Successful Students 7-8

7.  . . . understand that actions affect learning. Successful students know their personal behavior affect their feelings and emotions which in turn can affect learning.

If you act in a certain way that normally produces particular feelings, you will begin to experience those feelings. Act like you’re so bored, and you’ll become bored. Act like you’re disinterred, and you’ll become disinterested. So the next time you have trouble concentrating in the classroom, “act” like an interested person: lean forward, place your feet flat on the floor, maintain eye contact with the professor, nod occasionally, take notes, and ask questions. Not only will you benefit directly from your actions, your classmates and professor may also get more excited and enthusiastic.

8.   . . . talk about what they’re learning. Successful students get to know something well enough that they can put it into words. Talking about something with friends or classmates is not only good for checking whether or not you know something, it’s a proven learning tool. Transferring ideas into words provides the most direct path for moving knowledge from short term to long term memory. You really don’t “know” material until you can out it into words. So, next time you study. Don’t do it silently. Talk about notes, problems, readings, etc. with friends, recite to a chair, organize an oral study group, pretend you’re teaching your peers. “Talk learning”  produces a whole host of memory traces that result in more learning.