Sites That Will Help You Succeed

Quality of studying is more important than quantity of studying (but if you need to study more, see both the Time Management" and "Motivation" sections of this site). The following links will help improve the quality of your studying:

• Dr. Chew's great set of videos on how to study --watch them for free online
• UCLA's study tips (video)
• Study tips from Dr. Myers (5 min. video)
• Why you cram, why you should not cram, and how you can stop (Blog post from super learner Scott Young)
• A college student's guide to studying and test preparation (also includes tips on note-taking, stress management, and other topics that could help you do well in college)
• How to study
• Short, simple advice about to get more out of studying
• A quick interactive tutorial on how to get ready to study.
• A quick interactive tutorial on how to study effectively.
• Evaluate your study skills by filling out a questionnaire:
  • From Boston University.
  • From Bethel University
  • From Riverside City College
• Often, to succeed in a course, the most important thing to study is the syllabus.
• Seek Feedback From Others and Seek Forgiveness From Yourself: Although you may not want to revisit exams or papers on which you did poorly, you can't improve if you don't know what you did wrong. If you can't figure out what you did wrong on your own, go over the assignment with a classmate, tutor, or your professor. Don't be embarrassed and don't punish yourself for having done poorly. Instead, forgive yourself, and give yourself credit for being brave enough and wise enough to try to learn from your mistakes.
  • Download article in which the 2nd and 3rd page has a worksheet that helped students think about how they could improve their test scores. If you wish to read the entire 4-page article, the first page explains why the authors thought students needed the worksheet, and the fourth page provides evidence that using the worksheet did improve students' test scores.

Are you taking good notes and making good use of those notes? You could find out by filling out this checklist.
You can improve your note-taking by making your notes more visual--or by taking notes in a different way.
How should you take notes?
Although many students seem to do best if they use either the Cornell or the Matrix method, almost any note-taking system will work for you as long as you do the following 4 things:

1. Write down the important points. Come to class having an idea of what the important points are by taking practice quizzes and by reading the chapter summary. During class, write down points that the professor repeats, writes on the board, speaks more loudly when making, pauses after stating, or announces by saying something like "this is important", "put this in your notes, or "this will be on the test."
2. Identify gaps and errors and then fill in gaps and correct errors. For some points, you may have left out information or left out an example that you need to make the point clear. Reviewing your notes soon after class to see what makes sense and what doesn't will help you identify those gaps. Consulting the book and classmates will help you fill in those gaps. Looking at classmates' notes will also help you see what points you missed completely and what you may have misunderstood or written down incorrectly.
3. Revise your notes so that you can make two kinds of connections. First, you should know which are the more important, general ideas and which are the supporting details. That is, you should be able to look at your notes as immediately see what are the "headlines" (main points), what are the "subheadings" that fit under those headings, and what are the "bullet points" that provide examples and details. Usually, the best way to make these connections clear is by the converting lines of text in your notes into tables, diagrams, concept maps, or outlines.
   Second, your notes should make it easy to see the key similarities and differences between concepts--making tables might be the best way to do that.
4. Have a way to test yourself over your notes. Testing yourself over your notes is very easy if you use the Cornell method.

• Different ways of taking notes
• 5 different ways to take notes (pay special attention to the Cornell method)
• Another look at 5 different note taking strategies
• Good advice about how to take and review notes, as well as a good explanation of 3 great ways to take notes: the Matrix Method, the Cornell method, and Concept-Mapping (also called Mind-Mapping).
• Making your notes more visual
• Video on how to combine Cornell note-taking with Sketch notes
• Using concept maps to take useful notes (For more on concept maps, see the next section: Concept Mapping)

• Dr. Mitchell's suggestions for concept mapping
• A "How to study" concept map

• Three tips for learning more from your textbook.
• Resources related to SQ3R: A way to study from textbooks. Although using the SQ3R method is time-consuming, try it if you are not getting much out of reading your text.
  • Short, clear explanation (from Virginia Tech)
  • Short Wikipedia entry
  • Short definition (from teachthought)

• How to use flashcards to study effectively (A PowerPoint Tutorial you can download from the Office of Teaching Resources in Psychology.)
• Make or get computerized flashcards by using
  • Quizlet
  • GoConqr
  • Anki
  • Study Stack
  • Brainscape
  • ProProfs
  • Chegg Prep

• Six strategies for effective learning
• Twenty thoughtful tips for remembering information
• Mind Tools: Memory Techniques You might check out the advice on using mnemonics--systematic memory aids--to improve your exam scores.
• Understand how your long-term memory works so that you can maximize its power.

