How To Be An Effective Student
Marlowe C. Embree, Ph.D.
revised 11/02/04
Following these suggestions may not guarantee you an "A" in every class you take, but they will maximize the probability that you will be able to demonstrate your learning effectively when taking tests.
Don't underestimate the challenge of being a student! The memory burden on college students during the four years (or so) of your undergraduate experience far exceeds the combined memory burden of the next 40+ years of your working life. In part that's because of the distributional (general education) requirements of the university that force you to sample a wide range of courses in different, and often seemingly unrelated, domains. It's also because (in sharp contrast to the working world, where you are expected to look up important information you don't remember) you are usually expected to carry everything "inside your head"; if you try to look something up during an exam, it's called cheating.
Not included in this material are suggestions for how to be an effective notetaker. This material was covered in LEC 100 a few weeks ago. However, if there's a national hue and cry for me to include that information here, I will.
Suggestions for Studying
1. Have a regular time and place for studying -- a time that corresponds to your peak learning time of the day (varies from person to person), a place that is private and comfortable and free from unnecessary distractions. It should ideally be a place that is used only for studying, so that the environment itself serves as a positive cue for studying.
2. Study a little bit every day rather than waiting until the end. Not only is this more manageable and much less stress-inducing, but it greatly enhances the probability of remembering the information you study. Since most forgetting occurs within one hour of an event, try to review or at least skim your class notes within an hour or two of the class itself, and by all means within 24 hours of the class.
3. Spend sufficient time studying. One classic rule of thumb suggests that you should spend between 2 and 3 hours studying for every hour that you are in class. This may not be realistic given your other commitments (although that may simply suggest that you need to cut back on some of those other commitments if you want school to be a priority for you), but at a bare minimum, spend an hour studying for every hour of class.
4. Simulate the exam process when you study, because much learning is "state-dependent". There won't be a radio blaring during the real exam, so study in silence. You won't be eating during the exam, so put away your munchies (or, at least, don't expect that you can have a pizza delivered to yourself halfway during the real exam). Unless you plan to be drunk during the exam... well, you get the idea. You'll be under time pressure, so get in the habit of self-testing yourself (make up little quizzes for yourself, or trade them with a friend) with a timer set for a reasonable time period. If nothing else, you'll have a much more realistic sense of how ready you are for the real exam. Take advantage of pretests or practice exercises when offered in the same way. Don't fool yourself by peeking at the answer key and then engaging in the delusional thought, "Sure, I knew that."
5. Know your optimal learning style. According to David Keirsey (Please Understand Me) and Gordon Lawrence (People Types and Tiger Stripes), there are four types of learners: concrete-linear (observational, detail learners); concrete-nonlinear (experiential, hands-on learners); abstract-linear (conceptual, logical learners); and abstract-nonlinear (associative, creative learners). Know which you are (click here for help) and know what that means about your learning strengths and weaknesses (here). It can also help to know which type your teacher is so you can get an idea of what s/he is likely to expect from you (here).
6. Differentiate between important and unimportant information so you can optimize your study time and not "major on minors". If you don't know how to tell which information is important, ask your teacher for help! Remember that in many college level courses, rote memorization is insufficient; concept learning is the key (see point 9 below).
7. Keep your mind in gear (the fancy term for this is "active rehearsal") by asking yourself questions about the material as you review it and engaging in honest self-testing of your understanding as you go. That’s what the study guides in my classes are for… use them! Try to "think like a teacher" and anticipate what kinds of exam questions I might write. Use the pretest offered in my classes to help you, but don't rely passively on it; keep your mind in gear as you attempt to "write your own pretest". Try to generate original examples, to explain why in-class examples are correct, and so forth. Gradually wean yourself from overreliance on your book, notes, and other instructional aids: use these heavily in your early study times, but in the week or so before the exam, try to remember information without "peeking" (then, check your accuracy so you don't unwittingly memorize faulty information). Working with a "study buddy" can help with this if you use your time to keep each other on task (as opposed to turning each session into a party).
