STUDY SKILLS IMPROVEMNT THROUGH TRAINING ( COUNSELLING ) & ITS EFFECT ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE

Reshma Khan 1 and Mukesh Kumar Panth 2 . 1. Research scholar, Deptt. Of Psychology, Dr. H. S. Gour University, Sagar (M.P.), India. 2. Assistant Professor of Psychology, Deptt. Of Psychology, Nehru P. G. College, Lalitpur (U.P.), India. ...................................................................................................................... Manuscript Info Abstract ......................... ........................................................................ Manuscript History

Introduction of study skills programs and learning assistance center will prevent a lot of failures in the examinations. Most students are erroneously under the impression that learning takes place automatically if they listen to the teacher and take notes. Learning demands more effort than the use of acute study skills are those procedure which a learner needs to employ in order to learn efficiently and effectively (Bob Wilson, 1987) study skills are defined as ISSN: 2320-5407 Int. J. Adv. Res. 5 (6), [1426][1427][1428][1429] 1427 those techniques such as summarizing, note taking, outliving or locating material which a learner employ to assist themselves in the efficient learning of the material at hand (The International Encyclopedia of Education 1988). In India, many studies have reported improvement in study skills, improvement in academic performance, reduction in test anxiety etc. by intervention of study skills training. Kanchana, (1986), Ramamurthi and Geethanath (1977), Archana and Aruna (1995), and Rajendran (1998).
Learning styles address the way in which students learn. Flawell states thath "Metacognition refers to ones knowledge concerning one's own cognitive processes or anything related to them eg. the learning relevant properties of information or date" Flawell as cited in Dantonio & Beisenherg, (2001).
Metacognition refers to higher order thinking which involves active control the cognitive processes engaged in learning in successful learning, it is important to study metacognitive activity and development to determine how students can be taught to better apply their cognitive resources through metacognitive control. Above mentioned can only be done through training intervention (Counselling based). Reid (2005) stated that the role of metacognition in learning is of great importance as it is related to the learner's awareness of thinking and learning. Tunmer and Chapman (1996) have shown how dyslexic children have poor metacognition awareness that leads to inappropriate learning behavior in reading and spelling.

Objective Of The Study:-
The objective of the study is to investigate and improve the study skills and memory of the students and see the effect on academic performance.

Sample:-
The sample comprised of 25 Ninth class students of Shealing Public School, Chhattarpur (M.P.). The respondent predominantly belonged to middle class families and were diagnosed as poor in study skills. They underment the study skill training intervention regularly at the school premises for a period of 8 sessions, with duration of approx 1 hour. Active participation, home assignment and their own preference of studying methods were made mandatory.
The participants were briefed individually about the test before administration and the questionnaires were administered to all the subjects before & after training.

Study skills Intervention
The training Intervention on study skill consisted of 8 sessions, which are as follows:-(a) Self awareness and self (strength & weaking) and self observations of one's own study behaviour are the first step in changing them. (b) Motivation Enhancement -Encouragement and uplifting motivation is the pre-requisite and the importance of goal setting was explained to the students. (c) Organization of place -Study involves active, concentrated participation and a place free from distraction that can contribute greatly to study effectively. The skill of stimulus control were taught to them by asking them to selected a study place with adequate ventilation, sufficient light and minimum distraction, arrangement of books and other study material along with proper sitting furniture. 1428 (e) Improving Concentrations -Note-taking, stimulus control and organization of time were taught to the subjects to facilitate concentration. (f) Thought stopping -Three methods of stopping disturbing thoughts were taught to the students. They are blocking, substituting and saying 'stop' Autogenic relaxation training was taught to the students to alleviate tension and fatigue during study time and improve concentration. (g) Memory Enhancement -The need and role of memory in one's life was taught to the students through over learning, periodic reviewing of material, motivated interest, selecting and understanding of the material to be learnt, retrieving the learnt material, using mnemonic devices and index cards. (h) Study Methods -Making outlines, under lining and the SQ3R method was taught to the students.

Analysis Of Data:-
Scoring was alone as per the procedure indicated in the manual revision test marks was obtained to assess to academic performance before and after the training. The pre and post test scores of the assessment were analyzed by using't' test.

Result and Discussion:-
The present study aimed to improve the study skills and memory of the students and see effect on academic performance  Table 1, 2 and 3 represent the't' value for study skills, academic performance and immediate memory span. The results of the present study reveals that the study skills training program has improved metacognitive level of the students i.e. study skills improvement as well as the level of memory of the students, which is turn enhanced the academic performance. This finding has been supported by many earlier studies conducted by R. Rajendran 1998, Kanchana 1986, Archana and Aruna, Barnett 1951, Bamman 1954 This gives an insight that those students with poor study skills have benefited and if the same training is given to other students their academic performance can also be enriched. Thus, it can be said that the study skills training is quite effective in improving academic performance of students.