Succeeding in College

CLASSROOM SKILLS

“The New Marshmallow Test” showed that what you do within the classroom contributes significantly to your success in college. But there are other classroom skills besides paying attention in class that are important to success. A number are discussed below.

POLISH YOUR ACADEMIC IMAGE

Your academic image is the way your instructors and other students see you as a student. How you act and respond in class creates this image. This list of do’s and don’ts can help you improve your academic image.

Do . . .	Don’t . . .
Prepare for class fully.	Read, send text messages, surf the Web, or check Facebook during class.
Make thoughtful contributions based on your understanding of the material and refer to assigned readings in class.	Work on homework during class.
Maintain eye contact with instructors.	Sleep or daydream in class.
Ask questions when information is unclear.	Remain silent during class discussion.
Treat classmates respectfully.	Interrupt others or criticize their contributions.

A committed student is more likely to be taken seriously and to get the assistance he or she needs. One way to demonstrate your seriousness is to participate regularly in class. If you are nervous about joining in discussion, try reflecting on assigned readings or taking notes before class so you will feel prepared. Saying something early in the discussion can also help: The longer you wait, the more difficult it is to say something that has not already been said.

Showing your commitment involves more than just speaking out. It also involves the following:

focusing and taking notes on the discussion,
recording what the instructor writes or projects on the board or shows on presentation slides,
keeping handouts,
jotting down ideas for future writing assignments,
connecting what you’re learning with your own experiences, and
taking responsibility for getting help when you need it.

DEMONSTRATE ACADEMIC INTEGRITY

Demonstrating academic integrity means conducting yourself in an honest and ethical manner. It involves avoiding the obvious forms of classroom dishonesty such as copying homework, buying a paper on the Internet, and cheating on exams or helping others do so. It also means not plagiarizing, using the ideas or language of others — deliberately or unintentionally — without giving credit. An example of intentional plagiarism is cutting and pasting information into your paper from the Internet without indicating that it is borrowed. Unintentional plagiarism occurs when you use language too similar to that of the original source, inadvertently omit a citation, or forget to place quotation marks around a quotation. (To learn how to avoid unintentional plagiarism, see Chapter 24.)

COMMUNICATE EFFECTIVELY WITH YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Meeting with your instructor outside class, especially if you have questions or concerns about the material, will demonstrate your commitment to succeeding in college and help you understand and meet the course objectives. Use the following tips to communicate effectively with your instructors.

Don’t be afraid to approach your instructors. Most instructors enjoy teaching and working with students and will happily work with you to understand a reading or an assignment and to provide information on research, academic decisions, and careers in their fields. But you need to take the initiative. Find out when your instructors hold office hours, and note their email addresses someplace you can find easily.
Prepare for meetings with your instructor. Consider your questions in advance. If you need help with a paper, bring along all the work (drafts, outlines, research sources) you have done so far and explain specifically the trouble you are having and what you’d like the instructor to help you with.
Stay in touch with your instructor. Unexcused absences generally lower your grade and suggest that you are not taking your studies seriously. If you absolutely cannot attend class for a particular reason, notify your instructor and explain why. In addition, if personal problems interfere with your schoolwork, let your instructors know. They can refer you to counseling services on campus and may grant you an extension for work you missed for a documented emergency.

USE ELECTRONIC TOOLS EFFECTIVELY

Email and texting are now widely used for academic purposes. Some college libraries offer students online help from reference librarians, and many instructors use course management systems to post syllabi and assignments, to host online discussions or post study questions, and to enable students and professors to communicate electronically. You can use Google Drive and similar systems effectively for collaborating on writing assignments. If your instructor uses electronic classroom tools, the following guidelines will help you use them effectively.

