So,
you want to do well in class?
You want to learn a little bit? You want a good grade? You want to
impress your professors so that you can come back in a year or two and get a nice
letter of recommendation? Well here are a few secrets to
academic success. Try them-- they really do work!
1. Attend Every Class-- Missing class (or repeatedly
arrriving late) not only puts you behind in
coming to terms with material missed, but it can also mean
(in my classes) a significant grading penalty at the end of the semester. If
you skip classes for no good reason, don’t expect an exemption
from the
attendance policy for a subsequent absence when you might be seriously
ill. And once you are in class, stay put. Walking out in the middle of
class to stretch your legs is disruptive and disrespectful to both your
classmates and to your teacher. Of course, in case of an emergency you should
feel free to
get up and leave, but taking a walk to get a drink, for example, does
normally
not qualify as an emergency.
2. Do All the
Assigned Reading--
This should go without saying, but it is important to
emphasize that it
will hard to get a good grade without careful reading of
all
assigned material. Expect that exams in my classes will include questions designed
explicitly
to see who is reading carefully and who is not. .
3. Take Notes in the
Margins-- Many students
fill their readings with
underlining and colorful
highlighting of text. This is often useless unless accompanied by
writing in
the margins of the text. Make notes to yourself about key points and
summarize
the key issues of the reading at the end of each chapter or article. This will slow you down a
bit, but it
will force you to think harder, allow you to retain more on the first
reading of
the
assignment, and make it easier when you review for exams.
4. Put in the Time-- 75%
of
what you get out of your college classes will depend on what you do outside of the classroom. The rule
of thumb is that you should be working three hours outside class for
every hour
in class. Assuming a four course load, that adds up to a lot of
hours. But it's less than many of you will spend working once you
graduate, and it will still leave plenty of time for fun and
relaxation. Remember that
college is not high school where the practice often is to
have students prepare for exams simply by memorizing work sheets. While
I will give you some guidance about how to prepare for exams, in
college a greater burden is on you to read, to think about, and to
integrate materials from classes and readings. This takes time and effort.
5. Don't Make Excuses-- If
you bomb a test, please don't say to your professor and, even more importantly,
don't say to yourself that: "I don't test well." If you do poorly
on a test it is almost always because you don't know the material, and
that in turn is almost always due to a failure to put in the
necessary time to prepare. |
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For Your Eyes Only 
