December 21, 2011

IRD 107 CAT1 TAKE AWAY

cavinojijo@gmail.com
MOI UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING
NAME: CAVIN OLUOCH OJIJO

ADM NO: EC/35/12

COURSE TITLE: COMMUNICATIONS SKILLS

COURSE CODE: IRD 107

LECTURER: MR. KHWALIA

DATE GIVEN: 07/11/11

DATE DUE: 05/12/11

TASK: EVALUATE THE IMPORTANCE OF STUDY

SKILLS IN THE LIFE OF A STUDENT IN THE

UNIVERSITY.



1.1.0 INTRODUCTION
Study skills are strategies or approaches applied to learning. They are
usually very critical to success in the university and also essential for acquiring good grades, and are useful for learning process throughout one’s life. Broadly speaking, any skill that can boost one’s ability to study and pass exams is termed as a study skill. They are discrete techniques that can be learned, usually in a short time, and applied to all or most fields of study.
In order to study to study effectively, a student requires some skills that include: planning his/her work, managing resources and time, taking and making notes, filing and critical thinking and problem solving among others such as  mnemonics, which aid the retention of information read, effective reading and concentration approaches.

The study skills are regarded to be important as follows:
1.2.0           IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING                                                                                                                                                                                  1.2.1    Prevents wastage of time on only one task.                                                                                                                                                                                                                1.2.2    Ensures work is efficient.                                                                                                                                                                    1.2.3    Objectives are achieved.                                                                                                                                                                1.2.4   Time is efficiently managed.
1.3.0           IMPORTANCE OF TIME AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT                                                               1.3.1   Leads to effective learning                                                                                                                                                                1.3.2   Results in efficiency gains                                                                                                                                                                                                         1.3.3   Prevents loss/damage of resources                                                                                                                                                                 1.3.4  Ensures utilization of resources
1.4.0        IMPORTANCE OF NOTE-TAKING AND MAKING                                                                                         1.4.1    They summarize the main ideas.                                                                                                                                                                                                       1.4.2     Notes are easier to understand.                                                                                                                                                             1.4.3     Notes save time.                                                                                                                                                                                                          1.4.4     Economizes on space
1.5.0           IMPORTANCE OF FILING                                                                                                                                 1.5.1     Documents are protected from loss.                                                                                                                                                          1.5.2     Aids in memory.                                                                                                                                                                                                    1.5.3     Helps in easy retrieval                                                                                                                                                                                                           1.5.4     Documents are kept neat
1.6.0           IMPORTANCE OFCRITICAL THINKING                                                                                                              1.6.1    Promotes creativity.                                                                                                                                                                 1.6.2    Enhances language and presentation skills.
1.6.3     It is a domain-general thinking skill.
1.6.4    Crucial for self-reflection.






2.1.0 IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING
Planning refers to the setting performance expectations and goals for groups and individuals to channel their efforts towards achieving set organizational objectives. Some of the ways of planning are making study timetable, forming study groups, choosing good environment for study and taking on effective study methods. In planning, time available for a particular task is normally considered.

2.1.1 PREVENTS WASTAGE OF TIME ON ONLY ONE TASK.                                                                                                                                                                                                                
A student who properly plans his work well will not concentrate on only one task but will have the tasks well distributed within a given time span. By drawing a timetable for example, each task will be allocated time and this will ensure that the student does not concentrate on only one task but engages in variety of task thus very important.

2.1.2    ENSURES WORK IS EFFICIENT.                        
With proper planning, a student will efficiently engage in different tasks. Thus he/she will find time for: recreation, attending discussions, self study and in this way the work he/she does will be very efficient hence planning is very vital.

2.1.3 OBJECTIVES ARE ACHIEVED.                                                                                                                                                               
During planning a student sets out the main objectives/ goals he/she wants to achieve. Once the objectives are set, which is part of planning, the follows the planned actions and in the long run will achieve the set if he/she follows the plan strictly and plans properly.


2.1.4 TIME IS EFFICIENTLY MANAGED.
A study plan gives directions on what is to be done at a particular time and it therefore prevents wastage of time. A well planned timetable will help a student manage his/her time well hence achieving the goals that he/she sets to achieve in a given time schedule.











2.2.0 IMPORTANCE OF TIME AND RESOURCE MAGEMENT
Time and resource management refers to effective utilization of the available time and resources (books and other academic materials) in order to achieve the set objectives, in study. Panning, concentration, avoiding procrastination are some of the means of managing time while checking your reading list and the library store before buying books, seeking advice from lectures and checking the relevance of the book may help academic resources.

2.2.1 LEADS TO EFFECTIVE LEARNING.

When a student knows how to manage time well, he/she can learn more effectively; he/she becomes adept at studying quickly and more efficiently and this allows him/her more time to do other things. When such student becomes an effective learner, it’s easy to maintain good grades throughout university and secure a good job on graduation, one that pays well and allows him/her to lead a comfortable life.

2.2.2 RESULTS IN EFFICIENCY GAINS.

University is not about studies and classes alone; there are other activities and interests that one can pursue and which most students seldom find quality time for. When a student knows how to manage his/her time well he/she has enough time left for social and sporting activities even after devoting an adequate number of hours for your lessons.
2.2.3 PREVENTS LOSS/ DAMAGE OF RESOURCES
A student who knows how to mange his/her resources, will always ensure that the resources are kept in good condition thus preventing loss of the resources.  The resources that are useful to a student such as books should be kept in safe places to avoid loss thus prevent additional expenses of


2.2.4 ENSURES UTILIZATION OF RESOURCES
A student with the capability of managing the resources he/she has will absolutely utilize the resource. Such a student is most likely to achieve his/her set objectives.






