She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

Stanford research shows pitfalls of homework

A Stanford researcher found that students in high-achieving communities who spend too much time on homework experience more stress, physical health problems, a lack of balance and even alienation from society. More than two hours of homework a night may be counterproductive, according to the study.

Education scholar Denise Pope has found that too much homework has negative effects on student well-being and behavioral engagement. (Image credit: L.A. Cicero)

A Stanford researcher found that too much homework can negatively affect kids, especially their lives away from school, where family, friends and activities matter.

“Our findings on the effects of homework challenge the traditional assumption that homework is inherently good,” wrote Denise Pope, a senior lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Education and a co-author of a study published in the Journal of Experimental Education.

The researchers used survey data to examine perceptions about homework, student well-being and behavioral engagement in a sample of 4,317 students from 10 high-performing high schools in upper-middle-class California communities. Along with the survey data, Pope and her colleagues used open-ended answers to explore the students’ views on homework.

Median household income exceeded $90,000 in these communities, and 93 percent of the students went on to college, either two-year or four-year.

“The findings address how current homework practices in privileged, high-performing schools sustain students’ advantage in competitive climates yet hinder learning, full engagement and well-being,” Pope wrote.

Pope and her colleagues found that too much homework can diminish its effectiveness and even be counterproductive. They cite prior research indicating that homework benefits plateau at about two hours per night, and that 90 minutes to two and a half hours is optimal for high school.

• Greater stress: 56 percent of the students considered homework a primary source of stress, according to the survey data. Forty-three percent viewed tests as a primary stressor, while 33 percent put the pressure to get good grades in that category. Less than 1 percent of the students said homework was not a stressor.

• Reductions in health: In their open-ended answers, many students said their homework load led to sleep deprivation and other health problems. The researchers asked students whether they experienced health issues such as headaches, exhaustion, sleep deprivation, weight loss and stomach problems.

• Less time for friends, family and extracurricular pursuits: Both the survey data and student responses indicate that spending too much time on homework meant that students were “not meeting their developmental needs or cultivating other critical life skills,” according to the researchers. Students were more likely to drop activities, not see friends or family, and not pursue hobbies they enjoy.

A balancing act

The results offer empirical evidence that many students struggle to find balance between homework, extracurricular activities and social time, the researchers said. Many students felt forced or obligated to choose homework over developing other talents or skills.

Also, there was no relationship between the time spent on homework and how much the student enjoyed it. The research quoted students as saying they often do homework they see as “pointless” or “mindless” in order to keep their grades up.

“This kind of busy work, by its very nature, discourages learning and instead promotes doing homework simply to get points,” Pope said.

She said the research calls into question the value of assigning large amounts of homework in high-performing schools. Homework should not be simply assigned as a routine practice, she said.

“Rather, any homework assigned should have a purpose and benefit, and it should be designed to cultivate learning and development,” wrote Pope.

High-performing paradox

In places where students attend high-performing schools, too much homework can reduce their time to foster skills in the area of personal responsibility, the researchers concluded. “Young people are spending more time alone,” they wrote, “which means less time for family and fewer opportunities to engage in their communities.”

Student perspectives

Related to this story

The researchers say that while their open-ended or “self-reporting” methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations – some might regard it as an opportunity for “typical adolescent complaining” – it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe.

The paper was co-authored by Mollie Galloway from Lewis and Clark College and Jerusha Conner from Villanova University.

Media Contacts

Denise Pope, Stanford Graduate School of Education: (650) 725-7412, [email protected]
Clifton B. Parker, Stanford News Service: (650) 725-0224, [email protected]

List Of The Cons Of Banning Homework

The researchers say that while their open-ended or self-reporting methodology to gauge student concerns about homework may have limitations some might regard it as an opportunity for typical adolescent complaining it was important to learn firsthand what the students believe. Going outside, hanging out with friends, joining hobby organizations, supporting parents, and, yes, watching TV and playing video games all make children feel like kids.

For most kids in Taiwan, school begins at 8 a.m. and ends at 5 p.m. or later. Each day, kids put in about 9 hours of work into their education. Students do extracurricular activities to compete and survive in society, such as attending cram school, learning musical instruments, and participating in sports. They quickly spend more than 10 hours a day engaged in school-related activities. This is the seventeenth reason why homework should be banned.

Conclusion

In this blog, we have discussed who homework should be banned and the pros and cons of banning homework. I hope you have understood why homework should be banned easily.

What are the negative effects of too much homework?

Overburdening students with homework can lead to stress, worry, despair, physical illnesses, and even lower exam scores.

How much homework is appropriate for high schoolers?

Students in high school are capable of handling additional schoolwork. According to the 10-minute rule per grade, freshmen should have no more than 90 minutes of homework and seniors should have no more than 2 hours.

Resources:

https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/should-we-stop-setting-homework/
https://news.stanford.edu/2014/03/10/too-much-homework-031014/

20 Reasons Why Homework Should Be Banned

]

5 Things You Didn’t Know About Plagiarism

Did you know that the first time the word “plagiarism” was used in its modern sense was roughly 80 AD? It became a part of our regular English vernacular over 400 years ago and has been in the dictionary for nearly two and a half centuries.

And while plagiarism is an important topic of conversation recently in schools, politics, the news and beyond, there are still many things that people may not know about it. Here are a few interesting facts that will help you to better understand the wide world of plagiarism.

1: Old Cases of Plagiarism Are Constantly Being Discovered

In 2015, NPR discovered plagiarism in some of its articles dating back to 2011. In 2017, famed war photographer Eduardo Martins was revealed to be a fraud after it was discovered that his images were plagiarized. This was after operating for several years and amassing some 125,000 Instagram followers.

Just because you get away with a plagiarism today doesn’t mean you will tomorrow. Old cases of plagiarism are routinely being detected years or even decades after the fact using modern plagiarism detection software.

2: Plagiarism Tools are Now Being Used to Detect Government Waste

In February of 2018, it was revealed that a controversial company that had failed to deliver hot meals to hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico won a $156 million contract despite plagiarizing its proposal. The story has been cited as an example of how FEMA’s application process needs a process for identifying questionable applications.

Plagiarism detection plays an even bigger role in dealing with authentic research grants. In 2013, the National Science Foundation found itself investigating nearly 100 cases of suspected plagiarism in proposals that were submitted and approved the year prior.

These cases often stem from researchers duplicating their proposals or releasing several similar proposals to improve their chances. However, these cases also often result in double-funding of experiments and, like in FEMA’s case, a massive loss of time and materials.

