Your ability to study is not based just on a quiet desk and good time management. Nor is it enough to get a good night’s sleep and to listen attentively in class.
Ability to study or study ability lays on a foundation of both personal and external interconnected factors. The term ability to study is not yet well known or broadly used, but the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS a.k.a. YTHS) held a symposium about ability to study (Finnish: opiskelukyky) just last week, on November 17, 2021. The ability to study is in principle similar to the ability to work, which evaluates the capacity of working aged adults in their jobs. However, some changes to the model must be made, given how institutional education is so different from a job in terms of goals, responsibilities and community.
The concept of ability to study was first introduced as a practical tool for student health care professionals in 1997 by Eero Kurri, then CEO of FSHS and also the man behind the Finnish student financial aid system. The ability to study, however, is not just a matter of student aid eligibility, but a broader picture of student well-being, study skills and study motivation.
Your ability to study depends on the broad interconnected factors. The four main factors are as follows.
1. Personal resources
This includes good physical and mental health, both of which are important for studying. Exercise and balanced diet help physical health, which keeps you energized for studying, whereas excessive alcohol use or sedentary lifestyle can do harm for both body and mind. Mental health might be boosted by social relationships and good self-esteem, whereas a challenging life situation hinders mental resources for studying. Personal resources are a factor that student health care services and other mental health services for students could help with. It is important to take care of yourself, even “in these unprecedented times”. In the Finnish student wellbeing survey, conducted during the pandemic in early 2021, many people reported back neck pains from excessive computer time without breaks, whereas roughly a third experienced increased sleeping problems.
2. Learning environment
Studying is obviously greatly impacted by the physical surroundings of the learning process, such as campus study spaces, or whether or not classes are face-to-face, on Zoom, or on Moodle. However, learning environments that impact ability to study also include the social aspect, such as a sense of a student community, interaction between students and teachers, and the ability to participate in student groups and other social circles. During the pandemic, learning environment has suffered as the physical campus has been restricted and integration into study community has been affected, leading to an increase in feelings of loneliness, especially for women. However, older students who already had an opportunity to integrate into the student life have found some advantages in distant learning, with the flexibility enabling more time for part-time work or childcare. For younger students just entering university life, the social bonding is more important, which is why the University of Helsinki, among other institutions, offered first-year small group teaching face-to-face even during the pandemic.
3. Teaching and Counselling
This factor includes teaching in classroom or one-on-one guidance as well as tutoring. The pedagogical competence of good teachers can help make lectures more engaging and digestible, and make it easier for students to see how a task fits in the bigger picture of the course or the study track. Especially for first-year students, tutors can help integration through practical dos and don’ts of uni studies, including where on the intraweb to look for more information (for Helsinki students, it’s studies.helsinki.fi BTW.) Naturally, teachers know that they have the ultimate responsibility for guiding students through the practicalities, but from a student perspective, reaching out to a fellow student has a lower threshold than emailing a teacher.
4. Study skills
This, too, is a complex factor, but study skills include good study technique, planning and time management, intellectual skills such as critical thinking or problem-solving. It also includes relevant social skills such as participating in group-work or giving a presentation. Help with some of these can come from courses taken in the first year of studies. On the other hand, advice from peer students can be invaluable, for example with regard to note-taking or skim reading strategies. Universities also offer study psychologist services where students can discuss, for example, academic skills or study motivation.
The model is based on research, and the ability to study can be assessed through a questionnaire or by mapping symptoms of study-burnout (exhaustion, cynicism, and a feeling of inadequacy). There is no one-size-fits-all when trying to boost an individual’s ability to study. For instance, not everyone wants to engage in the social aspects of studying – whether group-work or student societies. And some people are living with a physical disability, neurodivergence, or a mental illness, which impacts studying in different ways. And what’s also important is that we all have different personal goals and levels of stress-resistance. However, the model can serve as a reminder of the complexity of study ability for students and teaching staff alike. Even if you are able to attend all the lectures and do all the homework, your academic success depends on so many factors in life, many of them beyond your control. So if you feel like your ability to study is not what it used to be or what you think it should be, reach out to a professional or talk to a friend to figure out what to do.
Sources:
FSHS Study ability day 2021 / YTHS Opiskelukykupäivä 2021, organized 17.11.2021. https://www.yths.fi/ajankohtaista/2021/nyt-puhutaan-opiskelukyvysta-ilmoittaudu-webinaariin-17-11/
What is ability to study, YTHS: https://www.yths.fi/en/services/community-health/what-is-ability-to-study/
YTHS Opiskeluterveysneuvottelu korkeakouluissa -opas. Available (in Finnish) at: https://www.yths.fi/ajankohtaista/2021/yths-opastaa-opiskeluterveysneuvotteluun/
The Finnish Student Health and Wellbeing Survey, 2021 preliminary results. Available in Finnish at: https://thl.fi/fi/tutkimus-ja-kehittaminen/tutkimukset-ja-hankkeet/korkeakouluopiskelijoiden-terveys-ja-hyvinvointitutkimus-kott-/kott-tutkimuksen-tuloksia; English press release available at: https://thl.fi/en/web/thlfi-en/-/remote-studies-and-loneliness-have-put-a-strain-on-higher-education-students