Problem-Solving Skills 4 of 10

Problem-Solving Skills

4 of 10

Problem solving goes far beyond your math textbook. Every assignment is an opportunity to weigh all possible solutions carefully and choose the one you think is best. As a working professional, you’ll be solving problems regularly, whether it’s fixing a bug in a computer program or overcoming budget shortfalls. Problem solving situations occur extensively and frequently; therefore, are ready when then come.

When problems or challenges occur, some people look at them at negative experiences, as a crisis. These people are the ones who live day by day with gloom and negativism in their attitudes. But the really successful people, those who are cheerful and optimistic, are those who look at problems as opportunities, opportunities to learn, grow, expand their horizons, and make new discoveries. They look on the bright side of things and live happy lives.

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SQ2R=Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review

SQ2R

SQ3R=Survey-Question-Read-Recite-Review

Recite

At the end of each section, look up from the text and in your own words recite an answer to your question for that section. Then write down your answer. Be sure to provide examples that support it.

Now repeat the Question, Read and Recite steps for each section of the chapter. First ask a question for the next section. Then read to find the answer. Finally, recite the answer in your own words and jot it down. The written questions and answers can help you study in the future.

Review

After completing the chapter, review your notes. Identify the main points by looking for the most important idea in each section. Recite, or write, a brief summary of the assignment.

Review your study notes every week to help you remember the information. When it’s time to prepare for your tests, you’ll find you’ve created an invaluable study guide.

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Take Control of Homework Part 3

Take Control of Homework

So It Doesn’t Control You

Part 3

Take Advantage of Any Free Time

If you have a study period or a long bus ride, use the time to review notes, prepare for an upcoming class or start your homework. Flash cards are a great learning tool. They are easy to make, easy to handle, and are a marvelous tool to help you learn and remember anything. Punch a hole in the upper left corner of each index card and connect the stack of your flash cards with a ring. Then the cards are bound and not flopping around. Flash cards bound like this act like a small book with pages. You can even have separate ringed stacks for each subject. WHATEVER YOU WANT TO REMEMBER, PUT IN ON A CARD.

Study with a Friend

Get together with a friend and classmates to quiz each other, compare notes and predict test questions. Consider joining a study group.

Communicate

If you have concerns about the amount or type of homework you have, you may want to talk to your family, teachers or counselor. They can help you understand how much time you need to allot for homework and how to manage your tasks.

Celebrate Your Achievements

Reward yourself for hitting milestones, or doing something well.

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Take Control of Hoemwork Part 2

Take Control of Homework

So it Doesn’t Control You

Part 2

Keep Things in Perspective

Know how much Weight each assignment or test carries, and use your time accordingly. Don’t waste time, but be wise and smart. Doing the most important things first is being wise and smart.

Bet More Involved

Keep your mind from wandering by taking notes, underling sections, discussing topics with others or relating your homework to something you’re studying in another class. Learn actively and not passively. Be anxiously engaged in your studies and you will have a great experience. Demonstrate a good attitude towards home assignments, and you will begin to love doing it.

Organize the Information

People process information in different ways. Some people like to draw pictures or charts to digest information, others prefer to read out loud or make detailed outlines. Try to find the methods that work best for you. Ask your teacher for recommendations if you’re having trouble.

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Note-Taking Strategies Part 1

Note-Taking Strategies Part 1

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/955.html

How to Get Your Class Notes into Shape

Getting the most out of high school and college means, studying hard and using your time in class wisely. An effective not-taking strategy can help you do both. Here are the basics.

Stay Organized

It may seem obvious, but your class notes can only help you if you can find them. When you’re taking notes be sure to:

§  Keep all your notes in one place

§  Date and number pages; keeping them in order makes it easier to understand them later.

Before Class

Review the materials assigned for that class period thoroughly. Bring a list of any questions you may have.

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Note-Taking Strategies Part 1

Note-Taking Strategies Part 1

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/955.html

How to Get Your Class Notes into Shape

Getting the most out of high school and college means, studying hard and using your time in class wisely. An effective not-taking strategy can help you do both. Here are the basics.

Stay Organized

It may seem obvious, but your class notes can only help you if you can find them. When you’re taking notes be sure to:

§  Keep all your notes in one place

§  Date and number pages; keeping them in order makes it easier to understand them later.