3: Plagiarism Regularly Causes Political Turmoil

Though plagiarism scandals in the U.S. rarely seem to have any significant impact, elsewhere they can be a force for major political change.

Romania, for example, has had not one, but two separate Prime Ministers forced out in part due to plagiarism scandals. However, it’s Germany where plagiarism has made the most direct impact. There, a wave of plagiarism allegations that began in 2012 directly resulted in the resignation of several top ministers.

Plagiarism, especially when it endangers the university degree of the plagiarist, can be a major catalyst in ending their careers

4: Plagiarism Detection Technology is Evolving

While plagiarism detection may seem to be nothing more than text matching, at its top tiers, it’s much more than that.

The move is aimed at detecting contract cheating, where students buy or otherwise have others write papers for them. While these papers may not be plagiarized from outside sources, they are still plagiarism in that the student did not produce the writing they are submitting.

This approach involves looking at previous writing samples belonging to the student and then comparing the samples to the new writer to see if it was likely written by the same person.

5: The Legal Landscape is Evolving Too

It’s not just technology that’s evolving to keep up with the changing face of plagiarism, governments are, as well.

In the United Kingdom, an amendment to the Higher Education and Research bill seeks to make it illegal to provide or advertise “cheating services” such as essay mills. The move is actually based on existing laws that are already in effect in New Zealand.

In the UK, there’s also a push to force universities to block access to essay mill websites on their local networks, much the same way they are compelled to block websites engaged in piracy.

While it’s unclear what impact these moves will have, what it does illustrate is just how seriously governments around the world are taking the issue of plagiarism and contract cheating.

Plagiarism is an ever-evolving landscape that changes with growing technology and our global connectedness. It’s crucial that we stay tuned into how it continues to grow.

This post was contributed by Jonathan Bailey, a foremost expert in plagiarism. He has spent over 16 years fighting plagiarism professionally and currently blogs on Plagiarism Today, where he raises awareness about the importance of digital literacy and the societal effects of plagiarism.

Want to provide meaningful student feedback and deter plagiarism? Learn more about Feedback Studio.

Plagiarism checker tools are not an alternative to the human analysis

Therefore, when we analyze plagiarism facts by referencing examples of plagiarism from the past or deal with modern cases, it is essential to understand why exactly it has happened and what moral standards have been followed. He has spent over 16 years fighting plagiarism professionally and currently blogs on Plagiarism Today, where he raises awareness about the importance of digital literacy and the societal effects of plagiarism.

One of the most interesting facts about plagiarism that has been discovered recently relates to fraud cases of war photographs supposedly taken in Iraq and Syria that showed children in Gaza and devastated families in Syrian suburbs. The famous name of Eduardo Martins became almost a household name as the Brazilian hero has been risking his life to deliver these images. The BBC investigation has shown that many photographs have been plagiarized and were taken by famous photographs like Daniel C. Britt. The real name of a person who has made it in the news still remains unknown.

Resources:

https://www.turnitin.com/blog/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-plagiarism
https://mkmarketingservices.com/7-facts-about-plagiarism-that-will-blow-your-mind/
https://fixgerald.com/blog/facts-about-plagiarism
]

Academic assignments are, in essence, a series of intellectual challenges that, if completed successfully, will help you understand the course material more fully.

5 Rules About Plagiarism You Can’t Ignore

In the age of ‘cut and paste,’ plagiarism runs rampant across US colleges and universities. Among those most susceptible? International students. And it is not because their peers do it less. Some studies suggest that they are more than twice as likely to be caught than their American counterparts.

According to an article on the Voice of America website, University of Virginia economics professor David Mills said, "In the case of plagiarism, one factor is that it concerns written material. International students are often not native English speakers. Their skills and comfort in using the English language may be more limited."

Currently, over half the international student population in the US hails from India and China, many of whom do not fully understand plagiarism or its consequences. There is a fundamental misunderstanding or lack of understanding within some international student communities that plagiarism is not ok.

Many universities across the country have initiated writing centers, mandatory workshops, writing seminars, and other resources for all students, but especially international students who may need the extra information and guidance.

How can all students avoid plagiarism? Rule #1: don’t do it. Here is a refresher course for those who need it:

Bottom line: plagiarism is passing off someone else’s written or spoken work or ideas and passing them off as your own.

Quoting and paraphrasing is not plagiarism, provided you cite your sources correctly.

If you follow the documentation and formatting guidelines specified by your institution, you should be able to avoid plagiarism. There are numerous resources online and in your library, so you can master APA, MLA, and Chicago Manual of Style formatting.

It is as simple as documenting the author of the work you used, the work itself, and the date you accessed it, all according to specific instructions.

Purdue University’s online writing lab, or OWL, offers great resources for all students who need to help with citations. With introductions to each citation style, exercises, and free online workshops, you can find the resources you need to succeed with citations.

Need some more help? Check out easybib.com and citationconverter.com, among others, to get a jumpstart on citation guidelines.

Another useful resource is your campus library. Schedule an appointment with a reference librarian and treat yourself to a citation spa.

3. More than two words taken from one text? Bring in quotation marks

When you quote a source, quote it exactly as it appears in the text you are quoting, following your institution’s citation guidelines.

A practiced scholar can paraphrase elegantly and effectively. It is not easy to do, but practice makes pretty (close to) perfect. Keep at it and you will get there. oh, and remember to cite paraphrased work!

You do not need to cite things that are considered common knowledge, like the days of the week, state capitals, or the phases of the moon.

You do need to cite information that offers analyses on any of these commonly known things if the analyses are not yours. Data on the phases of the moon for the last decade is not common knowledge. Cite it.

You cannot go wrong citing. When in doubt on the "common knowledge" question, cite.

Ever copy and paste something from an old paper into a new one? Yup. You have just self-plagiarized.

You need to cite yourself. Your courses — and your mind — should be wide and varied enough that you do not need to copy and reproduce the same idea more than once.

USA India China plagiarism studying copy and paste college college education education international students citation undefined chicago manual of style style guides quotation marks Study in USA USA India china undefined

Alyssa Walker

Alyssa Walker is a freelance writer, educator, and nonprofit consultant. She lives in the White Mountains of New Hampshire with her family.

Avoid self-plagiarism

Simply put, if another author produces something significant enough that you want to use it in your own writing, then you owe it to that person to recognize their work and its contribution to your work. More importantly, though, understanding the principles above can help you understand why plagiarism matters in academic writing and how the general idea of using your sources ethically should shape the way you approach your academic work.

Avoid copy-pasting from other papers. It is better you reproduce someone else’s idea in your own words (so called “paraphrasing”) and provide a citation to the original source. Alternatively, if you specifically want to quote the original author, immediately insert the quotation marks around text you copy-pasted, followed by the citation.

