Study Skills for Higher Education: Goals, Memory, and Methods

This report delves into the crucial aspects of study skills essential for success in higher education. It begins by emphasizing the significance of goal setting, outlining the importance of both short-term and long-term objectives for university students, such as completing assignments on time, improving exam grades, and maintaining scholarships. The report then evaluates various methods students can employ to enhance their memory and retention of new information, including focusing attention, avoiding cramming, utilizing mnemonic devices, visualizing concepts, and dedicating extra effort to challenging material. The conclusion reinforces the need for students to identify and establish goals, along with effective learning strategies, to achieve academic excellence and perform well in exams. The report references several academic sources to support its findings, providing a comprehensive overview of study skills and their impact on academic performance.

Study Skills for Higher
Education

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
1) Discuss why it is important to set goals. Identify some important short-term and long-term
goals for university students........................................................................................................3
2) Evaluate some methods students can use to improve how much they remember new
information..................................................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Study skills and academic skills are the approaches and strategies that helps the students to
learn various concepts. Such skills enable a student in getting better grades and marks (Cottrell,
2017). They are the array of skills with which various information can be gained by the
individual, retaining the information that they have and gathered through various lectures and
assignments undertaken. With the help of such skills the short term and long-term academic
goals can easily be accomplished. The achieving of short-term goals enables the student to be in
a position that can help in accomplishing long-term goals. Such academic goals of the students
enable them to determine what they have to achieve and the steps that they have to take for this.
In this report the importance of setting of goals and ways of improving the learning are
discussed.
Main Body
1) Discuss why it is important to set goals. Identify some important short-term and long-term
goals for university students
Goals are important for an individual as they provide the direction and the purpose to the
students. Students in the higher studies consider such goals as roadmap that can help them in
being successful. Formation of such is important for the students as with this they can:
 Improved focus: It improves their focus as with this they get to know about what they
have to achieve. It is very easy to say that I want to get better marks but goals enable
them to focus upon various steps that can take them to success (Fisher, Reynolds and
Sheehan, 2016).
 Increased motivation: It increases their level of motivation as with this they can
determine the opportunities that they can avail. Also, it makes the student committed
towards their aims.
 Higher quality education experience: When the students have a roadmap, it facilitates
them in improving the quality of the education that they want to achieve as with this the
student can gather more skills and information. This adds up value to their level of
understanding that contributes in keeping them on track.
Some of the short-term goals for a university student includes:
 Completion of the assignments on time that has been allocated to them.

 Increasing the grade points in the mid-term exams so that final performance can be
improved.
 At college level the aim of the student is to qualify various scholarship or grant so that
they can continue with their studies.
 Participating in classroom activities and extracurricular activities so that overall
development can be made possible (Marvin and Shohamy, 2016).
Some of the long-term goals for a university student is:
 Overcoming the failures of the past which can related with the academic failure or
involvement in any misconduct.
 Consistent participation in various activities with which fear of public speaking can be
overcome and confidence can be improved.
 Maintaining the scholarship and the grants so provided to them so that the benefits can be
taken over throughout.
Identification of such short- term and long-term goals make the vision of the student clear
regarding which steps they have to take so that they can achieve their objectives and goals
(Birman and Tran, 2017).
2) Evaluate some methods students can use to improve how much they remember new
information
Students have to learn a lot in the university and for which they have to appear in the
exams on regular basis. Due to this for the students it is important to learn various ways with the
help of which they can remember new information for a longer period of time (Ogiela, 2017).
Various methods that can be adopted by the students for improving their capabilities are:
 Focus your Attention: Attention plays important role in remembering the concepts as
with this the understanding of the concept can be developed effectively. With this the
information moves to the long-term memory form the short-term memory.
 Avoid cramming: The study material that is being provided in the sessions is adequate
enough to process the information rather than cramming them. This develops
understanding of the concept which can be remember for a longer period of time.
 Use of Mnemonic devices: Mnemonic devices are those techniques with the help of
which students can recall the content and topics. In this the topic and content is related
with something you are familiar with such as any imagery, humour, novelty element.

 Visualize concepts: In this technique the focus must be on the charts, pictures, graphics
etc. Such visuals become the clue which facilitate the learner to remember the concept by
linking to it.
 Pay extra efforts on the difficult information: The data which is crucial and difficult
must be recalled and rehearsed again and again. This will create a picture of the concept
in the mind which will develop an understanding of the concept. Thus, enables the
student to make them learn the concept (Assiter, 2017).
With the help of such methods the student in the university, college or at any level can
effectively learn various concepts and remember them for a longer period. It enables the students
to relate things with each other and in becoming focussed towards their goals and objectives.

CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above report that a students need to identify various aspects relating
to their higher studies. With the help of this they can determine the requirement of the
establishment of various short-term and long-term goals. They enable the student in determining
the pathway with which students can achieve their objectives. Further it is important for the
students to determine various methods with which they can remember whatever they have
learned for a longer period as they have to consistently appear in various exams. Such methods
facilitate the students in scoring better grades.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Assiter, A., 2017. Transferable skills in higher education. Routledge.
Birman, D. and Tran, N., 2017. When worlds collide: Academic adjustment of Somali Bantu
students with limited formal education in a US elementary school. International
Journal of Intercultural Relations. 60. pp.132-144.
Cottrell, S., 2017. Critical thinking skills: Effective analysis, argument and reflection. Macmillan
International Higher Education.
Fisher, S.D., Reynolds, J.L. and Sheehan, C.E., 2016. The protective effects of adaptability,
study skills, and social skills on externalizing student–teacher relationships. Journal of
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. 24(2). pp.101-110.
Marvin, C.B. and Shohamy, D., 2016. Curiosity and reward: Valence predicts choice and
information prediction errors enhance learning. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
General. 145(3). p.266.
Ogiela, L.D., 2017. Cognitive information systems in management sciences. Morgan Kaufmann.
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