It can be a very challenging and foreign experience for most students entering college. There are many obstacles that have to be over come to be ready to begin college. Once a college has been chosen, financial arrangements have to be made and classes have to be selected. The College or University advisors should be able to help with the process. Once this has been completed if is important to have a plan for successful college learning. There are three main items to included in developing this plan. The first thing is to set goals and develop a time management schedule. The next is have good reading skills and able to organize your course material. The last part of this plan should include preparing for and successfully taking course exams. …show more content…
According to a Cornell University article “A goal is a concreate action event or outcome that you strive to obtain. Goals enrich our lives, give us energy, create a sense of purpose and give us a “road Map” (ref1). The S.M.A.R.T acronym is a widely used method for setting goals. Using this methodology sets, specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timed goals. Specific goals give you details of the goal. To determine if the goal is met it needs to be measurable. Attainable goals mean are they realistic if not consider setting a different goal. A realistic goal needs to be worthwhile, important and necessary. There should also be a timeline set to measure the progress of reaching the proposed goal. Setting a timeline will also help to manage the many social, family, work, and school responsibilities. Scherman says in the 6 Time Management Tips for College Students there are six tips too time management. The first one is to read and understand your course calendar. After reviewing the course calendar began to plan ahead. Next is to make out a schedule putting down all of the important dates due for the assignment, reports, and, exams. Use a checklist to mark off as each of the task are complete. Organize your course work by keeping each course in a separate notebook. Staying healthy helps save time by giving you more energy and allowing you …show more content…
Doing this will enhance the ability to learn and retain information. It is not only important to read the assigned material but to comprehend the material being read. In Orientation to College learning the Reading strategies are described. These strategies reading are to preview chapter before reading, reread material you do not understand, and read to the end of each paragraph. To improve your comprehension, it suggests to, highlight or take notes and create note cards. The other suggestion is to recite the main points made by the author (BryteWave). While reading the material it is important to be able to take good notes. Good method of note taking is the Cornell Method according to information found on Shorter.edu. Using this method allows you to restate the material in an organized sequence
The final aspect of setting SMART goals is that they must be time bound. Simply, it is necessary to have a deadline for which the goal must be completed. If the deadline is a long way off, set hallmarks along the way. This will contribute to measuring your success and help you to keep moving toward the ultimate goal (KPW, 2010). For example, I only have financial aid for a specific amount of time which means that I must take the time that is needed to pursue my degree because my course has a specific target date as to when everything should be complete.
As we age and enter different stages of life, our personal obligations and responsibilities tend to become more time-consuming. As a wife, student, employee, and caretaker for an elderly woman, some days feel incredibly overwhelming and daunting. By applying a specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound (S.M.A.R.T.) process to my day, it becomes much more feasible. However, what about the long-term goals that will affect your future? By using the S.M.A.R.T. goal system, you are able to make your dreams a reality one small step at a time.
When it comes to textbook reading, preparation is just as important as reading the material. It is easy to find yourself just reading the textbook and then looking back at what your read and not remembering anything you just read. Not every class demands a thorough reading of the textbook, so it is very important to ask the professor to see what he/she will be testing on, either notes in class or the readings form the textbook. For example in a psychology class the professor expects his/her student to know the textbook inside and out...
To be a college reader, there are several things that we need to know, and to be prepared before we read. Number one priority of being a successful college reader is we need to know the vocabulary. If we do not know the vocabulary, we can not fully understand of the contents and that will affect really big for us because it also could break the rhetorical triangle. In addition, paraphrasing is another important as a college reader, and of course the vocabulary is the basic steps of paraphrasing. Basically, paraphrasing means is that we have to explain the contents just using our own word and own thoughts. If we could not fully understand the meaning of the contents, we can not paraphrase the text. For example, I paraphrased one of paragraph in ‘Idiot Nation’ by Michael Moore in class, but then I was stuck because of the vocabulary. I started to circle the word that I don’t know and found them out in my national language, and then I was able to paraphrase the text. It is really important to know a lot of vocabulary so the writer and the reader fluently understanding each other, and we can do paraphrase of the
Setting and achieving goals (long-term and short-term) are the process of knowing what you want and getting what you want. Time management is a crucial strategy for personal goals achievement. It is common that college students encounter stress in their academic life, and the stress can be positive or negative based on how students react to it. (Summarized from Keys to Nursing Success chapter
Attending college right after high school can be terrifying at times, but I found it is even more intimidating once you go back to school after being out for a few years. Self-discipline has to be trained all over again and the motivation to work hard has to be implemented daily to gain the successful grades each student wants to receive. As you continue to grow, you learn there are many ways to enhance your learning skills and become the most knowledgeable student you could only have imagined being. Using different approaches with the way you learn helps develop a good foundation for each student’s time while attending college. Becoming a well-rounded student takes time and an abundant amount of effort along with understanding your strengths and weaknesses in Life Factors, styles of learning and improving yourself as a critical thinker.