Resources:

https://www.bachelorstudies.com/article/5-rules-about-plagiarism-you-cant-ignore/
https://www.ediqo.com/blog/8-simple-rules-to-avoid-plagiarism/

Rules and Principles Behind Plagiarism

]

Introduction

Personal growth is one of the most important things you can do to improve your life. Personal growth is the process of learning new things, growing as a person, and becoming a better version of yourself.

Unfortunately, many of us struggle with personal growth. We find ourselves stuck in a rut, unable to break out of our comfort zone. We’re stuck in our jobs, our relationships, or our habits, and we don’t know how to get out of them. We can’t seem to make any progress in our lives. We feel like we’re spinning our wheels, going nowhere, and getting nowhere fast. We don’t even know where we’re going. We just know that we need to get somewhere, but we’re not sure where that is or how we’re supposed to get there. It’s like we have no idea what we’re doing or what we should be doing. We have no sense of direction, no goals, and no plan. We’ve lost our sense of purpose in life. We no longer know who we are, what we want, or where we want to go. We are lost, confused, and lost in a world of our own making. We need to find our way out of this mess, and the only way to do that is to learn new things and grow as a human being. That’s what personal growth is all about. It is the key to unlocking the door to a better life, a happier life, and a more fulfilling life. It will help you become the person you want to be, and it will give you the tools you need to achieve your goals and achieve your dreams. This chapter will show you how to identify and avoid the most common growth killers in your life, so that you can get the most out of your life and become the best person you can be. You will learn how to overcome the obstacles that stand in your way of personal growth, and you will find out how to make the most of the opportunities that come your way. You won’t be able to do any of this if you don’t have a clear sense of where you’re going and what you’re trying to achieve. You need to know what you want and why you want it. You also need to have a plan for how you are going to go about achieving your goals. You can’t just wing it and hope for the best. You have to make sure that you’re on the right path and that you are heading in the right direction. If you’re not, then you’re just spinning your wheels. You’re going in circles, and that’s not going to get you anywhere. You’ll just end up wasting your time and your energy. You don’t want to waste your time or your energy on things that don’t matter. You want to spend your time doing things that will make you a better person and that will bring you closer to achieving your dreams and goals. This is why you need a plan. You must have a goal in mind and a plan to achieve that goal. That way, you’ll know what to do and when to do it. Without a plan, you won’t know where to start, and without a goal, you can’t measure your progress, so you’ll never know if you’re making any progress at all. Without goals, you have no reason to get up in the morning. You might as well stay in bed all day and do nothing. Without direction, you’re like a ship without a rudder. You just drift aimlessly through life, with no idea where you are or where you want your life to go, and with no way of getting there. You are like a fish out of water, flailing around, trying to find your way back to the surface, but you just keep sinking deeper and deeper into the murky depths of the ocean. That is not a life worth living. You deserve better than that. You should be living a life full of purpose, full of meaning, and full of joy. You shouldn’t just be going through the motions of life. You owe it to yourself and to the people you care about to live a life that is full of passion and purpose. That means that you have to take control of your own life and your own destiny. That doesn’t mean that you should try to control other people and their lives, but it does mean that it’s up to you to make your own decisions and to take responsibility for the choices you make. You cannot blame other people for your problems or for the things that have happened to you in the past. You’ve got to own up to your mistakes and learn from them, and then you must move on and do better in the future. It doesn’t matter what other people think or say about you. What matters is what you think and say about yourself. The only person you have any control over is you. You decide what kind of person you are and how you will live your life from this day forward. You make the choices that will lead you to the life you want. You choose to be happy or to be sad, to be successful or to fail, and to be a good person or a bad person. The choice is yours to make, and if you make the wrong choice, then that’s your problem, not other people’s problems. They have no control over you, and they can’t make you do anything. They can’t force you to be anything other than who you really are. They don’t own you, so they have no right to tell you what you should do or how you should live. If they don’t like who you are, then they can choose not to be around you, but that’s their choice, not yours. You get to choose how you live, what you do, and who you hang out with. You only have one life to live, so why not live it to the fullest? Why not live every day as if it were your last day on earth? That’s the kind of attitude you should have if you really want to live the life of your dreams, the life that you deserve to live.

The Importance of Self-Awareness

One of the most important things you can do to improve your life is to become more self-aware. Self-awareness means being aware of your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. It means being able to look at yourself objectively and to see yourself as others see you. It’s about being honest with yourself and about being willing to admit when you’re wrong or when you’ve made a mistake. It also means being willing and able to accept responsibility for your actions and for the consequences of those actions. When you’re aware of yourself, you are able to make better decisions and you are more likely to avoid making the same mistakes over and over again. You learn from your mistakes, and when you make a mistake, you learn from it and you move on. That’s why it’s so important to be aware of what’s going on inside your head and inside your heart. The more you know about yourself, the better you can understand yourself and the better decisions you can make about your life. The better you understand yourself, and the more honest you are with yourself, then the more likely you are to make the right choices and to avoid the wrong choices. You need to be able to recognize your strengths and your weaknesses, your good points and your bad points, your talents and your flaws, your positive traits and your negative traits, and all of the other things that make you unique and different from everyone else. You also need to know what motivates you and what drives you, what makes you happy and what brings you down, and what you want out of life and out of your relationships. Without self-awareness, you don’t know who you truly are, and you can never be the person you want to be. You can’t be the best person you can be until you know who that person really is. You have to know yourself before you can know what you’re capable of doing and how far you can go in life. If you’re going to make any progress in life, you need to take the time to get to know the real you, the real person that you are deep down inside. You don’t have to be perfect to make progress in your life, but the more you understand your own personality, the easier it will be for you to understand others and to relate to them. You’ll be better able to get along with other people, and that will help you to build better relationships and to have more satisfying relationships. It will also make you a better friend, a better employee, and a better parent, and it will make you more successful in your career and in your business. When it comes to relationships, you can’t afford to be in the dark about yourself or to pretend to be someone that you’re not. That will only lead to problems in your relationships, and those problems will only get worse as time goes on. You’re better off being yourself and being honest about yourself than trying to be somebody else and lying to yourself and to other people about who you think you are. The truth will set you free, and once you know the truth, you’ll be free to do whatever you want with your life and with the people around you. The sooner you learn to be honest and to accept yourself for who you actually are, the sooner you can start living your life the way you want it to be lived, the way that you’ve always wanted to live it.

Top 5 Content Marketing Strategies + Trends And Challenges For 2022

In this article, we address the five most effective types of content marketing strategies, their best practices and where they stand in user journey.