8. Generate retrieval cues for yourself, which can include visual images, mnemonic devices, and so forth. The more bizarre and unforgettable the cues, the better they work. The more arbitrary or meaningless the information you are learning, the more important this is. If you want some detailed help with how to implement this idea (would require much too many bytes of text to outline it here), I suggest The Memory Book, by Harry Lorayne and Jerry Lucas.
9. Build concept maps as you study. A "concept map" is a way of summarizing what you need to know about a particular concept, theory, or idea. It should include (a) key features or elements of the concept, (b) examples or illustrations of the concept, (c) counter-examples, particularly if easily confused with the concept, (d) related or linked concepts. For example, the concept "cat": (a) cats are small, four-legged, furry creatures with tails who eat rodents, purr, meow, and are superior to humans; (b) Himalayans, Persians, Angoras, Manxes, and domestic shorthairs are types of cats; (c) many things are not cats, including dogs, rabbits, squirrels, rhinoceroses, sea slugs, Britney Spears (although I think she looks a little bit like a cat), Osama bin Laden (the world's foremost anti-cat), the Electoral College, and the Sears Tower; (d) related concepts include cat scratch fever, animal welfare, anthropomorphism, hairballs, litter box products, catnip, and the vomeronasal organ. For more on this idea, see A Mind at a Time by Mel Levine. A "network" (think of the idea of a spider's web) of linked or related concepts is a "cognitive map" and is the primary way that we learn about a domain or field of study (a well elaborated cognitive map represents intellectual expertise or knowledge).
10. Deal with emotional issues that may impede effective studying. At a minimum, know something about the length of your attention span (three short study periods can be more effective than one long one); and, if you find yourself starting to associate studying with negative emotions like anxiety or frustration, stop for awhile. (Otherwise, you may heighten forgetting due to repression.) Serious emotional issues related to depression and anxiety (both of which are very common among college students), or issues related to learning disabilities such as ADD or OCD, are beyond the scope of this essay and may require professional intervention; however, a very good self-help resource for dealing with depression, anxiety, worry, obsessiveness, inattentiveness, and a host of other issues at a "subclinical" level is Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by neuropsychiatrist Daniel Amen.
11. If you are a nontraditional student (over 25), learn the difference between fluid intelligence (mental quickness) and crystallized intelligence (mental sophistication). Take advantage of your good skills with the latter by linking information to be learned to your well-stocked mental library of existing ideas, concepts, and experiences, and don't be intimidated by younger students.
Suggestions for Exams
1. Get lots of rest the night before the exam. Since anxiety may impede your ability to sleep, try to accumulate a "sleep surplus" starting as much as a week before a big exam. (If you're a caffeine user, you may want to give up, or cut back on, coffee and soda starting a week or so in advance; it takes that long for the drug to clear your system. If you're a true addict, of course, you don't want to put yourself through caffeine withdrawal during your prime study time; but try to cut back.) If you've been studying appropriately (see above), you won't want or need to stay up all night to cram for the test. Some research indicates that sleep consolidates learning, so eight hours' worth of snooze time may be the best gift you can give yourself before an exam. Make sure it's natural sleep, though; avoid the use of sleep remedies (unless prescribed by a physician).
2. Stop unproductive worries in their tracks by using worry-busting strategies. Moderate worrying can sometimes be productive (when it leads to action that solves problems), but worry is unproductive when it becomes obsessive, repetitive, anxiety-generating, "squirrel-cage" thinking of a circular nature: "What if I fail? What if I fail? What if I fail?" Many people find that they can control worry by scheduling their worry time: set aside a regular time each day (or week) during which you are required to worry (if you have nothing on your worry list, worry about why you don't). If worrisome thoughts come up during other times, jot them down in a few brief words and remind yourself, "That will be the first thing I worry about during my next worry time." Or, try exaggerating your fears to the point that they seem humorous even to you (this works only if your mind runs to a certain type of humor, so you'll discover quickly whether this is helpful or harmful for you).
