The Great Book Of Study Skills: STUDY SKILLS

By MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Starting from basic concepts, such as the ideal place to concentrate on studying, through the essential techniques to synthesize a book or text in a few words, the different ways to read in a fruitful way (which is none other than to fully understand what is read) and the best tools to write in a precise and pleasant way to read, this work groups the best and most important study techniques in a single volume, being extremely useful for both students and teachers. The book is completed with two topics of great interest: first, exams, with special attention to the classification, comparison and understanding of each of the questions commonly used to evaluate. Finally, the book delves into the fascinating world of the elaboration of monographs, particularly in the crucial question of the choice of the topic to be dealt with.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LA BISAGRA STUDY SKILLS
• Release date: Sep 24, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201741624

MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

Mauricio Enrique Fau nació en Buenos Aires en 1965. Se recibió de Licenciado en Ciencia Política en la Universidad de Buenos Aires. Cursó también Derecho en la UBA y Periodismo en la Universidad de Morón. Realizó estudios en FLACSO Argentina. Docente de la UBA y AUTOR DE MÁS DE 3.000 RESÚMENES de Psicología, Sociología, Ciencia Política, Antropología, Derecho, Historia, Epistemología, Lógica, Filosofía, Economía, Semiología, Educación y demás disciplinas de las Ciencias Sociales. Desde 2005 dirige La Bisagra Editorial, especializada en técnicas de estudio y materiales que facilitan la transición desde la escuela secundaria a la universidad. Por intermedio de La Bisagra publicó 38 libros. Participa en diversas ferias del libro, entre ellas la Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires y la FIL Guadalajara.

Book preview

THE GREAT BOOK OF

STUDY SKILLS

––––––––

MAURICIO FAU

Copyright © 2021 Mauricio Enrique Fau

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 9798727544945

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

The Great Book Of Study Skills

HOW TO STUDY | INTRODUCTION | TO BEGIN WITH, A BASIC AND ESSENTIAL IDEA

TO FOLLOW: YOU MUST HAVE A METHOD

Where to study

When to study: making a work plan

What to study with: having everything you need at hand

TO ADVANCE STEP BY STEP | WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE READING THE TEXT | What to read first? Welcome to the paratext.

WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO (PARTS OF THE PARATEXT AND OTHER REFERENCES) | a) Subject matter, program, thematic unit and chair to which the text belongs

b) Where did this one come from?

c) A fundamental reference: headings and subheadings

d) Make a general record of the text to be read.

What is not text is... cotext.

The context in which we read the text

Very important: if it is a reading for a class, READ BEFORE!

Let's read!

To be highlighted!

Read only what is highlighted! (looking for keywords)

Search for key indicator words

Search for connectors that indicate points of view

Bring a summary written by you to class!

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT STUDY BY HEART

THE PQRST METHOD

OTHER TIPS: WHO AND WHEN

WHAT IF I DIDN'T READ WHAT DO I DO IN CLASS?

A general outline with an example

Common mistakes when taking notes in class

Tips for taking notes in class

The mistake of studying for the teacher

Studying in a group, yes or no?

HOW TO STUDY GENERAL REVIEW⇨

TO FINISH AS WE STARTED, A BASIC AND ESSENTIAL IDEA | The scholar defends total soccer, the slacker only looks at the result.

HOW TO SUMMARIZE

INTRODUCTION | It's all relative: between LeBron James and the wedding gown

Types of reading

Types of texts

What is key and what is complementary in an academic text

SUMMARIZING: WHAT IT IS | SUMMARIZING: WHAT IT IS NOT

Summarizing for oneself or for others

Four Important Rules

VAN DIJK: MACRO-RULES | FOR PREPARING SUMMARIES

STEP BY STEP | Save me, somebody save me...

STEP 1 | AND NOW IT'S TIME TO READ... | Step zero: just read

a) Yellow paint

b) Conceptual Keywords

c) Indication Keywords

d) Who and When

STEP 3 | SUMMARIZING | The qualities of good writing

ACTIONS IN STUDY TEXTS

Summarizing means paraphrasing

INCORPORATING NEW TOOLS

Use synonyms

Use examples

How to highlight key concepts:  frames

How to organize lists, classifications or definitions:  tables

Upper/lower case System (UlS)

And what are those small letters for, if nobody reads them? Footnotes

A special case of footnote: bibliographical references and quotes

Concept maps

PRODUCING THE FINAL SUMMARY

HOW TO READ | AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU READ | INTRODUCTION | What does it mean to know how to read and understand what you read?