• Drives traffic to key landing pages:

• 72% of B2B buyers turn to Google during the awareness stage
• Companies with blogs see 97% more links to their websites

• 60% of people are inspired to seek out a product after reading about it

• 68.5% of users claim that a blog enhances website credibility
• 81% of US users find blogs to be a trusted source of information

• 9 out of 10 B2B buyers say online content has a moderate to major effect on purchasing decisions
• Over 80% of B2B buyers view at least five pieces of content during the purchase process, and half of them view more than eight pieces

• 62% of B2B companies make a business decision based on digital content alone

5 Top Content Marketing Strategies For 2022

1. Web Content Strategy

From awareness to consideration and conversion, use your web copy across the sales funnel to educate your audience about your services, share your message and influence prospects to make a final purchasing decision.

• Make your audience feel at home: To deliver a great copy, understand your audience and their reasons for browsing your brand’s website. Define their pain points and needs and deliver exactly the type of content they are looking for at each stage.
• Be brief: To create copy packed with value, use short sentences and small paragraphs. Focus on what’s really important to your audience. Don’t forget that most users only skim through your web pages.
• Highlight your unique value proposition: Motivate your readers to keep engaging with your business by showing them what makes your offers better than your competitors’.
• Present your unique brand personality: To e n s ure b rand retention and memorability , use a consistent tone of voice to help your customers identify with your brand’s values and personality.

2. Blog Content Strategy

Other types of content, such as case studies, demo videos, product descriptions, tutorials and client testimonials are also highly effective, especially when combined with blog articles.

Blogs belong at the top – or, at the beginning – of your conversion funnel, where your objective is to educate your potential customers who come into contact with your business for the first time.

Blogging best practices include covering both evergreen techniques and rising trends based on the evolution of search engine algorithms and changes in audience behavior.

3. Email Marketing Strategy

Meanwhile, the B2C segment sees a reverse of this: higher average open rates of 19.7% and lower CTRS of 2.1% – due to usual customer behavior and typical offerings of broadly general products.

4. Digital PR Strategy

Digital PR is about raising awareness using traffic to the campaign or boosting the brand’s visibility by improving your ranking positions, which is why it belongs to the top of the marketing funnel.

5. Video Marketing Strategy

However, it can belong at any stage of the conversion funnel and user journey, depending on the content it contains. Video content can be adjusted to the specific needs of a prospect on different stages of their journey.

Developing a Content Marketing Strategy

In this chapter, we cover the basics of a successful content marketing program, including methods and metrics, the business roles that should own your content marketing, and the lingo you’ll use to talk about it.

For instance, for the software company Freshbooks, this web page represents perfect content marketing for a prospect who needs pricing information to make an informed buying decision.

While blogs are a major component of content marketing, they’re only a part of the bigger picture. In fact, in most cases, a blog is not the most lucrative form of content marketing.

Want To Save This Guide For Later?

A cold prospect cannot evaluate your solution until they are first aware of the problem and your solution. And conversion is impossible until the prospect has first evaluated the possible courses of action.

Blogs are fantastic facilitators of awareness, but they do a poor job of facilitating evaluation and conversion. And, at the risk of pointing out the obvious, evaluation and conversion are super critical to your business.

As a result, you need content with a low barrier to entry—because at this stage, they have little to no motivation to put skin in the game (such as giving your contact information or money).

Most businesses will post content to a blog and to social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc. Once you’ve mastered these two content types, you’ll want to add more top-of-funnel content to the mix, like a podcast or a print newsletter.

Your lead may be reading your blog and downloading lead magnets (and it will help convert her), but you’ll need content that helps her decide between you and your competitor to move her through to purchase.

But Quickbooks could earn some points by comparing their tools to their competitors’ tools as well. For instance, a Google search suggests that a comparison sheet between Quickbooks and their competitors (such as Xero) is another piece of content that should be on the radar of the Intuit content marketing team.

The key to perfect content marketing is understanding existing intent and anticipating future intent, and then, creating the content “assets” needed to address that intent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The truth is the most lucrative content assets you’ll create (if you have an existing business) are assets that meet intent at the bottom and middle of the funnel. Optimize for this existing bottom and middle of funnel intent before going to work on generating awareness at the top of the funnel with an expensive and time-consuming blog roll out.

That’s not to diminish the power of a business blog. Over the last 24 months, we’ve been adding content assets (articles and podcasts) at the top of the funnel and we’ve increased website traffic (think awareness) by 1053%.

When a prospect visits a piece of content (spends time) they have raised their hand and indicated interest. And, because of the magic of ad retargeting you can follow up with these prospects with a relevant ascension offer without even acquiring their contact information.

Frequently asked questions about content marketing.

What does a content marketer do?

A content marketer is generally responsible for creating and managing campaigns that use content to deliver against set marketing objectives. For example, a content marketing campaign may aim to increase website traffic to key product pages by 10 percent.

The content marketer will collaborate with craft specialists such as SEOs, copywriters, designers and PRs to produce and execute the campaign and then report back on performance.

What are examples of content marketing?

Good examples of content marketing include informational-style articles which answer questions people have asked search engines about topics relevant to the brand’s products and services.

For instance, a bank creating guides around applying for a mortgage. Another example is a whitepaper, created for specific leads to provide thought leadership and an argument for securing buy-in on new products and services.

What is a good content marketing definition?

A good definition of content marketing is that it’s a marketing approach that uses various forms of content to attract potential customers and engage their interests in the brand. The idea is to use content types like blogs, videos and whitepapers to show you understand a customer’s needs and problems.

Resource:

https://www.digitalsilk.com/content-marketing-strategies
https://www.digitalmarketer.com/digital-marketing/content-marketing-strategy/
https://www.marketo.com/content-marketing/

Facebook for Business: Everything You Need to Know

Every small business can benefit from a Facebook presence. With more than 2.91 billion monthly users, Meta – the Facebook company’s new name – gives small businesses many ways to promote their services, increase customer support, and boost sales and recognition through their Facebook platform.

Using Facebook for your small business may seem challenging because the platform’s rules and algorithms change frequently. However, with the right strategies, Facebook is one of the best ways to use social media for business.

One of Facebook’s biggest strengths is allowing you to target a specific audience through paid campaigns and advertisements. The platform maintains a significant amount of information about its users, which can be advantageous when targeting ads. In addition, creating a Facebook Business Page can be an effective small business marketing tool.

Did you know? Facebook’s business offerings used to be grouped under the Facebook for Business umbrella. Now, these business tools are called Meta for Business, reflecting the company’s new branding.

