Istanbul Gelisim University - Expert advice to students: time management enables effective studying

Expert advice to students: time management enables effective studying

Stating effective studying will lessen the responsibilities of students and will make them better, Asst. Prof. Derya Kavgaoğlu said, “When managed correctly, time enables effective studying.”

From Istanbul Gelisim University, Asst. Prof. Derya Kavgaoğlu made statements about study habits. Saying that even if students study for a long time, if they cannot make more progress every day, if they cannot ensure the permanence of what they have learned, and if they cannot feel that they are more ready for assessment-evaluation processes, it should be considered as 'ineffective studying'. Asst. Prof. Derya Kavgaoğlu said, “This is one of the main problems that often cause parents to worry about why their child can not be successfull despite working so hard. Early detection of this situation with parental observation or student's self-awareness and the implementation of effective study skills by the student increases academic success by preventing possible learning losses.”

“JUST READING IS NOT ENOUGH TO LEARN”

Mentioning that the most important factor enabling learning according to research on learning is “active interest” in the course material, Asst. Prof. Derya Kavgaoğlu said, “In other words, no matter how long students spend in front of the course material, meaningful learning is not possible if it includes passive strategies such as ‘just reading, just watching, just listening’. The basis of active interest is the student's interest in the content of the course material, consciously processing this content and making an effort to understand the content. Again, studies show that the most effective strategy to achieve this is to ‘teach’ oneself or others. It will enable the student to formulate the questions, problems and answers that can be given to the subject, to express the new information they have learned in their own words and aloud, to associate it with their own life and find examples, to produce representative symbols for concepts that are difficult to understand, to produce meaning with maps, figures or graphics.”

“EVERY STUDENT HAS DIFFERENT INTELLIGENCE”

"Another effective factor in acquiring efficient study habits is the fact that the student has knowledge of how he/she can learn" said Dr. Kavgaoğlu and continued, “Thinking with questions such as ‘Why am I learning the lesson?’, ‘How will I use the knowledge I have learned?’, ‘How long and how do I learn this information?’, ‘What strategy do I follow if I can't learn?’ and ‘What will I get after all?’ will enable the student to progress in this regard. The answers to these questions are sensitive to individual differences because each student has a different intelligence type, so the strategies they will use to solve problems will also be different.

Dr. Kavgaoğlu continued her speech as follows:

“Determining a sequence of operations while studying” and developing a habit to follow this sequence is also an important strategy that will ensure efficient work. E.g; Before the lessons, to briefly review the topics, to note down the topics and concepts highlighted in bold, to review the chapter summaries and chapter objectives, if any, to note the questions that occur in the mind, to take practical notes during the lesson, to evaluate the notes taken after the lesson, to ensure the permanence of learning, preparing a weekly, monthly based repetition plan, self-evaluating how much you have learned, are programming habits that should be gained in this context.”

“MANAGING TIME CORRECTLY PROVIDES EFFICIENT WORK”

Emphasizing that time is a factor that will ensure efficient work if managed correctly, Dr. Kavgaoglu said:

“By dividing the daily study time into regular small sessions, focusing and using small breaks after the sessions will provide more effective learning and will make it easier to memorize what has been learned. In addition, it is among the important habits to be able to manage time by prioritizing educational goals such as the exam to be taken, the school to study, the diploma to be received, and future life goals, to focus on activities that serve this purpose, and to distinguish time-wasting activities and stay away from them. Digital environments, which have become a routine part of their lives, especially for 21st century children and youth, who are born into technology and also defined as digital natives, can become a time-wasting tool while studying. For this reason, it can be an effective method to limit screen time in environments such as computers, phones, tablets, and to use practical applications for this in order to manage distractions and maintain focus while studying. When current study habits do not lighten the course load and progress is not achieved despite studying, it will be possible to get productive results by raising awareness of effective study skills and acquiring the right study habits.”