Getting Ready for Finals - A Review of How Learning Happens

At my school we are soon returning from Thanksgiving Break and students will be preparing for final exams.  This is a good time to review exactly how learning happens and apply that to your final exam preparation.  Remember that learning involves three things:

• Repetition
• Using a variety of strategies
• Spacing your learning out over time

 

REPETITION: Go over and over the information - when you feel like you know it cold, go over it again.


VARIETY: As you are studying, do different things with the material such as

• Reread your lecture and textbook notes
• Put information on study cards
• Quiz yourself - practice remembering the information just as you will do on the exam
• Put information into your own words - the exam questions will not be word-for-word from the book and lecture notes
• Make study guides
• Meet with classmates and either explain the information to each other or test each other
• Go to any review sessions held by the professor or tutors
• Use any online quizzes and review help

SPACED OUT OVER TIME: And finally, obviously, start early - not the night before the exam.  Break the material into logical chunks and start at least one week before the exam.  Any extra difficult or critical information can be put on study cards and reviewed every day!

 

When talking about exam preparation in my Learning Strategies class I always ask, "When should you start to study for an exam?"  I tell my students it is a trick question because the answer is, "As soon as you get the information!"

 

Enjoy the end of the semester and good luck on your exams!

 

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

Reflect on Your Success

 

As my students left class for Thanksgiving break I asked them to tell me one of the following things: “What is one thing you have learned, accomplished or are proud of this semester.”  It did not have to be academic, just something from their first 13 weeks as a college student.  Here are some of the answers:

• Passing biology
• Getting an 'A' in biology
• How to study
• How to talk to people they did not know
• Meeting people different from themselves
• How much they miss their family
• How much they miss their dogs
• How much they miss their couch/own bed
• How to do laundry
• How to clean a bathroom
• How to be independent

Particularly if you are a freshman, this is a good time to pause and think about everything you learned and have done and to feel good about what you have accomplished.   Happy Thanksgiving!


PS – One student who just broke his foot said he learned to not do stupid things!  I changed that around and said he was learning how to overcome adversity as he navigated around campus on crutches!

 

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

 

A Word About Words

My students are working on a culminating project for my Critical Reading and Thinking course.  For the project they are to find two articles with different points of view on the same general topic.   One of the questions asks them to find at least five words they do not know in the article and define them.  Most of the articles come from popular newspapers and magazines or web sources.   One thing that I noticed is the difficult level of the words in the articles.   This was reinforced by a conversation with a History professor teaching a freshman level course.  He found that students had trouble with his exams, not because of their knowledge of the course material, but because they did not know many of the general words he used.  Aside from enrolling in a vocabulary course, what can you do to increase your vocabulary?

* READ!  READ!  READ!

* Pay attention to words you do not know.  After the second time you run into the word, write it down, look it up and write the definition.   Put these on your desk and review periodically.

* In a content course you will have to make a concerted effort to learn the content-specific words.  Pay attention to word parts that appear often.  These will help you unlock future words.

* Try playing freerice.com.  This is a nice website that quizzes you on words and donates grains of rice for every right answer.  Fun, learning and a good deed all wrapped in one!

Enjoy exploring and learning new words.  You reading comprehension will increase as well as your enjoyment of language!

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

Strategies for GREAT Essay Answers

I am spending the weekend grading my students’ essay exams.    I reminded them last week that their goal is to demonstrate how well they read and understood the assignment and that they should make my job easy.  Here are some ideas:

* Read the ENTIRE question.

* Pause and think about the answer.

* Mark up the questions.  Number the parts, underline important words.

* Consider making a brief outline before starting to write.

* If it is a multiple part question, answer each part in order.

* Restate the question in your first sentence to keep your answer directed and on topic.

* Use signal words to help the professor follow along.  If there are three parts, use words like “first, second, third.”   If they ask for examples to prove your point, start the sentence with “For example.”

* If you have time, reread your answer.  Be sure that it makes sense.  Put yourself in the place of the professor and see if it is clear.

* Keep in mind that you are the writer and your job is to be clear for the reader.   Don’t assume the reader/professor will “know what you mean” because they obviously know the material.  Your job is to clearly explain the information and to demonstrate how well you do know the material.

There is no substitute for knowing the correct answer, but you still have to communicate that answer to your professor so that they know that you know!!! 

 *****

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