Why do we read?

READING OBJECTIVES

Relationships between the reader's objectives and strategies and discursive genres

RELATIONS BETWEEN | DISCURSIVE GENRES, | READING OBJECTIVES AND READING STRATEGIES [8]

TYPES OF READING: THE IMPORTANCE OF READING COMPREHENSIVELY

STEPS OF READING COMPREHENSION

From learning to read to reading to learn

A sign of comprehension: communicating, reconstructing, evaluating and questioning what has been read

THE TEXT CIRCUIT: | READING, INTERPRETATION, COMMUNICATION, | INTERACTION AND REWORKING

Reading by heart or understanding what you read: meaningful learning

The order of the factors DOES alter the product: reading acts | Pre-reading: what to take into account before reading the text

Relationships of a text with other texts: transtextuality

Strategies for understanding what we read

Strategies for relating people, things, and situations that are re-named throughout a text.

Case 1⇨Relate the same expression

Case 2⇨Relating an expression to a different expression

Case 3⇨Fill in the blanks

HOW TO CONTEXTUALIZE | THE READING OF A TEXT

Development of critical thinking through reading

TYPES OF TEXTS | Literary and non-literary texts

Texts that inform

TYPES OF INFORMATIVE TEXTS

Texts describing

TYPES OF DESCRIPTIVE TEXTS

Argumentative texts

TYPES OF ARGUMENTATIVE TEXTS

Texts explaining

TYPES OF EXPLANATORY TEXTS (INSTRUCTIONS)

Texts that tell (narrate)

TYPES OF NARRATIVE TEXTS

Direct and indirect style

Playing texts

TYPES OF LUDIC TEXTS

Poetic resources

POETIC RESOURCES

Personal texts

TYPES OF PERSONAL TEXTS

Texts to think about

TYPES OF TEXTS TO THINK ABOUT (POPULAR WISDOM)

Texts specific to the academic-professional world

Coherence and cohesion of the text

RESOURCES FOR COHESION | OF A TEXT

After reading: post-reading

INTRODUCTION | What does writing imply? Knowledge construction and influence on the reader

Situation and context in orality and in writing

ORALITY AND WRITING: MAIN DIFFERENCES

Is it more complex to understand texts or to produce them?

THE THREE MOMENTS OF THE WRITING PROCESS

ESSENTIAL ACTS OF THE | WRITING PROCESS

CHAPTER 1 | FROM IDEA TO PLAN: THE PRE-DRAFTING STAGE

What to consider in pre-writing

How to order the wording?

MORE TIPS BEFORE WRITING

The divine food

Internal and external memory

Shall I check your oil and water, ma'am? | What does it mean to have a writing plan?

One learns to write monographs by reading monographs and to write poems by reading poems

Pre-writing objectives | Objective 1: to have a topic to write about

Objective 2: to start writing on the chosen topic

Objective 3: to write about a more specific topic within the chosen theme

Objective 4: write something original and personal on the chosen topic.

Objective 5: to better understand an author's position on the chosen topic

Problems resulting from poor pre-drafting work | 1- Texts with no introduction

2- Texts that have a deficient development or structure.

3- Texts that do not have a conclusion

4- Texts that show an imbalance between content, intention and length

CHAPTER 2 | FROM THE FIRST WORD TO THE FIRST VERSION: THE WORDING

From phoneme to paragraph: all the units of a text

TEXT UNITS

The plan put into practice: textualization

Requirements for a good text

PROBLEMS OF WRITING IN | ACADEMIC TEXTS

FOUR PILLARS OF A | ACADEMIC TEXT

Thought structures

BASIC TEXT STRUCTURES

Discursive operations

DISCURSIVE OPERATIONS

CHAPTER 3 | FROM REREADING AND REVISING TO REWRITING: PROOFREADING AND EDITING

MAIN DRAFTING REQUIREMENTS AND ERRORS TO AVOID

1- BEFORE THE EXAM

1.1 Inescapable steps of a good study

A BAD IDEA: STAYING UP THE NIGHT BEFORE

1.2 The million dollar question: what will the professor ask on the exam?

1.3 Turning randomness into a method: techniques for identifying potential test questions

2- DURING THE EXAMINATION | 2.1 General criteria to be taken into account for any type of examination

