my Studies @ Unisa - University of South Africa

EFT study method
The exploration phase comprises roughly 60% of the time spent on the task. For long-term
planning it happens at the beginning of the year/semester.
Your main objective is to gain as much background knowledge as possible about the subjects
before beginning to study intensively (fixation).
During this phase you should
scan your curriculum
complete your assignments
do additional reading
discuss the field of study with lecturers
contact fellow students to discuss the learning material
make schematic summaries or a mindmap for intensive study later on
use your study guide to identify possible questions
identify and clarify difficult concepts
Important: Draw up a long-term timetable for the whole year/semester and a short-term weekly
schedule. Divide your subjects and the number of chapters into chunks and plan when you are
going to do what.
The fixation phase comprises 30% of the time.
By the time you get to this phase you should be fairly familiar with the content of the course and
you start to fix the content in your memory by bringing together all your background knowledge.
This is the phase in which you study your summaries your additional notes and the study guide
intensively. Here you follow these systematic steps:
Start by getting an overview of the study material again.
Page through the chapter again, read the subheadings and add them to the mindmap.
You could even go further and again look at the beginning and the end of paragraphs
because that is where authors often introduce or summarise the main ideas. You could
also read the key words in bold letters. You now have a fresh idea what the chapter is all
about. Ask yourself: “What is this chapter all about?” See if you can answer this question.
Next you start going over the the content by checking your summaries Ask yourself
simple questions beginning with “how”, “where”, “when”, “who” and “which”. Ask yourself
what the main idea is of what you have read, and make sure that you understand all the
words and concepts. Note the relationship between main ideas and subheadings and also
the logical connection between headings and subheadings. Studying like this will deepen
your insight into the study material, and insight is what is required at university level.
After you have read the learning content with understanding, you can refine your
summaries into core summaries which contain only the most important key words.
This will give you a schematic summary and a core summary for each chapter. While
you are making your summaries, you should use the different memory techniques, for
example acronyms, classification and visualisation to fix the content in your memory.
After studying each unit of work, you should test yourself to ensure that you know it. Close your
book and answer all the possible questions you have formulated as you worked through the material.
Revise your work within 24 hours of studying it. You will have forgotten up to 25% of the facts,
and this is normal. At the beginning of each study period it is important that you evise your
previous material to see how the old and the new link with each other. Important: Revision is one
of the most powerful memory techniques you can use.
For more on notemaking and mindmapping see page 68 in the A-Z guide
Memory exercises: see page 63 in the A-Z guide
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