How to Take on College Studying Part 3

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:

·       Don’t skim. Read all the material carefully.

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

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

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

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

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

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7 Habits of Successful Teens Habit 6

7 Habits of Successful Teens

Habit 6

Habit 6: Synergize

Synergy is achieved when two or more people work together to create something better than either could alone. Through this habit, teens learn it doesn’t have to be “your way” or “my way” but rather a better way, a higher way. Synergy is the reward, the delicious fruit you’ll taste as you get better at living the other habits, especially at thinking Win-Win and seeking first to understand. Learning to synergize is like learning to form V formations with others instead of trying to fly through life solo. You’ll be amazed at how much faster and farther you’ll go. Synergy doesn’t just happen. It’s a process. You have to get there. And the foundation of getting there is this: Learn to celebrate differences.

A good band is a great example of synergy. It’s not just the drums, or the guitar, or the sax, or the vocalist, it’s all of them together that make up the “sound.” Each band member brings his or her strengths to the table to create something better than each could alone. No instrument is more important than another, just different.

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Profile of a Successful Student Part 1

Profile of a Successful Student

Part 1

http://www.plymouth.edu/office/online-learning/profile-of-a-successful-students/

A successful students…

…takes responsibility for his/her own learning

Online learning can be a powerful, stimulating, engaging experience for the student who can work and think independently. However, since most- if at all – of the learning takes place on your own time, you will not have the kind of direct supervision you would in a classroom. Online learning therefore requires a significant commitment from you. All education comes down to what you’re willing to invest in the experience- this is particularly true in the online environment. Commitment, self-discipline and self-motivation are all key qualities to ensuring success in an online course!

…is comfortable and confident with written communication

Reading and writing are the basis of most online courses, so it’s critical that you feel comfortable with this form of communication. While some courses contain modules that include videos or other activities, all of them require significant amounts of reading. And nearly all of your communication with your classmates and you and your instructor will be in writing. If these are weak areas for you, you will want to address those issues prior to enrolling or while enrolled in an online course. The PSU Writing Center is available to assist you.

…is willing to be a member of a learning community.

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Successful Students 10

Successful Students

10

10. Successful students are good time managers. Successful students do not procrastinate. They have learned that time control is life control and have consciously chosen to be in control of their life.

An elemental truth: you will either control time or be controlled by it! It’s your choice: you can lead or be led, establish control or relinquish control, steer your own course or follow others. Failure to take control of their own time is probably the no. 1 study skills problems for college students. It ultimately causes many students to become non-students! Procrastinators are good excuse-makers. Stop procrastinating. And don’t wait until tomorrow to do it!

The 10 items listed above are paraphrased from an article by Larry M. Ludewig called Ten Commandments for Effective Study Skills which appeared in The Teaching Professor, December, 1992.

“Learning Technologies and Online Education”

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Successful Students 9

Successful Students

9

9. . . .don’t cram for exams. Successful students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

If there is one thing that study skills specialists agree on, it is that distributed study is better than massed, last-ditch efforts known as cramming. You’ll learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night sessions for Friday’s exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not too clever, huh?  

When you cram, you are taking the shortcut, and shortcuts never produce any real worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you feel rather rotten knowing that you could have done better but didn’t. Shortcuts cut you short. You can’t plant watermelon seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. It takes time. Cramming for a test or project and expecting to make a high score the next day is like planting watermelon seeds and expecting to harvest and eat fresh watermelons the day. Plus cramming for a test or project doesn’t help you academically, so why even do it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.

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