3. Arrive early and prepared at the exam site, making sure (if it's a special exam such as a final that is held at a different time or place) that you're sure about the when and the where of the exam. Even if you're a habitual procrastinator, do whatever it takes to avoid a last-minute, anxiety-generating rushing about. Set your alarm for an hour earlier than necessary, allow for the worst possible combination of delays (highway detours, traffic accidents, car breakdown). Make sure that you have twice as many pens/pencils as you think you will need (pencil points break, pens run out of ink) as well as a watch that you know is reliable for tracking time during the exam (see below). Arriving moderately early (not hours ahead of time, of course, but 10 minutes or so ahead of schedule) allows you to adopt a positive mindset (see below), take care of last-minute bathroom necessities, and pick a location in the exam room that will minimize distractions.
4. Monitor your self-talk in the minutes leading up to the exam to cultivate a rationally positive attitude. You have a surprising degree of control over your emotions and mood states by way of what you say to yourself mentally (the "words running through your head"), if you activate the proper mindset before powerful emotional reactions take over. "I've studied hard, I know I'm prepared, this will be an interesting challenge, I'm looking forward to doing my best", and the like will set the right mental and emotional tone for the exam. If you're prone to fatalistic, negativistic, or catastrophic thinking, you will want to practice telling yourself these kinds of positive statements (they'll seem at first as if you are lying to yourself) until they become second nature to you.
5. Take a few minutes to strategize about the exam before plunging into it. In a fifty-minute exam period, it's a good use of the first 2-3 minutes of that time to skim the entire exam to get a "bird's-eye view" of what's expected of you. (Research indicates that students who do this get better grades on average than those who immediately leap into answering the questions.) Begin by reading all directions carefully; many students lose unnecessary points by failing to follow the directions. Circle or underline key directions so you don't forget them later, if you can't act on them immediately. (If you're a very forgetful type, bring a multi-color pen to the exam and use one color ONLY for the purpose of this task as a visual reminder.) If there are options on the exam (such as "answer any three of the following six questions"), next skim the options without getting bogged down in the details of any, to make a quick decision about which items to attempt. Finally, do some quick math in your head to decide how much time to give yourself for each portion of the exam so you don't run out of time. For instance, a typical unit exam in my classes requires students to complete four essays plus twenty multiple choice questions in 50 minutes. If you devote two minutes of the exam to strategizing as suggested above, that leaves 48 / 2 = 24 minutes for each of the two parts of the exam: six minutes for each of four essay questions, one minute for each of 20 multiple choice questions, four minutes at the end to do some checking as outlined below. Use your watch, pace yourself, don't let yourself get bogged down on one part of the exam. Monitor yourself to maintain an appropriate balance between impulsive and deliberate response styles. (Respond too impulsively, and you will finish early but make many unnecessary errors, often because you did not read the question thoroughly and accurately. Respond too deliberately, and you will run out of time. Between these two extremes lies an optimal style.)
6. Coach yourself through answering questions by breaking them down into small, manageable steps. (The only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.) Begin by circling key terms ("action words" that tell you what is required), such as compare, contrast, define, illustrate, apply, utilize, explain, defend, justify, interpret, identify. Students can lose points if they do not do what they are told to do, so make sure you know what these terms mean (for instance, compare and contrast means that you must both tell how two things are alike and how they are different). Determine how many parts there are to the question, or how many elements are required in your answer. Then approach the task systematically (don't ramble; essays are graded on content, not length). For instance, a good approach to essay questions is the following: (1) Show that you understand the meaning of the key terms or concepts in the question; (2) Relate specific examples in the question to these key terms (or, if asked, generate an original example of the key terms); (3) Show how you know that your answer is correct. By using a structured approach like this, you not only help yourself to stay on track, but you maximize opportunities for partial credit.
