A systematic study format is vital

Education

By THOMAS HUKAHU
IN a couple of weeks, tens of thousands of students will be sitting for their end-of-year examinations.
The Grade 8, 10 and 12 students will be sitting for their exams set by examiners engaged by the Education Department while other students in colleges and universities will doing the end-of-semester exams.
Some people will walk out of their exam rooms feeling satisfied while others will be unhappy. Their feelings, whether positive or negative, are due to one main thing, and that is the question: How well did they prepare for their exams?

Form a systematic way of studying
In recent days, I have been talking to students and telling them that just because you are naturally brilliant does not guarantee you success at the higher levels of learning, as at university.
Many brilliant people walk into a university in the first year of studies but a good number of those will not stay on to do their second year, much less complete their BSc or BA degree.
The reason why they could not do that has nothing to do with their natural abilities. The problem was they did not form a better way of studying in a systematic way.
Educators will tell you that at the lower levels of schooling, as in Grades 8 and 10, students can skip school and not be serious with their learning and yet score high grades. That would not happen at the Grade 12 level and beyond.
Students who succeed in Grade 12 and beyond are not surface learners. They do not just rely on their natural brilliance, they also put in the hours, as in following a routine to complete their work on a daily basis.
I learned to map out a routine and follow it thoroughly daily after I was advised by my Grade 12 teacher, over 30 years ago. That enabled me to walk into and out of university without any real hassle when I chose to study science, maths and, a bit later, education, where I wrote a lot of essays.
I applied the same routine to most other subjects that I studied from then on, and that included studying a foreign language, like French.

What’s this systematic way of studying?
That systematic way of studying was mentioned to me by my Grade 12 maths teacher decades ago. She said: “If you want to improve your marks in maths, then you must spend one hour a day on maths work.”
Before becoming a student of that teacher, I never took maths work seriously. I spent about 30 minutes each day.
But in that year, I took on her words and logged in one hour a day on maths, six days a week. The result was, I became more confident with my work in class and tests. And maths never was that hard again.

The artist’s way of doing things
That way of studying, of a student systematically daily logging in one hour on any subject of his or her choosing is what I call the artist’s habit of perfecting the piece that is being worked on.
You will see painters, sculptors, potters or pianists approach their work in the same manner. (Professional athletes also have a similar habit. They practise for hours daily to be the best – in the morning, as well as afternoon. In a way, athletes are also artists.)
The artists sit down at their favourite worktables (or out in the open at a favourite spot) and the minutes pass into hours as they meticulously shape their work with their hands. They do not move around, they sit still and focus their attention completely on the work before them. (In a similar way, the best pianists spend a few hours a day practising scales and different musical pieces.)
Good mathematics students also attend to their work in a similar manner. To use the one hour effectively, they find a room or place and an appropriate time so that they will not be disturbed.
All phones, radio or CD players will be switched off.
That one hour must be undisturbed and possibly kept at the same time of the day, each day.
 
What does one do in that one hour?
The systematic routine of studying one hour a day on each subject you choose (for example, mathematics, English or French) should comprise a number of activities.
For illustration purposes, let me use maths as the subject that you want to do well in and want to use the one hour routine daily on. Here is what you do in that one hour.

• Review all work: Take about 15 minutes to briefly review all work covered in the day. For maths, you may have to redo examples given in class in another notebook (or piece of paper) to see if you really understand the work.
• Complete all homework: Complete all homework given for the day. Yes, complete all of them. If you are unable to complete all mathematics work in the one hour, leave them for later. Attend to work in the other subjects. You can return to them after completing other work. But try to complete all Maths homework daily. (What you do today will help you understand what you will learn tomorrow. What you failed to understand today could prevent you learning concepts taught tomorrow.)
• Attempt similar exercises: If you have completed all homework exercises in that one hour, attempt similar exercises from your textbook. Good teachers and tutors usually give extra work. Complete those also.
• Make notes, build up a glossary: Make notes of any formulas or theorems in a separate notebook for easy reference in the future. Build up your glossary also in that book.
  In studying mathematics you will often recreate proofs of laws or theorems. Have those done in a separate notebook, or on blank papers. The more you recreate the proofs, the better you remember them.
• Draw diagrams: It is good to draw figures (two- or three-dimensional) on paper in topics like trigonometry and geometry. In some problem solving work, it is good to draw diagrams to better visualise the problem. It will help if you try recreating diagrams on paper. By recreating them they will be better impressed in your mind – you will remember them better.

Follow the process
In setting up a routine and following it systematically, as in spending one hour a day on a subject, will help you in a huge way.
The one-hour-a-day routine helps you dig deep. If you follow that routine, you go beyond surface learning, which is a lazy type of learning where you depend on chance to score good marks in your tests and exams.
You have to change that. You cannot live a life of chance. Do better than that.
Like I said earlier when starting this article, most students do not pass their tests and exams at higher levels because even though they may be naturally brilliant, they never developed a better way of studying.
Just being naturally brilliant is no promise that you will earn a diploma or degree with flying colours.
Such people are still relying on surface learning, the way they studied when they were smaller kids. But such a system will not get them far.
The systematic approach I am proposing to you is a sure process of getting your results. Just follow the process. The fruits will follow.
Next week: How do you prepare for an exam?

• Thomas Hukahu is a freelance writer.