Research on Student Study Techniques - IELTS Listening Answers & Explanations

Tutor: OK, is everyone ready?... Over the past two weeks we've been listening to different students giving a presentation on their research projects. So for this morning's session I'd like to invite Susan to take the floor.

Susan: For my project I looked at different types of study techniques and tried to ascertain what students' opinions of the different methods were. I began with lectures, because of course they're something we're all familiar with. Now the problem with lectures is that you have to sit and listen for quite a long time. Sometimes maybe as much as one hour. Yet people's average concentration span is only about 20 minutes. This means, of course, within the first half an hour most people actually stop listening! Not consciously, of course. But you know what it's like. Your mind tends to, well..., kind of wander-you start thinking about what you're going to have for dinner, or about the party you attended last night. So I wanted to know what the most effective method of taking down all the important points was.

Tutor: Susan, if I may interrupt you, what's your strategy for listening to lectures?

Susan: Personally, I always record the lectures. That way you can listen to the lecture again afterwards and make really good notes. In fact I know a lot of people who use this method. Yet surprisingly, when I talked to students, they felt that it wasn't such a good method because the quality of the recording is often very poor. So quite a few preferred to listen for the main points and take notes. Some even used a form of shorthand. You know, abbreviations and symbols, that sort of thing. Although, everyone agreed that the best way to approach lectures was to do the required reading beforehand. That way it makes the lecture a lot easier to understand because you already know something about the topic.

Tutor: Could you tell us something about how students approach their assignments? You know, essays, reports, that sort of thing.

Susan: Actually, when it came to assignments, people were divided on the issue of essay plans Some thought it was a good method of planning, others, well, didn't think so. Generally, though, most students didn't really express much of an opinion. Brainstorming, however, was different. You know, must sitting down and thinking of as many ideas as you can. Just about everyone said it was a really good method of preparing to write an assignment, especially if they got together in groups. This, they said, was by far the best method because it helped them to really analyze the issues. Discussing ideas was the same. In fact, many respondents claimed they often got together with friends for the purpose of discussing ideas, even if they weren't preparing an assignment. They said it helped them to understand the lectures better, and, surprisingly enough, get better grades in their exams. Now reading, like lectures, is a necessary part of student life. And we all know how much time we spend with our head banned deep in a book? But what exactly is the best way to read? Well, I discovered that hardly anyone tries to read the whole book, or even whole chapters. But skim reading came out a real favorite. The majority of students I spoke to, in fact, found this to be a really effective technique because it saved lots of time, and it meant they could absorb far more knowledge this way.

Tutor: Susan, in your opinion, what do you think is the biggest problem students face at university?

Susan: Time management. What I mean to say is that it's a much underestimated skill. And because it's underestimated it's an area often neglected by students. Especially young students who are used to other people planning their time for them. So I set about asking students exactly how they planned their time. Interestingly, however, nearly everyone said that time management was significant. Yet few people actually used the technique. Most commented that they were too busy with their studies. When it came to studies I found that the vast majority of students worked part-time, generally in the evening, which most respondents claimed was the best time to study because they'd been thinking about the subject all day and many ideas were fresh in their minds. In fact they said having to work was the biggest burden they had, because it meant they couldn't study in an evening and had to study on weekends instead, when they needed to relax and forget about their studies. A few of the respondents even said they got up early in the morning to study. On the whole, I found that time management is most people's biggest problem, and I feel that more should be done by the university to help students to plan their time more effectively.

Tutor: Sony, Susan, but I'm going to have to ask you to start wrapping up now. We're quickly running out of time.

Susan: Ok, well the final component of my research was the dreaded exams. Now I don't know about you but I really hate exams. But when I talked to the students I found that some students actually liked them. They were very much in the minority though, and most students preferred not to have them. I was, of course, interested to learn just how students prepare for their midterm and end-of-term exams. And here people were evenly divided on the issue. I found that most of the younger students preferred to cram. That is to say they'd spend many hours, just before the exam, trying to learn as much as possible. Some even said they stayed up at night, and never went to bed. And this was because they were too interested in their social life to pay much attention to exams during the term. Older students, however, were much more conservative. They tended to read much more widely, and spend time thinking about the topic, making notes and so forth. They did revise, of course, but they rarely spent time cramming. Cramming, they said, is of no use because you only remember the information for the duration of the exam and forget it afterwards.