THE OFFICE OF ACADEMIC SUCCESS PROGRAMS
WEEKLY STUDY TIPS FOR THE WEEK OF OCTOBER 16TH
Dr. Amy L. Jarmon, Assistant Dean of Academic Success Programs
Last week’s study tips looked at the absorption styles of learning styles which
suggested ways in which you could study to “pull in” information to begin to learn
it. This week, we are looking at the processing styles which indicate how you
organize material. The processing styles often give clues to strengths and
weaknesses on exams.
Processing styles that give you clues to your learning are: global; sequential;
intuitive; sensing; active thinker; reflective thinker. Learners will prefer global or
sequential processing and intuitive or sensing processing. They will also prefer
either active or reflective thinking. Here are thumbnail sketches of what these
styles mean:
 Global: You prefer to know the “big picture” of a topic or course. Do not
skimp on deep understanding, analysis and organization.
 Sequential: You prefer to learn unit by unit (case by case; sub-topic by
sub-topic) and in systematic steps. Do not skimp on seeing the “big
picture” and inter-relationships.
 Intuitive: You are very comfortable with ideas, abstractions, theories, and
policies. Do not skimp on facts, details and practical application.
 Sensing: You are very comfortable with details, facts, and practicalities.
Do not skimp on understanding the concepts, theories and interrelationships behind the law.
 Active thinker: You prefer to think about a topic while you do something
with the information. Do not talk before you think or rush your thinking.
 Reflective thinker: You prefer to think about a topic before you have to do
something with the information. Do not forget to explain to others how
you got to a conclusion.
A few ideas for those who prefer global learning:
 Use your professor’s syllabus or the table of contents of your casebook to
provide you with a roadmap of a topic.
 Preview material that you will be studying so that you will know the
overview of the material.
o Listen carefully when the professor previews material you will cover
in class.
o Read carefully the introductory material provided in your casebook.
o Scan a commercial outline, Nutshell, Examples and Explanations,
or other study aid before reading cases on a new topic.
 Use graphic organizers to reflect the “big picture” in a course: tables;
flowcharts; legal diagrams; mind maps; and other versions.
 Use methodologies to force yourself to memorize the organizational steps
for analysis.








Make sure that your outline is not too short – add enough detail to
completely analyze the topics and sub-topics.
Make sure that you learn rules and definitions of elements precisely so
you can state them accurately.
Use rule, definition and methodology flashcards to drill yourself on
mundane memorization.
Practice explaining concepts and hypothetical answers to others so that
you are more organized, methodical and detailed in your discussion.
Memorize a checklist of topics and sub-topics for a course so that you
emphasize the steps of analysis needed.
Beware of being conclusory on exams where you do not put down your
analysis and instead focus on a right answer.
Ask yourself “because” at the end of each statement on your exam and
explain “why” if you did not do so in the statement.
Write exam answers to your mother, little brother, or grandfather if it
means you will be more detailed in analysis than when you write to the
professor.
A few ideas for those who prefer sequential learning:
 Summarize material after you have studied a topic or sub-topic so that you
see the overview of the material.
o Listen carefully when the professor reviews material that you have
covered in class.
o Re-read introductory material in your casebook after you have
studied a topic.
o Read a commercial outline, Nutshell, Examples and Explanations
or other study aid after studying a topic in class.
 Use methodologies to reflect the organizational steps of analysis to
particular topics and sub-topics.
 Use graphic organizers to force yourself to see the “big picture” in a
course: tables; flowcharts; legal diagrams; mind maps; and other versions.
 Make sure that your outline is not focused merely on cases as separate
units – organize it by topics and sub-topics so that you see the interrelationships.
 Use cases as illustrations of topics and sub-topics rather than as
organizers in your outline.
 Practice explaining concepts and inter-relationships among concepts
when you do hypothetical answers.
 Use rule/code section tables to assist in your organization of these rules
and codes -- have one by topics/sub-topics and one by rule/code number.
 Use policy, theory and inter-relationship flashcards to drill yourself on the
“big picture” for the course.
 Memorize a checklist of topics and sub-topics for a course so that you
emphasize the inter-relationships.