THE BLANK MIND (OR BLANK PAGE) SYNDROME

2.2. The written examination: characteristics

2.2.1 Some cases of written examinations: true-false, multiple choice, open book

2.2.2 The typical written examination: essay questions | BEFORE STARTING TO RESPOND:

2.2.3 A strategic question: understanding the examination instructions

2.2.4 The most commonly used test instructions

2.2.4.1 Identify, recognize, list and distinguish

2.2.4.2 Exemplify

2.2.4.3 Define (and characterize or describe). Narrate

2.2.4.4 Explain

2.2.4.5 Compare and Differentiate

2.2.4.6 Argue (substantiate, justify)

2.2.5 The black-red-green method

2.2.6 How to write answers

TIPS FOR WRITING ANSWERS

2.3 The oral examination

TOOLS FOR A SUCCESSFUL ORAL EXAMINATION

BEFORE ORAL

3- AFTER THE EXAM

INTRODUCTION | WHAT IS NOT A MONOGRAPH | DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MONOGRAPH, THESIS, DISSERTATION, THESIS, STUDY AND SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

1- A WHOLE SUBJECT

1.1 Do we have to choose a topic beforehand?

1.2 General subject, title and subtitle of the monograph

BE CAREFUL WITH THE TOPICS THAT REQUIRE | READ BOOKS IN OTHER LANGUAGES

1.3 Main theme and sub-themes (sub-themes)

1.4 Can it be narrowed down further?

DEFINE THE CENTRAL TERMS | OF THE MONOGRAPH

1.5 The learner as expert versus the uninformed teacher

AND WHAT IS LEFT OF THE PANORAMA?

2- THE SEARCH FOR INFORMATION | 2.1 Information according to the type of monograph

2.2 Reference texts or sources. Primary and secondary sources

2.3 Criteria for a correct bibliographic search

DO I HAVE TO READ THE ENTIRE BOOK TO KNOW | IF IT WILL BE USEFUL | FOR MY MONOGRAPH?

2.4 How to classify the collected data

3- THE INTRODUCTION | 3.1 What to put in the introduction?

WHO SHOULD YOU TALK TO?

4- DOES A MONOGRAPH EXPLAIN OR ARGUE?

EXPLANATION AND ARGUMENTATION IN A MONOGRAPH

BEWARE OF COPY AND PASTE!

A RESOURCE FOR CORRECT CITATION: | WHEN TO USE BRACKETS

5- DEVELOPMENT: EXPLAINING AND ARGUING | 5.1 First draft

5.2 Explanation as an exposition of other people's ideas

5.3 The state of the art or state of the art

5.4 Characteristics of explanatory-expository discourse

RESOURCES TO EXPLAIN

5.5 Argumentation: the elaboration of one's own ideas

TOOLS TO USE IN THE ARGUMENTATIVE SEQUENCE

5.6 Argumentation resources | 5.6.1 Example

5.6.2 Citation of authority

5.6.3 The argumentative definition

5.6.4 The rhetorical question

6- CONCLUSIONS

7- REVIEW AND CORRECTION

8- BIBLIOGRAPHY, APPENDICES, INDEXES

9- FORMAL ASPECTS AND PRESENTATION OF THE WORK

RULES FOR THE PRESENTATION | OF A MONOGRAPH

Sign up for MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU's Mailing List

Further Reading: How to Study

Also By MAURICIO ENRIQUE FAU

About the Author

About the Publisher

DEDICATION

To my children Elías, Selva, Greta, Ciro and Yaco.

To my life's daughter Emma.

To my wife Cecilia.

