According to the latest report of the Auburn University Retention Committee, there are several reasons why our students succeed and why they fail. These are the main points of the committee's report.
Why students succeed:
Why students fail:
We might not be able to help you solve all these problems, but we do want you to succeed in this course. Following are some hints.
1. Attend class and pay attention. There is a strong positive correlation between class attendance and grades. The more classes you attend, the higher your grade is likely to be. If you miss class, you will fail this course.
2. Take class notes in outline style, with main points forming the principal parts of the outline and supporting facts following. Listen for important ideas; don't try to copy down everything the instructor says.
3. Participate in class discussion and ask good questions that relate to ideas presented in class. New ideas are not always clear, and if you are confused you should seek help. Then ask non-substantive questions (e.g. "How do you spell Irrawaddy?" or "Is this going to be on the test?") outside of class.
4. Develop a positive attitude about the class. Relaxed, receptive people generally learn more and remember longer.
5. Read and take notes on supplementary readings on the region, destination, and/or topic under consideration. The more associations you can make between places and themes (and with your own experience), the more geographical ideas you are likely to remember.
6. Budget your time so as to study an average of two hours outside of class for every hour in class. During this time, re-write your class notes, re-read and outline pertinent parts of your readings, and organize your course materials in a form you can remember.
7. Prepare fully for exams, including the following:
a. Re-read your notes for the exam period, being especially aware of new words and their definitions, the associations that can be drawn between ideas, and how all this can be applied to your learning situation and your lifetime goals.b. Re-arrange your notes for the exam period in sequences of ideas that make sense to you, so you can remember them easily.
c. Prepare and answer your own true-false, completion, multiple-choice, and short essay questions on the ideas and facts presented in class. These questions are likely to be harder than those offered in the regular exam, so they will be good practice. Your short essay answers should be written to begin with topic sentences followed by supporting information.
d. Use an atlas to locate countries and important cities in the region and destinations under consideration.
e. Study with a group of class members in which each person takes a turn presenting class material and asking others questions on that subject.
f. Study separately in a quiet place the evening before the test, scanning the most important ideas and relationships in the materials presented.
g. Be sure to get plenty of sleep the night before the exam.
Most of the following ideas are drawn from Virginia Voeks, On Becoming an Educated Person (Philadelphia: Sanders, 1964); Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren, How to Read a Book; The Art of Getting a Liberal Education (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1972); Benjamin S. Bloom et al. The Cognitive Domain; Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook 1 (New York: McKay, 1965), and Madelyn Burley-Allen, Listening: The Forgotten Skill (New York: Wiley, 1982), all of which would be useful as further reading.
1) Read the assigned material thoroughly, so you understand it completely.
a) Read with anticipation. Expect the author to present facts you did not know, to offer ideas you had not thought about, to give new slants on old problems, and to formulate new problems.b) Find implications of facts and principles, seeing new concepts and principles that underlie the reading, and discovering new relationships for yourself.
1) Before reading the body of the text, read the pertinent parts of the table of contents or the main headings of the chapter. From these, build a framework for yourself in which to place the facts and ideas presented in the chapter.
2) As you read, make some sort of written or mental outline. This outline need not follow the author's organization if some other organizational scheme is useful to you.
3) While reading, establish logical connections between all the facts and ideas presented in the text and the facts and ideas you already know.
4) Develop the art of asking yourself questions and then answering them. Typical questions might be: "If this material is true, then what follows?" "What can I infer from these facts?" "What is the evidence for or against this point of view?"
5) Pay special attention to maps, graphs, and tables in the reading, because they clarify facts.
6) In everything you read, try to anticipate what is coming next. When you can repeatedly forecast parts to come, you have become highly skilled in seeing the implications of what you are reading.
7) After reading several new facts and concepts, stop reading and draw your own conclusions. Then check on how well these conclusions fit with information presented later by the author.
8) Watch for apparent inconsistencies in the material you study, mark them, and later try to reconcile these discrepancies.
c) Practice making statements about the facts and concepts you read.
1) After each paragraph, ask yourself "Now, what was that about?" and answer the question. As you become more skillful in this, you can read longer and longer sections before stopping.2) Develop a more adequate vocabulary. When a skilled thinker and careful writer uses some rare word, he or she is attempting to communicate a meaning not expressed adequately by a common word. You miss this meaning if you are not familiar with these words.
3) For the most effective use of your time do not read all materials at the same rate. On some works, you can skip right along; when reading highly technical papers, go more slowly. Note the important sentences, which are the principles, facts, and concepts that are new to you.
4) When some passage is incomprehensible, re-read it in a new way. Re-read stopping after each sentence and asking yourself what that sentence means. Usually you will be able to translate these sentences into something you understand. If the passage is still unclear, mark it and temporarily skip it. If it is still unclear later, ask about it in class.
5) Develop skill in the mechanics of reading, so you can read whole phrases rather than a word at a time. The University's reading laboratory can help you develop this skill.
