study help

6 Study Tips for Adult Students

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Adult student on campus holding binder

It can be hard to readjust to a studying mindset once you’re out of the habit for a few years, but with a few tips and some helpful resources, you’ll be studying effectively in no time!

Manage Your Time Wisely

Adult students tend to have more work and family obligations than the traditional student, and that can make it difficult to get classwork done. The solution? Plan ahead. Set aside a quiet time and place each day to catch up on your work, even if it’s just to study your notes and complete textbook readings. Start on your assignments as soon as you get them, just in case anything comes up closer to the due date.

Know Your Computer

If you aren’t confident in your computer abilities, then it’s time to learn to use one! Almost every class you take in college will require using a computer for studying and completing assignments, and online classes are, well, fully on a computer. Get familiar now. Learn how to use Microsoft Word, an internet browser, your course sites, and the Portal, at the very least.

Use a Variety of Resources

Remember that you have more than just your textbook if you need assistance. Many services and programs are available through the Macdonald DeWitt Library. Professors will often post extra information, links, and notes for studying on your class Blackboard site, so make sure you check course sites regularly. You can also take a look at some other great online resources we’ve curated for you.

Get Tips for Memorization

There are lots of different methods for learning and memorizing information, including using mnemonics, mapping, and more. Many suggest that physically writing down notes is an effective way to familiarize yourself with information, so don’t be afraid to use a notebook and pen, even if you’re trying to use your computer more often. Check out some of our other tips for boosting your memory skills.

Get Help if You Need It

Remember: there are special resources on campus if you need extra assistance! Visit the Writing Center and Math Center for help with English or math. Tutoring, study help, and other services are available through the Center for Academic Planning & Support (CAPS), formerly known as the Learning Center. If you need assistance with any course, don’t be afraid to reach out to caps@sunyulster.edu or stop by their offices in VAN 247. The staff and peer tutors in these departments are always happy to help!

Maintain a Balance

Don’t forget to take a breather once in a while! It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by your coursework and other responsibilities, which only makes studying that much harder. Take advantage of on and off campus opportunities to relax, and make sure you’re eating right and sleeping well. Keeping your mind sharp will do wonders for your grades!

Memory Skills Booster Tips for Anyone

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A woman sits at a desk biting a pencil as she looks at a computer screen

First of all, why do we forget?

a bulb sits on a blackboard with a cloud drawn around it, a metaphorical representation of the skill of memory

There are a handful of reasons why we forget things that we want to remember. None of them make it any less annoying during an exam; when you can’t think of the answers that you know you’ve studied. Or when you forget your grocery list and go home without all the ingredients you need to cook dinner. A common ground we all can relate to is the desire to improve our memory skills.

Nevertheless there are four major ways your brain tosses aside information. All of which lead to the loss of a memory. Sometimes you don’t store the memory properly from the get-go, and other times you simply can’t retrieve the memory when you try to recall it. Interference from past memories can also make you forget. Sometimes we even actively try to forget things that are upsetting or traumatic.

Don’t Forget Nutrition Plays A Key Role

A person seasoning a pan of raw fish containing a lot of omega-3s that are good for memory skills

As you can imagine, a healthy brain leads to better memory skills. There are a lot of foods out there that are beneficial to your brain, containing a lot of omega-3s. Omega-3 is a fatty acid that your body can’t produce on it’s own but can help your health. The body uses it in all kinds of functions like keeping the brain and heart healthy and lowering your risk of dementia and arthritis. This essential element of your diet can be found in most fish and some fat rich plants such as salmon, anchovies, and chia seeds. If you’re curious about other sources of Omega-3s, here are 12 foods that are very high in Omega-3.

Techniques to Boost Your Memory Skills

We have often have trouble remembering certain things because they just seem like unrelated bits of information that we may not need. However there are a few tried and true methods of improving your memory skills to do just that. Some of the most highly recommended memory boosting methods are based on giving structure to those random bits of information that you need to study and memorize.

When it comes to brain training there are a few different methods to be used, which one you like is all about what you’re trying to learn along with what feels right. One popular method recommended by memory champions like Boris Nikolai Konrad is known as the Method of Loci.
The “method of loci”—sometimes called the Memory Palace—is a systematic memory technique that dates back to the days of ancient Greece.

This method involves boosting your ability to remember a list of information, like a list of terms for language or science studies. This is done by using your spacial memory of your house or your body. The things you want to remember are given specific places or parts . Then to recall them you go through the mental version of the house or the list of body parts and find the memories where you left them.

Another method that’s based on visualization is the peg system. For this one you are supposed to envision your need-to-learn study topics. Once you’ve got it you can imagine you’re placing a picture of them on a series of pegs. Sort of like hanging pictures on a long wall in a row, inside your head. After studying the picture and which number peg it is for a while, you can recall them much better than by typical studying practices.

The Memory Skills Difference May Be In A Pen

A student writes in a notebook, using a pen and paper can boost memory skills.

When you use a pen and paper to write something down it’s much more retainable than typing it. This study shows it can be much more effective to write something down as opposed to typing it. Writing leads to better memory retention and better understanding of the information and context. The reason why is that typing tends to lead to less memory making and more mindless processing. So if you’re really trying to learn from that lecture, try swapping your laptop out for a notebook.

Time is too precious to spend learning something just to let it slip away. Make sure to take some time everyday to boost your brain power. In return you’ll better retain and improve your memory. You might be surprised at how much information you can retain when you really work for it.

