C.A.S.A Center for Academic Student Achievement & Islander Success Advocates

Attend classes – Attendance counts in MOST classes – Don’t just sit there, participate – Pay attention! Take notes! Ask questions! Know your instructor – What are their tests like? Ask around. (Also, go see your Professor during office hours) Schedule regular study periods – Either by yourself or in a group Be realistic – Don’t expect to get an “A” without studying or going to class. It’s not going to happen!

Establish a regular study area/place – Where do you feel most comfortable and relaxed? – Where would you study best? Study in short periods of time - Don’t try to cram everything into one night Start study sessions on time – Set a schedule and stick to it Study when you are most alert and awake - Are you a morning person or a night owl?

Set a specific goal for each subject you study – Read a chapter or complete an assignment Start assignments as soon as they are given – Don’t have to finish them, just get the ball rolling Review your notes regularly – Helps you become more familiar with the material Take regular study breaks – Don’t overexert yourself

Study your most difficult subjects first – This way you can get help if you need it (Tutoring, Supplemental Instruction, Writing center) Stay on top of your work – Don’t Procrastinate! “People who have a high GPA prepare for a test a week before” Reward yourself for reaching your goals – Movies, hang out with friends, etc.

Curve of Forgetting Day 1-At the beginning of the lecture, you go in knowing nothing, or 0%. At the end of the lecture you know 100% of what you know. Day 2- If you have done nothing with the information you learned in that lecture, didn't think about it again, read it again, etc. you will have lost 50%-80% of what you learned. Day 7- We remember even less Day 30- We retain about 2%-3% of the original lecture! This nicely coincides with midterm exams, and may account for feeling as if you've never seen this before in your life when you're studying for exams - you may need to actually re-learn it from scratch. Here's the formula for making time to review material: Within 24 hours of getting the information - spend 10 minutes reviewing and you will raise the curve almost to 100% again. A week later (day 7), it only takes 5 minutes to "reactivate" the same material, and again raise the curve. By day 30, your brain will only need 2-4 minutes to give you the feedback, "yes, I know that..." The Curve of Forgetting describes how we retain or get rid of information that we take in

Supplemental Instruction – Study session led by a student who has already taken the course and has done well in it – They attend your class everyday and take notes over material covered Tutoring – We have tutors for just about every core class – Schedules located at Writing Center – Get help with essays, lab reports, resumes, bibliographies, etc. – Some instructors give extra credit for going to WC

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