2) These are the things you should be able to do after reading, in order to contribute to class or group discussion, or for an exam:
a) Summarize what you learned by reading this material. Recalling or repeating the information in the reading demonstrates your knowledge.b) Interpret or restate the information in your own words, which facilitates comprehension.
c) Use or apply the new information in other situations. This reveals your ability in application.
d) Divide the new information into its separate parts and recognize the relationships among these parts. This demonstrates your ability to analyze.
e) Bring together the separate elements of this information to form new patterns of thought. This is synthesis.
f) Make judgments on the information in the reading, bringing together your previous knowledge and the new knowledge you gained from the reading. This reveals your ability to evaluate.
3) Some class activities (and other elements of real life) will require you to listen. In order to practice your listening skills, do the following:
a) Search for something you can use and find areas of common interest. If you adopt a positive attitude toward a subject, you will usually find something in any talk that will broaden your knowledge. Sorting out elements of personal value is one area of effective listening. What is being said that I can use? How does this relate to what I already know?b) Take the initiative. Find out what the talker knows. Look at the talker and concentrate on what is being said. Go all the way in making communication two-way. Ignore their delivery and their personality if they distract you. Reach for the idea he or she is conveying. Stimulate the speaker with your attentiveness and expressions of interest.
c) Work at listening. Efficient listening takes energy. Practice makes it easier. If the subject is announced in advance, prepare for it by reading, by discussing it, or by thinking it over briefly, establishing your own point of view. Then listen actively, energetically.
d) Focus your attention on ideas. Listen for the speaker's central theme. In some cases, you will recognize the method of building a presentation from an opening introduction, the transition from point to point, the examples and illustrations, and the concluding summary. Pick out the ideas as they are presented, sort the facts from principles, the ideas from examples, and evidence from opinion.
e) Make meaningful notes. You can improve your ability to learn and remember by making a brief record of the speaker's main points. Review your notes later to determine what you can put to use, and whether you agree or disagree with the speaker's thesis. Efficient note-taking requires practice in selecting the right method of notes for each occasion, but whatever the method, make the notes brief, easy to interpret, and easy to review. Depending on the nature of the talk, practice making an outline, mental or written, or picking out the key words, phrases, or ideas.
f) Resist external distractions. If possible, sit where you can see and hear well.
g) Keep an open mind and ask questions to clarify for understanding. Clarify by restating, in your own words, what you thought was said. Concentrate on what the talker says, and summarize it in your mind. Decide how well the speaker is supporting their points and how you would have supported them. Mentally review, after each point, the progress of the theme.
h) It is important to discriminate if the speaker is stating facts or assumptions. Decide how well he or she is supporting the main points and how you would have supported them. Hear the speaker out before judging. Getting the speaker's message is more important than his or her appearance. Don't let the speaker's voice qualities, mannerisms, personality, or appearance get in the way of the message.
Before the Lecture:
1. Complete related assigned readings or at least preview the material to come to class with a mental outline of the lecture topic.
2. Write down any questions about the homework reading or assignments that you want to ask your instructor during the upcoming lecture and discussion.
3. Review any notes you took in the previous class session.
4. Come to class ready to take notes. Bring a binder with enough paper and a pen.
5. Sit near the front of the class to better see the board or screen, better hear your instructor, and be less reticent to ask and answer questions.
6. Keep a separate section in your binder for each class.
7. Get paper ready to take notes. Draw a 2" column on the left side of the pages.
8. Write the date and the name of the class at the top of the first page.
During the Lecture:
1. Use a blue or black ink pen instead of a pencil to take more legible notes.
2. Use standard 8 1/2" x 11" paper.
3. Use only one side of the page in taking notes.
4. Write the topic of the lecture at the top of the page.
5. Write down the main ideas of the lecture on the right side of the page. Save the 2" column on the left to write down your recall clues after the lecture.
6. Only write key words and phrases; don't try to copy the instructor's exact sentences.
7. Write down any example your instructor and classmates use.
8. Write down any new terms your instructor defines.
9. Use abbreviations whenever possible.
10. Write as neatly as possible.
11. Leave plenty of blank space between ideas so you can add missing information after asking the teacher a question or asking a classmate for help.
12. Ask questions during the lecture if you don't understand something. You can also write a question mark next to any ideas that are unclear. Later you can ask your teacher or your classmates to explain this idea.
After the Lecture:
1. Read over and revise your right column notes as soon as possible after class while memory of the lecture/discussion is still fresh. Rewrite illegible or abbreviated words, correct spelling, and improve the organization of the notes, if necessary, by numbering or labeling them.
2. Highlight important new terms and concepts in your notes.
3. Fill in the left column with key words, short phrases and questions that summarize the main ideas from the right side of the page. These clues or questions should be words that will help trigger your memory to recall the information in the right column.
4. To study for a test, cover your notes with a piece of paper, showing only the recall clues in the left margin. Read the first recall clue and try to remember the information in the notes beside it. Then slide the paper down and check that portion to see if you remembered all the important facts. If you remembered only part of the information, cover up your notes again and try to remember.