Study skill Essay

Study skill is defined as the different abilities that can be developed in order to improve a learner’s capacity to learn (MONDOFACTO, 2009). Based from the free dictionary (n. d. ), the term study skill is used for general approaches to learning, rather than skills for specific courses of study. There are many theoretical works on the subject, and a vast number of popular books and websites. In the 1950s and 1960s, college instructors in Zthe fields of psychology and the study of education used research, theory, and experience with their own students in writing manuals. Marvin Cohn based the advice for parents in his 1979 book Helping Your Teen-Age Student on his experience as a researcher and head of a university reading clinic that tutored teenagers and young adults. According to the National Commission on Excellence in Education (1984), many students are unsuccessful in school because they lack effective study skills (Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). College students face various sources of academic stress, including demonstration of an ability to engage in challenging materials under time limitation (AfsanehHassanbeigi, JafarAskari, Mina Nakhjavani, ShimaShirkhoda, KazemBarzegar, Mohammad R. Mozayyan&HossienFallahzadeh, 2011) especially examination (Helen, 2013). To counter this, the commission recommends that study skills be introduced to students very early in the schooling process and continue throughout a student’s educational career (Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). In a now classic study of study skills, Entwistle (1960) reported that students who voluntarily took a study skills course were more successful academically than similar students who did not voluntarily take the course(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). Haynes (1993) reported that improving study skills techniques can enhance academic achievement for students with poor study skills habits (Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). One such initiative was launched by the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE)(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). This initiative, â€Å"The Dynamics of Effective Study,† was intended to help students succeed in high school by providing them with essential study skills(cited in Louisiana Department of Education, 1987)(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010). According to documents produced by BESE, the â€Å"Dynamics of Effective Study† course was designed to help students â€Å"learn how to learn† so that they can become effective, well-organized, and self-directed learners (cited in Louisiana Department of Education, 1987)(Mutsotso&Abenga, 2010).