Create a brand & logo

Don’t be fooled by how simplistic this first tip may seem. Widespread brand recognition is your ultimate goal, and your business needs to inspire credibility and persuade others to spread the word about your work.

You need to create a brand you can build on from the start. Start by taking inventory of your business’ unique value proposition, its personality, and the values that define it. Then you can start to think about your visual brand.

Hiring a design firm may be costly, but there are popular design services on the web, that can provide a selection of custom logo designs for your brand, and at an affordable price. You can even create a logo using an online logo maker if you’re on a very tight budget. Your visual brand may evolve with your business, but you need to start with something on which you can build your business’ reputation.

Offline to Online Marketing Success Stories

1. Tin Pot Creamery.

California-based scoop shop Tin Pot Creamery was making a strong impression on customers with their brick-and-mortar locations where they were making the bulk of their sales. But when the COVID pandemic forced their doors closed, they needed to breathe new life into their online marketing.

“Before COVID-19, we told our brand story in our scoop shops and through our product packaging. Every time I saw our website, I just knew it didn’t capture what I wanted to communicate about our brand. I quickly went from feeling embarrassed about our website to proud of it.”

Changing ecommerce platforms made it easier for Sunseri to rate the effectiveness of Tin Pot’s shift to online marketing and advertising. An ecommerce-enabled website provided the opportunity to reach a larger audience outside the scoop shops through social media, email lists and a more “giftable” online presence.

“We started taking orders right after our website went up, and now it’s easy to see where orders are coming from and whether or not our ad spend is actually working for us,” Sunseri said. “It’s also changed how we think about marketing and advertising and allowed us to make a more intentional first impression with our customers — wherever they live, since we’re no longer limited to our local market.”

2. Sara Campbell.

This Boston-based clothing company had no online presence at all until 2020, despite their thriving offline brand. When they needed to create and launch an online store quickly when, like Tin Pot Creamery, their physical stores were shuttered, they turned to BigCommerce.

In addition to providing a new sales channel, they also realized they had new avenues for marketing on their online store. Courtney Harris, Director of Operations at Sara Campbell, describes how they began advertising on social media to reach new customers.

How to Promote an Online Store FAQ

How do I decide which marketing strategies make the most sense for my online store?

There are many ways to use marketing to promote your business; however, which strategies you should employ will depend on your business and your goals. Here are some questions to ask: does your offline brand provide you a strong email list? If so, maybe start by getting the word out that way. Does the audience for your products flock to certain social media platforms? If so, those channels would be a good place to focus on. Is your main goal to reach new customers who are currently unaware of your brand? You may need to boost your organic traffic based on an SEO and content strategy.

How do I gain more organic traffic to my ecommerce website?

The key to driving organic traffic to your website is SEO. You need to make your site easy to find for people who aren’t familiar with your brand, but who are in need of your products. Make sure all the content on your website follows SEO best practices and consider producing additional content as part of a content marketing strategy to reach new customers.

What SEO best practices will help my ecommerce business?

Overall, your SEO strategy should encompass all of the following: keyword research, site architecture, on-page and technical SEO, content marketing, link building and some form of success measurement. While it can be tempting when starting out with SEO to try to stuff key words into everything, make sure you’re writing for humans as well. Think about what people who might want your products are searching for. Let that inform the key words you use in your content. Make sure the meta tags, descriptions and URLs provide an accurate description of what the user will actually find on the page.

How do I find influencers to talk about my brand?

The best influencer marketing strategy is genuine. Therefore, the best way to find people who can speak authentically about your brand is to search for those who are already talking about it or who are at least experts in your niche. Research content creators who have a following specifically related to your target industry and audience.

How can I measure the effectiveness of my marketing campaigns?

Before you launch any new marketing campaign you first need to figure out what your goal for the campaign is. What KPIs (key performance indicators) will let you know if you are successful? Is your goal to increase traffic? To improve your conversion rate? To increase revenue? Once you have a set goal, you can measure the success of your marketing campaign against that goal to determine its effectiveness. Make sure you have structured the campaign in such a way that you can determine attribution.

What social media platforms should I market my online store on?

This is a question that can be answered with another question: what social media platforms are my target audience on? Do market research and create personas if you aren’t sure about your target audience’s preferences.

How do I encourage more people to review my products?

User-generated content and product reviews are incredibly important. Because shoppers can’t see and feel the products in person, they rely on third parties to give their opinions before making a purchase online, particularly if they’ve never shopped with you before. You can encourage customers to review your products by creating and automating the process of asking for reviews and following up. Make it as easy as possible for customers to leave reviews such as by providing a template with questions to answer.

What are best practices for email marketing?

If you have a strong email list already and are interested in expanding your email marketing, here are a few tips. First of all, you only want to reach out to people who want to hear from you. Don’t buy lists, clean your list regularly and make it easy to opt out. To improve open rates, write concise, but engaging subject lines. Personalize the email as much as possible based on the information you have (name, previous shopping history, etc). Keep the main message short, on brand and with the call-to-action above the fold.

What are best practices for pay-per-click advertising?

PPC advertising can be an effective way to bring your ecommerce website in front of fresh eyes. Consider targeting longer tail keywords with high intent for conversion. Even if there is a lower search volume for a more specific phrase, you may also have less competition and are more likely to reach the exact audience you’re looking for. Make sure the ad copy is very compelling. Another tip for PPC campaigns is to make sure to follow the data to see what’s working and what’s not so you can tweak accordingly.

What are best practices for content marketing?

Content marketing is creating valuable content designed for your target audience. It can be a good way to build brand awareness, educate customers and potential customers and to drive organic traffic to your website. When developing a content strategy, make sure your content provides authentic value to readers and isn’t overtly trying to sell to them. Find creative mediums to deliver content. Also, be consistent (and realistic). Don’t make it part of your strategy to publish a blog every other day, for example, if you have a one-person marketing department.

Sources:

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/7761-facebook-business-guide.html
https://entrepreneurhandbook.co.uk/how-to-promote-your-business/
https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/offline-to-online/promote-online-store/

Best Jobs for College Students

Alison Doyle is one of the nation’s foremost career experts and has counseled both students and corporations on hiring practices. She has given hundreds of interviews on the topic for outlets including The New York Times, BBC News, and LinkedIn. Alison founded CareerToolBelt.com and has been an expert in the field for more than 20 years.

Free time can be scarce during college, but when expenses pile up quickly, a part-time or flexible schedule job is a good way to offset costs while ensuring there’s enough time left over for both academics and extracurriculars.

