Scientific analysis: Do speed reading and time management skills affect academic achievement?
Photo by Wisconsin Family Medicine
It is well known that speed reading skills help people to do better at the university and to achieve a higher GPA. If you are faster reader then you can read more texts, which gives you an advantage over other students. Furthermore, speed readers concentrate better to the text, which leads to higher comprehension. And speed reading methods allow you to read selectively and spend more time on the most important parts of the study material.
Similarly, time management skills allow students to plan their studies and to use their time efficiently. Many students get into time trouble before the exams as they have not scheduled their time. This results in heavy cramming, which is not the most efficient way to study.
However, there has not been conducted so many scientific studies for proving these effects. While the benefits of speed reading and time management have been accepted for many people there still have been some people who doubt in these effects. For example, some people do not believe that being able to read fast will help you to study better and you will not remember much if you read fast.
Fortunately, things have started to changes and recently a group of researchers in Kerman University made a study, which tackles the question: How do study skills and study habits affect academic achievement. Among study skills they also investigated the effect of speed reading and time management skills. The results of the study were published at the Journal of Medicine Education.
400 medical students from that university were included in the sample. It included students for BA; MA and PhD programs. The study revealed that the main defects in students’ study skills were poor planning and time management as well as low concentration and note taking skills. The results indicated that study skills had clear correlation with academic achievement measured by GPA.
Both time management skills and reading speed were found to have a positive impact on GPA. The students with educational success pointed out the study skills as a contributing factor while the students with educational failure expressed lack of good study skills a major factor of their failure.
Mastering study skills makes study more enjoyable and effective which in turn strengthen the students’ interest so he/she spends more time studying. For example, if a student has higher reading speed then reading creates less boredom and he is likely to spend more time on reading.
The scientists argue that students need to learn study skills early in their university life as it will lay basis for their academic success. They suggest that that in the universities there should be educational course or workshop about university skills for students.
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My name is Kristjan-Olari Leping. I am a speed reading trainer. I have an associated professor position at the University of Tartu, am a policy analyst in a policy research center, I am a trainer and I am involved in many other business projects. 