What are some good ways to study, other than rereading notes?

It is amazing how we participate in education throughout our lives and often are not taught real methods to succeed in learning. As educators and professionals we need to rethink our practice so that we can help students like yourself to gain and combine your current knowledge with new knowledge. One important task in the attempt to learn is to understand why you are learning the assigned material. For example, if a teacher ask you to learn about key dates and events during the American Civil War, then you should try to find out and understand why this is important to your life and the lives of other people around, and even society as a whole. From experience, I tend to become more motivated about gaining new knowledge when I know why I am learning new material. To begin learning the new material you should try to define the key words that are associated within the text. Then try to skim ( light reading) the text that is required to read. This will help you get an idea of what is in the text and how it relates to the original question or material that the teacher wants you to learn. Next read the the text, and ask yourself question about what the author is trying to communicate, why what is written is important, and then write down any questions you have about the what you have read. This process is part of analyzing the text and thinking critically about what you are learning. Moreover, you can also imagine how your life connects to the text, and this will help make connections to what you already know and what your are currently learning.