STUDY TECHNIQUES

Independent Study Methods

Effective strategies for learning skills

Este compendio recoge textualmente documentos e información de varias fuentes debidamente

citadas, como referencias elaboradas por el autor para conectar los diferentes temas.

Se lo utilizará únicamente con fines educativos.

Contenido
Subtema 1: ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Learning styles (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic learners) ........................................................... 6
Subtema 2: ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Organizing and planning your time ..................................................................................................... 8
Subtema 3: ........................................................................................................................................... 11
Main and secondary ideas, inference and summary ....................................................................... 11
 COMPETENCIAS Y RESULTADOS DE APRENDIZAJE

Competencias Específicas

Se espera que a través de los temas estudiados en la presente Unidad; los

estudiantes logren las siguientes competencias:

✓ Linguistic competence

✓ Pragmatic

✓ Sociolinguistic

Resultados de Aprendizaje

Se espera que a través de los temas estudiados en la presente Unidad; se logre

alcanzar el siguiente Resultado de Aprendizaje:

Develop the study skills necessary to increase their chances of success in their studies

Con este propósito se ha organizado la Unidad con los siguientes temas vitales para su

comprensión:

✓ Tema 1: Study techniques

✓ Tema 2: Graphic organizers

 DESARROLLO DEL CONTENIDO DEL TEMA 1

TEMA 1

Study techniques

Objetivo
Obtain and retain studying skills to help students maximize the learning process and increase
time management skills by developing criteria for adjusting one’s schedule to meet academic
and non-academic needs.
 DESARROLLO DE LOS SUBTEMAS DEL TEMA 1

Subtema 1: Learning styles (Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic learners)

Learning experiences can be a nightmare when a student does not find an effective learning
experience for themselves. They have different learning styles and it is important than a teacher
takes into consideration. It is possible to define the concept of learning style with a
characterization of Keefe (1988) "Learning styles are the cognitive, affective, and physiological
traits that serve as relatively stable indicators of how students perceive interactions and respond
to their learning environments."

Many authors, define learning styles according to experience, where tradition plays an important
role since some abilities stand out more than others influencing their own experience and those
of the environment where they interact. Learning is a cyclical process that occurs in four periods:
first, there is direct experience, then reflection, which leads to a conceptualization, that is, a
generalization and approach of possible answers, and finally, to carry out the practice or apply
what was learned (Kolb, 2005).

Characteristics of learning styles

The most common characteristics of learning styles are divided into three categories:

1. Cognitive characteristics have to do with the way in which students structure content,
form and use concepts, interpret information, solve problems, select means of
representation.
2. Affective characteristics are linked to motivations and expectations that influence
learning.
3. Physiological aspects are related to the student's biotype and biorhythm.

However, there are various types of Learning Styles, according with this, we will learn about
Fleming’s VAK. This acronym is for Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic sensory modalities (S K &
Tay, 2017). Bandler and Grinder used Fleming’s VAK to launch the NLP model.

As we mentioned before, people learn in different ways, so if a person learns by seeing, they
belong to the Visual group, others learn by listening, they belong to the Auditory group, and
there is another group of learners, the kinesthetics, they learn by doing.
Let’s see the description of each one:

Source: Learning styles by Carol Loyd retrieved from: https://sensorytreasures.co.uk/learning-styles/

Visual
Visual learners understand the world as they see it; The aspect of things is the most important
thing. When they remember something, they do it in the form of images; transform words into
images and when they imagine something from the future, they visualize it. They are very
organized, they love to see the world tidy and clean, they always control things so that they are
well located. Visual people are usually thin. Her posture is somewhat rigid, with her head tilted
forward and her shoulders up. Visual students are well dressed and always look neat and clean.
Appearance is very important to them, in addition, it combines clothes well and chooses them
carefully.

Auditory
Auditory learners tend to be more sedentary than visual. It is more cerebral than others and
has a lot of inner life. They will be very interested to listen. An auditory person is an excellent
communicator. They have a great ability to mentally organize the ideas. Sometimes they seem
to be in a bad mood because of their sensitivity to certain types of noise. They tend to be very
serious and don't smile much. The dress is never as important as their ideas, and the style tends
to be conservative and elegant.