HOW TO STUDY

HOW TO SUMMARIZE

HOW TO READ AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU READ

HOW TO REDACT AND WRITE CORRECTLY

HOW TO PASS AN EXAM

HOW TO WRITE A MONOGRAPH

HOW TO STUDY

INTRODUCTION

TO BEGIN WITH, A BASIC AND ESSENTIAL IDEA

There are many mistakes a student can make. But none is as important, strategically, as the following: STUDYING TO PASS.

Yes, exactly: YOU DON'T HAVE TO STUDY TO PASS. THE OBJECTIVE OF STUDYING SHOULD NOT BE THE TEST OR THE GRADE. The focus must be totally changed.

So? YOU HAVE TO STUDY IN ORDER TO LEARN. So that study becomes a habit, a habit.

Keep in mind that each new concept learned is a stepping stone, a base, that will help us to move up to the next level. What is important to pass Math I or Spanish History of the 19th century is to have the basis for Math II or Spanish History of the 20th century. Otherwise, it is useless.

TO FOLLOW: YOU MUST HAVE A METHOD

Like everything in life, the best thing to do is to be organized, that is to say, to have a method. Improvisation is fantastic, but just as to improvise a guitar plucking you must have previously studied the scales (which indicate which notes to play and which not to play), to study you must have theory and solfège before being creative.

Where to study

We have to choose a quiet environment, with little noise, where people do not come in and out all the time. A ventilated place with a pleasant temperature. And obviously, without TV or radio (there are those who study with background music, which is feasible as long as it is not an excuse not to study).

When to study: making a work plan

What would be a work plan: a CHRONOGRAM or agenda for the week, where you write down exam dates and establish (according to those dates) days and times when you are going to study. The amount of hours will depend on the volume of what you have to study.

Logically, it is necessary to DIVIDE THE SUBJECTS of study among the days of the week. The most practical thing to do would be to make a WEEKLY SCHEDULE, because it also serves to write down a personal commitment.

It is advisable to set fixed days and times for this to become a habit. It is also necessary to classify the time: some days to read, others to summarize, others to do exercises or answer question guides and others to review.

INTERVALS or breaks are essential: every hour, ten minutes to go to the bathroom, stretch your legs, look out the window, eat something, make a phone call or whatever, but resume your studies after ten minutes!

It is also necessary to see WHEN NOT TO STUDY. We should not study if we are too anxious. An example: if we are baseball fans and that afternoon the New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers are playing, maybe we should postpone studying (or better yet, the best thing to do would be to advance the study one day to be liberated).

What to study with: having everything you need at hand

You should have everything you are going to use at hand: pens, notebook, books, notes, dictionaries, calculator, ruler, etc. Comparing the study with a car trip, this is equivalent (for example) to checking if you have gas, water, oil and inflated tires.

TO ADVANCE STEP BY STEP

WHAT TO CONSIDER BEFORE READING THE TEXT

What to read first? Welcome to the paratext.

Shall I start reading the text on page 1? NO! To start reading page 1 would be like leaving with our car from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata without finding out what the route is, how the road is, what the weather is like, how far we will have to drive and how long it will take.

When an author writes a book there is a large amount of information outside the content of the book, which is called PARATEXT[1]. Making the most of all these elements will greatly improve our way of studying.

THE FIRST THING TO LOOK AT IS, in the following order: TITLE OF THE BOOK, BACK COVER (in general there is a summary) AND INDEX.

The table of contents is like the skeleton of the book, the structure. Or like the map when we travel. Or like the image of the puzzle box we want to put together (can you imagine trying to put it together with the 500 pieces mixed together and without the image?)

It is important that we see at least the most outstanding ELEMENTS OF THE PARATEXT: besides the indexes (of the organization and parts of the book, of the contents, of topics, of names), the title on the front and back covers, we have to take into account the flaps, the prologue, the epilogues, the illustrations, the glossaries, the underlining, the warnings, the bibliography, the tables, the appendices, among others.

By reading the paratext, we can make assumptions about the topic, get facts about the author, know what kind of book it is about, relate what we read to what we already know, etc.

Then you must read the introduction (which sometimes appears as a preface or prologue) because there the author will tell us what is the main objective of his book and what is his point of view on the subject he is writing about.

WHAT TO PAY ATTENTION TO (PARTS OF THE PARATEXT AND OTHER REFERENCES)

a) Subject