About study skills

Study Skills – notes for teachers

Learners of all ages now have access to vast amounts of information. Developments in technology mean that there are now more and more computer-based resources on CD-ROM and DVD, and fast internet connections can give learners access to huge amounts of information on the web.

At the same time as this growth in easily available information, there have been significant changes in education. Teachers use a greater variety of teaching methods, and learners are encouraged to work more independently, such as by carrying out projects and assignments by themselves.

These changes make two key skills especially important for learners today: study skills and information literacy. There is an enormous area of overlap between these two sets of skills, but there are also some skills that are specific to each.

Learning and Teaching Scotland has commissioned this collection of learning materials to help learners to develop the study skills and information literacy they need in order to become independent learners and to develop their full potential as individuals, citizens and workers in the 21st century.

Study skills

Study skills can be described as ‘learning how to become an effective learner and how to manage your own learning’. There is no minimum age to start learning these skills – in fact, just like learning a language, the earlier the learners are introduced to these skills and strategies, and apply and practise them, the more independent and confident they will become in any learning situation, both within or outside the classroom. Many of the skills are best developed over a period of time, so the materials are deliberately written for different age groups, from 5 through to 18. Good study habits laid down early will provide a strong foundation for the learning that comes later.

The learning material

The activities in this learning series are grouped around the four main stages for effective studying and the successful processing of information. The four headings - Get, Understand, Remember and Do - follow the logical steps which people take when they are finding out about something, making sense of it, then telling someone else about it or doing something with it. 

The activities are designed for different age groups: 5–9, 10–14 and 15–18. Each has a set of relevant skills to learn, practise and apply. The age bands are very wide, so some of the activities will be more appropriate for the youngest and some for the oldest in the group. For example, in the 5–9 age group, 'Kim’s game' and 'Trogs', with their emphasis on graphics and animations to help learning, might be more appropriate for 5-6-year-olds, whereas 'Reading for information' would be a suitable activity for the older or more confident learners in this group. 

There are separate sets of notes for teachers, parents/carers and students. They explain the objective of the activity and how to make the most of it.

It is hoped that the units will be flexible enough to be used by teachers in the classroom, either by using an interactive board to promote whole-class discussion, or by making the materials available on individual computers for pupils to work through in small groups or on their own. Pupils could then be asked to access the materials as a way of reinforcing what is learnt in lessons, or to work through with parents or carers. 

To explore this in more detail, take a look at the pedagogical rationale and research report underlying the materials: