Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Year 12
Transitional Study Skills
Programme
Name: _____________________________
Tutor: _____________________________
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Year 12 Study Skills Term 1
10 minute tutor sessions
Week 1
Orientation
 Encourage students to bring in a folder next week to
demonstrate how they are organising themselves
Week 2
Organisation
 Brainstorm: Checklist of essential equipment: files, dividers,
pens, highlighters, diary, note pad, quiet place to work
 Self assessment against list
 Check individual folders/ students are organized
 Target setting for self (what do I need to do to improve?)
Week 3
Time management
 Brainstorm: Ways of managing time: diary; apps; timetable;
lists
 Brainstorm: Consequences of mismanaging time
 Look at subject specific timings (handout)
 Self assessment and personal target setting
Week 4
Note taking
 Brainstorm: Why are notes important? What makes a good
set of notes?
 Handouts: examples of different note taking methods
(Cornell, Linear, mind maps)
Week 5
Research/ wider
reading
 Brainstorm: Where do we find information? Libraries;
books; articles; magazines; newspapers; online; teachers;
professionals
 Personal target setting
 Handout on research skills and referencing
Week 6
Revision
skills
 Brainstorm: ways of revising: revision buddies; highlighting
and condensing notes; mind maps; past papers; word walls;
teaching someone else; listening to pod casts; revision
websites;
 Discussion: keys to success: start early; eat right sleep
right; take regular breaks; be organized; reward yourself;
manage stress (exercise, watch a film, listen to music, take
a bath etc..)
Week 7
Exam technique
 Brainstorm: what is important to remember in an exam?
Timing; reading questions; keeping calm; planning answers;
checking work; enough sleep and food before hand; not
cramming night before
 Self assessment: what works and doesn’t work for me?
What do I need to do better?
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Session 1: Organisation
Check list for good organisation:
Folders
Dividers
Highlighters
Planner/ diary
Dead lines for work written in to diary
Note pads
Pens
Quiet place to work
Reflect on your own organisation:
How organized are you? Are you equipped to be organized? Does your folder should
good organisation? How could you improve this over the coming term?
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Session 2: Time Management
TIME MANAGEMENT
TECHNIQUE
Reflect on your own TIME MANAGEMENT:
How well do you think you manage your time? What are the challenges for you of
achieving good time management e.g. part-time employment, friends etc? What could
you do to improve your time management?
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Subject Expectations for A level Study
Subject
Music
Geography
History
CCLD & HSc
French
Sociology
Physics
RPE
Photography
Travel and Tourism
Art
English
Chemistry
Business studies
Applied Business
IT
Product Design
Maths
Performing Arts
Biology
Psychology
PE
Media Studies
Economics
Home work per week
3 hours
Wider reading/ research
30 minutes per day
(instrumental practice)
2-3 hours
2 hours
2-3 hours
2 hours
5 hours (coursework)
2 hours (work experience)
5 hours
1- 1.5 hours
2 hours
1 hour
2-3 hours
3-5 hours
2-3 hours
4 hours
1 hour
5 hours (coursework)
3-4 hours minimum (6 hours for students aiming for A grade)
2 hours
2 hours
2-3 hours
1-2 hours
2 hours
1 hour
5 hours of work (coursework led)
2 hours
Whatever necessary to keep
up with deadlines for
coursework
2 hours recommended on av.
5 hours
2 hours per teacher
n/a
2 hours
Extra hours dependent on
forthcoming rehearsals/
practical assessment
4 hours
30 minutes per day (1 hour per day January and June)
1 hour
1-2 hours
1 hour (though this will
2 hours
increase dramatically during
coursework module)
3 hours
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Session 3: Note Taking
WHY IMPORTANT?
 Helps you pick out key points
 Focuses your attention
 Helps you understand text
 Helps you memorise things you need to learn
 Helps with research
 Helps you see main picture and fit parts of your work together
 Sense of achievement!
HOW?
 Highlight or underline key ideas
 Be selective – don’t highlight too much
 Use highlighted ideas to make your notes
 Present them neatly and clearly
 Ensure your notes are simplified version of original
 Use subheadings
 Number or bullet your points
 Add your own comments or observations where appropriate
 Keep them in relevant folders in date/ subject order
STYLE?
