How to Study Effectively at University: Focus on What Matters

One of the things every university student needs to learn is how to distinguish essential information from less important details. Knowing how to navigate study materials can save you a lot of time and effort. Some information is crucial, while other details are simply supplementary: useful, but not essential. So how can you tell the difference?

In this article, you’ll learn:

• how to identify the most important material for each course,
• why it’s worth paying attention during lectures,
• how to navigate textbooks and other study materials,
• how to organise information based on its importance.

What Is the Goal of the Course?

The first step is to take a look at the course syllabus and find out what its main goal is. You can usually find this information in:

• the course description,
• the expected learning outcomes,
• the exam requirements.

Next, turn the general goals listed in the syllabus into specific questions:

• What should I be able to recall?
• What should I be able to compare?
• What should I be able to calculate?
• What should I be able to explain using a specific example?

Once you’ve written these questions down, look for relevant study materials that will help you answer them.

Pay Attention During Lectures

It might be tempting to stop paying attention when your lecturer is going through a presentation they’ve promised to upload later, but that’s a mistake! The lecture itself can help you identify what’s most important for successfully completing the course.

Pay particular attention to recurring concepts and diagrams that connect different topics. It’s also useful to notice when lecturers point out common mistakes.

What About Textbooks?

Most of your study materials will probably consist of textbooks and course materials rather than your own lecture notes. Before reading them in detail, go through the table of contents, headings, chapter summaries, graphs, highlighted terms and conclusions.

For each chapter, identify the question it addresses and how it relates to the lecture. The most important things to look for are:

• definitions,
• arguments,
• explanations of causes,
• evidence,
• examples and exceptions.

Extra tip! When reading an academic text, ask yourself: What is the author claiming? How do they support their argument? What evidence do they use? Which parts are directly relevant to the course material?

Organise Information by Importance

If you’re still unsure what deserves more attention and what you can spend less time on, divide the information in your study materials into four categories:

1. Level A – Fundamentals: Main principles, key definitions, formulas or theories that you need to understand before moving on to other topics.
2. Level B – Explanations: Arguments and processes that explain why the fundamental principles work.
3. Level C – Application: Examples, case studies and situations in which the main principles are applied.
4. Level D – Additional information: Interesting facts and supplementary details that help you explore a topic in greater depth but aren’t always necessary for a basic understanding.

To make this easier to understand, let’s apply the system to a specific topic: the Second World War.

1. Level A: When did the war take place? Who fought against whom? How did it end?
2. Level B: A closer look at specific battles, motivations and key figures of the Second World War.
3. Level C: An analysis of a particular event, such as the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.
4. Level D: Interesting facts and historical gossip, such as details about Hitler’s personal life.

How to Study Effectively for Exams

Studying effectively at university isn’t about how many pages of textbooks you read, but whether you can identify and understand the most important information. When preparing for exams, use the course syllabus, your lecturer’s explanations and the importance of individual topics to guide your learning. This will help you navigate your study materials more easily and make better use of your study time.