7. Utilize general strategies for managing test questions, such as the following. With essays, don't expect the instructor to read your mind… most teachers' telepathic skills are remarkably poor. If you want to say something, write it down. Always write something – never leave a blank. If you have nothing else to offer, provide a piece of autobiography or show the teacher that you remember a joke s/he told in class! Blank pages can’t garner any partial credit. With multiple choice questions, unless there is a penalty for guessing, never completely skip an item! (However, it's a good idea to mark confusing or difficult items with an asterisk so you can temporarily skip over them and come back to them later... but do allow yourself time to come back to them, even if just to circle a guess.) Remember that, often, it is easier to eliminate one or more wrong answers than it is to immediately spot the right answer; doing this can increase your odds of a correct guess considerably. It can help to try to answer the question before looking at any of the response alternatives; that way, you won’t be fooled by response choices that are deliberately designed to trap, trick, or fool you. Unless you have a clear and compelling reason for doing so, never change your answer; trust your gut. Research indicates that first impressions have a greater than chance probability of being correct; what’s going on neurologically is that your right hemisphere knows the answer, but can’t articulate how it knows. As an absolute last resort, count how many times you have used the A, B, C, and D responses; most instructors, try to make each of these the correct answer approximately the same proportion of the time, so in guessing, an underused letter is a good selection.
8. Learn how to relax on cue so you can stop panic or test anxiety in its tracks if it arises during the exam. Most people can easily learn to produce a relaxation response by saying a word (like "relax" to themselves and then associating that with a relaxing image, like lying on a warm sunny beach and watching the clouds drift lazily overhead). Because relaxation and panic are opposites (incompatible), this will often stop useless fear responses in their tracks. Or wear a rubber band around your wrist and, when you first feel the panic start to rise, quietly snap it and say to yourself, "Stop."
9. Allow a few minutes at the end to check your work, to make sure you have left no items blank (always offer some kind of guess or stab at the question unless there are clear penalties for doing so), to look for and correct obvious (clerical or careless) errors, to double-check that you have followed the directions, to make sure you have written your name on the exam!
Post-Exam Behavior
1. Don't waste time and energy blaming yourself or others if you don't get the grade you want. Mourn briefly, vent anger in appropriate ways (calling your Mafia contacts to have your instructor's kneecaps broken is not usually considered appropriate), then move on to figuring out what went wrong so you can do something different next time.
2. Don't indulge in wishful thinking. Some famous person (perhaps it was Peter Drucker, but I'm not sure) defined insanity as "continuing to do the exact same thing and expecting different results". If one set of strategies isn't working for you, try another. Take advantage of opportunities to consult with your instructor or with peer tutors (a surprisingly large number of students appear more willing to get a root canal than to talk with their teacher about how they're doing in class). Diagnose your problem in specific terms and figure out precisely what you need to do in order to correct that specific problem. Be proactive and responsible: focus on what you can do something about (your "circle of influence"), not what you can't (your "circle of concern").
3. Break the all-or-nothing mindset. One main reason many of us stay stuck (in some aspect of life or another) is because we think in black/white, all/nothing terms: "Either I stick on a 500-calorie/day diet, or I might as well eat whatever I like." But in fact, to work and to persist over time, effective change needs to be gradual and manageable. So, whether you're trying to lose weight, save money, or manage your test anxiety, start small... aim for a 10% improvement in your target behavior over the next several months, not a "perfect" cure. This works for many reasons: one of them is that you may well do better than 10%, and then you'll feel great about yourself because you exceeded your expectations. (In contrast, you'll almost certainly do worse than 100% improvement, which sets you up for self-blame and despair.)
4. When failure occurs, put it in perspective. In the first place, it's rarely the end of the world; failure is usually not fatal. Life is filled with second chances! In the second place, it doesn't mean that you can never improve; it simply means (as above) that you need to do a specific diagnosis (with your instructor's help) of what went wrong and how to fix it. In the third place, it doesn't mean you are a failure (as a person); it means that you haven't yet found the optimal strategies for yourself, or that you are "playing the wrong game" (taking the wrong kinds of courses for you, for instance, trying to force-fit yourself into being an accountant when you have a poet's mind, or vice versa). Failure, as Oprah Winfrey puts it, is sometimes God's way of telling you to try something completely different -- at which you might succeed beyond your wildest dreams. If necessary, get some world-class career management advice (try your student services office) to figure out what "game" you should be playing in life.