How Important Is Your GPA?
Please log in or sign up to read the rest of this content. Find out more.
Jan
07
2009
07
2009
Dec
17
2008
17
2008
Graduating With a Plan of Action
You spend a lot of energy making graduation plans, but do you have a plan of action for after graduation to jumpstart your career? Many people struggle with career choices before making that important life-changing decision that will define who they are for years to come. It is hard to imagine that a new graduate would still struggle with what they want to do with their new college degree. Even if they know, they might not know the next step to take. This article will give a few pointers on how to get started with a plan of action. (more…)
Sep
10
2008
10
2008
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard (Part 4)
Are you studying the wrong way? That will definitely cause you to work too hard.
Ever heard of the backwoods farmer who wanted to clear off an acre or so of heavily forested land? His sons, who were going to have to help in the back breaking-labor, told their father about a new invention known as a “chain saw” that could really speed up the process. The farmer went into town and purchased a chain saw. He returned home with the salesman’s final words still ringing in his ears. “This baby will let you cut down twice the trees in half the time!”
The farmer excitedly began cutting trees with the new chain saw, but by the end of the day he had actually cut much less than he could have done with his old hand saw. In disgust he returned the chain saw to the salesman. The salesman was flabbergasted. He couldn’t understand it. Perhaps this one was faulty. “Let’s take it out back and see what the problem is.” The farmer followed the salesman out to the back lot and jumped back hastily as the he fired up the chain saw. He yelled to the salesman, “what’s that noise?”
You can cut down trees with a chain saw, even when it isn’t running, but that’s definitely the hard way. In the same way, you can study for classes by doing rote memorization–going over your notes or flashcards again and again–but that’s definitely the hard way.
What you want is something like a cheat sheet. Sure it might take some time to make your cheat sheet and carefully conceal it, but it sure makes the test a lot easier. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to construct a cheat sheet that wasn’t really cheating? Something that the prof would be totally okay with?
I discovered something like that just before I began my first semester of grad school. It’s a way to make a simple cheat sheet that is actually stored on the inside of your school … the only truly OK place to keep a cheat sheet.
The first chance I had to try it out was in my human osteology class. Our first exam was on the bones of the human cranium–ethmoid, sphenoid, vomer, zygomatic, occipatal, etc. We had to be able to identify all the bones and know which bones each of these contacted. The ethmoid alone articulates with twelve other bones! That’s a lot to memorize for one test. In fact, just making a thorough, concealable, readable cheat sheet for the test could have easily taken me an hour.
Using an alternative to rote-memorization I memorized all the material–effectively storing a cheat sheet in my memory. I studied less than thirty minutes for the test and received a perfect score … the only one in the class! The class average was a 72 and most students had studied 8 to 10 hours. Needless to say, I was hooked! You can find out more about the technique I used here. There is also a nice overview of the technique in this college study skills video.
That experience set me on quest for other techniques that made learning more natural and easy. I’ve found many others including…
- Staggered review
- Using time you would normally waste
- Taking notes that aid recall
- Teaching others (whether real or imaginary)
- Taking frequent breaks
I’ve already blogged about many of these. Others I will be covering in upcoming posts so stay tuned!
By the way, my Wired Study Tips podcast on iTunes takes some of the most popular posts on this site and turns them into meaty, mp3 goodness. Check it out!
____________________________________
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard
Sep
08
2008
08
2008
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard (Part 3)
‘Kay, so far we’ve covered cramming (hint: don’t) and note taking (less is more). This time I’ll tell you why those of you who do all the assigned readings are probably wasting your time. Ever seen a syllabus with readings like this?
Poultry Lactation 101
COURSE SYLLABUS
…..
Class 12: Avian pituitary fluxions
Readings: MENSA for Dummies, F. Smoottinkler, pp. 119-827; Unabridged Transcript of Congressional Proceedings, 1806 to 2008, pp. 1-211; Latvian Journal of Yorkshire Terrier Psychiatry, May, 1972, pp. 23-117; Introduction to Poultry Lactation, K. Pootwhistle, et al., pp. 72-76
…..
Many of the assigned readings have a very tenuous relation to the actual class. Here’s a little known factoid for you; professors assign course readings using a page quota system based on astrological readings obtained from the Tibetan Book of the Dead. I’m speaking hyperbolically, of course, but don’t you sometimes wonder?
Some professors only assign you readings that you actually need to read in order to ace the exams. These profs get together at the Annual Profs-That-Don’t-Assign-Busy-Work Convention, held in beautiful Chappahiney, Indiana. Last year, both of them showed up. Most professors, however, seem to work with the assumption that if they read it at one time (or at least thought about reading it), you should have to read it too.
Handy pointer: don’t. Only do the assigned readings if they will actually contribute to your bottom line, GPA’ically speaking. Often this means that on readings the prof assigns for each class you will need to carefully read a few, carefully skim others, and carefully use some to pick up your new puppy’s “accidents.”
Get the straight skinny here.
Next time, part 4 of the Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard, Studying the Wrong Way.
____________________________________
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard
Sep
05
2008
05
2008
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard (Part 2)
Part 1 was about how cramming actually costs you way more than you gain. In this post we’ll discuss another way in which we shoot ourselves in the foot by taking too many notes on the wrong stuff.
