Introduction to Health and Safety at Work

19
Study skills

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Study skills
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internet and so on, followed by drawing a diagram or a 
graph, writing, reading and so on.
19.4 
Blocked thinking
Sometimes a student becomes ‘blocked’ in an area 
of study. If this happens, try leaving it alone for a few 
days and tackle a different area of the subject, since 
concentrating too hard on something that is too diffi -
cult is likely to produce loss of confi dence and can be 
very de-motivating. It usually happens that, having had 
a break, the diffi culty vanishes and the problem clears. 
This is either because the solution has emerged in the 
mind from another perspective, or because the student 
has learnt something new that has supplied the answer. 
Psychologists consider that it is possible that some 
problems can be solved during sleep when the mind has 
a chance to wander and apply lateral thinking.
19.5 
Taking notes
The most effi cient way to store notes is in a loose-leaf 
folder, because items can so easily be added. Write 
only on one side of the sheet and use margined paper 
to make it easier to add information. The facing pages 
can be used to make summaries or extra points. If notes 
are clearly written and well spaced out, they are much 
more straightforward to work from and more attractive 
to return to later. Use colour, highlighting and underlin-
ing too; notes that look good are less daunting when the 
time comes to revise.
During revision it will be important to be able to 
identify subjects quickly, so use headings, numbering, 
lettering, bullet points, indentation and so on. It is worth 
spending a bit of extra time if it will make revision easier.
Key words and phrases are better than continuous 
prose when note-taking. While writing down information 
it is easy to miss essential points that are being made 
by the tutor. The notes should be read through within 36 
hours to make sure that they are completely clear when 
the time comes to revise. At this point it is convenient to 
add in anything that has been missed, while it is fresh 
in the mind. Reading through notes in this way also 
helps to fi x the information in the memory and the level 
of recall will be further improved by reading them again 
a week later. Although it seems time-consuming, this 
technique will save a lot of time in the long term.
Many people fi nd that they can understand and 
remember more effectively by making ‘mind maps’ (also 
known as ‘pattern notes’). These will be discussed in 
more detail in the revision section.