Kinaesthetic
Kinaesthetic learners are very sentimental, sensitive, and emotional. They show their sensitivity
and spontaneously express their feelings. They relate very easily to other people. The
appearance does not interest them much, sometimes their way of dressing adapts to being
careless and may not be combined, they just want to feel comfortable. They move a lot but with
ease. Their postures are very relaxed, with their shoulders low and saggy. Her movements are
slow and calm. They gesticulate a lot; they constantly touch and touch each other. Kinaesthetic
style is also referred to as 'Physical', or 'Tactile', or 'Touchy-Feely'.
In the following table you can see some activities related to VAK model.

Visual learners Auditory learners Kinaesthetic learners

Prefer to read the news on
the newspaper
Prefer written instruction
instead of orally
Need to copy the examples
from the board and check
them later on.
Prefer to listen to the news on Love to solve puzzles and
the radio labyrinths.
Prefer to listen to the Prefer physical experiences
instructions instead of (hands-on activities).
reading them.
Study by reading aloud. Prefer to copy or taking
notes.

As a teacher is important to recognize the group of learners whom we are going to work in
order to apply effective strategies and implement learning activities, there is an excellent
resource where you can find on the Businessballs website:
https://www.businessballs.com/freepdfmaterials/vak_learning_styles_questionnaire.pdf

Subtema 2: Organizing and planning your time

Organizing your time will assure success for your studies, business and work. Most people have
serious difficulties in organizing when studying. It usually causes a feeling of lack of time to
study, of not taking advantage of the time you spend studying and of not advancing at the pace
you would like. Without a doubt, these sensations generate frustration and, in many cases, lead
to drop out of studies.
There is the so-called “Theory or Rule of three 8” that consists of dividing the day into three
parts: 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours to work, and 8 hours to enjoy. In an ideal world, it would be
like this, but in real life, it is very difficult to balance the journey in this way.

The organization of the time is the responsibility of each one. However, learners acquired bad
habits, one of them is neglecting study during the course and trying to catch up on exam time,
investing hours and hours of study. This way of acting leads many students to live that stage
with great anguish since it is difficult to carry out the work of a whole year in a few days.
Furthermore, in most cases, the results obtained are not as good as if the study had been well
planned.

There are some key elements that emerge in the time organization and planning to be successful
in studies and reach your goals.

Tips for good time management

If you want to get the most of your study time, it is important that you organize and plan your
day. Here are some guidelines:

• Make a program with the time you spend daily studying, but it also should include hours
of rest that are essential to clear your mind. Be rigorous with this planning and try to
stick to it.

• Find a quiet space where you will not be interrupted. If the environment is not adequate,
it does not matter the hours of study spent, it will be of little use.

• It is important that you rest well and the appropriate hours, so your performance will be
greater.

• Face the study with a positive attitude, with desire and determination. And do not let
anything, unless it is of vital importance, prevent you from studying when you have
established it.

• Set realistic goals to achieve in terms of time. Achieving what you determined is like an
injection of positive energy that helps you move forward.

• It is essential that you reserve time for leisure and to enjoy life. If you only study, in the
end, you will end up overwhelming yourself. It is better to make a parenthesis, but
always in a balanced way.

• Gather all the material you need to work, be it books, notes, writing material, a
computer, or electronic devices to consult or expand information. Arrange all the material
in an orderly and well filed, so you will not waste time looking for something.
 • A very useful way to consolidate what has been learned is to review the subject just
before and after class. Try this and you will see how you achieve higher performance.
That time invested will give you excellent results.

• It is essential that there are short breaks or breaks when they are studying. They will
help you relax and take up the books with renewed strength.

Fry (2014) in his book mentions the benefits of an effective time-management:

- Help to put first things first
- Help to learn how long everything really takes
- Reduce the tendency to procrastinate
- Help to avoid time traps
- Help to anticipate opportunities
- Give freedom and control
- Help to avoid time conflicts
- Help to avoid feeling guilty
- Help to evaluate your progress
- Help to plan ahead
- Help to learn how to study smarter not harder

And remember Fry’s words: Time management is not magic, though it can appear magical.

