IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF YOUR STUDY TIME: Spend a good deal of time on the most difficult parts to know it fully well. 

Yes, if you develop critical thinking skills, you can solve many problems in life. Critical thinking also helps in getting new and innovative ideas. The following are the ways by which you can get new ideas through critical thinking:

1. Meet new people 

2. Take a walk 

3. Note down the ideas 

4. Read and read   

5. Meditation 

6. Ask questions 

7. Tell your ideas 

8. Find the concrete solutions of the problems

The concept of critical thinking is important because of many reasons. It gives you the strength to think for the solution of the problem in a more effective way.

Secondly, you can save time and resources by carefully studying the situation. 

To survive in the present times, you need to develop the skills of deep thinking.

1.) Do 5 minutes of revision every day

2.) Read through a page of class notes at the end of each day

3.) Write down your homework at the end of each lesson

4.) Self-monitor your learning

5.) File notes in the right place every day

6.) Read one online article to supplement your classroom learning every day

7.) Review your day

The concept of 6 thinking hats is used in various areas. It was also used during the tsunami of the year 2004 which occurred in Sri Lanka. This tool really helped in reconstruction after the devastation caused by the tsunami. The tool of 6 thinking hats is time-saving and also easy to implement. Each member of the group will know its task well after assigning the hat.

With this concept, all the team members can develop more intellectual thinking and they can face any dangerous situation with ease. It can also be adopted by individuals for self-development. They can get multiple solutions to a problem. 

1. Ask yourself first

Being a teacher, it is always advisable to ask questions to yourself before you ask them to students. Asking yourself the questions will give you an idea of whether the question is sensible or not. Apart from that, you can know whether your question is right or wrong. You can also get the right answer to that question. Besides that, asking yourself the various questions will help you in knowing whether there is one answer for the questions or multiple answers.

2. Do not ask questions with “Yes” and “No” answers

You must avoid asking close-ended questions as much as possible. Instead of that, you must ask open-end questions starting with “Who”, “Where”, and “What”. Such questions will give more detailed information and answers.

3. Don’t hesitate to ask

Students avoid asking questions to the teachers because of shyness or hesitation. You must take the opportunity of this silence and ask various questions to your teachers. It is important to stand up and ask the questions to get all your doubts cleared. It is important to feel open in the classroom and engage more in conversation with your teachers.

• You can face all the challenges which come your way in becoming a good tutor/teacher.
• Asking good questions will give you better solutions for tough problems.
• You can increase your potential by asking various questions in the classroom.
• When you ask good questions to your teachers, it is beneficial for you. You can learn more on a particular topic or chapter.
• Asking questions will make you wiser and more open to everyone. You can view your opinions and views without hesitation or fear by asking good questions.

There are 2 types, closed questions, and open questions. Closed questions are generally short questions and can be answered quickly. 

Some examples of closed questions are as under:

• Is a total of 5 and 8 equal 13?
• Who wrote Romeo and Juliet?
• Are you taking leave today? 
• 
  

Most of the closed questions have answers in “Yes” and “No”. One of the major benefits of closed questions is that they make the students’ memory sharper and better. But on the other hand, closed questions do not allow the students to answer in a broader manner. They cannot elaborate on the topic more which limits their answering skills and knowledge.

The 2nd type of questions is open questions. They need more time to think. These type of questions involve feelings and deep thinking. 

• Some of the examples of open questions are as under:
• What is the role of insulin in the body?
• What is the message of the author through Romeo and Juliet?
• Which points are necessary to make this project successful?

Open questions improve the linguistic and logical skills of the students. They can think more practically and sensibly. Apart from that, they can get more points to answer the questions. Moreover, they can think outside the box. 

I) More collaboration

Doing team discussion will enhance the social skills of the students. They will listen to each other and share ideas and thoughts more openly. Sharing notes and other materials with each other will improve the skills of speaking, reading, and writing. Further, it will inculcate the values of hard work and dedication.

II) Enthusiastic environment

Teamwork will encourage the lethargic and inactive students to answer openly in the study group. To involve the students more in the discussion, you can give some rewards or gifts. You can also give tools such as study planner, colorful cards, charts, and others to encourage the students. 

III) Personality development

Students can share their opinions and views with the group members and leaders too. This will make them more open with the world. Apart from that, teamwork skills will boost self-esteem and confidence in each student.

IV) Group learning

Through team discussion, you can help the students to think more creatively. They can solve the problems instantly. Apart from that, students can improve their logical and reasoning skills. By preparing to do list for studying and study schedules, the students can come up with good ideas, opinions, and views.  

(1) Listen to members

The team leader should listen to every group member without personal biases. Open communication is one of the most important keys to a successful project. When there is active participation of every team member, the project will be done in a better way. 

(2) Proper framework

The framework for decision is divided into 4 tasks- reporting, disputes, meeting, and the final decision. Be it a small or large project, the problems occur in fulfilling the goals. The members should know whom to report when they face the problems. If there are any disputes, the team leader should solve them by calling the meeting and take the final decision. 

(3) Incentives

If you are the team leader and want to enhance the teamwork skills of your employees, pay rewards to them. You can give some free gifts, rewards, bonus or incentives to motivate the team members to work effectively.

(4) Know your team members

If a team member is not actively participating in the teamwork, you should bring out the new ways to involve him. A team leader must know the weaknesses and strengths of each member and try to reduce and increase them respectively.