Text your instructor only if invited. Even then, text only when you are certain that it’s appropriate to do so. For example, it would be inappropriate to try to get your instructor to respond to texts the night before a paper is due.
Use appropriate language. The abbreviations, emoticons (like smiley faces), and slang often used in texting and email among friends are not appropriate for formal writing, such as course assignments. Even emails to instructors should use formal language unless the instructor has set a less formal tone in his or her own emails to you. (See Chapter 10)
Become familiar with the software or course management system. Take responsibility for figuring out how to use the software by reading the instructions or viewing a model or demo, checking FAQs (frequently asked questions), or getting help from your campus computer center, classmates, or technical support personnel. (See Chapter 3 for suggestions on learning vocabulary.)
Show respect and consideration for others. Make it easy for classmates and your instructor to read your postings. Think through what you want to say before you say it; use correct spelling and grammar; and format your comments using spacing, boldface, numbered lists, and so on as appropriate. Be polite, even when you are disagreeing with an earlier comment, and always reread your comments before posting them.

LISTEN CAREFULLY AND CRITICALLY

Of the most common ways people communicate — reading, writing, speaking, and listening — listening is the skill that you perform most frequently in a classroom. Because you learn so much through listening, learning to listen carefully and critically — grasping what is said and questioning and reacting to what you hear — is a crucial college skill.

Listening carefully. Did you know that you can process information faster than speakers can speak? As a result, your mind has time to wander while listening. Try using the following suggestions to maintain your attention in the classroom.

Sit comfortably, but do not sprawl. A serious posture puts your mind in gear for serious work.
Focus on the lecture. Shutting off distracting media (your phone and your Web applications), sitting toward the front of the room (not among a group of friends), and maintaining eye contact with the speaker will all make you feel more involved and less likely to drift off mentally.
Try to anticipate the ideas the speaker will address next. Doing so will keep your mind active.

Listening critically. In many classes, you are expected both to understand what the speaker is saying and respond to it. Here are a few suggestions for developing your critical-listening skills.

Focus on the message, not the speaker. Try not to be distracted by the speaker’s clothing, mannerisms, speech patterns, or annoying quirks or to be lulled into accepting a message simply because the speaker is attractive or dynamic.
Maintain an open mind. It is easy to shut out ideas and opinions that do not conform to your own values and beliefs. Try to avoid evaluating a message as positive or negative until it is complete and understandable, and strive to understand the speaker’s viewpoint, even if you think you disagree.
Take notes. Noting questions or creating an informal outline of the speaker’s main points can hold off a knee-jerk reaction and give you a starting point for participating in the discussion.
Identify and assess the speaker’s main point and key supporting evidence. The speaker is likely to repeat his or her main point in a different form throughout the presentation. Consider how well the reasons and evidence support the speaker’s main point. Is the presentation convincingly argued? When listening to difficult, unpleasant, emotional, or complex messages, think about how (or whether) they add to your understanding of the speaker’s experience.

ASK AND ANSWER QUESTIONS APPROPRIATELY

You can learn more from your classes if you develop or polish your questioning skills. This means asking questions when you need information and clarification and answering questions posed by the instructor to demonstrate and evaluate your knowledge and express interest in the class. Use the following tips to strengthen your questioning and answering skills.

Conquer your fear of speaking in class. Stop worrying what your friends and classmates will think: Speak out.
As you read assignments, jot down questions as they occur to you. Bring your list to class, and use it when your instructor invites questions.
Form your questions concisely. Don’t ramble.
Don’t worry if your questions seem unimportant or silly. Don’t apologize for asking; other students probably have the same questions but are reluctant to ask them.
Focus on critical questions. Instead of asking factual questions, think how the information can be used, how ideas fit together, how things work, what might be relevant problems and solutions, or what the long-term value and significance of the information are.
Think before responding. When answering questions, try to compose your response before volunteering to answer.