2.3.0 IMPORTANCE OF NOTE-TAKING AND MAKING
Note-taking refers to recording of short summaries, made during a lecture, talk, seminar while note-making refers to the recording of short summaries from a written work. They are usually written in point form and mainly focus on: useful definitions, new technical terms and interesting arguments. They are important in the following ways:

2.3.1 THEY SUMMARIZE THE MAIN IDEAS.                                                                                                                                                                                                       
Note-taking and note making are crucial in the summary of the main idea expressed. When taking notes a student should focus on the main ideas rather than everything that the resource person says. When making notes main ideas are taken down helping in summary. 

2.3.2 NOTES ARE EASIER TO UNDERSTAND.
Notes either taken or made are very easy to comprehend since they are normally written by the writer’s own language. The student can easily understand the notes that he/she takes or make if he/she writes the notes in a his/her format thereby making his/her studies more efficient.

2.3.3 NOTES SAVE TIME.                                                                                                                                                                                                          
By notes being summaries, it saves the time needed to read them. A student will take less time to read the notes when preparing for exams than reading the whole book or a certain topic. The notes are also time saving since they are written in one’s own understandable language thus making quick reference to the notes possible.                 

2.3.4 ECONOMIZES ON SPACE.
Notes either taken or written saves on the space used. As such, the writing material will be saved thus the savings can be diverted to the acquisition of other academic materials that the student may not be having.


2.4.0 IMPORTANCE OF FILING

Filing refers to the keeping of documents in a safe place and being able to find them easily and quickly. A student may need to file: handouts, exam papers, CAT papers and other academic resources. It is important because:

2.4.1 DOCUMENTS ARE PROTECTED FROM LOSS

It would be difficult to lose papers and other academic resources that are stored in file since they are bound together. The reverse is true when the papers were not filed because they will be scattered hence can easily get lost or land into wrong hands. 

2.4.2 AIDS IN MEMORY.  
   
Reference can be made to documents and other papers that are filed together. A student may find it crucial to make quick reference to the file on a given concept that is in the file thereby aiding in memory. This may save the student time of having to go and do a separate reference in the library or in other convenient place in the school.                                                                                                                                                                                 

2.4.3 HELPS IN EASY RETRIEVAL    

Documents that re filed can be retrieved at any time as long as the file is available. A student may come up with filing methods that helps in easy retrieval of papers and other academic materials. For example he/she can have file for a particular unit. Use of computerized filing may prove to vital nowadays because there is a lot to be stored in softcopy.   

2.4.4 DOCUMENTS ARE KEPT NEAT
A student who files his/her documents will have the documents kept clean at all times and as such reference can be made to such documents without any problem of visibility. Documents that are clean are more appealing to the eye than those that are soiled as a result of not filing. Such files can be kept and for along time and even passed to a sibling.







2.5.0 IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL THINKING
Critical thinking refers to the ability to think clearly and rationally. It includes the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking. A student with critical thinking skills may be able to: understand the logical connections between ideas, identify, solve problems systematically, identify the relevance and importance of ideas, reflect on the justification of one's own beliefs and values and detect inconsistencies and common mistakes in reasoning. It’s important as follows:

2.5.1 PROMOTES CREATIVITY.

To come up with a creative solution to a problem involves not just having new    ideas but also be the case that the new ideas being generated are useful and relevant to the task at hand. Critical thinking plays a crucial role in evaluating new ideas, selecting the best ones and modifying them if as necessary.

 2.5.2 ENHANCES LANGUAGE AND PRESENTATION SKILLS.

A student who thinks clearly and systematically can improve the way he /she expresses his/her ideas. In learning how to analyze the logical structure of texts, critical thinking also improves comprehension abilities.

2.5.3 IT IS A DOMAIN-GENERAL THINKING SKILL.
The ability to think clearly and rationally is paramount in all that a student
chooses to do.   If he/she is to do research, exams, projects and so on, then critical thinking is obviously important. But critical thinking skills are not restricted to a particular subject area of study.

2.5.4 CRUCIAL FOR SELF-REFLECTION
For a student to live a meaningful academic life and to structure his/her lives accordingly, he/she needs to justify and reflect on his/her values and decisions. Critical thinking provides the tools for this process of self-evaluation.


                                                                                                                                                  





3.0.0 COMMUNICATION

To conclude, the importance of study skills to a student are as follows:

3.0.1 Help a student achieve his/her set goals.


3.0.2 The student is able to study effectively.


3.0.3 Help a student to improve his/her presentation and language skills.


3.0.4 Aids the student in time saving.


3.0.5 Enables a student to be creative.


3.0.6 Enables the student make quick reference.


3.0.7 A student is able to mange his/her resources effectively.


3.0.8 Enables a student to understand the content he/she is reading.


3.0.9 Enables a student to easily retrieval filed academic resources


3.1.0 A student is can self evaluate him/herself.






4.0.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY
In writing this report I made references from the following sources:

4.0.2    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Study_skills
4.0.3    http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/critical/ct.php
4.0.4    Inventor 1 ISNB 978-9966-44-800-2 pg 55
4.0.5   Class notes
4.0.6   Course hand-out.

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