In the end, we recommend making your own schedule, there are online tools that can help you
organise your time such as Google calendar or Microsoft outlook.

Source: How to study by Ron Fry (2014)

 Subtema 3: Main and secondary ideas, inference and summary
In this subtopic we will learn about some strategies that helps us to develop our learning skills.
Let’s start by mentioning the Reading comprehension process. In this Reading subskill we
extract explicit and implicit information, make inferences from the information in the text and
from your experiences and knowledge, interpret expressions in figurative language comparing
information and formulating opinion on some aspects of the reading and we can even summarize
information.

Organizing ideas is not simply communicating details, it is rather writing the most relevant,
selecting them, and presenting them in precise and orderly writing.

The fundamental steps to follow a good organization of specific ideas are to observe, select,
and write. Another point related to the organization of ideas is good writing that must have
clarity, precision, and simplicity.

What is the main idea?

Main Idea: Express more general statement, is what gives meaning to the other ideas in the
paragraph, is the most important. It is a kind of synthesis of the message, providing the most
specific aspects of it. The main ideas can appear in a text from two opposites ways, explicit and
implicit.

The main idea is characterized by:

- Expose the most important content, therefore it cannot be deleted.

- It has autonomy, it does not depend on others.
- Articulate the sentences in the paragraph.
- Sometimes it is not explicit and has to be deduced

How to identify the main idea of a text.

 Read - the text, paragraph by paragraph, and extract the most important ideas,
which will give you the general idea extracted from the entire text.

Resume - these ideas in your own words, this will mean that you have understood
correctly.

Elaborate - the main idea, extracted from the reading of the entire text, but still
understanding the reading.

Change - the title to the text, for another one that you think is more in accordance
with it, and that also helps your total knowledge of the matter.

Ways to extract the main idea from a text

There are two ways to extract the main idea from a text:

Syntactic form is to verify the repetition of the keywords or phrases or synonyms, which help
you choose the main idea of the text.

Semantic form complements the previous one and tries to extract the necessary key phrase
(without which the text would not make sense) and deliver all the relevant information in the
text.

What is the secondary idea (supporting details)?

Secondary Idea: It expresses accessory data, details, nuances and complementary points of the
main idea. Affirm or reject the main idea. In this process we can follow the three steps: Identify
the process, identify what the author is saying about the topic and Identify details that support
or explain the main idea.

There are four ways, to expand, to develop, or to qualify the idea exposed in the main phase:
by repetition, by contrast, by exemplification, by justification.

Let’s explain each one:

1. By repetition: When the content of the main sentence is maintained, varying only the
words.

2. By contrast: They are very difficult phrases to highlight the main idea.

3. By exemplification: They serve to make us understand the scope of the main idea
through specific cases and applications.
 4. By justification: This type of sentence contains reasons or arguments that support the
affirmation established in the main sentence.

There are two types of supporting details: major and minor.

Source: Supporting details retrieved from: https://www.palmbeachstate.edu/slc/Documents/supporting%20details%20hints

There are some keywords using at the beginning of supporting details sentences:

What is the inference?

From cognitive psychology, the inference is understood as a procedure of thought and a stable
intellectual amplitude in mental processes. The inferential capacity is located on two levels, the
local and the global, without being only a process of collecting signs but also the relationship
that the mind establishes with ideas. As a mental exercise, it is allowed to improve the inferential
capacity called intelligence.

