Help! It's the week before finals!

For most of you, finals are next week and the pressure is mounting.  Papers and projects are due.  Exams are scheduled.  Professors are squeezing in the last important information they want you to know.   AND you possibly have to pack all of your belongings to be ready to go home for the summer.

There are a few things you can do to handle everything:

• Be sure to get enough sleep.
• Eat healthy food and get some exercise.
• Schedule some social time to say goodbye to friends, but not too much.
• Look at your final schedule and start your study plan NOW!

 For each of your classes that have a final, check the following:

• When is it and where?  If it is in a different location than the classroom, make sure you know where that it and how to get there.
• What will it cover?  Is it cumulative or just on the final unit of the course?
• Do you have all of the information?  Are your lecture notes complete?

THEN - Start your study plan now.  Break the information into smaller topics and review one each day until you have covered everything.  Every other day or so, go back and quickly review the information you studied so far.  Take a look at previous blogs for some other learning strategies you can use if needed.

A final note:  Students are very tempted by “book buy-back.”  Be absolutely sure that you are done with the book before you sell it.  If they are buying a limited supply and you are afraid to wait, consider copying the pages you need first.  If the book will be used next semester, you might consider selling the book yourself for more than the book buy-back price but less than the used book price at the book store.

Good luck!  (But if you are well prepared you won’t need luck!)

Student Story #1

One of my students approached me the other day and asked if he should withdraw from his Psychology course.  He said that he earned a 52% on the first exam and a 54% on the second and was afraid of failing the course.  He reported that he had studied for the first exam by reviewing his notes several times and that he studied even “harder” for the second exam. 

What do you think actually happened?

The problem was that he just did more of the same thing when preparing for the second exam.  When he said he “studied harder” he actually meant that he just reviewed his notes a few more times, but did not really do anything different when preparing for the second exam.

What should he have done?

For learning to occur it takes varied and repeated exposure over time.  My student needed to use more strategies to learn his Psychology.   For example, he could have:

• Made study cards for the vocabulary
• Made a study guide to help him understand the information
• Joined a study group and discussed the information
• Used recitation – restating the information in his own words to be sure he knows it beyond the same words used in his notes
• Made sure he understand the examples used in the textbook

The happy results:

He used several more study strategies for the third exam and earned 75%.  He stayed in the course and expects to earn a passing grade.

Setting False Deadlines

One very simple way to keep up-to-date with you assignments and avoid last minute panic and procrastination is to set false deadlines.  When you have an assignment due, set your deadline a day or more before the real deadline. 

Tragedy is always ready to strike.  Problems such as:

• No computer paper
• No money on I-card for printing
• No ink for computer
• Getting sick the night before a paper is due
• Roommate getting sick night before paper due

You get the point - many problems can arise!!

Having your work done ahead of time relieves stress and gives you time to be sure the work is done to the best of your ability.  Try it!

Motivation and Goal Setting

One way you can keep yourself on track and motivated is by setting goals.  These can be short-term (for the day or week) mid-length (month, semester) or long-term (year, several years, etc.).

Whatever the length, a good, workable goal has several characteristics:

1. There is a time limit
2. It is measurable
3. It is attainable

 For example:

• This week I will go to all of my classes.
• Today I will select a topic for my research paper.
• By the end of the month I will have my paper completed.
• This month I will complete the process to change my major.
• At the end of this semester I will be on the Dean's List.

If you are having trouble with motivation and procrastination, setting goals is a great tool to help. 

The goal will help keep you focused.  Of course, you need to frequently look at the goal and remind yourself what you are trying to do!  By successfully completing a goal, you are motivated to keep working and accomplish something else.  So then you should immediately set a new goal.

Remember, if you do not achieve your goal you should revise it, reset it and start again.  Success never happens if you quit!  So...what is your goal for this week?