Good Study Habits

It will help you in your college career to develop good study habits. The first thing you need to do is take responsibility for your actions. You are the only one who can decide your priorities and how to use your time and resources.
Don't allow yourself to become distracted by friends and fellow students. Keep in mind the bigger picture. Know what you have to do and when it needs to be done. Keep your goals in mind. Don't let other people influence you into not doing your work.
Figure out your most productive times of the day. If you study best in the morning, plan to study your hardest subjects first. If you have trouble concentrating at a certain time, don't get out your hardest subjects or your most complex project.
If you do not understand the course material, try some innovative ways to learn it. Don't just keep rereading the material in hopes that you will eventually understand it. Ask your instructor for help. If your school has study sessions and peer tutors, take advantage of these offerings. Set up study groups within your class.
When you put your best effort in your work, then you have succeeded. If you are satisfied with what you have done and know that you have done your best, then your grade is the icing on the cake. Always give your best in the classroom and in study sessions. By doing so, you will know that you have tried.

Reading Comprehension Tips

It is important to remember that different types of materials are read at different speeds. A novel is faster reading than a textbook. Time yourself at the beginning of a semester after reading one chapter of your textbook. That will give you an idea of how long you need to plan to study throughout the year.
Take a look at the first chapter of the book. Scan over the material, reading the first sentence in each topic or paragraph. Check out the notes and the diagrams. Look at the nouns and verbs rather than the extra words. Find the main concepts first.
When reading to comprehend, read the text first then go back to take notes. Go over the section and number or list the important ideas. It may be helpful to underline or use a highlighter for important ideas. If you have questions, mark these in the test. That way you can ask your teacher or in class. It is a good idea to find a way to compare your reading, yours notes and any audiovisual or internet materials in order to better understand the text.
One method of reading comprehension is called the SQ3R Method. This means the following: Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review. Once again, read over the material and ask yourself questions about it as you read. Once you read, look for the answers. Pay close attention to graphics and diagrams for extra information. Recite the information that you chose or the questions that you have. Review. Go back through the information at several different points of time.

Problem Solving

Problems, academic or social, may be challenging. You can have problems at home, problems at work and problems at school. You may have problems assigned to you as a project. The process for solving these problems applies to every scenario.

In order to solve a problem, it helps to keep your mind flexible and open. It may be necessary to step back and look at the problem from a different angle to understand it and to get the best solution.
The most important step is defining the problem. If you don't understand the problem, it will be next to impossible to solve it. Try to isolate the problem. Don't let other factors that are not pertinent to the problem enter into the definition. Sometimes you may not have enough information to define the problem. If this is the case, then you need to gather all the information that you need regarding the problem.
Make sure that you get all the pertinent information you can. Even if you don't use it, the information may be helpful with another problem later. You need to do research, check studies, and see experts. Look at past and present events that may affect the problems. Remember to isolate true evidence - facts - from personal opinion and bias.
The next step to solving the problem is to look at different solutions. See which ones are feasible and which are not. Try to look at the problem from several different angles. Then you need to decide which solutions have the most value. It helps to rank the values.
From the list of ranked solutions, choose the best solution that you can see. Be prepared for success, but be ready with another option if the solution doesn't work. You should always have a "Plan B" waiting.
Remember that as long as you have tried your hardest to come up with a good solution, then you have succeeded. The process involved in problem solving is as important as the outcome.

Self Discipline

Self-discipline provides the opportunity to improve your performance and your thinking. It is important to practice self-discipline in order to accomplish your goals. Don't think of self-discipline as deprivation; think of it as a way to improve your life.
Learn how to schedule your priorities. Set small tasks at different times of the day. Do the tasks at the scheduled time. This will allow you to stay focused on your priorities. It is a good idea to keep a list of what you have done. You can refer to this list when you want to chart your progress, or if you are getting discouraged.
Even though it may sound boring, you need to develop a routine. Stay with that routine. Practice the action at the scheduled time of day. Once you have a routine, things start to become a habit. Time management is another route to follow. Break down tasks into smaller segments, so you will see accomplish each day.
It helps to schedule your day, your week and your month. It helps to have a "to-do" list for top priority items. Decide which items are most important and work on the most important ones first. Once you decide on a task, keep at it until the task becomes a habit.
Don't let yourself get discouraged if you do not succeed at all your goals. Take them slowly. Give yourself positive feedback even if you don't get something accomplished.
It will help if you have a friend or mentor to guide you and give you tips. If you have another person to talk to about your efforts, you will get feedback as to how they are perceived.

Textbook Reading

Reading a textbook will be easier if you get organized before reading. Check out the title to see if you know anything about the topic. It may be a good idea to write down what you know or do not know about the topic. Talk to students and others about what you read. Ask questions about what you do not know and want answers to before you read the chapters. It is a good idea to share your knowledge with others to see what else you can learn.

It is a good idea to look at the graphics and pictures in a textbook and read underneath them to get an idea of the material. Include charts, graphs and tables in this category. Looking at these may spawn new ideas. If you do not know the words used in the textbook, keep a dictionary handy. Take a look at all the headings in the chapter for an idea as to what is important.
Taking notes from the textbook will help a student learn. Read over the material once, but don't take any notes. Try to understand the material. If you take notes the first time you read, you will probably take too many.
After reading the information the first time, go back and find the main ideas. Once you do this, take the information and put it in your own words. Put this information in your notebook for future study. Add any details needed to understand the information.
Once you write it down, read over it and decide if you understand what you wrote. If not, go back and look over the textbook.

Concentration Tips

The art or practice of concentration is to eliminate distraction and focus on the task at hand. If you find that you read through material and suddenly discover that you have no idea about what you've just read, or if you attend lectures and have difficulty paying attention to what is being said, these tips may help:

• Stick to a routine, efficient study schedule
• Study in a quiet environment
• For a study break, do something different from what you've been doing (e.g., walk around if you've been sitting), and in a different area
• Avoid daydreaming by asking yourself questions about the material as you study it
• Before lectures, look over the notes of the previous lecture and read the course material pertaining to the lecture so that you can anticipate the main ideas that the instructor will cover
• Show outward interest during lectures (attentive expression and posture) to self-motivate internal interest
• Resist distractions by sitting in front of the room away from disruptive classmates and by focusing on the instructor through listening and note taking

Vocabulary Building

A good vocabulary is crucial to academic success. You will become a better student as you increase your word power. As you increase your vocabulary, you increase your reading ability that in turn should improve your critical thinking skills. A good vocabulary is the basis of understanding what you read and learn.
Memorization of lists is one of the most accepted ways of learning vocabulary. This is a good exercise for short term studying, but you often do not retain the information that you have learned for a particular class or test. Memorization is good for standardized testing.
You can often figure out the meaning of the word from reading in context. Read through the entire paragraph to see if you can get a meaning of the word. Figure out what the reading is exploring and try to learn the word.
The best way to learn a definition and to remember a word is to look it up the dictionary. Find the word, sound it out and spell it. Notice the syllables in the word. Read all the definitions listed. Always keep a dictionary on hand during your college career.
Another method of learning vocabulary is similar to concept mapping. Have a blank sheet of paper and put the word that you are trying to learn and remember in the center of the page. In another box, write down a description of the word. Be sure to keep the description short. Draw two columns. In one, list items that describe or would help you to remember the word. In the other column, write down examples that would be similar to the word. By using all these mapping tools, your chances of remembering a word are much higher