Organize your exam answers before writing so that you use your strength
of being sequential in your thinking.
Use methodologies to help you organize your answers on exams so that
you will include all steps of analysis.
A few ideas for those who prefer intuitive learning:
 In addition to understanding the policies, theories, concepts and their
inter-relationships, focus on how to apply them in practical ways.
 Practice explaining the policies, theories, and concepts with examples of
when they do and do not “work” using hypotheticals.
 When doing practice questions, make sure that you use all facts that are
given in the fact pattern.
 Make sure that your outline is not so short that it does not include precise
definitions of the rules and elements.
 Make sure that your outline does not just gloss the topics and sub-topics
instead of having depth to it.
 Force yourself to spend time on memorizing the rules, definitions of
elements and methodologies so that you are able to have precise
statements.
 Practice knowing the case facts (if not the names) that illustrate the
concepts if your professor wants you to analogize and distinguish on the
exam.
 Memorize a checklist of topics and sub-topics for a course so that you do
not lose sight of the possible sub-issues.
 Organize your exam answers before writing so that you will not leave out
steps of analysis.
A few ideas for those who prefer sensing learning:
 Make sure your outline focuses on the “big picture” of the course and not
minutia.
 Make sure your outline covers only the essentials of a case and is not a
repetition of your entire brief for a case.
 Condense any outlines longer than 50 pages for a course repeatedly until
you have learned the material and condensed it to 25 pages maximum.
 Do not become so immersed in the details of cases that you miss the subtopics and topics that are important to the course.
 Do not re-read cases as your method of studying for the exam because
the “big picture” is the key to exam success.
 Although you may be able to teach the law to your classmates, you need
to practice application of the law to questions with new fact situations.
 Learn how to spot issues and not just to regurgitate everything you know
about the law.
 Memorize a checklist of topics and sub-topics for a course so that you do
not become bogged down in minutia within the topics and sub-topics.


When doing multiple-choice questions, be wary of second-guessing
yourself and arguing yourself out of the right answer.
When doing fact-pattern essay questions, be wary of “phantom issues”
because you are going outside the four corners of the fact pattern.
A few ideas for those who prefer active thinking:
 Join a study group or have a study buddy so that you can talk through the
material and practice questions.
 Explain the concepts to a friend, empty chair, or family pet to check your
understanding.
 Use many practice questions to help you think through the application of
the concepts and rules.
 Do not avoid the mundane memorization because you would rather chat
about the material.
 Be careful that you do not “throw out” ideas about material without
organizing the material properly.
 Use a dry erase board if it helps you to think through practice questions.
 Beware hurrying through practice questions rather than methodically
analyzing them.
 Do not wait until the end of the semester to learn your outline because
you will not know it in depth.
 Volunteer in class so that you can discuss the material.
 Beware of rushing through multiple-choice exams and picking by gut
instead of thinking through answers.
 Beware of rushing through fact-pattern essay exams because you did not
organize your answers before writing.
A few ideas for those who prefer reflective thinking:
 Participate in a study group or study buddy situation where an “agenda” of
topics to be discussed is agreed ahead.
 Be careful that you do not state conclusions in a discussion without the
analysis explaining the conclusion.
 Take time to think about a question before you answer it -- do not hurry
yourself in your analysis.
 Write down questions that you have for the professor or tutor and take the
materials with you to which the questions refer.
 Do not wait until the end of the semester to learn your outline because
you will not have time to think about the topics.
 Answer questions in class silently in your head so that you can check
your answers if you do not want to volunteer.
 Capture hypotheticals and questions that go by too fast in class in your
notes so that you can think about them later.
 Beware of becoming “stuck” in multiple-choice exams and spending too
long per question.


Beware of second-guessing yourself on multiple-choice exams and
changing right answers.
Beware of taking too long on one or two essay questions so that you do
not finish the entire exam.
If you have never completed surveys to determine your learning styles, then
spend an hour that will have learning pay-offs. You can go on-line to take the
VARK survey and the ILS survey for free. The website for the VARK is
http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp. The website for the ILS is
http://www.ncsu.edu/felder-public/ILSpage.html. If you want to take additional
assessments, you can visit the website:
http://www.brevard.edu/fyc/resources/Learningstyles.htm#Top.
If you have completed the two surveys but need more assistance in interpreting
them, make an appointment with Dr. Jarmon. A one-hour appointment will
usually be enough for a discussion of the learning preferences as they apply to
you. These sessions focus on explaining the preferences, but especially on how
to use your learning preferences in practical ways to be a more effective learner.