SYNTHESIZE YOUR IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES WITH WHAT YOU ARE LEARNING

Completing assignments, writing papers, and taking exams are all tasks in which instructors will expect you not only to repeat what you have learned in class, but also to synthesize, or pull together, ideas from your reading assignments, your class lectures, and your own experience. When you synthesize ideas, you analyze similar or competing ideas and use them to extend or challenge your understanding, and you connect them to your own experience to see the practical consequences of an idea. Consider again “The New Marshmallow Test.” If reading that article prompted you to consider your own media multitasking or complete the checklist in “Responding to the Reading,” then you were synthesizing the reading with your own experience.

Often, you will be asked to put ideas from multiple readings in conversation, compare and integrate ideas from several sources, draw conclusions, and generate new ideas based on those sources. For example, you might be asked to read “The New Marshmallow Test,” “Internet Addiction,” and “Alone Together: Why We Expect More from Technology and Less from Each Other” and to write an essay developing your own thesis about the value or risks of this technology in students’ lives. Here are some other common assignments that require you to synthesize ideas.

For a biology class, you might be asked to conduct a lab experiment and write a paragraph or two explaining the principles the experiment demonstrated.
For an American history class, you might be asked to read a letter from a freed slave, a diary of a plantation owner, and a speech by an abolitionist and then write about what life as a slave was like prior to the Civil War.
For an abnormal psychology class, you might be asked to read a case study and then diagnose the patient based on the symptoms described.

COLLABORATE WITH CLASSMATES

Many college assignments and class activities involve working with other students. For example, many exercises in this chapter ask you to share ideas and writing with other students. Many students expect to learn from their instructors but do not realize they can learn from one another as well. In your writing class, your instructor may encourage you to ask other students to read and comment on your draft. Group projects enable students to share experiences, understand classmates’ thinking, and evaluate new ideas and approaches to completing a task. (For more about peer review, see Chapter 9; for more about collaboration, see Chapter 3.)

Group projects vary, and therefore your approach may vary depending on the discipline, the course, the membership of the group, and the instructor, but whatever type of group project you undertake, the tips on the next page may help you get the most out of working together:

Understand the purpose. To benefit most from group projects, be sure you understand the task, and then ask yourself, “What can I learn from this?” You will get more out of an assignment if you focus on outcomes.
Establish a cohesive group. To work well together, start your project by meeting face-to-face, at least for the first meeting if possible. Have all team members say a bit about themselves so you all get to know each other, and share contact information (email address, home phone or cell number, best times to call or text).
Set the ground rules. Discuss the issues that are likely to derail the project, such as members skipping meetings or consistently arriving late, one member dominating the discussion or not participating actively, members not completing assigned work on time or doing the work badly. Then decide as a group what you should do to address the potential problems you have identified. Once you agree, put your decisions in writing and have all group members sign the document.
Determine and assign tasks, and set a realistic schedule. Brainstorm project ideas, making sure everybody has a voice. Make a list of all the tasks that need to be accomplished, and divide the work among group members. Be sure to consider what members are good at, what they enjoy doing, and what they can accommodate given their schedules. Finally, establish a schedule with due dates that everyone in the group can stick to, and distribute copies or post the schedule online.

TAKE GOOD NOTES IN CLASS

Good note-taking is a hallmark of a successful student. Why? Researchers have shown that most people retain far more information when they interact with it using more than one sense. For instance, a student who only listens to a lecture or discussion will probably forget most of it within a couple of weeks, well before the next exam. Students who take accurate notes and review them regularly are likely to retain the main points and supporting details needed to understand the concepts discussed in class. Reviewing notes regularly also replaces the inefficient and exhausting strategy of cramming for exams — a strategy that loads information into your memory only temporarily — with a system of learning that allows deeper, longer-term retention of information. Here are some useful note-taking tips.

