Studying "Harder"

In my Learning Strategies classes we talk a lot about setting goals.   I tell students an effective goal needs three characteristics:

·         It has to have a time limit – When do you plan to accomplish the goal?

·         It needs to be measurable – How will you know you did it?

·         It needs to be something you can accomplish – Meeting your goal helps build motivation for the next challenge.  (Some people suggest setting your goal extremely high, and then even if you don’t meet it you still have accomplished a lot.  You need to know yourself and think about which will motivate you more.)

When the sections of Learning Strategies ended this spring I have every student set a goal for the remainder of the semester, write it on an index card and then tape it to their bathroom mirror so that they read it each morning.  One student stated the following goal:

When things get hard, I will work harder.

While this does not meet any of the above characteristics, I love this statement!  It works great as a daily motto.  Imagine if you told yourself this every morning and then followed that thought throughout the day.  Nothing could hold you back!

Whatever your motivation, think about it every day and use that as your guiding principle.  Your potential is boundless!   Enjoy!

PS – Of course it is important to know exactly what you will do when you “work harder.”   The previous blogs (all 254 of them) give you this information.

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First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) of College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Test-taking Strategies

My Learning Strategies class is coming to an end.  One of the last topics we discussed is test-taking strategies.  Of course nothing will help a lack of preparation, but there are some things you can do to enhance your grade.

General strategies:

·         Look through entire test before starting to see how many questions, type and point value for each.

·         Watch your time.   Divide it up before starting depending on how the points are distributed.

·         Some students like to do the ones they know first.  This activates that knowledge area in their brain.

·         Splash-down strategy - if there is something you are struggling to remember or you created a mnemonic device, jot it down in the margin of the test as soon as you receive it. You can then quit thinking about that and concentrate on the test.

Essay:

·         Before starting to write make a quick outline of your answer.  This helps with organization and clarity.

·         Remember to think about the reader (your professor).  Write so that he or she can clearly follow your points.   Use signal words to help the reader follow along.

·         Read the prompt carefully.  Consider annotating if there are multiple sections.

·         Don’t try to write a global answer.  If there are several parts, answer each one in order.

Multiple Choice:

·         Eliminate the options you know are wrong.

·         Slow down when the question is tricky; for example, if there is NOT or EXCEPT in the question.

·         Use future questions to help you answer previous ones you do not know.  Sometimes the wrong answer will help you remember the correct answer to an earlier question.

·         Be careful you do not spend too much time on one question.  Make you best guess, fill in the answer, make a note to come back if time, and then move on.

Short Answer:

·         For this, either you know it or you don’t!

True/False:

·         If any part of the sentence is false the whole thing is false.

·         If guessing, an ultimate word such as “everyone” or “no one” is probably false and a middle-of-the-road word such as ‘frequently” is probably true.

Again, none of this matters if you have not studied!!  Preparation is the key!

*****

First Semester Success: Learning Strategies and Motivation for Your First Semester (or Any Semester) or College, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available at amazon.com, wordassociation.com and barnesandnoble.com.  Click on the upper right link.