Inferring aids comprehension, leading the reader to ask questions as they read and use context
clues to determine the author's purpose and the meaning of the entire book.
 1. Completing pre-reading activities will guide you to inferential thinking. Pre-reading
includes looking at the text and previewing the book. To get started, read the information
on the spine or the inside flap that provides details about the plot and characters. Take
a look at the chapter titles to learn about what could happen in the story.
2. Use your prior knowledge of similar experiences to make inferences. This process is
called "making connections." Readers do this when they identify with the characters,
their conflicts, and their actions. This is a skill that improves with practice. After reading
a chapter in a fiction book, reflect on the events that occurred. Ask yourself if anything
reminds you of any particular situation you have experienced and how you reacted. This
practice will help you make reasonable inferences about what might happen next.
3. Record your inferences in a graphic organizer. This is a useful exercise to fully
understand the book. When you come across an unknown word, record the inferred
definition using context keys. After reading, record the actual definition, and compare
the results. Follow the same procedure when inferring the characters' motives and
actions.
4. Practice inferring with online activities. There are free resources available on the Internet
that you can access. For example, ereadingworksheets.com

Summarize
This is a study technique that consists of briefly writing the content of a text (main and
secondary ideas) in our own words. The summary facilitates the comprehension and
memorization of a text, favours the learning of long texts, allows quick review, and increases
performance.

To begin to make a good summary, you should do an exploratory reading of the text, help to
capture the general idea, and clarify the doubts that arise.
Then, the text is read carefully and underlined, from that underline the summary begins to be
written copying it in order and taking into account the syntax.

To make a summary, the following conditions must be met:

- It should be brief, but complete and understandable.
- It includes the important topic and the teacher's explanations or the data provided by
the student himself.
- It must be part of an archive of numbered pages that facilitates the use, revision, or
extension as many times as necessary.
 PREGUNTAS DE COMPRENSIÓN DE LA UNIDAD

What does VAK stand for?

The acronyms VAK stands for Visual, Auditory and Kinaesthetic

Mention at least two benefits of managing your time?

Posible answers:
- Help to put first things first
- Help to learn how long everything really takes
- Reduce the tendency to procrastinate
- Help to avoid time traps
- Help to anticipate opportunities
- Give freedom and control
- Help to avoid time conflicts
- Help to avoid feeling guilty
- Help to evaluate your progress
- Help to plan ahead
- Help to learn how to study smarter not harder

What does main idea mean?

It is a kind of synthesis of the message, providing the most specific aspects of it.

What does supporting details mean?

It expresses accessory data, details, nuances and complementary points of the main idea. Affirm
or reject the main idea.
 MATERIAL COMPLEMENTARIO

Los siguientes recursos complementarios son sugerencias para que se pueda ampliar la
información sobre el tema trabajado, como parte de su proceso de aprendizaje autónomo:

Videos de apoyo:
See on the platform.

Bibliografía de apoyo:

Cuesta College. (15 de 05 de 2020). Topics, Main Ideas, and Support. Retrieved from: Reading
comprehension:
https://www.cuesta.edu/student/resources/ssc/study_guides/reading_comp/307_read_main_idea.ht
ml

Dvorak, T. (2017). Studying vs learning the psychology of student success. BookBaby.

McPherson, F. (2014). Successful Learning Simplified: A Visual Guide. Wayz Press.

Links de apoyo:
See on the platform.

REFERENCIAS BIBLIOGRAFICAS

Fry, R. (2014). How to Study. New York: Open Road.

S K, S. N., & Tay, C. H. (2017). Styles of Learning VAK. International Journal For Innovative Research In
multidisciplinary field.

KEEFE, J. (1988). APRENDIENDO PERFILES DE APRENDIZAJE: MANUAL DE EXAMINADOR, RESTON VA. ASOCIACIÓN
NACIONAL DE PRINCIPAL DE ESCUELA DE SECUNDARIA.

KOLB, D. (1977). APRENDIZAJE Y SOLUCIÓN DE PROBLEMAS. EN KOLB, D., RUBIN I. & MCLNTYRE J., PSICOLOGÍA DE LAS
ORGANIZACIONES: PROBLEMAS CONTEMPORÁNEOS. MADRID.

KOLB, D. (2005). DEPARTAMENTO DE EDUCACIÓN SECUNDARIA TÉCNICA Y JEFATURAS DE ENSEÑANZA, EE.UU. REGIÓN
NORTE. RETRIEVED FROM: http://www.slideshare.net/mispowerpoints/estilos-de-aprendizaje