LESSONS IN DIGITAL LITERACY

STUDYING HOW TO STUDYBy Nik Peachey

This lesson is based on an infographic about study skills for the 21st century classroom.

In this lesson students will learn about some of the factors that influence successful study. They will evaluate their existing study skills in the light of information from an infographic and do some online research into effective study techniques.

LESSONS IN DIGITAL LITERACY

STUDYING HOW TO STUDY

By Nik Peachey

INTRODUCTION

In this lesson students will learn about some of the factors that influence successful study. They will evaluate their existing study skills in the light of information from an infographic and do some online research into effective study techniques.

Aims:

• To develop students’ abilities to study and research effectively using digital tools.

• To develop students’ abilities to read and understand visual information.

• To develop students’ abilities to check the credibility of online information.

• To develop students’ abilities to carry out online research and to represent their findings visually.

• To develop students’ abilities to extract information from research and create informative text based on their findings.

STUDYING HOW TO STUDY

2

STUDYING HOW TO STUDYBy Nik Peachey

LESSONS IN DIGITAL LITERACY

LESSON PLAN

Printable copies of the worksheets can be found at the end of this lesson plan.

The infographic can be accessed at:https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/6b/dd/e7/6bdde7f57772e51a8463e76718e036d7.jpg

How to use this plan

The materials in this plan can be used in different ways. The first four tasks can be used independently as a simple reading and discussion class.

The last three tasks are research tasks. These tasks are likely to take longer and could be set as homework, independent study tasks or as projects and followed up in the classroom. The research tasks will all require internet access.

This lesson contains seven tasks:

• A discussion task which gets students thinking around the topic.

• A reading task which develops students’ abilities to scan text for specific information.

• A reading task which encourages students to summarize key points from text.

• A discussion task which gives students the opportunity to formulate a personal response to the information they have studied.

• A research task which guides students through the process of researching and corroborating the credibility of online information.

• An online research task which guides students through the process of creating research and disseminating the results.

• A writing task which helps students to summarize what they have learned.

Discussion task - How you study• The aim of this task is to get students thinking

about their existing study habits and sharing their existing knowledge and opinions.

Start the lesson by putting the students into pairs or groups

Give them the discussion questions and get them to ask and answer them in their groups.

Discussion task - How you study

Ask and answer these questions.

1. How do you take notes when you study?

2. How often do you review your notes?

3. How much do you remember an hour/day/ week/ month after you study?

4. What have been your most memorable lessons?

5. Do you remember more when you study online or from paper books?

6. How do you avoid distraction when taking notes?

7. What effect do you think listening to music while you study has?

8. Which do you think is better, to cram and learn as much as you can immediately before an exam, or to study less intensively over a much longer period?

3

Reading task - Fact finding• The aim of this task is to develop students’

ability to read and scan text for specific information.

Show the students the statistics and then give them a link to the infographic.

Ask them to study the graphic and find out what the statistics refer to.

Once the students have had a some time to work alone, get them to compare and share their answers in groups.

Reading task - Fact finding

What do these figures refer to?

1. 17 minutes

2. 81%

3. 30 - 50 mins

4. Group 2

5. 9 hours

6. 3.18

4

MATERIALS

These materials can be printed and photocopied for use in class.

Discussion task - How you study

Ask and answer these questions.

1. How do you take notes when you study?

2. How often do you review your notes?

3. How much do you remember an hour/day/ week/ month after you study?

4. What have been your most memorable lessons?

5. Do you remember more when you study online or from paper books?

6. How do you avoid distraction when taking notes?

7. What effect do you think listening to music while you study has?

8. Which do you think is better, to cram and learn as much as you can immediately before an exam or to study less intensively over a much longer period?

Reading task - Fact finding

What do these figures refer to?

1. 17 minutes

2. 81%

3. 30 - 50 mins

4. Group 2

5. 9 hours

6. 3.18

5

6