1.) Motivating goals

If the goals are high, the team members will be encouraged to fulfill them at any cost. The purpose of teamwork is to achieve a particular goal. The more challenging the goal is the more efforts the team members will put in fulfilling them.

2.) Sharing of thoughts and ideas

All the team members should feel that their ideas and opinions are valued in the team. There must be a mutual understanding between the members for a more successful project. In addition to that, sharing ideas and thoughts among each other will remove frustration and differences of opinions. 

3.) Powerful team structure

Every member of the team must follow certain rules and regulations to achieve specific goals. They must work with mutual understanding in a team and respect each other as well. Each member must communicate effectively with one another for the success of the project or assignment.  

4.) Latest tools

There are many project tools used in small and large organizations for project management and teamwork. They can handle various tasks such as accounts, bookkeeping, billing, inventory, and others. These tools work better if proper training and guidance are offered to every employee of the company.

Establish goals and work towards it

Stick to the goals, tweaking minute changes only according to situations that arise at various points of time. 

TIME MANAGEMENT

Start off with a small time block say 25 minutes.  Focus and do not deviate in that time.  Give a 5-minute break and then study again for the next 25 minutes again.  You can increase these time blocks as you go on through your semester.

TO GET HIGHER GRADES

Give more of your time and attention to weak areas and you find that your exam grades will automatically move up. 

THERE ARE SEVERAL ONLINE RESOURCES AND TOOLS TO HELP YOU ASSIMILATE A LARGE AMOUNT OF STUDY MATERIAL QUICKLY AND EFFECTIVELY.

To make students more active in the discussion, the instructor shall inform the students about the possible gains from the discussion. Sometimes, students fail to realize the importance of group activity and shy away from participating. Thus, if they know about personality and skill development, they will be motivated and encouraged to participate actively in the group discussion. 

Also, the discussion topic can be the reason for students not participating in the discussion. The student background or less preparedness can also discourage them from participating in the discussion.

In such instances, where the teacher observes students not participating in the discussion, the teacher shall create an atmosphere of discussion beforehand. An ice-breaking session at the beginning of the semester can help to hold the successful group discussion. Guide the students about relevant reading before conducting the group discussion.

The group discussion can go wrong, if too many questions are being asked or if the self-question and answer carry the discussion. Also, if the answers fail to probe or explore the concept, the discussion will not achieve the required purpose. The unrelated questions or too many yes/no questions can also deviate the discussion away from the goal that will make it lose the purpose of carrying the discussion.

The discussion is most fruitful when carried with the focus. The appropriate conclusion and maintaining the right track throughout the discussion is the best group discussion for the students to learn from. If the instructor finds some lulls during the discussion, the instructor can intervene and introduce the new question, to keep moving the discussion on the right track.

Before, concluding the discussion, the instructor shall have a summarizing session. The instructor can either assign the task to the individual student or ask individually to each student to write down the summary or important ‘take-away’ points.

For the discussion to be productive, ethical questions are essential. At each and every level of discussion, the question asked shall be able to probe more in-depth analysis of the topic. There are different types of questions that can be initiated during the discussion, such as

• Exploratory Question 

These questions are taken up in the discussion to probe the fact and basic knowledge

• Challenge Question

These question helps to interrogate the assumption considered in the concept. It also helps to derive at the conclusion.

• Relational Question 

As the name suggests, it is to find out the different relation between, themes, ideas, and issues.

• Action Question 

The questions that call for some conclusion or action are regarded as Action question

• Cause and effect question 

These are the casual question that develops cause and effect relation of the concept

• Extension Question 

These are the occasional question asked during the discussion to unfold the concept

• Hypothetical question 

These questions can cause the change in the facts of the concept;

• Priority Question 

These are being raised to arrive at the solution on priority bases

• Summary Question 

These are the one that leads to elicit synthesis if the concept

Group Discussion is the most effective strategy used to increase learning. It is easy to use, straightforward and often observed accomplishing the learning goals. It is the most valued approach for imparting knowledge and generating opinions among the students.

1. Explore different perspectives

2. Discussion leads to subject exploration

3. Active participation

4. The discussion makes the student comfortable with the complexity and ambiguity

5. Helps in the development of critical thinking

6.  Social and communication skill development

7. Encourage the development of democratic habit among the students

8. Discussion in the group involves, articulation of an argument and counter argument 

To create the right mindest that will ensure your success. This entails accepting change and aiming to grow and improve constantily. 

Positive attitude brings out the creativity in thinking and you will get new ideas for improving the subjects. Positivity will also help in finding better solutions to the problems. Even in the school or college project or assignment, a positive attitude will bring out better results. It will also help in keeping your mind relaxed and calm in negative situations.

Having a positive attitude will attract more people to you. You can be the leader of your group and lead people to follow a positive attitude in life. You can remove the negativities in yourself and others too. It will improve your life to a large extent. With a more positive attitude, you will get more able to solve any problem in life.

Optimism always leads to success. Positivity will give more enthusiasm to work which will result in promotions and increments. This is the reason why people with positive attitude become successful in later life.

A positive attitude will gain more friends. It is because negativity will reduce the self-confidence and you will get discouraged. People will like staying with positive people. Positivity will spread happiness and joy all around the place.