Read assignments before the lecture. Familiarity with the topic will make note-taking easier.
Record only main ideas and key details. Avoid writing in complete sentences; instead use words and phrases, and develop a system of abbreviations, signs, and symbols. Developing your own symbols over time will help make note-taking quicker and more consistent for you.
Pay attention to your instructor’s cues about what is important. These cues include repetition of points, changes in voice or rate of speech, listing or numbering of points, and information written on the board or presented in slides.
Review notes immediately after the lecture. While your memory is fresh, amend your notes to clarify relationships, add examples, or fill in information you missed during the lecture. (If you wait a day or more, your memory of the class will fade.) If you are taking hand-written notes, leave plenty of blank space for additions.
If you must miss class, borrow notes from a classmate who is a good student.

Two-column method. This note-taking method is valuable for all learners. Draw a vertical line down a notebook page or create a two-column table in a word-processing document. Make the left-hand column about half as wide as the right-hand column.

In the wider, right-hand column, record ideas and facts as they are presented in a lecture or a discussion. In the narrower, left-hand column, note your own questions as they arise during the class. When you review your notes after class, add summaries of major concepts and sections to the left-hand column. You can get a quick overview of a lecture by reading the left-hand column, and you can study specific information and examples in the right-hand column.

THE TWO-COLUMN METHOD OF NOTE-TAKING
Writing process	Prewriting — taking notes, writing ideas, drawing a cluster diagram, researching, writing questions, noting what you already know, outlining, etc. Writing — drafting
(How many drafts does the average writer complete?)	Rewriting — revision = “to see again” 2 types: global = major rehaul (reconsidering, reorganizing) local = rewording, correcting grammar (editing for correctness & style)
NOT linear	Writing is not a linear process. May go back to prewriting after writing, etc.

Modified outline method. The modified branch or outline method uses bullets, dashes, and indentations to indicate main ideas and supporting information. The more detailed the information gets, the farther to the right you indent your outline entries.

THE MODIFIED OUTLINE METHOD OF NOTE-TAKING

Writing is a process.

Prewriting
- — Taking notes
- — Writing ideas
- — Drawing a cluster diagram
- — Researching
- — Writing questions
- — Noting what you already know
- — Outlining

Writing
- — First drafts
  - On paper
  - On computer
- — Later drafts

Rewriting, or revision (means “to see again”)
- — Global
  - Major revision
  - Reconsidering ideas
  - Reorganizing
- — Local
  - Rewording for style
  - Rewriting for correct grammar, spelling, punctuation

If you take notes electronically, use the tips in the following box to make the process work for you.

Do . . .	Don’t . . .
Make sure you can plug in your laptop or that you have sufficient battery power.	Allow distracting programs such as email, Facebook, or Twitter to compete for your attention.
Set up a folder for each course. Create a separate file for each day’s notes, and include the date of the lecture in naming the file.	Risk interrupting the class with annoying beeps and buzzes. Turn off the sound.
Keep a pen and paper handy to record diagrams, drawings, and other nonverbal material in case the computer malfunctions.	Type every word the speaker says.
Save your document frequently so you don’t lose anything.	Condense ideas; do not transcribe them. (Taking notes in outline format can help.)

MANAGE ONLINE COURSES RESPONSIBLY

Online courses, which continue to grow in popularity, are convenient, but they require more self-direction and ability to work alone than traditional classes do. They also require a great deal of online writing, reading, and research, so they may prove to be more work than a traditional class. Here are some tips for succeeding in online courses.

Try to avoid taking online courses during your first term in college. First learn what is expected in college courses by attending traditional classes. When you are familiar with college expectations, you will be better prepared to take an online course.
Set regular hours to devote to your online course. Most students who fail online courses do so because they fall hopelessly behind on reading and assignments. Even if a class does not meet at a specified time, build blocks of time for the course into your schedule (two to three hours of study time for each hour of class time) to avoid procrastinating on classwork.
Plan on doing a lot of reading and writing. You will read your textbooks and posts from your professor and other students. In addition to papers, your class “discussions” will also be in written form.
Maintain your concentration. Turn off cell phones, music, and email while working on your online course.
Make sure your online postings are serious and do not waste classmates’ time. Respond directly to previous posts and any instructor writing prompts, and summarize the discussion before moving on to a new topic.