How to Take on College Studying part 3

Do the reading

You need to do more than just read the chapters you are assigned - you’re expected to understand them thoroughly. Here are some tips:

v Don’t skim. Read all the materials carefully.

v Break up difficult assignments into sections you can digest – chapters, subsections or even paragraphs.

v Look up any words that you don’t understand.

v Pause to think about whether you understand the material; ask questions in class about anything that is unclear.

v Take notes instead of highlighting – this makes you think through and rephrase the key points.

v Create a summary sheet of what you learned from each assignment you read. 

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. 

You Can Succeed Everyday Part 1

 My overall study method: I break up studying over several days and over the course of the evening and day. Cramming never works for me so I try not to do it. I will have a longer session on the nights before big test, but I never stay up much later than the normal before test. I know that if I take the test tire the next day I will not do as well as if I was rested.

How I’ve overcome an initial bad grade: I usually look over the test or paper to see what I did that the teacher didn’t want. Basically I do not stress out about bad grades that much because for me they are not worth getting really upset about. I do well because I know that I know the material. However, if I do get a bad grade, or one lower than I expected, I make sure that the next time a test is coming I study even, more so that I won’t be surprised by the questions.