Study Skills Guide for University Students

A skill is the ability, the capacity, the competence or the intelligence a person practises and develops to do something well or achieving a particular activity effectively. Skills are of different types: work skills, performance skills, well- being skills, technical skills study skills and life skills. Our concern in this course is ‘study skills’ which are regarded as one of the most effective factors on academic achievement is regarded as studying skills (Aquino, 2011; Yu, 2011). Gall et al (1990:17) define study skills as: 
The effective use of appropriate techniques for completing a learning task. In other words, a student who has good study skills can successfully carry out a learning task (e.g. participating in class) by using appropriate techniques (e.g., taking notes that paraphrase what the teacher has said) in an effective manner. A student with poor study skills may carry out the same learning task using inappropriate techniques or using appropriate techniques in an ineffective manner.