The Need for High Academic Achievements and Excellence - Essay Sample

Study strategies

The need for high academic achievements and excellence has been on the rise among student in recent past due to a high demand for excellence in current job markets. Education today is a considered as a preoccupation for a brighter future, therefore, a high academic achievement is considered by most students and employers as a basic requirement for a good job. However, education that is provided today only focuses on proving students with opportunities of self-monitoring or strategies on elaboration but rarely on give attention to students excellence. This paper analyses the use of certain strategies including the use of flashcards, visual imagery and the use of mnemonics and how they improve students performances.

Despite the majority opinion that the use of flashcard is one of the most boring ways to study, I believe that it is the easiest and the quickest way to improve performance. It is right to say that using flashcards is not the best tool to instill focus and motivation to a rather lazy group of students but can help a lot when utilized appropriately. When using flashcards, I would look at the front part to help me think of the answers. Flashcards are also useful because they are able to facilitate repetition. All these helped me in remembering certain concepts without necessarily staring at the textbook or reading material. Similarly, while studying using flashcards, I was able to compare my answers and the correct answers by checking the answer side of the flashcards. This helps a lot in terms of creating confidence as it acts as a self-reflection. I was able to know how my answers compared to the correct one and also know how well I understood the questions.

The use of visual imagery has often been misunderstood by most students as the use of chart and diagrams. It is, however, a comprehension reading strategy that enables students to create a sort of mental pictures and movies of the passages they have studied. As a student, it was always hard to understand certain passages from the first reading due to the complexity of the passage or the use of certain vocabularies depending on the subject. For instance, reading science passages, especially subjects under biology and physics, there is always the use of Latin words that are difficult to read and understand on the first reading. With the use of visual imagery, I was to visualize certain word characters, sceneries and tables which helped me to effectively describe the passages as they were in the book. Generally, the use of visual imagery helps students to improve their understanding of a given subject and to be able to recall on certain specific points.

Naturally, some people are perceived to have a better memory than others. While this might be true, I believe the best way to improve students ability to memorize and recall what they have studied is the use of acronyms and mnemonics. I believe that developing an interest in a topic or subject is the most plausible way to understand a subject than the use of repetition. Studies involve tedious list of topics, graphs, passages and certain information that are difficult to remember. The use of mnemonic devices like acronyms helped me understanding and recalling some difficult but important topics. This method generally improves students overall performance especially in topics that involve ideas that can be listed.

Students studying abilities and performances vary in terms of creativity and the ability to recall what they have read. The use of study skills, however, has made it easier for students who are considered average. For instance, the use of mnemonics can help improve a students recalling ability, thereby, improving the students general performance.