If you’re a college student looking for a job, the best place to start your job search is right on campus. There are tons of on-campus part-time job opportunities and, as a student, you’ll automatically be given hiring priority. Plus, on-campus jobs eliminate commuting time and can be a great way to connect with academic and professional resources at your university. Check with your school’s career office or student employment office for help finding a campus job. If you receive financial aid, also check on jobs available through your campus work-study program.

Of course, there are opportunities for part-time work off-campus, too. Spend a little time digging for the right kind of part-time job, that leaves you with enough time to get your school work done. Also consider lining up an online job, part-time evening job or flexible gig where you can set your own schedule. You’ll be able to up your earnings from the comfort of your dorm room or apartment.

What Are the Benefits of Working During College?

Having a side hustle can help you earn money for school expenses, or even to eventually pay your way through grad school. The idea of starting your own business is also very attractive to some students. Working now will allow you to acquire new skills that you can use later in different career paths.

You’ll also be able to practice skills that are necessary for the working environment, like time management and collaborating with others. That can help you in your studies by showing employers your strong work ethic right out of the gate. And best of all, it helps you pay off college tuition.

It can be really easy to fall into the trap of working too much or not enough. If you work too many hours, your grades could suffer and you’ll feel like you don’t have enough time for anything else.

Being able to balance your studies with a part-time job will let you experience the best of both worlds by giving you more opportunities to save money or earn extra spending cash.

15 Well-Paid Online Jobs for College Students (No Experience Required)

Studying at college is expensive. And often loans aren’t enough to cover all the costs. Have you ever watched the TV show Shameless? So, the story is about a ghetto family living in the Southside, Chicago. In the US version, one of the kids, Lip Gallagher, is the smart one. He sells his notes, writes other people’s essays, and gives tutoring classes to afford college fees.

For the rest of us, the most doable job during college is hospitality. Above all, limited hours and a lack of responsibilities make hospitality one of the best options to combine work and study. However, selling notes or working in hospitality have something in common. In short, both options don’t give you real work experience that you can use for future employers.

The pandemic brought a whole new set of online jobs for college students. As a result, you can look for a remote job related to your field. Most importantly, you can develop a type of experience that you actually use in the future, while affording college fees.

15 Online Jobs for College Students With No Experience

1. Online Tutor

One of the easiest online jobs for college students is online tutoring. First, as a college student, you are already in a college full of potential clients. Many people struggle to pass courses and exams, and they are willing to have tutor sessions to graduate in time. So, if you are good at your subjects, that’s your first skill to sell. Or, you can target school kids and provide study support for a few hours every day. Second, online courses allow you to teach worldwide. Especially teaching English, you can benefit from different time zones to organize your day and leave enough time for studying.

How to get started

How much you can make (US)

Resource to help you get started

Expertise needed for the job

2. Remote Writer

If you are good at writing, you can pitch companies in your field and start writing for them. Demand for writers has never been so high. And companies and businesses need to produce tons of content to stay on top of Google feeds. As a remote writer, you can work when you want as long as you respect deadlines, organizing your work based on your exams. In addition, you can do professional research in the field you are interested in, expanding your knowledge of the industry.

How to get started

How much you can make

As an employee, you can make around $61,000/year. For independent contracts, as a beginner, you can ask between $25-50 per 1000 words. As an experienced writer, you can earn up to $200 per 1000 words.

Resource to help you get started

Expertise needed for the job

3. Transcription

Transcribing is another high-demanded service. YouTubers and podcasters regularly pay for this service to repurpose their content. Most medical and legal students work as transcribers to get experience in their field. What you need are typing skills. Usually, a company requires 60-70 words per minute with an accuracy rate of 98%.

How to get started

How much you can make (US)

Resource to help you get started

Expertise needed for the job

4. Copywriting Expert

Unlike remote writers, a copywriter produces “copy.” Basically, it means writing small paragraphs to encourage users to take any action on the website – like buying a service or simply looking at other products. The job includes creating and proofreading copy for different marketing materials, such as blog posts, newsletters, ads, presentations, video scripts, headlines, white papers, etc.

How to get started

How much you can make (US)

Expertise needed for the job

5. Virtual Assistant

A virtual assistant is one of the best online jobs you can get as a college student. With the rise of digital nomads and remote businesses, most people look for a virtual assistant to help them with various tasks. From social media to remote administrative services, you can get experience in your field while improving organizational skills. What is required are communication skills, the ability to multitask, and attention to detail.

How to get started

How much you can make (US)

Resource to help you get started

Expertise needed for the job

6. Video Editor

Videos are the best strategy to catch people’s attention and increase followers. For you, it means tons of opportunities as a video editor. From game trailers to social media influencers, you can find different jobs to grow your skills and get paid.

How to get started

How much you can make (US)

Expertise needed for the job

7. Voiceovers

This is a great temp job for college students. A voiceover artist is a narrative voice in video and audio presentations. If you have a melodic or commercial voice, you have a resource to earn some money. All you need are good headphones, a microphone, and audio recording software. You can work for radios, films, televisions, or theaters, pitching the field you are interested in.

How to get started

How much you can make (US)

Expertise needed for the job

8. Social Media Marketing

Parents are always complaining about teenagers’ addiction to social media – at least, until they become boomers. Well, if you are one of those kids, be happy. You can turn your addiction into a job. You can see why social media managers are crucial for any business. Instagram pages are like business cards, and people find most products or services through Facebook. New social media platforms come up every day, and it’s easier for you to keep up with it than a busy manager. Play this card, and sell your social media skills to future employers.

Resource:

https://www.thebalancecareers.com/best-part-time-jobs-for-college-students-2059855
https://collegebudget.com/2021/12/06/the-13-best-jobs-for-college-students/
https://thinkremote.com/online-jobs-college-students/

40+ Top Websites You Can Write Articles for Money (Even as a Beginner)

Even as a beginner when you have no published work, there are many ways you can get paid to write. So, if you dream of working from home or your favourite coffee shop, tapping away on your laptop, this post is you.

I’m not going to lie and say you’ll get the highest paying gigs straight away. You will have to start writing for lower rates to get your foot in the door with clients and freelancer sites.

You’ll also be learning different styles of writing, what companies/publications want from a freelance writer and you’ll also find out what you’re good at and what maybe isn’t for you.

None of us are perfect writers in the beginning. I’ve been freelance writing for over 6 years and I’m still learning all the time and trying to better my writing. Most people have to work HARD to become a great writer.

Of course, if you are a naturally gifted writer straight from the off – go you! A brand or business will soon snap you up to write for them if you reach out and show them what you can do.

