College, University, School & Life Study Tips and How-To

In order to truly be successful in college and throughout life, it is critical you understand your brain and learn how to use it to your advantage in studying.

This 100% Free Guide will show you everything you need to know to "Evolve Your Brain" in order to be more effective at studying. Navigate through it using the menu on the side. Enjoy!

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Daily Homework & Study Tips

About Homework / Study Tips

03/10/2010 03:35 AM

Dissect the Task

When you dissect something in biology class, you take it apart and examine it, piece by piece. You could use this same process to be more successful in any assignment--especially if it seems overwhelming.

We tend to avoid tasks that seem big and overwhelming. But when we put things off too long, we can end up doing a rushed and shoddy job. If you have a big assignment hanging over your head, like a research paper or a project, your first step should be to dissect the task by writing down the various steps. Divide it into parts, and it will suddenly become more manageable.

Dissect the Task originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 09:35:29.
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03/08/2010 02:24 PM

Maintain Your Brain

Do you take care of your brain? After all, you wouldn't be very interesting without it. But few of us ever give our brain health a second thought.

Remember that your brain is a complex and still-mysterious living computer that controls everything from your moods to your heat rate. The brain is comprised of separate parts, and each part carries out a special function, but each segment also works in cooperation with every other. There are behaviors that have an impact on your brain health.

Maintain Your Brain originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Monday, March 8th, 2010 at 20:24:10.
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03/06/2010 03:13 AM

What Is Your Motivation?

There are many things that motivate us to do well. Motivation is a little hard to put a finger on, but it is that little force inside us that makes us want to achieve goals. It's the drive that makes us excited about trying hard. What is the biggest factor that keeps you working hard to do well in school?

What Is Your Motivation? originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 09:13:29.
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03/03/2010 03:44 PM

Teachers' Pet Peeves

Have you ever wondered what kind of behavior really gets on teachers' nerves? You should! I've listed a few really annoying things that make teachers furrow their brows.

Not taking notes. Imagine you're a teacher and you're lecturing about something you're really passionate about, and it's something that will certainly show up on exams--yet students sit there with eyes glazed when you talk. You'd just want to yell: "Hello, people! This is important!"

Talking, texting, yawning or causing distractions in class. I know from experience that teachers spend a lot of time planning lectures, and they lecture about things that matter most to them. Nothing is more frustrating than students yawning and looking bored.

Coming in late. Teachers want to be understanding, but when teachers are too lenient, students sometimes take advantage and push the boundaries of acceptable behavior. This includes making a habit of coming in late. You may think you're not doing any harm by walking in late, but you are making a bad impression. It's important to learn how to be on time!

Forgetting to bring homework to school. While teachers would like to make exceptions and be flexible when students forget or run into problems, too much leniency only leads to record-keeping nightmares for them, so they can't really give in too much. That's why teachers adhere to strict deadlines when it comes to turning in assignments. It's a shame to get a failing grade when you've done the work. So make every effort to remember your homework every day.

Making careless mistakes. Now imagine that you're a teacher grading a paper with really great points and ideas. You find yourself reading a paper written by a student who really "gets it" and demonstrates deep thinking and great insight--but the paper has typos, like punctuation problems and mixed-up words. It is painful for a teacher to subtract points for careless mistakes! But they will.

Teachers' Pet Peeves originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 at 21:44:02.
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03/01/2010 02:21 AM

Spelling Tips

Are you becoming spell checker dependent? It's easy to rely on spell checkers to keep us from making embarrassing spelling mistakes on typed papers and emails, but what happens when we don't have spell checkers on hand? It's important to be a good speller, because you will have to write hand-written notes and essays at some point. Like on midterms and finals!

I've put together 10 Spelling Tips to help you improve your skills. For example, you should read with a pencil handy, so you can jot down any new words or words that you always spell wrong. You should also learn to make lists of words that follow similar spelling patterns, and study them in groups.

Spelling Tips originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 08:21:22.
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02/27/2010 03:03 AM

Free Typing Tutor Downloads

You will find that typing papers is so much easier when you develop good typing skills! But you don't have to spend money to learn to type. You can find many free typing tutors at CNET's Download site. Here are a few examples:

Rapid Typing Tutor: This colorful program is for the young and novice typers. Users are able to choose from lessons and practice with letters, syllables, digits and more.

Bruce's Unusual Typing Tutor: This program is designed for everyone. Beginners can learn to type the right way and experienced typists can correct common typing mistakes. This includes lessons and game.

10 Finger Breakout Game: This game requires a lot of concentration! It's a paddle and ball game that requires you to move the paddle and shoot balls by typing letters. It's tricky but fun!

Free Typing Tutor Downloads originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 09:03:42.
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02/25/2010 02:53 AM

Proofreading and Spelling Test

Are you confident with your spelling and proofreading abilities? It can be really tough to spot a misspelled word! Just for fun, try this spelling quiz to see if you can identify the correct spelling of some frequently misspelled words. This test shows the importance of careful proofreading. Here's an example from the exercise:

flabberghast

flabergast

flabbergast

flaberghast

It's not that easy, is it?
Proofreading and Spelling Test originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 08:53:40.
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02/22/2010 02:00 AM

Planning Your Paper

Sometimes we can have a lot of great ideas for a specific paper assignment, but we just can't get started. If you have trouble writing the first sentence, you might need to start with a "mind dump" and work from there. When you mind dump, you pour all your thoughts onto paper and worry about sorting and organizing them later.

One good method for organizing a paper is the text box method. In this method, you create several text boxes filled with random thoughts and ideas. Once you've dumped all your ideas into boxes, you simply drag them around the page to organize them into a well-crafted paper outline.

Planning Your Paper originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 08:00:26.
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02/20/2010 05:00 AM

Fun English Grammar Games

Learning is easy when we make it fun. But searching online for fun learning activities can be frustrating, because so many web sites require visitors to provide personal information in order to establish accounts. And that is just risky business!

One great web site that offers fun and safe activities in grammar is called ESOL Help. While the site is designed to help students learn English as a second language, it is filled with learning games and resources that everyone can enjoy, like Parts of Speech Jeopardy and Millionaire Contractions .

The site is the work of Doina Popovici, an award-winning ESOL math teacher from Atlanta, Georgia. There are dozens of games and videos in the site, so have fun! You just might learn something.

Fun English Grammar Games originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 11:00:04.
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02/17/2010 03:18 AM

Memorizing Definitions

Many students make the mistake of memorizing definitions to vocabulary words as they study for tests. Why is this a mistake? When you memorize a definition, word for word, without understanding what you've memorized, you aren't really learning anything at all.

A teacher creates test questions to determine whether students have thought about and understood concepts behind the words on your vocabulary list. That means your study efforts should go well beyond memorizing a dictionary-like definition. Unless you're in elementary school, you should not expect "mix and match" questions and definitions. One way to test yourself, if you are studying a list of terms, is to come up with your own definition that means the same as the dictionary version.

Memorizing Definitions originally appeared on About.com Homework / Study Tips on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 09:18:59.
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