Ensure your notes are of a style that suits YOU.
You could try:
 Conventional notes with subheadings and key points (linear notes)
 Cornell method (see template)
 Spider diagrams
 Mind maps to show connections between ideas
 Visuals eg story board, A3 paper with pictures
 File cards
BENEFITS?
If you consistently take good notes from your lessons, wider reading and research, they
will be of enormous help when it comes to revision. They will be the back bone for your
learning.
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Note-taking and Note-making - Note-Taking Template
1. Module Lecturer, lecture or text and date.
2. Preparation (what do I want to get out of this derive from this lecture/text?)
3. Main theme of lecture/text.
4. Overview of lecture (maybe the lecturer provides this) or overview of text (a rough
outline of the contents you are using).
5. Main points made in lecture/text; examples or evidence given.
6. Question raised by lecture/text.
7. References to sources.
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Note-taking and Note-making - Cornell Note-Taking Template
1. Course, Lecturer/Text, Date:
2. Make notes during the lecture or reading
here.
3. After the lecture/reading go
through the notes you
made; extract key concepts
and questions and write
them here. Then cover
your notes in column (2)
and try to recall their detail
using the words visible in
this column as cues –
vocalise this detail in your
own words
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
4. Summarise the content of your notes in three or four sentences here.
Story boarding
Example:
.
Mind mapping
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Example:
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Session 4: Research and wider reading
How Do I Start My Research?
The steps below will help you complete your paper or assignment.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Researching a topic
Create a search strategy
Find information
Evaluate information
Cite your sources
Ask A Librarian
1. Researching a topic
You can get ideas from:




Your class discussions and lessons
Your reading (in and out of class)
Your interests and life experience
Background information on people, issues, and events. You can find this
information in:
o Your textbook
o General encyclopedias like the Encyclopedia Britannica Online
o collections of online reference books:
o Print encyclopedias or other reference books at the library
2. Create a search strategy
After a topic is chosen, you’ll need to form a search strategy. This step can help you
effectively do your library research.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Identify the main ideas in the question or statement you have been given.
Brainstorm alternative arguments for your main ideas.
Does your assignment call for a specific kind of information?
Decide where you will find the information
Ensure you have a central place or note book for keeping all the information you
collect
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
3. Find information
The Library provides a wide range of resources for your research.
 Library Guides
 Books
 Articles
 journal, magazine and newspaper articles on your topic
Hint When you find a book or article you like, check its references to find more information
on that topic.
Hint You could also look in other local public or university libraries to further your
research.
4. Evaluate information
After finding potential sources of information, you need to evaluate them to see if they
are worthwhile for your research assignment.
Consider the following:
 Accuracy: Is the information correct? Can you verify the facts somewhere else?
Does the source cite other sources that you can check?
Is the information supported by enough evidence?
 Authority: What are the credentials of the author, the publication? Are they an
expert? Are they trustworthy?
 Audience: For what audience is the source intended? Is it at the appropriate level?
Is it an academic or popular source? Can you understand it?
 Objectivity: Is the author impartial or is there evidence of bias? Does the author
have a personal interest in the subject? Is the piece based on opinion or fact?
 Currency: When was the source published? Is it up-to-date? Is it too old?
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
It's especially important to evaluate websites since anyone can publish information on the
Web.
Look for the following:
 Does the web page indicate when it was last updated?
 Do you know who wrote the page? Can you find any information out about this
author?
 Does the page come from a reliable source (i.e. a major news site, the government,
etc.)?
 Do the links on the page work or are they broken?
 Is there an "about" page that gives information about the organization providing the
information?
 What is the domain of the URL? (.gov, .edu, .org, .com, etc.)
5. Cite your sources
In order to avoid plagiarism, you need to acknowledge use of another person’s work. This
requires you to cite
any sources you use in your assignment, paper, or project no matter what you use from
that source:
an original idea, a direct quote, research methods, or even innovative terminology.
Your teacher will tell you which citation style to use.
6. Ask A Librarian
Not sure where to start or stuck searching? Ask A Librarian!
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Session 5: Revision Skills
REVISION
STRATEGIES
What revision skills/ techniques have you used in the past?
Do you feel that they worked? Are they still appropriate for A level?
