Students and their Study Habits

Analysis

Although some students go through school with minimal effort, they are the exception. A majority of profitable students achieve by using establishing and applying high quality study habits. However, when it comes to studying habits, its special strokes for different folks as students can be categorized by the find out about habits they choose. This paper looks at students and their learn about habits. Based on their study habits, students may additionally be classified as every-nighters, test takers, groupies, procrastinators, and do nothings.

Every nighters

Every nighters are college students who diligently study every night. There are some motives why a student may pick to study during nights. The quantity of classes and activities during the day may occupy much of the students’ time. The student may be involved in a part-time job. Also, the student may be waiting for the day’s end so as to be able to peruse through all that they have learned during the day or the night may be offering the much peace and calm needed for concentration. The ability to concentrate has a positive relation to the student’s performance (Nonis and Hudson 231). Some students are also night owls, meaning that they are most productive during the night time. From a physiological perspective, the body is better suited to study later at night than in the morning. Because blood sugar is lowest in the morning, so is the ability to concentrate. Further, for night owls, their peak melatonin is around five in the morning. Melatonin causes sleep, therefore if this group attempts to study at night, they might have a harder time (Darolia 43). Studying at night may be advantageous because, in the end, the student may end up retaining more information when compared to morning study. Studying through the night is not for everyone though it might be beneficial for the majority of the students.

Test takers

Test takers are students who only study for major tests. These students usually have no interest in whatever they are studying. They often feel that the class or classes they take are a burden because they perhaps haven’t identified their interests or they had been forced into taking the same. They are poor planners who seem to have a good grasp of how to handle pressure and often are independent. For this practice to become a successful habit, this means that the student has a good memory. It would require a lot of courage and a brain that is highly effective to be able to grasp information from an extensive syllabus a few days to exams. Exams may have the effect of pushing these students to learn, and “they provide students with an opportunity to review and systemize what was studied over the whole semester” (Zou 131). Although students who study before exams may score the same marks as those who study regularly, their grasp of content often differs. Students who study regularly typically have a better comprehension of concepts in the various courses as they have time to study and think about them keenly. On the other hand, students who study just before exams are often in a hurry to cover as much of the syllabus as time would allow. They don’t have the time to interrogate the various arguments and reasoning behind the concepts but instead attempt to get a gist of it. Although they may be able to reproduce what they learned during exam time, in the long run, they tend to forget most of what they have read. These students may also not be able to follow the lessons in class, especially because some courses issue recommended readings to enable the understanding of the content talked about in class. Some students may be of the opinion that it’s not fair for students who study regularly to score similarly or lower than those who study regularly. Therefore this may motivate them to study less and adopt the same practice of studying for exams (Zou 131).

Groupies

Groupies are those students who benefit from studying in small groups. Among basic, the educational philosophies or principles is the belief that learning in groups has a variety of benefits for those involved (McConnell 82). Group studies are an active method of learning. Each of the students is given a chance to contribute enabling them to take more ownership of their material and to think critically about the topics under discussion during their work as a team. This encourages a deep comprehension of the material under discussion. By learning in small groups, students can be able to utilize the strengths of the others to improve on their weaknesses. Group studies inspire confidence in the various students participating as it often brings all the students involved in the discussions and helps to build on teamwork skills. Other personal skills that are improved include negotiation, conflict resolution, values clarification and decision-making. Another advantage of group work is that it provides students from diverse backgrounds with a chance to be heard, work with group members who are from different cultures and are variously talented share their thoughts and experience. Finally, group learning may make the learning of tedious topics more lively and pleasurable.

Procrastinators

Procrastinators are students who wait until the last minute and have to cram. Procrastination refers to the act of postponing or delaying an activity. Although there may be valid reasons for procrastination, this habit is often due to laziness and irresponsibility. Last-minute cramming is often a last-minute resort to avoid getting poor grades, not necessarily pass. Although this phenomenon is quite common among students, it is far from the best way to get ready for exams. Cramming is an inefficient way to spend time, often results in memory interference and frustrations (Van Blerkom 345). It affords one very little chance to organize and practice, and test their retrieval of what has been learned. Cramming is particularly unproductive when there is more than one exam in the course of the day because of disruption of memory. Because cramming is often in the context of high pressure, it results in the suboptimal performance of the brain. It impedes the ability of the brain to retain long term knowledge. Additionally, last-minute revision goes hand in hand with insufficient sleep, if any. The dilemma here is that the student either stays up to study as much information as possible or gets a good night’s sleep. Sleep being crucial in the formation of lasting memories is vital, and the lack of it can be self-defeating in remembering during exams. However, there are some pointers that the students can apply to ensure that they make most of the little time to prepare for exams such as studying in a different environment from the normal, studying in a group, and chunking information that is related.

Do nothings

The to-do nothings are students who spend little or no time studying. Students who don’t study typically lack motivation because of the dearth of rewards for studying hard and for learning courses that are arduous. Other factors that may discourage interest in studies are the fact that most education systems encourage book smarts rather than those seeking to gain key competencies. These students may resort to cheating so as to afford failing exams, which is a risky and prohibited endeavor. Good performance in exams interconnects with good preparation, and it is inevitable that the students who spend no time at all preparing are set to fail. To-do nothings may also neglect their studies because they may have previously tried studying severally but their results have never been encouraging. This may be because of ineffective study methods, but they may not be cognizant of this fact. They thus choose to direct their energies elsewhere to mundane activities such as partying, or what they are good at such as sports or art. To do nothings often are not bothered by their academic performance.

Conclusion

Students can be categorized according to their study habits. There are every-nighters who are students who study every night. Test takers are students who only study for major tests. Groupies are those students who benefit from studying in small groups. Procrastinators are students who wait until the last minute to cram. The do-nothings are students who spend little or no time studying. All these various students are motivated or demotivated by different factors.

Works Cited

Darolia, Rajeev. “Working (and studying) day and night: Heterogenous effect of working on the academic performance of full-time and part-time students.” Economics of Education Review (2014): 38-50. Electronic. .

McConnell, David. E-Learning Groups and Communities. Berkshire: Open University Press, 2006. Electronic. .

Nonis, Sarath A and Gail I Hudson. “Performance of College Students: Impact of Study Time and Study Habits.” Journal of Education for Business (2010): 229-238. Electronic. .

Van Blerkom, Dianna L. College Study Skills: Becoming a Strategic Learner. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Electronic. .

Zou, Yihuan. Quality of Higher Education: Organizational and Educational Perspectives. Aalborg: River Publishers, 2013. Electronic..