Develop effective study strategies
Do you want to be good at managing your time and become a successful confident student? This section helps you to identify your goals, review your progress, avoid distractions and develop as a learner.
Developing as a learner
It's important to review your progress and develop strategies. Being proactive means recognising that learning isn't just something that happens to you, it's something that you can have control over.
- Active learning - find ways to interact with what your are studying.
- Visualise your learning - learning as an ongoing process.
- Motivation - looking at your goals relating to your studies.
- Your learning style - know your strengths and preferences.
- Developing your study skills - know what skills are needed in your subject or course.
- The importance of feedback - learn from the feedback given on your assignments.
- Talking about learning - these video clips show extracts from conversations between two experienced educators from the Open University.
Reflect and review
- Being reflective - how reflection can help you to learn and study.
- Benefits of reflection - help you to get more out of your studies in several ways.
- Keeping a reflective learning journal - use on a regular basis to enhance your learning.
- Tools for reflection - try notes, diagrams or mind mapping techniques.
It’s useful to check you're on track, and review your achievements at several stages of the course.
- Course-start review - think about what you want to achieve.
- Mid-course review - identify any areas you need to focus on and plan ahead.
- End-of-course review - consider what you've gained from your course and check that you're on track with your programme of study.
Managing your time and space
- Finding a place to study - getting organised, finding places and systems that work for you.
- Planning and prioritising - know your course, plan your study time.
- Study goals - planning for your long-term goals, and on a regular short-term basis.
- Distractions and procrastination - techniques to help you deal with these.
- Helpful time management tips - for those in a hurry!
- If you fall behind - there are always options to consider.
Mindsets and intelligence
- Thinking about intelligence - introducing different ways of looking at intelligence
- What are mindsets? - perceptions about our own intelligence
- Identifying your mindset - fixed or growth mindset?
- Multiple intelligences - linguistic, spatial, interpersonal ...
- Emotional intelligence - recognising and managing emotions
Booklet
This booklet complements what you will find on this website. If you are an OU student and would like a printed copy of this booklet, contact your regional centre.
You will need your OU computer username and password to access the booklet.
New to OU study?
Check out New to The OU for advice on how to get organised and study tips.
Remember
By improving your strategies and skills you’ll find study more enjoyable, and be more able to understand what you have learned. You can help yourself by
- having a clear purpose
- being willing to try new approaches
- recognising what works best for you.