What other strategies could you try? How? Where? By when?
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
REVISION – TIPS AND SKILLS
Start early - Don’t leave it to the last minute
Make a timetable – be productive in your free time
 Understand what techniques work best for you and use them (see below)
Look after yourself – eat well, exercise, get enough sleep
Find out! Are you a visual, auditory or kinesthetic learner?
Here are a range of techniques that you could use to revise more effectively. Try some of
them out and see what works best for you:
Highlight key points
 Colour code important aspects of work. Use to chunk your work down, giving you
key information to process. You can keep going back to this throughout your
revision period.
Make a mind map
 Like a spider diagram. You could use colour coding and pictures as well as words.
This could be used as a summary from highlighting key points. A good way to
remember things visually.
The shrinking mind map
 The aim of revision is to shrink as many key points down into a small space. The
process actually helps you learn the information. The result is that you have a
portable device that you can carry around with you. Cut off the legs of your spider
diagram and use the main stems to stimulate your brain to remember the other
parts.
Cassette tapes/ ipods
 Record your key points onto a tape/ ipod. Get other people to do some so you have
a variety of voices to listen to. Try using background music – it might help you make
associations with particular bits of information. Another useful revision resource to
carry round with you during “dead time”, on the bus, walking home etc
Song and rhyme
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
 Making up catch phrases or rhymes can help with crucial bits of info. Eg: to help
you sort out which is the x and y axis on a graph, how about, “x below y because y
goes up high!” Don’t worry about what other people think about your silly rhymes,
as long as it helps you in the exam!
Menomincs and acronyms
 A mnemonic is a word or abbreviation that helps you remember
 An acronym is a word make up using the first letters of a series of other words eg to
remember the advantages of carrying credit cards (for a business studies question)
COPSE





Convenient to carry
Outlets for use everywhere
Pay later
Security
Extras, insurance air miles
Flash Cards
 Flash cards can be a big help in remembering information
 Try using different colours for different subjects
Wall posters (large scale flash cards!)
 Put these up around your bedroom and in your house. You will subconsciously look
at these points each day
 You could use different rooms for different subjects – the kitchen is maths room etc
Word walls
 Clusters of key words for each topic are a great way to learn the language you need
for your A level course.
 Cover your walls with these too
Lists, charts and notes
 More traditional methods still work!
 Bullet pointed lists are a good way to summarise information
 Charts are a great way to memorise info – again, you could make them big enough
to put on your wall!
 Concentrate on shrinking down the information down as far as possible.
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
 Eliminate excessive words from lists, focus on key terms
Visual and pattern notes
 Good if you’re a visual learner. This is like a mind map but with more images to help
things stick in your mind.
Fact sheets
 Keep fact sheets of key information, dates, formulas etc to hand. You could use
clipboards, ring binders or cards. This is like making revision cards but just for key
bits of info that are essential.
List of key exam words
 for example: analyse, compare, contrast, describe, justify, evaluate…..know what
they mean and understand what examiners are looking for.
Study buddies
 One of the most effective ways to learn is to teach someone else
 This helps you process information yourself as you explain it to others
 Use friends and family to test you
Practicing past exam questions
 Test yourself against the clock
 These give you a great idea of the style of question, how many questions in each
section and timing
 It gives you an excellent experience of decoding the trigger words
Show you know





Show yourself that you know your stuff!
Don’t fool yourself that you know something because you spent 2 hours reading it!
How effective was that time?
Recite things out loud
Write down lists after revising to see if you can recall things
Take a break
 People learn best at the start and finish of revision sessions, so have lots of starts
and ends!
 The maximum time you can concentrate is 40 minutes
 Reward yourself by finishing something and then taking 5 minutes out for a coffee –
then back to it!
Created by S MacIsaac and H Stedman
Session 6: Exam technique
Preparation check list for your forthcoming exams:
Exam time table
Specification for each subject printed
Past papers printed
Mark schemes for past papers printed
Past papers completed
Marked own past papers using mark schemes
Revision time table ready
Quiet place to work
Reflect on exam preparation and technique:
Have you begun to prepare for the exams? If so- what have you done?
What do you need to do to prepare for your exams- today? How?
What do you need to do to prepare for your exams- this week? How?