HOW TO STUDY How to Succeed in Academics

How to start out Right First you are going to “take a good honest look at yourself” to find out how you study and then identify any area that need more work. 2 points 1 points0 Points READINGA B C MEMORY DEVELOPMENTABC TIME MANGEMENTABC TEXT BOOK NOTE TAKINGABC CLASSROOM NOTE TAKINGABC Classroom participationABC BASIC LIBRAY SKILLSABC COMPUTER SKILLSABC PROJECTS ETC ABC TEST PREPABC OVERALL STUDY SKILL LEVELABC (Calculate your score here)

Reading and Comprehension Reading: Speed comprehension and recall are three components of reading. To test your reading and comprehension skills, read page When you are done reading close the book and jot down the key points. You will get a 4 minutes – time starts now

Reading: Summary Living things are classified, organized, grouped by similarities or homologies Genus-Species with similar charac. Ex. Dogs, coyotes, wolves – Canis Ques. What is a species? Family- Similar genera ex. Fox (Vulpus), Dog (Canis) belong to Canidae Order-Similar anatomy and way of life ex. Dog, cat and lion are carnivores so belong to order Carnivora Class- share similar charac ex. Dogs, humans, squirrels are mammalia

Score If you read and your summary was very close to mine, in less than 2 minutes. Give yourself an A. If you had some problems but able to complete in 4 minutes, give yourself a B. If you unable to complete the reading, remember what you read or summarize at all, give yourself a C

Memory Score: If you remembered 12 or more digits in the correct order you got an A Eight to twelve digits, give yourself a B Seven or less, you got a C

Time Management Skills This is important for completing HW and projects on time and is measured by two factors (in your handout) If you feel you use your time wisely and efficiently give yourself an A If you know that there are times you simply run out of time give yourself a B If you can’t tell time, you got a C

Textbook Note Taking: Read pages All living things are grouped according to similarities Animals are grouped into Phylum, plants into Division All Living things are grouped into Kingdoms Binomial nomenclature uses two words to name all living things and is its scientific name First word is the genus name (in capital), second is species name (in small) (written in italics or underlined) ex. Pinus ponderosa Names are in Latin – standard for all languages, will not change Able to rephrasing information in your own words  See above Able to capturing details that are unfamiliar  Division, binomial nomenclature Any questions or materials that you don’t understand

Score If you used all the key points from above you have an A If any one of these points were deficient – B If notes are what you pass to your friends in class, give yourself a C

Classroom Note Taking: Did you read the material to be covered in class? Use shorthand or symbols when taking notes Your notes are sequential, following the teachers lecture pattern Do you review the notes at the first opportunity Fill in any blanks and your own thoughts Ask questions right away Score: If you do all of the above, give yourself an A If you are deficient any one of the above, give yourself a B If you never take notes, give yourself a C

Class Participation: Score: If you are always prepared for class (do the HW and turn them in on time), actively participate in discussions, ask frequent and pertinent questions, give yourself an A If you fail any one of the above criteria, give yourself a B If you are not sure that you are in the right classroom, give yourself a C

Library Skills: How often have you been to the library in the past six months? Where would you find the biography of Herbert Hoover in your library? Where is the reference section? Given the Dewey number for a book, could you find it in less than five minutes?

Score: If the answers to all of the above are obvious to you, give yourself an A If you cannot answer one or more questions easily, you have a B If you don’t have a clue where the nearest library is, give yourself a C

Computer Skills: If you are capable of doing just about anything online short of hacking into the Pentagon and use your computer regularly for homework and assignments give yourself an A (word processing, internet searches) If you are good at word processing and playing games and but do not use the computer very often for assignments give yourself a B If you don’t even know how to get to your teachers websites, give yourself a C

Projects and Large assignments: Preparing for any sort of project is 90% perspiration and 10% inspiration. Therefore presenting a good project is dependent on the mastery of skills we have already discussed. Score: If you are an avid reader, familiar with your local library, a good note-taker and capable of breaking down the most complex topic into manageable steps necessary to accomplish your task, give yourself an A If you are lacking in any one of the above, give yourself a B If your idea of writing a paper is copying from Cliff’s notes or plagiarizing from the internet, give yourself a C

Test Preparation: Mark the following that you normally do Do you know what material will be covered? Do you know what kind of test you will be taking? Multiple choice, essay, etc Have you looked at your text chapter yet? Have you reviewed the class notes and compared them to your text? Finally, prepare a list of questions you would ask if you were the teacher.

Score: If you do all of the above and are able to construct questions that are harder than the ones the teacher gives you, give yourself an A If you feel you know the materials but you don’t perform as well as you think you should, give yourself a B If you don’t know what I’m taking about, give yourself a C

This is your starting point Now add up your score. Note the skills that you can improve on and work on it. Use this worksheet periodically, to check on your progress