Bad Study Habits Essay, Research Paper

In many cases, students of today’s society are often provided with poor study skills, preventing them of all chance for a satisfying grade. Studying is a major concept of education, and if the problem continues, more and more students will be rejected from opportunities they wished they’d had. Opportunities include future education at a college, a chance to gain important knowledge, or even an opportunity to receive a high-paying job. As years go by, many lives have been changed by improper study habits that could have been cured if help was provided. Today, statistics prove that the number one cause of all high school and college dropouts, are the use of bad study skills. As the lack or misuse of studying continues to steadily grow higher, the problem consistently deprives one’s opportunity to gain knowledge, and potential a student might obtain in the future.

Most of the student population is not a substantial threat to the poor use of studying. However, the threat comes from when a student is lazy and not wanting to do the task at hand. The task of participating in-class, as well as at home.

Two years ago I had a Chemistry teacher that could strongly be considered the world’s most boring professor in the entire world of education. His voice sounded exactly like a robot, while his enthusiasm put everyone to sleep in seconds. I can remember one week where he gave 90-minute lectures each day on the different functions of the electrons. Another reason that made him so boring was his lack of humor. He never had any fun, never laughed, and never smiled. He told one joke the entire semester of my junior year. ” Today we will be lecturing on three different bonds; the ionic bond, compound bond, and James Bond.” I chuckled at the lame joke, and then continued to sleep. Every now and then, Mr.Stumpf would occasionally give out pop quizzes over his in-class lectures that I would usually fail due to the lack of attention and participation in class. Mr. Stumpf also handed each student a three-page packet of worksheets to help us with the chapter we were studying. Each worksheet was worth five points, but took at least an hour for each page. So, with my ungodly study habits, I decided to neglect the worksheets since they were only worth fifteen points. And when test time came creeping up, I would be totally unprepared for the material that was covered. So, as the lesson would show, my laziness played a major role in contributing to the D+ I received in Chemistry 101.

Another role in improper study habits is what he/she considers to be studying. I know many people who believe that they studying, but in actuality they are really just reviewing. One technique that Matt (best friend) used for studying was named the two-minute drill. This technique is consisted of a 120 second review over the material covered in class to prepare for either a test or quiz. This is an easy method often used by many lazy, unmotivated students of any age who also consider the two-minute drill, the proper way to study. In definition, the two-minute drill is a skill administered when a student flips to the back of the chapter he/she is studying and begins to read the “Chapter Summary” in approximately two minutes or less. During these two minutes, the student reviews all the important points that are covered in the reading, as well as all the vocabulary words that are only in bold lettering.

Matt had to learn it the wrong way when he ignored his first chapter in Psychology when he was a senior at Homestead. Matt is a confident, intelligent, cocky man who believed he could BS every class in high school. Up to his senior year, he never studied much, all he did was review every once in a while. So, as Matt walked into his Psychology class he had just enrolled in for the second semester, he believed that this class was going to be like all the others. As the first week went by, the teacher, Mr. Sherman, assigned homework each day reassuring everyone in his class that reading is a necessity, and needs to be done. Matt, being the man that he was, totally neglected his statement deciding that the only studying he would be doing was two minutes before the test or quiz. Sure enough, when the day came for the big 100 point test for chapter one, Matt walked into class early, flipped to the Chapter Summary, and began reviewing the important issues of the Memory, the Brain, and all the vocabulary words the were in bold lettering.

About five minutes later I walked into class prepared for the test, and glanced over and began laughing because I knew that what he was doing was going to bring absolutely no help for the test. In the Chapter Summary, it never explains how everything works and what the functions are. I knew that all the information on the test would cover in the reading, not at the end of the chapter. A couple minutes into class, the teacher handed out the test and stated that whenever someone is finished, they could it hand it in and leave. So about 30 minutes later I handed in my copy of the test and when I was walking out of the class, I glanced over to see how my friend Matt was doing, and the expression on his face described everything.

After he was finished, he told me about his struggle, and how he was never going to use that two-minute drill again. This story proves that this technique is not a way of studying; it is a way to fail.

A number of causes contribute to poor skills in studying. Chief among them is the lack of time in today’s society. People in college, or high school are most often on a daily schedule or plan for the entire week. So, if by chance a person gets behind on schedule, time can be scarce.

Time management is an important factor when it comes to studying. One must consider his/hers studies to be important enough to create a time and place where they can accomplish and keep up with their classes. If they don’t, then the student will eventually fall behind where it’s soon time to cram. When a student tries to read, study, and cram everything at once, it is very difficult to remember all material that he/she covered the next day. That’s why a student must consider their classes as a top priority, in which they must study on a daily basis to prevent cramming.

In the middle of December of last year I wrecked my car and the damage was estimated around $550. I needed my car for school, so in order to gain money I decided to work more hours at work to gain extra cash for the repairs. For one entire week, I put in fifty-eight and a half hours of work to cover all my damages and labor costs. What I didn’t consider that week was my schooling and how far I was now behind. After paying the cost of my car, the next week was hell. I stayed up till about 1:00 A.M. each day for about a week cramming and trying to make-up all the work I had missed in the previous week. Even though I did average on my class assignments and quizzes, I feel I could have done much better if I planned out my schedule ahead of time. Knowing your priorities, and having good time management, can easily prevent cramming for many students.

If the problem of poor study habits continue in today’s high school and college students, then the chance of receiving the amount of knowledge and good grades are slim to none. In order to provide a proper, affective way of studying, students consider each one of their classes as a top priority where they must keep their focus at all times. Because if they don’t, then their opportunities later in life won’t be the same as the people who worked and studied the correct way.