Spring Semester 2019 – Blog #8: Checking Your Progress-Midterm grades

The semester is about half over and you may have received midterm grades.   At my institution professors only have to submit D or F midterm grades.   Some professors submitted all grades but I do not – I assume my students are monitoring their own grades.


At this point in the semester you want to evaluate your progress and the grades you are earning in each class.


If you are failing a class, talk to the professor and see if there is a chance you can pass the course. 

• If yes, find out what you need to do to pass the course with a ‘C’ or better.  Tell him or her how you have been preparing, share you notes and ask for suggestions, ask for any strategies that work for other students.   Find out if there is tutoring for the subject and become a regular!
• If there is no chance, talk to your advisor about your options.   To protect your grade point average, it is better to withdraw rather than fail.  However, you need to be sure you are still considered a full-time student.   Also, if the course is required or a prerequisite for another course, you will have to take it next semester or over the summer.

Even if you are passing a course, you want to know exactly where you stand.  Are you close to the next higher grade or solidly in the middle?  Is there a chance to improve your grade by the end of the semester?  If so, follow the suggestions in the first bullet point above.


Again – I return all graded work and my grading system is clearly explained in the syllabus.  I expect my students to be keeping their own records and to know exactly where they stand in my course and in their other courses.  If a professor is not organized and specific, it is up to the student to talk to the professor and find out exactly where they stand.


The next blog is about one of my favorite strategies – setting false deadlines.
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First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.om and a hard copy from wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Spring Semester 2019 – Blog #7 Learning from Textbooks

One thing that surprises many freshmen is the amount and difficulty of reading required in classes.  For the most part, students are expected to read, understand and remember the material from textbooks BEFORE class and then the professor expands on that knowledge.  This is particularly true in higher level classes.  With a little bit of effort and some strategies, this can be easily accomplished.  While it may take a little more time, the results are much better than reading and rereading.   Think of academic reading as a three-step process.

Before you start to read:

• Preview the material to see the topic, organization and length.
• Read section headings, bold print, learning objectives, etc.
• Look at pictures and inserts that may disrupt the flow of your reading.
• Think about your purpose for reading.  If the material will be on the test but the professor will not cover it in class, you will put in much more effort.  If you are simply reading for background knowledge you can move faster.
• Think about how much time you have and how much of the material you can logically read and retain.  You do not want to stop reading in the middle of a section, you want to approach the material in a logical way.

During reading:

• Pay attention to your comprehension.   If it lags, stop and reread.
• Keep the overall organization of the material in mind as you are reading.
• Pau attention to any signals the writer gives – bold print, repetition, phrases to let you know something is important, words indicating a listing, etc.
• Try to associate what you are reading with the material in the course or what you already know from another class.
• At the end of a logical section, stop and restate what you have just read in your own words.  If you can, move on.  If not, reread and repeat.
• Consider taking notes, either in the margin or on separate paper.

After reading:

• Your retention will be much higher if you take a few minutes to review what you read.  Reread your notes, answer the learning objectives, review the bold print, etc.
• Take advantage of any online quizzes associated with a chapter.

If you did not have time to read the entire chapter, follow this pattern when finishing the material:

• Review what you previously read.
• Preview the new information.
• Review both the first part you read and the current part.

 The next blog will consider midterm grades and some decisions that have to be made.

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First Semester Success: 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as a eBook and hardcopy from amazon.com and hardcopy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.

Spring Semester 2019 – Blog #6: How We Learn Part 2

The first step in learning information is to concentrate and pay attention to the material.   This may be easier said than done if your mind constantly wanders.  Two strategies my students said are helpful to extend concentration are:

1.       During a lecture make a “hash” mark at the top of your page every time your mind wanders and pull you attention back to the lecture.  Over time you will find that you have an easier time sticking with the lecture.

2.       Set a timer for a short period, perhaps 15 minutes.  You will be able to concentrate on your studying for that time period because you know if will end. Gradually lengthen the time and you will notice your concentration becoming much easier and longer.

Remember that, besides paying attention, learning requires the four strategies listed below with some examples:

Repetition	Variety	Self-testing	Over Time
Repeated exposure to the information Read textbooks Attend class Review notes after class Review all notes once a week	All strategies in the previous column plus: Rewrite notes Highlight important information Make study cards Attend tutoring sessions Form/join a study group Take turns reteaching the information to the others in group Study in a different location	Cover notes and restate in own words Use study cards to test yourself Quiz each other in study group Make practice tests and share with group or put aside and take later Use any online study quizzes with textbook	Regularly attend class Attend any review sessions offered Review notes after each class Review all notes once a week Start to study at least one week before an exam

Next: how to get the most out of your textbooks and maybe save time!
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First Semester Success: 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and a hard copy from wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right link.

Spring Semester 2019 – Blog #5: How We Learn – Part 1

There are three parts to your memory that are important to learning:

Sensory memory – This is where you decide what to pay attention to, where you minimize or eliminate distractions or give your attention over to them completely.

Short-term or working memory – This is the part of your memory where the learning is happening, but it can only work with 7 + or – 2 bits of information at a time.    Unless you are actively working with the information it will be replaced by new information.   There are a few things to know:

• Because of the limited capacity information needs to be divided or chunked into manageable, logical sections.  (Chunking is one of my students’ favorite study strategies.)
• In a lecture class you are not learning anything, you are simply recording the information the professor is explaining.  As you are writing, the new information is pushing out the old information you are recording.  This is why you have to learn the information on your own after class.

 Long-term Memory – This is the part you use on an exam when you are recalling what you have previously studied.  If the information is not securely and logically stored it will be nearly impossible to retrieve.

To move information from short-term to long-term memory requires four things – repetition, variety, self-testing and being spaced out over time.    Multiple specific strategies will be described in the next blog. But here is a preview:

Repetition – obviously study the material repeatedly

Variety – make note cards, read your notes out loud, use different colored pens or pencils

Self-testing – stop periodically, cover your notes and see what you can remember

Over time – Review your notes after every class and all your notes once a week

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First Semester Success, 2nd Edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as a eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and hard copy from wordassociation.com.  Click on the upper right  link.