Ask me. If you don't know, ask me. If you can't find it in the
syllabus, the FAQ, your classmates, or in D2L, ask me! Ask me before class,
during class, or after class. Ask me before, during, or after lab. Ask me in
my office. Ask me on the phone. Ask me by email. Because, if you don't ask
and, therefore, you don't do the right thing, it's pretty much your
responsibility. Ask me!
1.
Whatever you are
doing in terms of preparation isn't working. You have to change something
that you are doing. Of course, you can blame me for everything, but after you
are finished doing that, you need to revisit your test.
Examine the test. Look at what you did right. Then ask yourself, "Why did I
get this right?"
"Did I read this in the text book? Did I hear it in a lecture? Was it one
of the warm-up questions? Did the topic come up in my study group?" (If you
don't have a study group, you are already setting yourself up for a
challenge.)
Now, look at the questions that you did not get right. Why did you miss
these points? Ask the same questions. "Did I read this in the text book? Did I
hear it in a lecture?
Was it one of the warm-up questions?
Did the topic come up in my study group?"
If your response is "yes" to these questions, then you need to ask yourself
"Did I read the question correctly." Many times, the solution to your test
taking weakness is that you have not read the questions thoroughly.
If your response is "no" to these questions, then you need to find the
deficit in your study habits. Most of the time, you know when you have not
committed enough time to study. If you just can't figure out where the
material came from, come see me. Perhaps you are not taking ample notes when
you read the text or during class. I will let you know where the information
came from. This may help you discover where
the weakness in
your study skills lie.
2. Start with the basics. Are you
coming to every lecture and every lab? Are you reading the book and completing
the warm-ups? Do you make
corrections on the warm-ups during class? Do you take good notes? Do you
download the outlines and the
PowerPoint presentations from D2L to help
you study? Do you ask questions (of me or others) in lecture, in lab, in person,
or on d2l when you
don't understand something? Do you listen to the Podcast when you miss class?
Do you listen to the Podcast when you review your notes? Do you actually
process your notes (not recopy them, but study them and try to summarize or
rewrite them)? Do you study the
warm-ups and the
review questions before the lecture exam?
Do you make use of the lecture exam discussions on D2L before the exam?
3. And then there are the very basics.
Do you get enough sleep, the right food, and plenty of exercise? Yeah, right. If
you're like most college students (and adults), the answer is no to one
or all three. And if you're like most college students, it happens because you
need to work, you have family obligations, and maybe, just maybe, you want to
have some fun now or then. That's fine. But from personal experience and from
the hard evidence, I can tell you that if you do not get enough sleep,
eat right, and get some exercise, then you won't do as well.
4. Damn it, I'm doing all those things.
Then come talk to me and we'll sit down with your notes, outlines,
PowerPoint's and warm-ups and see where the problem is. Or if you just need tutoring, I can do that. One way or the other,
come talk to me.
For the most part I make
almost no comments on the Warm-ups. Instead, we discuss the best answers to the
question during class. That's when you should make corrections, additions
and changes to your copy. If I don't tell you enough to understand the question,
ask!
When I grade your papers, I really only look for three things. In the end,
the only marks I might put on your paper are:
+ You got 2.5 points for doing such a
complete, exhaustive well-illustrated answer (125%)
√ You got 2 points because you did what you were supposed
to do (100%)
— You got 1.5 points because you're answer is lacking 1 of
three things (75%)
If I write anything else, that's bad and you're getting less than 1.5 points.
det Your paper has too little detail
(-0.5)
out Your paper is not in outline form (-0.5)
ref Your paper has no
reference(s) (-0.5)