Question: why is TiVo so popular? Answer: it lets you get rid off all the stuff you don’t care about, like the commercials, and focus on the stuff you do care about, like Carmen Electra. Good notes are like TiVo; they allow you to avoid the useless schlock that won’t actually be tested and concentrate on those golden knowledge nuggets that will.
Did you know that studies on note taking (yes, people actually do research on note taking) show that writing
down every word the prof says is only slightly more effective for recall than taking no notes at all? Why? ‘Cuz you aren’t processing the information. You spend all your time just trying to get it all down before your hand cramps up. Even if you do manage to get most of it down, you’re just going to have to go back and pick the M&Ms out of the party mix, so to speak, at a later date. Why not just take down the testable bits to begin with?
There are a couple of reasons. First, we feel like we’re supposed to take down everything. Somewhere sometime someone convinced us that novel-length notes are good notes. Not true! Good notes are discerning. Quality over quantity, people.
So next time you’re in class and the girl in front of you is scribbling madly to get down “electrolytes have been shown to prevent muscular cramping. That is why athletes often drink sports drinks containing electrolytes, such as Gatorade,” you can write, “electrolytes prvnt cramps (ex. Gatorade),” and watch smugly as her hand seizes up in a muscular rictus. You might offer her some Gatorade at this point.
Another reason students take too many notes is because they aren’t sure what’s important–better safe than sorry. I’m all for erring on the side of caution, but let’s be realistic. It’s not like you intend to memorize everything you write down. You plan on going back later and deciding what to actually study for the test. Good note takers just make that decision before they decide to write it down. Some students actually write down stuff they already know. What’s the point of that? Notes are there to help you learn stuff you don’t know.
I’ve already blogged about the specifics of how to take focused notes, so no need to rehash it. Bottomline? Too many notes waste time and effort. Make the decisions about what you will actually need to study while you listen to the lecture and while you read taking just enough notes to help you recall it accurately later as you study. Anything else is wasted effort.
Next up on The Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard, reading too much.
____________________________________
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard
Sep
04
2008
04
2008
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard (Part 1)
The magic grade fairies have been watching you. They know just how hard you’ve been working on that project/homework/study session and they will grant you the exalted, golden A+ of perfect knowledge. Your mental sweat translates directly to superior scores.
Riiiiiight. If you believe that I’ve got some fantastic diet pills that will let you EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT and NEVER GAIN AN OUNCE (HALF PRICE TODAY ONLY GET’EM WHILE THEIR HOT).
Riiiiiight. If you believe that I’ve got some fantastic diet pills that will let you EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT and NEVER GAIN AN OUNCE (HALF PRICE TODAY ONLY GET’EM WHILE THEIR HOT).
Sorry. There is no magical connection between hard work and great grades. Let me be as clear as the school parking lot the day after finals; I’m NOT advocating sloth. You must definitely work, but smart work is MUCH better than hard work. Did you know that a professional athlete expends less energy performing a given skill than does a novice doing the same skill? That’s because the pro knows what muscles not to use. The pro knows just how much energy to expend to get the desired results. The novice, on the other hand, uses too much muscle and too much energy which translates to poorer results and more fatigue.
Many students make the same errors in their studies. They put too much energy and brain power into the wrong things. In the coming days we’ll look at the top five ways students work too hard for less-than-wowing results. Let’s start with …
Cramming
Cramming to do well on a test or project is like spending four hours in a tanning bed the day before Spring Break. It hurts. It costs you now and later (now it’s expensive and painful, later it causes skin like fried pork rinds and visits to dermatologists). It hurts. The effects will peel away in a few days. And did I mention it hurts?
Cramming hurts too. It costs you now and later, and you end up losing more than you gained. You may spend all night working your keister off (the keister is located just south of the duodenum, if you were wondering). You may actually pass the test. But now your brain is seriously sizzled leading to poor performance on other tests and assignments. You’ve also stored everything in short-term memory meaning that all that time and energy will net you exactly bupkiss since you’ll forget it all three days after the test. So next semester, when you are taking the second part of that subject, you’re going to have to learn it all again. Congratulations. To summarize; 20 hours of mind-numbing study + 14 Red Bulls = an undewhelming exam score + the functional IQ of a drunk weasel + zero recall three days later. Nice.
The alternative? Take that same twenty hours of study and spread it out evenly over the course of the semester; thirty minutes per week day should do it. Study the same stuff, but in small doses it’s not mind-numbing–not even mentally taxing. Now it’s going into long term memory so three days after the test it will still be there, not to mention next semester when you need it for the second part of the class. Go watch a movie the night before the test; then turn in early for a good night’s sleep and a prof-impressing performance on that exam the next day. To summarize; (30 minutes of easy study x forty sessions) / over a semester = an impressive exam grade + the IQ of the ideal you + the envy of your friends – that Christmas card Red Bull sends you every year in thanks for your support.
Next time we’ll look at number two of the Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard…
Taking too many notes on the wrong stuff
____________________________________
Top Five Ways College Students Work Too Hard
Jan
07
2008
07
2008
GRE Online Course Discount Coupon Code
Premium Members use the following discount coupon code when
you sign up for my online GRE Prep course to receive $60 off.
Please log in or sign up to read the rest of this content. Find out more.
