The Difference Between Study Skills, Study Techniques and Study
Methods
When one considers learning and study, one should always keep in
mind that there are three aspects that are of importance:
STUDY SKILLS:
The ability of any learner to study successfully depends to a
great extent on his fundamental study skills, i.e. his ability
to concentrate, to perceive correctly and accurately, as well as
the ability to remember what has been perceived.
Study skills should not be confused with study techniques and
study methods. The difference between these can be explained by
using the game of soccer as example. In order to be a soccer
player, a person FIRST has to master the fundamental soccer
skills, e.g. passing, heading, and dribbling the ball. Only
after that can he be taught techniques and methods. In the same
way, in order to be a good student, a learner FIRST has to
master the fundamental study skills.
Mnemonics training is often done without keeping this sequential
fashion of learning in mind. A mnemonic is a specific
reconstruction of target content intended to tie new information
more closely to the learner's existing knowledge base and,
therefore, facilitate retrieval. There are a variety of mnemonic
techniques, including keywords, pegwords, acronyms, loci
methods, spelling mnemonics, phonetic mnemonics, number-sound
mnemonics, and Japanese "Yodai" methods. An example of an
acronym is to remember the word HOMES to recall the names of the
Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Superior. The
purpose of number-sound mnemonics is to recall strings of
numbers, such as telephone numbers, addresses, locker
combinations or historical dates. To use them, learners must
first learn the number-sound relationships: 0=s; 1=t; 2=n; 3=m;
4=r; 5=l; 6=sh, ch, or soft g, 7=k, hard c, or hard g; 8=f or v;
and 9=p. To remember the date 1439, for example, the learner
uses the associated consonant sounds, t, r, m and p, and will
insert vowels to create a meaningful word or words. In this
case, the word "tramp" can be used.
There are, however, at least two problems in improving memory by
means of mnemonic instruction. The first problem is -- as
already stated -- that it overlooks the sequential fashion of
learning. Mnemonics instruction is, to a large extent,
instruction in memory techniques, which should be taught only
AFTER the skill of memory has been learned. It can be compared
to a person being taught soccer tactics, such as the "wall
pass," while he has not yet adequately mastered the skill of
passing the ball. As stated in 'Knowabout Soccer', "No matter
how good your passing technique, if the quality of your passing
is poor, your technique will not be effective." The second
problem is that by teaching memory crutches only, the result is,
as stated by Scruggs and Mastropieri, "on more complex
applications, generalization attempts [are] less successful." If
the SKILL of memory is taught, however, the learner can apply it
in any situation.
STUDY TECHNIQUES:
There are three learning techniques that can be employed to make
study more successful.
1. Association: This is probably the most important and most
effective of all the learning techniques, of which mnemonics is
probably the most commonly used association technique.
2. Thinking in pictures: One is able to remember much better
what has been seen in the mind's eye than what has been thought
in abstract terms. Therefore, one should always consciously try
to think in terms of pictures.
3. Reduce frequency of brain waves: The brain usually vibrates
at 20 cycles per second or higher. Dr. Georgi Lozanov was
probably the first who discovered that, if the frequency of the
brain waves is reduced, more effective study becomes possible.
He found that playing slow Baroque music could reduce the
frequency of brain waves. Jos