How Sharp Are Your Study Skills?

Grade Yourself (1=Not Like Me at All, 2=A Little Like Me, 3=That's Me)
_____ 1. When I take class notes, I never seem to have the right material written down.
_____ 2. I never seem to have enough time to study and have fun.
_____ 3. I feel like I should be able to learn the material in less time than I spend
studying.
_____ 4. I have a lot of trouble keeping up with my reading assignments. Then, the
night before class, or a test, I wind up cramming.
_____ 5. Even though I study, and feel like I know the material, I don't do very well on
tests.
_____ 6. My brain stalls out on me during tests (essay, multiple choice, or true/false).
No matter how much I study for a test, the answers just don't pop into my
head.
_____ 7. I tend to cram for tests (the day of or the night before) rather than studying a
little bit at a time for weeks before the tests.
_____ 8. I have difficulty understanding the notes that I take in class. They make sense
at the time I take them down, but reading them afterwards is confusing and
sometimes impossible.
_____ 9. When my professor assigns an essay, I feel tense, overwhelmed, and frustrated
just thinking about writing the paper.
_____ 10. Once I take my class notes, I rarely look at them again. I never review them
as the semester continues.
_____ 11. When I have an essay that is due, I don't want to get started too early. I
usually write them the day they are due, or the day before.
_____ 12. When I read, I have difficulty distinguishing what is important, and what is an
insignificant detail.
_____ 13. When I have a paper that is due, my thoughts and ideas and clear when they
are in my head, but I have difficulty putting them down onto paper.
_____ 14. I tend to put off studying until just before an assignment/test is due, and feel
disorganized and frazzled when I study.
_____ 15. After reading, I often can't remember what I just read.
Scoring: Now that you've finished the study skills test, it's time to find out where you
need a little help and where you excel. Knowing your strong (and not so
strong) areas can help you in your tutoring sessions. You will be able to
connect with tutees who have similar learning styles and/or difficulties, and
you will hone your expertise so that you can easily spot where a tutee needs the
most help.
It may also be a good idea to photocopy this test and take it to your next session,
so that you and your tutee can assess and strengthen any weak study skill areas.
Also keep in mind that for the next few issues of Tutoring Matters, we'll be
covering the six categories of study skills listed below. So think of this test as
part 1 in a 6 part series!

And now on to the scoring…Add up your answers to the questions below.

A score of:
8-9 = this study skill area needs an overhaul. Check out the next few issues of Tutoring
Matters and brush up on the basics. Then, when you have mastered those, try building on
them with some of the more advanced concepts.
6-7 = there is room for improvement in this study skill area. Check out the next few
issues of Tutoring Matters and brush up on some of the techniques. And don't forget:
Practice makes perfect!
4-5 = Pretty good! You understand the importance of study skills and have tried hard to
implement them into your daily routine. You may slip up from time to time, but overall,
you have learned to take advantage of study skills.
3 = Bravo! Either you cheated (Kidding…tutors never cheat!), or you are an expert when
it comes to study skills. You know that good study skills build a solid learning foundation
both at home and in class. Keep up the great work!

Test Study Techniques: (5) _____ + (6) _____ + (14) _____ = _____
Time management: Questions (2) _____ + (3) _____ + (7) _____ = _____
Reading Comprehension: (4) _____ + (12) _____ + (15) _____ = _____
Essay Writing Techniques: (9) _____ + (11) _____ + (13) _____ = _____
Effective Note-taking: (1) _____ + (8) _____ + (10) _____ = _____

Again, if you scored well, congratulations on understanding how important study skills
are in a learning environment. If you didn't do as well as you would have like, don't
worry, there is plenty of information out there (including our upcoming issues) to get you
back on the track to academic success!