A study guide is basically a printed work which contains educational information on a particular subject. There are various kinds of study guides available today. The most common ones are books, study manuals, magazines, websites, etc. These have one purpose – to help students learn a certain topic or subject easily. Study guides can either be purely broad in nature to facilitate easy learning in various fields, or be very specialized resources which foster understanding of a single topic, literature, history, etc.
In the past, before the availability of study guides, students had to make their own notes in order to remember everything that they learnt in school. This would mean that they were not at all disciplined when it came to studying. The traditional way of studying was to make copies of their notes from books and then bring them to an exam room and start studying. This kind of strict learning style was, of course, effective; however, it could also be very time-consuming and boring. Students would eventually run out of papers and would need to buy more just to cover the entire material taught in school.
With study guides today, students do not have to worry about having to make their own copies of notes, because they can download them from the Internet, after downloading the guide. This allows students to enjoy a flexible learning style, where they can review any of the content that they want, at their own pace. Since the material is available for free, there is nothing to lose when using them for exams, unlike the old way of learning, where too much studying and thinking would mean a loss of money and time, as well as jeopardizing the results of the exam.
There are study guides that help students memorize the whole vocabulary or phrase of a certain term or subject, so that they know the exact definition when they encounter it on an exam or quiz. They contain lists of vocabulary, conjugation of verbs, the meanings of commonly used terms, as well as sentence examples. In doing so, students learn not only the basic concept involved in the concepts they have studied, but they also improve their memorization skills. This means that they do not have to rely solely on their memory when answering exam questions.
Reviewing is another valuable skill to develop through the use of study guides. Many people do not properly note down the main points of a topic, or they fail to take notes while reviewing. This makes them not only forget key points, but they also waste a lot of time while reviewing things that should have been clearly recalled. With the help of a study guide, students can easily note down their notes and complete the review in no time at all. Even if they forget the main points of a certain concept, they can easily go back to the examples given in the lesson, review what they have learned and then apply the concepts to real life situations, saving a lot of time and money.
Finally, reviewing is an excellent way to develop a deeper understanding of a specific subject or topic. When students spend more time reviewing their study materials, they are learning just as much as the student who took the exam. Because they have taken the time out to fully understand each concept, they will be able to apply it to real world situations. This is what is called practical study, which is vital to success on exams.