The Pareto Principle states that twenty percent of the work you do and the time you spend doing it yields eighty percent of the results you obtain, whereas eighty percent of work tends to yield twenty percent of results. How do we apply this information to academic success?
Most students who study lack essential study skills. This means that most of the time, they spend a lot of wasted time preparing for exams. Instead, they could be spending 20% of the time utilising highly targeted effort.
Success in school doesn't necessarily rely on intelligence, but students have to know how to play the game in order to be successful. If a student is of average intelligence but has learned how to study, he or she is far more likely to be successful than someone who's highly intelligent but hasn't learned how to study. Therefore, if we apply the Pareto Principle to academic success, it's about focus as well as effort.
Most students don't have the specific and strong focus needed while they study. In fact, only 20% of total study efforts are usually focused, which means that 80% of the time spent studying is wasted.
You need to focus on the right material when you prepare for exams, but when you have so much study material, how do you know what you should focus on?
Australian State education departments have syllabus documents written for each subject in your course of study. Those who are most successful will focus their study on outcomes specified in the documents. Most often, these documents are available online and can be downloaded to your own computer. These will often also include glossary of terms essential to understanding and completing the course of study.
If you need help covering essential material, you can also purchase study guides specific to the state you live in for reasonable prices. These guides can save you time by providing important headings and sub-headings with summaries of essential information for exam success. These books can also fill in gaps in information that can occur as a result of absences and variations from school education standards.
Marking is based on meeting course outcomes, so successful results cannot be separated from the expectations of the curriculum. Parents often do not understand how the education system has changed since they were at school and see their children's grades as a reflection of academic ability.
More often than not, though, children don't know how to produce work that will give them the grades they desire. Once they learn how to play the game, they can get the grades they want. They can also save a lot of time when they read course material. Students can therefore utilise the Pareto Principle as a time management tool once the course requirements are known.
The Pareto Principle can also be applied to university study. You will be given initial course documents outlining the individual topics you will cover in your course. You will also usually be given a book of readings and perhaps additional textbooks. You will also be given a list of assignments and due dates at the beginning of your course at most universities so you can plan your study time.
Most university courses, especially those in the humanities, require students to do a lot of essay writing and reading. This means that good planning and summaries are mandatory. If you read the essay questions ahead of time and then make notes from your readings, your study time can be greatly reduced by up to 80%. In other words, 20% of your effort can give you much greater results. If you apply targeted effort above this, you can further improve your marks.
Focusing your attention for shorter periods of time is the key to your academic success. You also need to focus your attention on the right things, however. Don't just rely on what teachers tell you in class, or what other students tell you. Take a look at the official written material available to you and focus on that as well. If you follow these rules, write good essays, and make sure you cover the course content required of you, you'll be able to substantially improve academic performance. You'll also be able to do it much more easily than you otherwise would.
About the Author:
Author: Dr Marc R. Dussault can show you how to get the best grades With the least work. Visit the "Get Better Grades" website for more helpful tips on acheiving great marks by studying more effectively.
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