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Tips For Being a Successful Student
Set
goals for yourself
Continually monitor
them, clarify them, and revise them when necessary. Set challenging, but
realistic goals. Establish priorities.
Accept
responsibility for your own behavior and outcomes
Research has
demonstrated that performance is greatest for those individuals who
attribute their successes and failures to their own efforts (or lack
thereof). Whatever the outcome, such individuals are motivated to work
even harder. So avoid attributing your outcomes to external factors like
the instructor or the nature of the test. And avoid internal ability
attributions like "I'm too dumb."
Take advantage of all resources available to
you
This includes the faculty, the Career Center,
the Writing Center, library materials and staff, study guides available
for certain courses, materials available in the Psychology Department
(described as recommended readings earlier in this Handbook), the
Registrar's Office, and so on. Be willing to ask questions and know how
and where to get help take responsibility for yourself.
Get acquainted with and talk to your
professors
Getting to know your professors will have
many payoffs. You will feel more comfortable talking to them when you
have questions or are having difficulty in a course; they will know you
better and will therefore be in a better position to discern when you
need help in understanding something or are having some kind of
difficulty; and they will hopefully have the chance to learn something
about your interests, background, and aspirations. This means your
professors will be able to do a better job of advising and assisting you.
And as professors get to know you, they will know more about your
talents, skills, and motivation level and will thus be in a better
position to write a letter of recommendation for you should the need arise.
When
you are having difficulty in a course, deal with the problem early!
Don't let the problem fester and work
to your disadvantage. Go to your instructor and seek his or her counsel. You
will find your professors to be quite willing to give you suggestions and
tips on how to improve your situation. But, again, don't delay. A student
who performs poorly all semester and then finally seeks assistance during
final exam week will receive considerably less sympathy and less useful
information. You must care enough about your studies to be proactive.
When trouble occurs, act now!
Eliminate
distractions when you study
Have an environment conducive to studying,
one free of clutter, and with good lighting.
Set up a regular schedule for studying
Study in frequent, relatively short sessions
rather than in fewer, longer sessions. This is a restatement of the basic
principle that "spaced practice is more effective than massed
practice." The ultimate of massed practice, of course, is when the
student studies only in one long marathon session (the
"all-nighter") right before the exam. Such an approach is not
the answer to long-term retention and depth of understanding.
Take
breaks when studying
You need to be rested in order to maintain
your attention and interest. Concentration is critical. Research shows
that a 5 minute break should be taken every after every 45 minutes of
study time for maintaining maximum attention efficiency
Study
actively, not passively
Read with a sense of purpose. As you read,
have questions in mind and look for answers to those questions.
Use
a good study technique
1.
Survey the material first.
2. Get
an overview of what's being presented.
3. Generate
Questions before you read.
4. Actually
write down a series of questions that you can pose regarding the
material.
5. Now Read
the material all the while looking for answers to the questions that have
been framed.
6. The next
steps are to Recite and Write down answers to the questions.
7. Finally,
you should Review what you have learned in the above steps.
Psychology Tutors
Each
academic year one or more upper-class psychology majors work as
tutors. Tutoring is by appointment and takes place in the
library. If you wish to have a tutor consult with your advisor or
course instructor. Alternately, you can consult Dr. Jamie Long. She is in
charge of all course tutors. Please note that besides courses in psychology,
tutors are available for most courses taught at C-SC.
What Memory Research Tells Us That Relates to Study Tips
When you put something into memory, do so
with depth
Give
meaning to what you are reading. One of the best ways to do this is
to relate the material to you.
Use imagery
Sometimes the more bizarre the better....
Context is important
The context in which you learn the material
should be as similar as possible to the context in which you retrieve the
material. But you don't have to actually physically recreate the original
study location. When you take a test, simply mentally rehearse the
details of the setting in which you studied. Research shows this
will be just as effective as taking the exam in the study location.
Impose organization upon the material you are
studying
Know how bits and pieces of information
connect. Make outlines, flow charts, etc. Organization provides many
retrieval cues and thus aids memory.
Practice retrieval
That
is, practice taking tests and answering questions.
Set up a self-reinforcement schedule
When you behave in an appropriate manner and
reach an important goal, etc., reward yourself. Participate in class. If
you participate, you are actively involved and we know that active
involvement facilitates learning. So when you are in class, participate
by asking questions, answering questions, contributing to the discussion,
and actively thinking about the material being presented.