Tips for writing articles

Check for punctuation and grammatical errors: It’s important to proofread your articles for proper punctuation and grammatical usage. Also, since articles for media publications generally follow AP style guidelines, it’s useful to have an AP stylebook handy.

Time yourself when writing: If you have a set word count, write your first draft and see how long it takes you. This is a great way to manage your time and write quality content on a steady basis while keeping your manager or editor informed about your progress.

Keep your points simple: Clarity is crucial for the success of your writing, and you should get your point across with fewer words than writing more to meet a word requirement. Check with your manager or editor about the content guidelines and word count.

SOME COMMON TIPS FOR WRITING A GOOD ARTICLE:

Choose a topic that interests you enough to focus on it. After topic selection asks your teacher for guidelines which might help you draft the article in a better way. It is the responsibility of the author to think about your audience too while choosing the topic for your article. Following this, make a list of ideas or write a rough draft of everything you can think of. This will help you understand what is important and what must be addressed in your article.

Detailed research on the topic is required before attempting to comment, review or appreciate it and a few topics might require additional research than what is usually done. The research includes reading old articles and books about the topic, references from media, take good notes and record quotations of well-known personalities from the field, anecdotes, interviews, expert’s opinions, updated and reliable source of statistics and definitions. Make a chronological outline of all the information gathered which will make it easy for you to access once you start writing.

After gathering all the information, start working on your article. To draw your audiences easily, keep it clean, simple, and understandable. Opening your article with a chunk of long paragraphs will make it a barrier for your audience to understand. Keep your entry short, creative, and fierce by making a lead with one or two sentences which are easy to comprehend for even elementary readers. It is difficult to understand all the ideas in just one read so break down your ideas. The first few lines must primarily keep the audience engaged and also being able to deliver the crux of the article at the same time.

Imagine yourself to the reader of the article and switch sides to under different perspectives of the same issue. We respond better to stories than to just plain theory. The art of storytelling is one of its kind and people just love stories. Trying to convince your audience with stories can keep them drawn to your work for a long duration than those articles that do not use human examples. Stories capture the reader’s attention faster than anything else. Avoid dry writing. This is by far the best technique to illustrate your idea.

Grammarly, Ginger, ProWritingAid, and Hemingway are some popular tools can be used to automatically check your errors also can proofread everything you write. These tools will help you correct grammar, autocorrect spelling errors and even help you make your sentences unique and easy to read. But how do we find out about these errors? To correct flaws and mistakes read the article multiple times. Read aloud, rewrite, find a proof-reader and for this, you can also seek the help of a friend or a family member. If you get positive feedback from them it boosts your confidence. After you are done with getting feedback, make any necessary changes before publishing your article.

HOW TO GET ARTICLES PUBLISHED?

1. Submissions must have original content. Some websites insist not to republish the articles submitted to them on third-party sites.
2. To get your article published, the content has to meet the guidelines of the editorial team. Only if your submission matches with the scope of their topic and has relevance will be published.
3. There are certain requirements that each content creator or editor except their writers. For example: Mentioning subheadings, using bullets to empathize on points for the reader’s convenience, prescribed length of the article (minimum number of words that are required to be used), and so on. This keeps changing from one website or another.
4. Avoid bias, comparisons, product-specific/promotional articles.
5. Citations must be included which may help the editors of the website in further clarification of the source you used to write the article. The author needs to seek permission from any outside source when they decide to use his/her images in their content.
6. Any website has complete rights to reject any submission based on their discretion
7. Once your article is accepted, thank the editor/website owner who has published your piece of work

1. One of the easiest ways to contact your favourite blogger or website holder is to Leave a comment on their account or site. It takes only a few seconds to do this as it is a pretty simple thing to do. This way you also have an option can keep your identity anonymous.
2. When you are on the blogsite or going through a lot of websites, they have a series of columns that you can find some of this will say “About Us” or something similar to “Contact Us”.
3. Things get a bit tricky when the contact page is not obvious. In that case, socialmedia can help you to get in touch with the blogger/website owner. You can try searching for them on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin
4. Some websites and blogs come with a profile page or a home page which makes it easier for viewers and this helps you to get in touch with them easily. In here you can check for an email address or an account on another site.

Resource:

https://earthcruisin.com/write-articles-for-money/
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-articles
https://www.sociologygroup.com/publish-article-online-guide/

How to write a science blog

#SINTEFblog is the perfect place for SINTEF researchers in all areas to get the attention of potential industry partners, other researchers and those who are interested in new technologies. A blog post is a great way to highlight expertise or draw attention to a published report or scientific article. In this blog you will find some tips on how to write a science blog: Style and content.

Blogging remains an important channel to communicate with the public. In this era of fake news and disinformation on social media, having our own method of quickly reaching the public with science based information has never been more important.

So, if you work for SINTEF and want to write a blog about your research, there’s no need to delay. All you have to do is follow these easy steps to write a first draft. Don’t worry about perfection! The blog editors will help you add the finishing touches, and of course deal with the technical aspects of getting it published.

What should you write?

You tell us! Research results are great, but don’t feel limited to latest news. Other ideas include what it’s like to work in a specific lab, your experience collaborating with another research institute, a research-based opinion piece on a current news story or trending topic, a comment on current international research, etc. If you’ve just published a scientific article, there could be scope for a blog post too.

You could also consider writing something timely. For example, this article on why you shouldn’t burn your Christmas tree in a wood stove performs well every January. This kind of applied science is perfect for the blog. It has mass appeal with the general public but could also appeal to journalists looking for a story, helping to get SINTEF a media mention.

That being said, not every story needs to have mass appeal. Many of our hyper-focused technical blog posts perform very well in search engines. Writing a blog post is a great way to link you and SINTEF with that specific topic to other researchers and potential clients around the world who may be searching for it.

On that note, another great topic is something you’ve searched for in Google, but have been unable to find a good result. Your post could be that result for other people!

How to write a science blog: Write about something you’ve searched for in google, but have been unable to find a good result. Your post could be that result for other people searching the same keywords. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Writesonic is for Everyone

Use the AI Writer to create long-form blogs and articles; the Sonic Editor (an enhanced version of Google Docs) to write sales emails, essays, reports, and even ebooks. Moreover, you can polish your content to perfection using our AI-driven editing tools: Paraphraser, Expander, and Shortener.

Create high-converting landing page copy with minimal input. Furthermore, generate new ideas for your new startup and use our growth ideas generator to get innovative ideas to grow your business.

Content on demand using AI and the best part is it feels like a human has written it. I could not find any plagiarism and loved the way each and every sentence was molded by the AI. Just wow.

