The 4 keys to college courses
Academic performance not what you expected? You’re not alone. I see countless students each semester who have that shocked look on their faces when they get professors’ feedback on their assignments or exams. (In some cases, they’d thought they were an expert already.) Many students tell me stories of little work and decent grades in high school or undergrad; they sincerely want to pick up their performance now but don’t know how. I have whittled down my advice to the four “Ps” (and “party” is not one of them).
Priority
Problem: If you’re putting anything other than work or family before your academics, that’s a major red flag. In a recent survey by Student Health 101, three in ten students who responded said that prioritizing their studies is often or sometimes a struggle.
Solution: Your academic life and tasks need to be very high priority. Paid jobs, family commitments, and downtime are important too, and call for careful, ongoing time management. If socializing with your coworkers trumps your studies, you need to make a change. You should focus some time each day to making progress on your class work or academic projects.
Place
Problem: You won’t be able to focus if you don’t have a place to do it. Housemates, group meetings, and social media will destroy your time management strategy. In our survey, one in three students said finding a place to study is sometimes or often a challenge.
Solution: Find a quiet place where you can think and do. It may be the library. It may be the coffee shop. It may be an empty table at your office. It needs to be a place that you associate with getting down to business—the business of doing the work.
Product
Problem: If your study habits aren’t effective, you won’t retain what you’re learning. In our survey, nearly half of respondents said this is sometimes or often a struggle.
Solution: It is not enough to passively read a research article. You also need active learning strategies, like taking notes, creating flashcards, and sketching diagrams. If you don’t have a product, whether it’s a completed assignment or a summary of a reading, you haven’t done the work necessary to build the knowledge base you need.
Person
Problem: Other people can work with or against us. In our survey, just over half of students said they are sometimes or often distracted from their studies by others.
Solution: If your school has a tutoring center, ask about academic coaching, and/or find an “accountability partner” to check in or study with each week. This person should be at least as responsible as you are, if not more so, or equally invested in your education. These individuals seem to know what is going on in class and they’re engaged with the material, which means they often have good habits you can learn from. Also, don’t be a distraction to anyone else.
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Amy Baldwin, MA, is co-author of The College Experience (Prentice Hall, 2015) featuring realistic student scenarios and strategies. |