As I read, I make an outline for my notes and go through each section, writing down main ideas and details that I think are important. Once I finish reading and taking notes on a section, I go back to highlight a few keywords and dates so I can reference and find it easily later. For nonacademic reading, I preview the synopsis and sometimes read a few random pages throughout the book to see if it sounds intriguing. Despite people saying to not judge a book by its cover, I often do, along with its title. Unlike with academic reading, I read straight through as long as I can. Nonacademic books are easier to read and retain because I actually want to read it.
College success has become a most desirable goal. However, many students struggle through college. In fact, according to the Website Ask.com, approximately 15 percent of college students receive a degree. Because I’m willing to earn a degree like many other successful students, I find that college is the stepping stone to my dream goals. I know that college is difficult, but I realize that attaining my dream of a college education will require me to understand the benefits of what I’m learning, to prepare for obstacles, to seek advice, and to create effective and reasonable strategies will help me achieve my goals.
There are three types of learning styles. They are: auditory, visual and kinesthetic. An auditory learner processes information by hearing and discussing the information. Visual learners process information through visuals such as charts, pictures, and other types of printed information. Kinesthetic learners process information by muscle movements and experiences that are hands-on. Through the assessment I have discovered that my strongest learning style is a visual style with a score of 13, followed by kinesthetic, 8, and lastly auditory with a score of 4. Based upon this, my strength is using a visual learning style. The things I do now in studying that are within the guidelines include: read the book chapters and highlight while reading, pay special attention to charts and diagrams shown in the book or in class. By reading and highlighting I have found I can quickly go back through the information and reread the important facts, helping me remember them better. The more times I go over the information, the more effective I am come test day. I have found it very easy to read charts and diagrams in textbooks. Generally, by being able to read certain charts, it is much easier and faster to comprehend the information than if I was to read the paragraphs about it. A new study strategy that I will implement will include: writing what I highlight down into my own handwriting, adding ...
What will I do for the rest of my life? Every person asks this question at some stage of their life, usually during their later teenage years. As a high school junior, I am now asking myself this question. After considerable thought, I have devised a tentative plan for my future. I realize that some of these plans and goals may change over time, but with a plan, the first steps of the journey can begin. To prepare me for the journey, I have taken very challenging high school curriculum, such as Honors and Advanced Placement courses. These classes will not only assist in my admission to college, but have also helped me to develop strong study skills and time management.
Currently there are many students tried to go to college and finish their degree. But some students don’t know what they should do in college and how to avoid the failure in classes. The failure will happen if you have no real goal or plan to finish it.
In setting a goal, you set up a grand goal and then you break it down into smaller goals. This helps you to further monitor your progress on a smaller scale and helps you stay motivated and focused because each time you achieve one of the smaller goals, it keeps you inspired to achieve the grand goal. Set goals that are definite with a well-known target to achieve, always giving yourself a specific time-stamped to achieve your goals. However, ensure that your goals and time lines set are realistic otherwise you will end frustrated chasing castles in the
The first step in achieving ones college goal, is believing in yourself and making a commitment to yourself and education that no matter what the next few years bring in personal circumstance or situation that ones priority is achieving their college dream, and nothing will stand in ones way in achieving them. It is only the student with this most positive and certain attitude that will succeed. Otherwise, difficult circumstances and situations are sure to arise, and without this attitude, students are sure to follow a voice within them that says, “It’s too difficult, why not just quit!” And that will be the end of that. But with a positive and certain goal the voice within will remind the student of the dream, the band playing pomp and circumstance and the diploma in hand. And the struggle will seem well worth it.
I feel that the best way to study is to read the text and then read again and make notes. I tend to move through two or three books at the same time looking for similar points, which are phrased in a different way. When I'm doing this I tend to find that I will come across different but still relevant material to use. I make a point of only reading for an hour to an hour and a half at a time after which I will have a half hour break. Once refreshed I find ...
Textbook reading and reading for pleasure are very different, in the sense that reading for pleasure does not required to take what is being read and use it to educate on a particular subject. Ones methods and styles have to change in learning and retaining the information while understanding what is being read. Reading actively requires four steps in order to prepare for writing papers, research, tests and exams these are; previewing, strategizing, concentrating, and reviewing. Everyone will develop their own reading and studying habits, these steps are just the guideline in order to enhance success. These active reading strategies need to be in place to get the most out the information that is being read. A vast amount of what could be accomplished in college will depend on the understanding of the material in the textbooks. With the right system in place and the right state of mind textbook material are the