A clock sits next to a cup of coffee, representing that good time management and caffeine can be used to boost memory skills.

4 Tips to Power Through Textbook Reading

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Three walls of books are shown leading up to a bright invisible sky, the book shelves are slightly covered by clouds and books protruding from the sky. It gives the viewer a feeling of standing in a library nook and looking up to see the heavens.

For most students, getting through that weekly textbook reading can be a real challenge. Believe it or not, there are a few ways to make that nonfiction assignment easier. Learning the ways to power through reading that can feel daunting or impossible is a great skill, a skill that is bound to follow you through life wherever you may need it, for another degree or just a relaxed educational reading session. Here are some tips to boost your GPA through the roof with the power of effective studying.

A teal hard covered book is laying with the pages open on a table, as if someone was reading, pictured with two pages folded up and together toward the seam that looks like a heart. The backdrop is a bold yellow.

#1. Start Your Engines, Prepare to Learn

When sitting down with your book make sure you are ready to learn. You should have a writing tool and some note paper. No one that I’ve ever heard of was sorry that they took too many notes. You want to be ready to learn, but you also don’t want to dive in headfirst. Ease your way into submersion. Preview the topic and material you intend to research. Read the front cover, back cover, the preface, the inner flaps, boldfaced prints, pictures, and diagrams so you are aware of what you’re supposed to learn. You should gather a clear picture of what the text is about, if not, predict what you will be learning. Write your ideas down and see if your initial feeling is right later.

According to Live Your Legend this step is “akin to warming up before a big game.” You wouldn’t hit the field without a good warm up. Why then would you skip these equivalent steps for a research project? Being prepared when you start your research can help you perform better, just like a good stretch! Take the time to prep your brain and your grades will thank you.

#2. Use The Author’s Organization to Understand

Start off by separating the facts from opinion in the text as you read. Remembering that facts are only the stuff that you can prove, opinions just tend to float around and cannot be proven. Finding the facts is a good practice because that’ll likely be where the answers you seek are living.

Four cartoon looking textbooks are shown with various colors and objects on the cover. One shows a math equation, one an atom, one a microscope and the other a simple pattern. No words are visible anywhere.

Next, look at the way the author presents the material, it may be pretty informative. The order of events can vary as well as the style it’s put together in. In biographies and autobiographies, events are usually in chronological order. Other pieces may have an arrangement that is centered around the main idea (a.k.a. the topic you need to learn). If you can pick up on the organization and utilize it, you can predict what will come next. Pick up on the arrangement of info and where the important bits are, what the point is, and what to study for the big test!

#3. Stop, Drop, Summarize

After each section you read you should stop and put the book down for a minute to summarize the main point(s). This not only keeps you from falling asleep from reading the same book for a while, it also sticks that information you just read, but almost forgot, down in your mind.

A portion of a dark table top is pictured with sticky notes, flashcards, highlighters, markers, pencils and pens scattered across it. The office supplies are very brightly colored. There is also a roll of tape and a small compass in the picture.

Another sweet tip: if you create questions to summarize by and put your answers on the other side, it makes the most amazing study flashcards later on. The most bang for your study bucks, I like to say. I don’t know about you, but I like to remember what I read the first time and not have to search the whole book or chapter for answers down the road.

#4. Ask Questions & Analyze Your Work

Two cartoon heads look at each other, the space where their brains should be are filled with a white space. One head has a light bulb in the space and light bulbs rising from the head. The other head has a question mark in the space and more question marks rising up from his head. They could be having a fascinating conversation about reading a textbook.

Go big or go home, right? So finish strong by reaching for that notebook you have nearby and jotting down some thoughts. ASK QUESTIONS! Get those thinking muscles warmed up and actually ponder a little bit about what you just read. Check and see if those initial topic predictions we covered in Step 1 were right. One of my favorite things to do is to go discuss what I just learned with someone and have a good conversation about the subject. They can help provide some questions that might make you want to hop back into reading that book.

This is the ultimate adhesive to your brain for study material. The bread to your test’s butter. One of the more important steps, I assure you.

When you move on to the next section, read and repeat steps 3 & 4. You won’t get lost in timelines and jargon if you understand the chain of events, organization, and topic.

Good Luck!

If things between you and the textbook start to get hairy, take a breather. I’m not suggesting getting lost down the rabbit hole of social media. I am suggesting that you take less than five minutes to relax your mind and refresh your perspective. Get out of your chair, stretch your arms and legs, breath in and out deeply. If you’re not ready to jump back in, try taking a short walk or tidying up the house a bit by completing a chore. Your mood tends to improve with such activities and enables you to jump back into the ring with that textbook and win with a knockout.

Being a student and having to study informational material is not always the most fun thing you have to do, but skirting around the knowledge by only skimming texts will ultimately not benefit you. It might only waste your time, honestly. If you really learn the material, you can’t go wrong.

A cartoon looking man is shown wearing a graduation cap and gown. He points to a piece of paper that looks like a diploma with his left hand and points to a phone with the other. Around his is circle that has various objects surrounding the man. There is a pen, a tablet with a pencil, another phone with headphones and a small pile of books that will encompass a lot of reading. The background is bright teal and a portion of an atom is shown in one corner, a portion of a gear set is pictured in the opposite bottom left corner.