Dear Learning Doctor ,
I never had to study in high school. Now that I’m in college, I can’t keep up!
Just my history class has twelve books... and I have four other classes! I only read one
novel at a time in high school, so I'm completely lost now. How can I get through all this
reading?
Signed,
Feeling Inundated in Illinois |
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Dear Inundated,
The reading load you will experience in college will seem heavier than in high school. You
cannot expect to read your books slowly, word-for-word, and get what you need to know
efficiently. If your books have chapter titles, the titles are the key to the focus of the
chapter. You might read a chapter quickly, in order to write a brief summary after each,
and try to explain the title.
You need to get the general ideas of the book before you can expect to remember the
details. Strive to read quickly, and keep a reading log. Your summaries will serve you
well when it comes time to review the book for a test or paper.
When you see connections between the book and the lecture, note the passage by using a
star or bracket. You might even annotate your summaries with key page numbers to refer to
later. Remember, you are reading those books to get a flavor what your are reading, not to
memorize every last detail! Read the book before class and make notes on all major points.
Then class will become a review for you, not an introduction.
Best of Luck,
Learning Doctor
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Dear Learning Doctor,
I wanted to go to college right after high school, but instead I got married and had a
child. I am now able to go back to school, but I’m afraid that I will not have enough
time for my family and my studies. How can I cram the most study time into the least
amount of time?
Signed,
Sarah from Savannah |
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Dear Sarah,
If you have a small child and wish to go back to college, here are a few suggestions:
If the child is in day care, use your in-between hours to stay on campus and study to keep
up during the day. Keep requirements like long reading assignments, papers, projects, and
so
on to work on at home when your child is sleeping. Get to know other students who have
children close to the age of your child -- then you can trade babysitting and free up time
to go to test reviews, the library, etc. for each other. Children prefer the company of
others close to their sizes and ages over the company of adults anyway, and it’s
crucial that you develop a support system. Remember the power of studying with a partner
on the telephone. Make friends and develop study partners in each of your classes, so you
can have review sessions in the evenings on the telephone.
Don’t feel like you’re alone. Many students are trying to balance family and
school. As your children get older and start school themselves, they’ll be better
able to understand that Mommy has homework. You’ll be modeling for them the role of
education in lifelong learning.
Best of Luck,
Learning Doctor
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Dear Learning Doctor ,
How can I do well on exams when I have four in the same three-day period? I have so much
to study that I don’t know where to start! Can you help me figure out how to plan my
time more precisely so I can get the most out of my study time?
Signed,
Desperate in Des Moines |
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Dear Desperate,
The key to keeping up with classes and being prepared for multiple tests is time
management. You might use your in-between-class hours each day for reviewing and keeping
up. If you can study right before and/or right after a class, you’ll stay more caught
up, and the work you do directly before a test will be a review to add to what you’ve
learned rather than a last-minute cram session. Get a planner and lay out all your tests
and quizzes at the beginning of the semester so you can see what’s coming well in
advance of test dates. The best study is short, focused, and frequent. Try to devote
productive time to each of your classes on a regular schedule. Don’t neglect the rest
of your classes for the sake of focusing on one at a
time.
Believe it or not, instructors don’t get together and plan to give all their tests
on the same day; this situation is a natural part of the testing cycle in college. You
won’t get caught in a jam if you have a schedule that calls for regular, efficient
study.
Best of Luck,
Learning Doctor
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Dear Learning Doctor ,
I decided a long time ago that I would wait until my children were grown before pursuing a
college career. Now it’s time, but I’m 40. I am terrified that I won’t be
able to compete with all the 18-year-old students fresh out of high school. How can I give
myself an edge?
Signed,
Non-Traditional in Nevada |
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Dear Non-traditional,
A current source on conditions in higher education states that the average age of the
college student today is twenty-six; we can expect it to increase through the years. The
original colleges and universities were designed to educate Christian white male
teenagers. However, women, ethnic minorities, older learners, differently-abled and other
underrepresented student groups are commonplace in most colleges today. Attendance
patterns are changing:
one-half of college enrollments are part-time. The shift in enrollment patterns on many
college campuses means that the exception is becoming the norm. With diversity as the
hallmark of today’s college populations, non-traditional students are a welcome part
of the campus community.
All college learners have some universal needs, such as good study skills, efficient
time management, academic and social support systems, and recreational outlets. However,
these behaviors and mechanisms have different characteristics for non-traditional
students. Efficient time management for you may mean knowing how to review for a test
while commuting to work or taking care of household responsibilities.
If you have an adult partner, be sure that you fairly negotiate the responsibilities
toward the household, the kids, and toward one another. Everyone has a role to play in
facilitating your success in school!
If the kids are grown and gone, you still have loads of responsibilities that
traditional students may not have. If your household responsibilities sidetrack you from
studying, you may need a permanent place on campus to study. You should strive to find
students, regardless of their ages, who can become a support network for you. The
generation gap paradox is that 18-year-olds think the older students are smarter by the
virtue of their life experiences, and the non-traditional students are sure that younger
brains work better and that younger students are smarter. There is
a lot to be learned from one another!
Campus learning centers offer free help for undergraduates. They tend to focus on the
areas of math, writing, reading, and study skills, and the many classes undergrads must
take and find problematic.
Regular users of Learning Centers experience higher grades than comparable non-users.
Don’t overlook campus daycare opportunities, counseling services, women’s
centers, and so on. Many campuses have official non-traditional student support groups.
Shop around for some support.
Resist the urge to keep your distance from campus opportunities. In fact, if you school
has no non-traditional association, be a hero and start one!
Good luck!
Learning Doctor
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Dear Learning Doctor,
I used flash cards throughout high school—title on the front, definition on the
back—and I made A’s. Flash cards don’t seem to be working now that I’m
in college, though. I’m beginning to think flash cards aren’t the answer. Why
aren’t they working for me anymore?
Signed,
"Flash" Gordon |
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Dear Flash,
By taking every term and separating each of them onto individual flash cards, you’ve
made learning much more difficult. There are two principles you need to understand about
memory and learning.
- The terms you need to know are associated with other terms—thus it works better to
store them in your memory as chunks that are interrelated by meaning.
- College tests require deeper understanding of concepts than mere memorization of
definitions. For example, if you are in a psychology class and are studying classical
conditioning, you’d need to know the relationship between a set of concepts—unconditional response (UR), conditional response (CR), unconditioned stimulus (US) and
conditional stimulus (CS).
You could put classical conditioning on the front of a card, and all the components and
how they are interrelated on the back. At least you’d be working toward a more
thorough understanding than memorization of single terms.
Good luck!
Learning Doctor
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