With the spring semester starting soon it may be a good time to share with students, and their instructors, some timely tips for better study habits. The Study Hacks blog recently featured a post titled “Five Bad Study Habits You Should Resolve to Avoid in 2008“. Well, it is the time of the year for resolutions. Their five bad habits to eliminate include: (1) studying without a plan; (2) skipping classes; (3) rote review; (4) studying after midnight; and (5) not taking notes while reading. Read the post for more details on how and why to eliminate these bad study habits.

And speaking of staying up late to study (item 4), particularly at exam time, a researcher at St. Lawrence University studied the correlation between student sleep time and their grade-point averages. Students reported that they had pulled at least one all-nighter during a semester and that those who did it regularly had lower GPAs. Sounds like avoiding all-nighters is a good way to begin improving study habits in 2008.

-Steven Bell, Associate University Librarian