Before Class

Review the materials assigned for that class period thoroughly. Bring a list of any questions you may have.

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Selecting you Courses Part 3

Selecting your Courses

Part 3

Science

Science teaches you to think analytically and apply theories to reality. Colleges want to see that you’ve taken at least three years of laboratory science classes. A good combination includes two semesters of each of the following sciences:

·        Biology

·        Chemistry or physics

·        Earth/Space Science

More competitive schools expect you to take four years of lab science courses. You can add two semesters in one of the following subjects:

·        Chemistry or physics ( the science you didn’t already study)

·        Advanced biology

·        Advanced chemistry

·        Advanced physics

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Selecting Your Courses Part 2

Selecting Your Courses

Part 2

The following subjects and classes are standard fare for success in high school and beyond, whether you plan to attend a four-year or two-year College.

English (Language Arts)

Take English every year. Traditional courses, such as American and English literature, help you improve your writing skills, reading comprehension and vocabulary.

Math

You need algebra and geometry to succeed in college entrance exams and in college math classes- and in many careers. Take them early on. That way, you’ll be able to enroll in advanced science and math in high school, and show colleges you’re ready for higher-level work.

Most colleges look for students who have taken three years of math in high school. The more competitive ones require or recommend four years. Each school has its own program, but some of the courses typically offered are:

·        Algebra 1

·        Algebra 2

·        Geometry

·        Trigonometry

·        Calculus

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How to Take on College Studying Part 2

How to Take on College Studying

Part 2

Choose Where to Study

ü Where you should study depends on two factors: the environment in which you are best able to concentrate and the type of work you are planning to do.

ü The best places to study have good light, a comfortable temperature and enough desk space- usually your dorm room, you apartment or the library.

ü For completing problem sets or brainstorming possible test questions, you may want to study with a group or at least in a setting where fellow students are available for discussion,

ü When you are reading book chapters or working on a research paper, you are probably better off in a less social environment.
 

Here are simple steps you can take to help you get a handle on studying:

ü Have a routine for where and when you study.

ü Choose reasonable and specific goals that you can accomplish for each study sessions.

ü Do things that are harder or require more intense thought at your most productive time of the day.

ü Take breaks if you need them so you don’t waste time looking at material but not absorbing it.

ü Get to know students whom you respect and can study with or contact to ask questions.

ü Keep up with the workload and seek help when you need it.

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10 Time Managing Tips For Students Tips 5-10

 

10 Time Management Tips for Students

Tips 5-10

Tips 5. Review Your Notes Every Day.

Reviewing helps you reinforce what you’ve learned, so you need less time to study before a test. You’ll also be ready if you get called on in class or have to take a pop quiz.

Tip 6. Get a Good Night’s Sleep.

Your brain needs rest to perform at its peak. Lack of sleep makes the day seem longer and your tasks seem more difficult.

Tip 7. Communicate Your Schedule to Others.

If phone calls or text messages are proving to be a distraction, tell your friends that you are only available certain times of day and not to expect a response at other times.

Tips 8. Become a Taskmaster.

Give yourself a time budget and plan your activities accordingly. Figure out how much free time you have each week before you add any commitments.

Tip 9. Don’t Waste Time Agonizing

Instead of agonizing and procrastinating, just do it. Wasting an entire evening worrying about something that you’re supposed to be doing is not productive and can increase your stress.

Tip 10. Determine your Priorities.

You can’t do everything at once. Establish the importance of each item. Then set realistic goals that are attainable.

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10 Time Managment Tips for Students Tips 1-4

 

10 Time Management Tips for Students

http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plsn/college-success/116.html

Tips 1-4

Organizing Your Life

Managing your time well is an important element of success-especially if you’re a student. If you set priorities that fir your need and lifestyle, you’ll have a better chance of achieving your goals.

Here are some tips for taking control of your time and organizing your life.

Tip 1. Make a To-Do List Every Day.

Put things that are most important at the top and do them first. And don’t forget to reward yourself for your accomplishments.

Tip 2. Use Spare Minutes Wisely.

When you’re commuting on the bus or train, use the time to get some reading done.

Tip 3. It’s Okay to Say No.

If your friend asks you to go to a movie on a Thursday night and you have an exam the next morning, realize that it’s okay to say no. Keep your short- and long-term priorities in mind.

