Studying, study habits and study strategies are all important parts of a college student’s success; at least they used to be. In a study between UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside researchers found that the average student’s study rate dropped from 24 hours per week in 1961 to 14 hours per week.
However, it can be misleading to compare college habits from students 50 years ago. Students today are doing more and more while in school, they used to be full-time but now they often juggle classes and multiple jobs.
Time management and motivation are big issues for students according to Reginald Laigol, the developer of a new smartphone app called “Study Habit,” which offers tips to get students into a study routine.
Technologies like the Internet can both be a help and hindrance to study efficiency; it can reduce research time, but is also full of distractions.
Furthermore, many students are not prepared for a college level workload. “Only 46 percent of high school students are prepared to face the rigorous demands of college,” reported a press release from academic and life skills summer program, SuperCamp.
One of the resources on campus students can use to improve on studying is the Learning Resource Center. Beyond just being a computer lab the LRC is a useful tool offering workshops, drop in tutoring, CD and DVD coursework provided by professors and recordings of college hour lectures.
“We provide workshops for students to be successful academically and personally,” said LRC coordinator Connie Ayala. Last semester, they offered Computer and Math Skills labs weekly, that students could drop in to learn basic computer skills like email and D2L and review math skills to prepare for the COMPASS assessment process.
According to an email from Sarah Lehmann, the ARC library public services Librarian, “The ARC library offers many resources to support students’ research needs and academic success,” which includes “Research databases that students can use to find high-quality information for their assignments. The databases provide access to scholarly articles, magazines & newspaper articles, ebooks, reports, news, images, music, and more.”
If a student has good habits for research, but lacks the time management to effectively study strategically for classes, there is still help to be found. The Reading Across the Disciplines (RAD) program hosted a time management workshop to help students learn to prioritize assignments in February.
This type of workshop was new to this semester and Ayala hopes students will take advantage of the resources ARC offers.
The computer and math skills labs are held weekly, and the reading and writing centers are open Monday through Friday. These workshops and labs are all tools students can utilize at ARC to get the help they need.
“The smartest thing (a student) can do is take time to invest in the basics and ask for help.”
