Studying tips, helps, etc

[mikedrums69]

Hi guys. Currently I’m studying my ABC level2 though HCC, long distance. To say I’m not the most  academic person is a huge understatement. I hate class rooms, I struggle to understand things I’m reading and I definitely hate exams and assessments. To say I’ve had really good understanding assessors i think, is a credit to them. 

Im a well driven person, but I’m really struggling to find the motivation to do this. 

Has anyone else had the same struggles I have? Is there any helpful suggestions or neat little tricks to help me get stuck in to it? 

 

Cheers,

Mike

[tree-fancier123]

1 hour ago, mikedrums69 said:

Im a well driven person, but I’m really struggling to find the motivation to do this.

short of paying someone to point a gun to your head with strict instructions to blow your brains out if you stop reading, can't think of anything

[Steve Bullman]

Have a gander at this thread.  Not specific to studying as such but still some good advice within

 

https://arbtalk.co.uk/forums/topic/113508-how-do-you-keep-yourself-motivated/?tab=comments#comment-1676832

[Conor Wright]

Set yourself targets.. like " I'll read this for an hour then go out and chop wood" recycle the information whilst chopping until it becomes knowledge.. or go for a swim, run etc.. or..the best motivation may be that "once I'm finished this, that's it, I never have to do it again!" Everyone's different in how they absorb information, but some quiet classical music, as few distractions as possible and a quiet place help.. Also turn off your phone! If you're here posting stuff you ain't studying! Clear your mind of background noise and get it done. Good luck!

[Ratman]

Set yourself targets.. like " I'll read this for an hour then go out and chop wood" recycle the information whilst chopping until it becomes knowledge.. or go for a swim, run etc.. or..the best motivation may be that "once I'm finished this, that's it, I never have to do it again!" Everyone's different in how they absorb information, but some quiet classical music, as few distractions as possible and a quiet place help.. Also turn off your phone! If you're here posting stuff you ain't studying! Clear your mind of background noise and get it done. Good luck!

As Conor suggests, set an example/task to do and carry it out without distractions. I was never great at putting pen to paper, could do manual tasks a piece of piss, and gather the processes on how to do them in my head easily if i’d physically seen how they were done. Give me a task on paper, i’d basically have a sketch pad as an answer, majority of time the answer would be correct, but the teacher wouldn’t accept it cos it was not written how THEY wanted it written. We all absorb things differently, youtube can be good if you hit upon the right video, some stuff is garbage but some is also very helpful and easy to pickup/learn with the right person telling the scenario.

Vesp of all people ([emoji849] i know guys i’m sorry [emoji119]) actually gave some really good sound advice to someone not too long ago who was struggling with learning and taking stuff in, cant remember the title of the thread or who it involved, be had some good ways of approaching stuff. He’ll probably raise his annoying head at some point.

Other than the above, DON’T be afraid to ask questions, everyone is entitled to ask questions or give opinions, no matter who you are or in any situation. Anyone who is offending towards you about it and the fact you are asking for help...... well just tell em to go and knob off cos they aint worth knowing!!! We all ask for help at some point in our lives. Good luck [emoji106]

 

[AJStrees]

5 hours ago, mikedrums69 said:

Hi guys. Currently I’m studying my ABC level2 though HCC, long distance. To say I’m not the most  academic person is a huge understatement. I hate class rooms, I struggle to understand things I’m reading and I definitely hate exams and assessments. To say I’ve had really good understanding assessors i think, is a credit to them. 

Im a well driven person, but I’m really struggling to find the motivation to do this. 

Has anyone else had the same struggles I have? Is there any helpful suggestions or neat little tricks to help me get stuck in to it? 

 

Cheers,

Mike

Hi Mike, 

 

I am studying my HCC Arboricultural Diploma with HCC at the moment. I agree with almost everything the other guys have said and yes there is a lot to take in and learn. I never got any formal qualifications or any real education in my early years so have good reality on the area of being totally crap at study and then becoming a lot better. 

 

Key points to deal with in study are: 1. Keep the level of significance and mass balanced. It is really important not to just study theory endlessly without getting pictures and also seeing the physical objects during the study as well as doing the actions involved in the course 2. Make sure you really understand what you are studying and do get it before moving onto the next subject, if you find you are having trouble with the chapter you are on or lesson and feel confused then likely there was something in the earlier chapter that did not fully make sense 3. Most important is to make sure you understand all the words within the study. There is a huge amount of nomenclature in this area and I find myself learning words every single day. Using a good Botany dictionary or the internet can be of tremendous help. Also try to understand the etymology of the word as that will give you a deeper understanding of it. Use the word in examples until you feel really clear on that one word you may not have understood. 

 

You probably have a lot more experience and training in the field than I, so I wouldn't want to comment on the training itself. But hope the above helps. 

 

Also the tutors at HCC are very helpful and yes just ask questions and take the time to do it in a nice quiet space where you can get on with learning and answering the questions completely and fully until you and your tutor are satisfied with your answers. 

 

But most of all. You have to spend the time studying. Like I probably should be now. 

[mikedrums69]

Cheers guys. I’ve found that I’m taking more in watching videos of the subject. Anything that I read I end up getting enraged with because I can’t understand it. 

Im having a good go at it tomorrow and hopefully start to get somewhere. I suspect once I’m done with soils and get into the stuff I do know more about, it should sink in easier. I best leave the gun to head idea. There’s been times I might’ve pulled the trigger ?

[Conor Wright]

21 minutes ago, mikedrums69 said:

Cheers guys. I’ve found that I’m taking more in watching videos of the subject. Anything that I read I end up getting enraged with because I can’t understand it. 

Im having a good go at it tomorrow and hopefully start to get somewhere. I suspect once I’m done with soils and get into the stuff I do know more about, it should sink in easier. I best leave the gun to head idea. There’s been times I might’ve pulled the trigger ?

Maybe try linking the imagery of the videos to some key words, this may also help to keep your study relevant to the topic as well as acting as a visual and aural aid to "trigger" a thought pattern of other key words and phrases.. take plenty of time to repeat relevant parts of videos and memorize them..

However you memorize is up to you, break down words to help.. make up daft rhymes.. whatever, as long as it works! 

Oh, and don't shoot yourself! It won't improve your memory.. what with there being brains and whatnot on the walls.. nah.. stick to the videos!

[jfc]

I haven't done the abc course but a guy I know has, I borrowed his soils book to see if I fancied it. I wasn't impressed and we both remarked that it was brilliantly written or explained (and is a bit boring). So it might be that you are finding it hard in part, as it is not well written. I have struggled with matthecks VTA for the same reasons. As other have said try utube or some open university tv programmes if they are relevant. Good luck with it.

[Gary Prentice]

Create a routine, setting regular time aside to study and don't allow anything to interfere with it.

 

Be really (OCD ) organised when researching, you may search loads of sites and articles finding bits of info and then when you need to reference them again you can't find them. Make a note what info the site/article contains, so when you need it it's easy to find. I'm really bad at labelling files and spent hours, literally, searching for things I knew I needed to reference, often just to write a single sentence in a submission.