Tip 4. Find the Right time.

You’ll work more efficiently if you figure out when you do your best work. For example, if you brain handles math better in the afternoon, don’t wait to do it until late night.

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Successful Students 10

Successful Students

10

10. Successful students are good time managers. Successful students do not procrastinate. They have learned that time control is life control and have consciously chosen to be in control of their life.

Control and have consciously chosen to be in control of their life.

An elemental truth: you will either control time or be controlled by it! It’s your choice: you can lead or be led, establish control or relinquish control, street you own course of follow others. Failure to take control of their own time is probably the on. 1 study skills problem for college students.it ultimately causes many students to become non-students! Procrastinators are good excuse-makers. Don’t make academics harder on yourself that it has to be. Stop procrastinating. And don’t wait until tomorrow to do it!

The 10 items listed above are paraphrased from an article by Larry M Ludwig called Ten Commandments for effective study skills which appeared in The Teaching Professor, December 1992.

“Learning Technologies and Online Education.”

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Successful Students 9

Successful Students

9

9…. Don’t cram for exams. Successful Students know that divided periods of study are more effective than cram sessions, and they practice it.

If there is one thing that study skills specialists agree on it, it is that distributed study is better than massed, late-night, last-ditch efforts known as cramming, you’ll learn more, remember more, and earn a higher grade by studying in four, one hour-a-night sessions for Fridays exam than studying for four hours straight on Thursday night. Short, concentrated preparatory efforts are more efficient and rewarding than wasteful, inattentive, last moment marathons. Yet, so many students fail to learn this lesson and end up repeating it over and over again until it becomes a wasteful habit. Not too clever, huh?

When you cram, you are taking the shortcut, and shortcuts never [reduce any real worthwhile results. Also, when you take shortcuts, you feel rather rotten knowing that you could have done better but didn’t. Shortcuts cut you short. You can’t plant watermelon seeds and harvest fresh watermelons the next day. It takes time. Cramming for a test or project and expecting to make a high score the next day is like planting watermelon seeds and expecting to harvest and eat fresh watermelon the next day. Plus cramming from a test or project doesn’t help you academically, so why even do it. Plan ahead, prepare ahead. Give yourself plenty of days and weeks to prepare for upcoming accountability opportunities.

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Successful Students 5-6

Successful Students

5-6

5. Don’t sit in the back of the room. Successful students minimize classroom distractions that interfere with learning.

Students want the best seat available from their entertainment dollars, but willingly seek the worst seat of their educational dollars. Students who sit in the back cannot possibly be their professor’s teammate See no.4). Why do they expose themselves to the temptations of inactive classroom experiences and distractions of all the people between them and their instructor? Of course, we know they chose the back of the classroom because they seek invisibility or anonymity, both of which are antithetical to efficient and effective learning. If you are trying not to be part of the class, why, then, are you wasting your time? Push your hot buttons; is there something else you should be doing with your time?

6. … take good notes. Successful students take notes that are understandable and organized, and review them often.

Why put something into your notes you don’t understand? Ask the questions now that are necessary to make your notes meaningful at some later time. A short review of your notes while the material is still fresh on your mind helps you to learn more. The more you learn then, the less you’ll have to learn later and the less time it will take because you own have to include some deciphering time, also. The whole purpose of taking notes is to use them, and use them often. The more you use them, the more they improve.

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Successful Students 3-4

Successful Students

3-4

3.... ask questions. Successful students ask questions to provide the quickest route between ignorance and knowledge. In addition to securing knowledge you seek, asking questions has at least two other extremely important benefits. The process helps you pay attention to your professor and helps your professor pay attention to you! Think about it. If you want something, go after it. Get the answer now, or fall a question later. There are no foolish questions, only foolish silence. It’s your choice.

4 . . . . learn that a student and a professor make a team. Most instructors want exactly what you want: they would like for you to learn the material in their respective classes and earn good grade.

Successful students reflect well on the efforts of any teacher; if you have learned your material, the instructor takes some justible pride teaching. Join forces with your instructor, they are not an enemy, and you share the same interests, the same goals – in short, your teammates. Get to know your professor. You’re the most valuable players on the same team. Your jobs are to work together for mutual success. Neither wishes to chalk up a losing season. Be a team player!

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