


Core HumanitiesStudy Skills

• Use flash cards for key words.• Ask the big questions: what, where, when,

why, and how.• Look at political, social, and economic

elements.• Synthesize the material and make

connections.


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