Not Just Surviving

Reading Textbooks

Stephanie Bowyer — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 17:15:06 +0000

Reading textbooks is very different from reading your favorite mystery novel. Naturally, the way you read a textbook will vary depending on how well you know the material already, and the Textbook Surveys you have performed should have started to show you how you can handle each of your books. Now it’s time to think [...]

Dealing With Test Anxiety

Stephanie Bowyer — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 17:05:16 +0000

Previous: Grade Tracking Many students get very nervous about tests and exams. Of course, this anxiety is usually due to a (possibly valid) fear that you are not prepared enough for the test. A few weeks ago, Michael’s guest post talked about preparing for tests. If you always feel that you could have been better prepared, [...]

Tracking Grades

Stephanie Bowyer — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 17:15:09 +0000

Previous: Types of Notes In college, when you have questions about your grades, the professors are often unable to answer them. They are too busy, and have too many students to keep track of. It is your responsibility to keep track of your own grades, unless you don’t mind finding out how you’ve done in a [...]

Types of Notes

Stephanie Bowyer — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 17:05:23 +0000

Previous: Long-Term Projects Have you ever sat down in class, pulled out some paper, and stared at it, wondering how to write down all this information? Have you ever wondered if there is a right or wrong way to be taking notes? (The answer is no, by the way.) Do you simply scribble down everything the [...]

Organizing Long-Term Projects

Stephanie Bowyer — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:05:06 +0000

Previous: Exams So you have this huge project that your professor has assigned, that will be due at the end of the semester. “Oh, that’s three months away,” you think. “I have plenty of time.” The “project” that I’m referring to is anything that involves multiple steps, and is not due in the next two weeks or [...]

Why I Hated Mind-Mapping, And How I Overcame My Bias

Stephanie Bowyer — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 21:33:24 +0000

Different people call them different things – mind-maps, webs, concept maps – but they really all refer to the same concept. The point of mind-mapping is to get all the information about some topic onto a piece of paper, and to use lines to connect them. It’s a graphical (pictoral) way of representing information. Of [...]

Studying for Exams

Stephanie Bowyer — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:05:53 +0000

Previous: Setting Goals This is a guest post from Michael, over at The Paperweight. Almost no one likes them, but every student has to take them. Studying for exams is never really easy because you basically either know enough to pass or you don’t. But by putting a little thought into how you study, you can make [...]

Goals

Stephanie Bowyer — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:50:33 +0000

Previous: Types of Reading Are you squirming in fear yet? Most people don’t really like talking about goals, because they see them as hard-to-keep propositions for their lives, usually centered around the day each year that no one can write the correct date on their checks anymore. While it is (barely) still January, I’m not talking about [...]

Three Kinds of Reading

Stephanie Bowyer — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:47:52 +0000

Previous: The Syllabus Do you like reading assignments? Or do you think that textbooks are sent from Hell to torture your very existence? If so, then maybe you should be seeking professional help. Are you somewhere in between? Good – that’s much more normal common. Not many people like reading assignments, especially in college. They’re long, they’re [...]

The Syllabus and Organization

Stephanie Bowyer — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:15:56 +0000

Previous: Planners Organization At the beginning of the semester, it is usually a good idea to decide how to organize your class work. My personal preference is to color-code things. I have one highlighter color for each class, and make sure to highlight something on my notes (usually the date) and class work (title) so I know [...]