Attend class
Take this seriously. Attendance will help you
in many ways: test material will be reinforced; new material will be
presented that you are responsible for on tests; and the professor may
include class attendance in grading. Don't rely on someone else's notes -
they are no substitute for your own presence in class.
Take notes in class
Don't count on a "perfect memory"
for the material. Too often, students sit in class after class without
taking a single note. Material presented in class will be tested in exams
and these students have no written record to study in preparation for
those exams. Undoubtedly, their performance suffers as a result.
Accept as a fact that you must read your
assigned textbook and other materials
If the material is assigned, it must be
important and it no doubt is covered on the tests. So read, read, read,
read and follow the above study tips.
Go to class prepared
Read
assigned material in advance of the class.
Don't be shy of the library
This house of learning is an important
environment for you. You should get to know it and enjoy it. Perhaps it
is the perfect study environment for you. Locate the psychology books and
journals. Get in the habit of reading the latest issues of journals. Find
out firsthand about some of the latest developments in the field. In
general, learn how to use the library. It is a skill that will pay
dividends for you many times over.
Have a good attitude
Be committed to learning. Motivation is very
important. We have seen too many students who didn't seem to have the
desire to learn. If this describes you, know now that this will be to
your detriment. The lack of motivation will translate into not attending
class, not taking notes, not listening, not reading assignments, etc. It
just won't work.
Manage
your time effectively
·
Don't
procrastinate
·
Set up a
schedule: Block your schedule such that every
hour counts; schedule time for studying specific subjects; schedule
sufficient time for recreation, sleeping, etc.
·
Maintain
your schedule: Revise it as necessary and appropriate.
Don’t try to maintain an unrealistic schedule.
·
ALLOW 2-3
HOURS OF STUDYING FOR EACH HOUR SPENT IN THE CLASSROOM:
How much time is needed depends on such factors as your ability and study
habits and the nature of the particular course. Take this admonition
seriously. Too often, students fail because they did not devote
sufficient time and study to their assignments.
·
Follow
instructions. You can increase your chances of success
immensely if you will simply abide by any and all instructions given to
you. This holds true both in and out of the classroom. This means that
you must do such things as: adhere to all deadlines; follow the
guidelines requested for writing papers; read your course syllabi very
carefully; and so on. This simple suggestion is too often overlooked. And
be sure to ask questions for clarification purposes if you don't
understand the instructions.
·
Stay
physically fit: Get enough sleep, get appropriate
exercise, and eat properly.
·
More tips: Consult
with the psychology faculty. They are prepared to assist you and they can
also recommend various books and pamphlets that you can read on this
subject.
Writing Research Papers in APA Style
Throughout your psychology courses, you will
be asked to write papers in "APA style." The sooner you become familiar
with what this means, the better off you will be. First, the APA refers
to the American Psychological Association. APA has published a manual
entitled Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(5th ed.). If you have an old third edition, you may want to purchase the
brand new fourth edition. Copies of this manual are available in the
campus bookstore and we urge you to give serious consideration to
purchasing a personal copy. The cost is about. $30 and it is an item that
you will use repeatedly. Copies are also available on reserve in the
library.
Why APA style? Every academic discipline has
some type of standardized set of criteria for writing papers. Psychology
and a number of other disciplines (e.g., education and nursing) use APA
style. The "APA Manual" provides the necessary information on
how to put a paper together. It includes material on basic nuts and bolts
issues such as margins, page numbering, and indentations. But the manual
also instructs you on such things as how to section off an experimental
type of paper (in which you are presenting research findings), how to
reduce bias in language, how to write clearly and concisely, and how to
reference sources. The manual includes a sample paper and this is
especially helpful as you begin learning APA style. For additional
assistance, consult any psychology faculty member or tutors in the
Writing Center (located in the C-SC library), and consider attending one
of the "APA style help sessions" conducted by the psychology
department each semester. In general, one of the best strategies is to
write a paper, get feedback, and make the necessary revisions. Repetition
and feedback is the ultimate path to effectively learning APA style. Take
the matter seriously because your instructors will probably use adherence
to APA style as one of the criteria in grading a paper. In graduate
school and in your career in psychology, you will have to write in APA
style, so now is the time to learn this skill.
A
great Internet site for APA style help: http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4bs.htm
Using the Library
When you are assigned papers to write or are
about to do a literature search on a research topic one of your tasks
will no doubt be to locate articles that are published in books and
professional journals. But how do you do such a reference search? Here
are some general guidelines:
·
Utilize
interlibrary loan services
But get in the habit of getting an early start
in doing your papers so you will have ample time to make interlibrary
loan requests and receive your material. < | 
