Evaluating Your Semester Grades

Well, you have finally opened your semester grades.  Are you happy?  Disappointed?  Dismayed?  There are several things you should consider now:

1.       If you do not understand why you received the grade you did, you should contact your professor.  (Remember that some will not reply to emails, so for those you will have to wait until the beginning of the next semester.)  Be polite, write that you expected to receive a higher grade and state why.   If after they reply you still think there was an error, your institution has some policies in place to work this out.

2.       Be sure to keep all of the graded exams and work that was returned to you in case there is a dispute.

3.       It is well within your right to go to the professor’s office at the beginning of the next semester and ask to see your final exam.

4.       The key is to be polite.  Most professors are very willing to correct any mistake they may have made.

5.       If your grades are great – now is the time to relax and enjoy.  Reflect on what went well and resolve to do the same or even more next semester.

6.       If your grades are a disappointment – you get another chance next semester.  Reflect on what you did well and what you can do differently and better next semester.  It would be helpful to write these down and review them at the beginning of the semester and maybe even weekly during the semester!

7.       See if your institution offers a study strategies or learning strategies class.  These could be just one credit, but provide invaluable information about how to earn better grades!

The next installment will deal with being on academic probation and what you can do about it!

Happy New Year!

Final Exams Week

Well, we are now in the midst of final exam week.  At most schools your schedule is now different - classes are not meeting and the finals are probably at slightly different times.  Here are a few survival tips:

• Write down the days, times and locations of your exams.  Because the schedule is different, it is easy to get mixed up.
• Look ahead.  When is your most difficult exam?  Start to study early and often for that. 
• When you are going to bed, quickly review the information for your first exam the next day and then immediately go to sleep.  This will help that information stay in your long-term memory.
• Maintain healthy eating, sleeping and exercising patterns.  This is not a good time to feel ill!
• Do NOT stay up all night to study.  You will not remember anything you study and you will not recover your sleep for several days.  This will negatively impact exams on the following days!

After exams, enjoy a well-deserved rest.  Take a few minutes to reflect on your semester.  What went well?  What could you change?  We'll come back to this at the beginning of the next semester.

For now - enjoy a job well-done!

Preparing for Finals I

Final exams are rapidly approaching.  Here at Indiana University of PA our exams are December 14 - 17.  Leading up to exams, here are some things to consider:

1.         When are your exams scheduled?  (Usually they are on a different time schedule than the semester classes.)  Will they be held in the same room as the class or somewhere else?

2.         What will they cover?  Is the exam on the final unit or is it cumulative - covering the entire semester?

3.         Are you all caught up with your work?  Have you missed any exams, quizzes or assignments?  Can you make them up?

4.         Do you have a complete set of notes for each class?  Were you absent for any classes?  Did you get those notes from someone else?  (And do you understand them since you were not in class to take them yourself?!?)

5.         How did you do on previous exams from each professor?  If you did well - then do the same time.  If not - increase your study strategies as well as your study time.

Your next step is to plan your studying schedule. 

1.         Start a week or more before the exam to organize all of the material.  

2.         Next, break the material down into logical topics.  Study one topic a day leading up to the exam and review the previous ones you studied.   The day before the exam you should be reviewing the entire body of information for the exam.

3.         With information that is really difficult for you, review that material the very last thing before you go to sleep.

4.         You can also:

• Make a study guide
• Make a practice exam
• Form a study group and either teach each other the material or ask each other questions
• Analyze previous exams from that professor and predict the format of the final

Next week we will look at test-taking strategies.

Until then...happy studying!

Thanksgiving Break

You all are probably looking forward to Thanksgiving break.  For some of you this may be the first break you have had this semester.  Some schools have a mid-fall break, while others go straight through to Thanksgiving.

One thing you will soon discover is that it is very hard to study and do class work when you are home over break.  There are many other things to do; sleep in your own bed, visit family and friends, sleep some more, etc.   You simply will not feel like studying.

Here are  few ideas to help you keep up with your studies:

•  Before you get home, plan specific times when you will study.
• Go to your local library or Starbucks where the atmosphere will be more "academic."
• Tell your family and friends that you have to study and get their help to keep you on target.
• Do your work early in the break - don't wait until the last day.

If you have a big exam when you return or if there is a subject that you are really working hard on, it is important that you review that material 20 minutes or so each day.  If not, you will have to relearn everything when you get back to classes.

Enjoy yourself!  Rest, relax and get energized for the final push of the semester!

Academic Reading Process Step III

Hopefully after reading the previous two blogs, you have added a few strategies to your reading process.  Now you are finished reading the assignment, but you are not done yet!

By simply spending a little more time with the material, you will greatly enhance your retention.  Here are some suggestions:

1.  Review!  This will just take a few minutes.  To review, reread some of the following:

• Margin notes
• Headings and sub-headings
• Bold print words

2.  If available, test yourself using any learning objectives that were are the beginning of a textbook chapter.

3.  If you really need/want to know the material, you can also make a sutdy guide.  Try one of these formats:

• Outline
• Concept map/mind map
• Study cards
• Question and answer
• Time line (does not work for every topic)
• Review chart

The point is to pause and review.  This helps the informaiton move into your long-term memory and stay there.  Try it!

Academic Reading Process Step II

While You are Reading

Building on last week’s post – ways to prepare for effective reading - there are quite a number of things you can do while you are reading to increase concentration, comprehension and retention.

You probably already do several of them:

• Monitor your comprehension
• Reread if necessary
• Read out loud

Here are some other things you can try:

• Recitation (post 9-15-2010)
• Annotation or margin notes (post 9-30-2010)
• Visualize what you are reading (if the subject works for this!)
• Associate what you are reading with what you already know
• Think about how what you are reading fits into the overall picture of the chapter or subject

If you find you do not understand, you can try:

• Review the overall organization of the chapter or book
• Reread the previous paragraphs
• Review the meaning of important words
• Skim the material first to get the “gist” and then reread in more detail

Next blog: Some quick review strategies after you have read

Academic Reading Process: Step I

 Before You Read

There are several things you can do before you start to read that will greatly enhance your comprehension and retention.  Here are some ideas:

·       *   Preview the assignment, chapter, book, journal article.  Look at the learning objectives, major heading and subheadings, bold print words, pictures, charts, graphs, etc.  Be doing this you will get an overview of the entire scope of the information you are going to read.  Then, as you read, you will be able to see how all of the information fits together.

·         * Think about what you already know about this subject.  The more you know about something, the easier it is to learn new material.  So prepare you memory to latch on to the new information.

·         * If you don't know anything about what you are reading, previewing will help you start to build background knowledge.  You can also take a few minutes and look on the Internet for some basic information.

·         * Plan to remember what you are reading.  I know this sounds simple, but how many times do you sit down to read and your main thought is just to get it over with?  Have a positive attitude!

·         * Make a reading plan.  Don't try to squeeze a long chapter into a short period of time.  Decide how many sections of the material you will be able to read and comprehend in the allotted time and read that.  If you finish and have a few minutes left, review what you read instead of forging ahead.

·         * Eliminate distractions.  Turn off the TV, email, IM, your cell phone, all those things that will break your concentration.  You can re-connect with everyone in a hour.

·         * Take some breaks.  Don't try to read for several straight hours.  You do need to give you brain a break and get refreshed.  Just remember - the break is a few minutes, not several hours or days!

Next week we will look at some strategies you can do while you are reading that will help with concentration, comprehension and retention.  Until then, keep reading!