Resource:

https://blog.sintef.com/how-to-write-a-science-blog/
https://writesonic.com/?via=passiveBonus

BEST Memorisation Techniques For Exams: The Secret Science Of How To Remember What You Study

The Cambridge-educated memory psychologist & study coach on a mission to help YOU ace your exams. Helping half a million students in 175+ countries every year to study smarter, not harder. Supercharge your studies today with our time-saving, grade-boosting “genius” study tips sheet.

Pretty recently – the last decade or so – scientists have reached broad agreement that there is one memorisation technique for exams and tests that, above all others, will solve the age-old question of how to remember what you study.

Before I tell you what the technique is, I was shocked to learn that as few as 7% of college-level students (and possibly even fewer students at high school) say they are using this technique as their main revision strategy.

It seems counter-intuitive at first that trying to remember something helps you to learn it, but you’ll be astonished at how powerful this strategy can be for getting information locked away in memory, ready for when you need it.

What is “retrieval practice” and how can it help you to remember what you study?

When psychologists talk about “retrieving” something from memory, they mean recalling it, or remembering it. So “retrieval practice” just means practising remembering a piece of information you previously read, heard or saw.

A common misunderstanding – one I held myself for many years when studying for exams in high school – is that testing yourself on what you know only serves to “check” how much you know at that point, i.e. it won’t help you actually learn information.

A gigantic review of hundreds of studies testing how well various memorisation techniques prepared students for exams or tests concluded that, above all other techniques, retrieval practice (or “practice testing” as the review called it) was the most powerful.

I highly recommend you take a look at a guest post I’ve written for my friends at Titanium Tutors, where I explain a fascinating experiment that beautifully demonstrates how our intuitions often lead to us making bad decisions about how to revise – and what we can do about it.

Preparing For Success: Plan & Prioritise

1. How To Plan Your Studying: Have A Map

Once you’ve made your “map”, do a quick time budget for it. E.g. if there are 11 chapters to study, and you’ve got 25 days before the test, that’s 1 chapter every 2 days, with a couple of days in hand.

2. Look Ahead: Prepare For Success

Then when you go back and revise the topic, you’ll have a much deeper sense of what you need to know and why, and how you’ll end up applying it in the exam. That will help the topic “go in” much better – a bit like a farmer ploughing his field before sowing crops.

Perhaps some past student projects are available in the library, or your tutors have made some model essays available. The more you understand about what the assessors want to see, the easier it will be for you to deliver.

3. The Power Of No

(Though see also #37 about “having fun”. I’m a huge believer in scheduling some much-needed down-time each week, even if you’re working really hard – perhaps especially if you’re working really hard!)

4. Study Effectively With The Perfect Study Routine

Your study routine is quite a personal thing, so I can’t give you a one-size-fits-all template timetable that works for everyone. But if you don’t have a regular routine, take some time now to sketch out what an ideal study day might look like.

• When are your energy levels naturally highest? Do you do your best work in the first half of the morning? Just before lunch? Late afternoon? Schedule study blocks to take advantage of this “biological prime time” (as NY Times bestselling author and past Exam Study Expert guest Chris Bailey calls it)
• Can you add in some regular spaced retrieval practice (see #12 / #13) – e.g. testing yourself on new material from the day first thing in the morning and last thing at night?
• Leave time for YOU: if you’re ambitious, it’s tempting to cram as much work into each day as possible.
• Start sure: if you’re new to your study routine, don’t aim for gold on Day 1. Set your sights conservatively, with a routine you know you can absolutely stick to even on low energy / low motivation days. If you feel you can do more, do more. But better to exceed your expectations than set yourself up for failure and discouragement.

5. Stay Consistent

Two students want to get into Cambridge. One spends a quarter of an hour a night reading around her subject, the other doesn’t. Six months later, one has lots of interesting things to say in her interview, the other doesn’t.

You’re probably getting my point by now, but one final example: two students are ambitious for exam success. One spends ten minutes a night memory journaling, the other doesn’t. Come the end of the year, one has a decent memory for lots of the course, and goes on to do really well in the exams.

Getting Productive: Building Superhuman Focus

6. One Thing At A Time: “Monotasking”

Even if you’re making an effort to ignore the ting or buzz every time someone messages you on Snapchat, WhatsApp or whatever, you’ll need an iron will to stop your mind wandering off to wonder what’s going on social media today.

7. Managing Internal Distractions

It’s normal for other thoughts to drift into your head when you sit down to work: worrying about other subjects, ideas or plans, things you need to do. But you aren’t in the right mindset to study effectively.

Keep a notepad to hand so you can write thoughts down and get them out of your head as soon as they occur. You can then come back to them later when you have time to give them the attention they need.

8. Take Quality Study Breaks

Pausing between study sessions is one of the best ways to keep your energy and focus up over the long haul so that you can remain effective. Studying is a marathon, not a sprint!

Best practice is to avoid turning on the TV, opening a phone game, checking messages / emails or doing anything else that will break your focus. Save these activities for a longer break.

9. The Pomodoro Technique

Creator of the technique Francesco Cirillo is incredibly specific about the specifics for using this technique in practice: for the full guide to the Pomodoro technique, see here. This includes my take on which bits of Francesco’s advice you should follow, and which you can be a bit more flexible on!

10. Study Effectively With The Perfect Study Environment

• What resources do you need? This includes resources for your studies, like access to books, or somewhere comfortable to type.
• What kind of vibe? Do you want library-reading-room silence or coffee-shop buzz? The solitude of your room or the camaraderie of a study room?
• A space that improves your focus:
• A space that helps your memory: “context-dependent recall” is a very well-studied psychological effect that offers a secret study advantage to students in the know. It basically says that if you do your learning in Environment A and later have to recall in Environment B, the more similar the two environments are, the easier it will be to recall! If you’re sitting your tests in a big exam hall, can you do at least some of your studying in a space that feels a bit like an exam hall – like a big, silent, intimidating university library reading room?
• How can you make you personalise your space? Your space can give you motivation, offer you calm, and lift your spirits. See below for a few ideas!

11. Can I Listen To Music While Studying?

That partly depends on the choice of music. It’s a personal thing, but you’re more likely to be distracted by music that has lyrics, and / or is unfamiliar to you. You definitely won’t be studying effectively if you’re singing along!

The more cognitively demanding the task, the lower your threshold for being distracted by music. Music will rarely put you off your stride when folding laundry or filing. However, it might when you’re straining to get your head around a complex new calculus technique or marshal your research into an elegant multi-layered essay argument.

Resource:

https://examstudyexpert.com/memorisation-techniques-for-exams/
https://examstudyexpert.com/how-to-study-effectively/