Becoming a Better Student
My job as an instructor is to help you learn. If you aren't learning, then your time and money is wasted, and I don't feel that I am accomplishing my job.
Sometimes timely advice or suggestions can improve a bleak situation for a student. This page is a collection of tips and resources for becoming a better student. If you have any other suggestions to offer, please e-mail them.
Some of my own tips:
Sit toward the front of class. You are less likely to be distracted than you would in back of the class.
If you don't understand material discussed in class, or you are not doing as well as you want, then please talk to me, the instructor. Getting discouraged, avoiding discussing a bad grade may only cause the problem to linger. By talking to me immediately, you may fix the problem quickly and as a result may enjoy the class more.
Study every day. If you read your textbook and review your notes, even for 15-30 minutes a day, you will find that preparing for tests is much less painful, and the results are much better. Last minute studying or "cramming", even for several hours, just really isn't as effective as studying regularly, a little bit each day. The best time to study is within 2-4 hours after the class. Reviewing the day's material at this time helps you to remember more permanently what happened in class that day.
Find colleagues to study with. Ask each other review questions, compare homework answers, and quiz each other on the material. Studying together will usually help you to focus more on the material (often when I study my mind is apt to wander on to other things), find alternative explanations, and discover if you've forgotten to study any material.
What to do when you study? Here are some things to do:
Review your class notes
Read the assigned text
Recopy class notes, adding info you may have left out or that you picked up from reading the text
Answer review questions
Make up your own review questions, possibly for a study partner to answer
What makes teachers happy? Here are a few really easy things:
Be punctual. It's discouraging to watch students arrive late and leave class early. It is a courtesy to warn your instructor advance of a late arrival or early departure.
Make eye contact. Looking somewhere else gives the impression you aren't listening.
Participate in class. Even asking to repeat or clarify something is appreciated.
Use the instructor's name. Everyone likes it when people know your name.
Submit work on time.
Follow guidelines exactly on assignments, and turn in neat, legible work.
Request explanations. Believe it or not, a lot of teachers like it when you ask for help.
Thank the teacher.