 

• Test-Taking Tips From Eye on Psi Chi
• What to do before and after taking a test

• See how good your attention span is (5 minute test)
• Stopping your cell phone from interrupting your studying
  • The Siempo app for Android phones
  • Links to several Apps (AutoSilent, Mr. Silent,Quiet Hours, and Phone Schedule) for Android phones
  • Use the "Do not disturb" mode on Apple iPhones
  • The Freedom app for the iPhone
  • "Kill your cell phone addiction in 2 easy steps." (5 minute video)
• Stay focused and have breaks by using the very popular Pomodoro Technique.
  (online pomodoro timer)

Time management is a strong predictor of grades. Time management means not only having a daily "to-do" list but also knowing what you need to do in the next four weeks.
To manage your time, you will probably need an academic planner/calendar (order one here or here). Without a planner/calendar, you will probably be constantly falling behind because you will (a) tend to greatly underestimate how long things will take, (b) put off things that are important but not due immediately, (c) devote all your energy to the things that are due immediately for one class while not doing the work you should be doing for all your other classes, and (d) forget (at least temporarily) test dates and assignment due dates.
To make good use of your planner,

1. Immediately fill it in with information from your syllabi. Moving tasks from your syllabus or from your memory to a to-do list will greatly boost your productivity--and moving information from a to-do list to your calendar will provide another big boost to your productivity.
2. Break down big projects into smaller tasks and set self-imposed deadlines for those smaller tasks. Realize, for example, that "writing a paper" involves more than sitting down and writing a paper. You will probably need to find sources, read those sources, take notes on those sources, add those sources to your bibliography/references list, outline the paper, write several drafts of your paper, and proof your final draft.
3. Schedule little tasks (like going over flashcards) for breaks between classes so that gaps between classes aren't wasted.

Instead of--or in addition to a planner--you may wish to use one of the apps below:

• SchoolTraq
• Simple online to-do list
• Todoist
• Fetchnotes  (Easy to use--and has an easy way to organize your notes)
• Any.do
• Workflowy  (the analogy they use is that you can put your whole brain on one piece of paper and still find everything you want)
• Using Google
  • Google's Gmail (for a to do list, just select "tasks" under the "Mail" drop down menu)
  • Google calendar(for longer term projects). You can set several reminder alerts to be texted or emailed to you before the due date (for an example, see this screen shot).

Understand the law of diminishing returns: It is important to socialize with friends. However, most days, the first hour spent hanging out provides the most benefits to both you and to your friends. The second hour provides fewer benefits than the first, and the the third provides still fewer benefits. By leaving your friends after an hour to go study rather than hanging out with them all night, you still maintain connection with them (indeed,your connection might improve given that research suggests people wish their conversations with others were shorter), and you can get more school work done. In addition, you will be more able to free up time to be with friends when they really need you.

Apply the Premack principle: Reward yourself for studying by doing things you like to do (e.g., socializing, watching movies) after you have studied.

• Successful people fail, but don't give up.
• A 2-minute video showing what you can do if you keep trying.
• You can learn anything. (30-second video from Khan Academy)
• The power you gain by accepting that you can change
  • Blog entry
  • Ted Talk
• Learning is hard but can be done. (Lessons from juggling: Just watch first 30 seconds to a minute if you want to learn about learning; watch more if you want to learn how to juggle.)
• Little changes can lead to big improvements.
• Perseverance is under-rated; talent is over-rated. So, being the tortoise beats being the hare.
• If you find a course or lecture uninteresting, you have the power to make yourself find it interesting. As G. K. Chesteron wrote, "There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people." If you can't seem to find it interesting, fake being interested until you make it interesting.
• Set a high standard for yourself: If you are going to have to learn something anyway, why not spend a little extra effort to really know it? After all, if it's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
• If you aren't tapping into the power of goals to give you both energy and focus, use this goal setting worksheet.

• Words of advice from a professor to her first year students
• Links to many useful resources (from the college grants database)
• One of the worst things students do to their academic progress is that they don't drop a course that they are not ready for. However,
  1. Do not drop a class without first consulting with your advisor and, if you are on financial aid, without consulting with your financial aid office.
  2. Do not drop a course merely because you think it will put your GPA below some level that you have set--unless the grade will disqualify you for a scholarship or you are flunking the course. One grade will probably not have a big effect on your overall GPA--and your overall GPA will probably not have any effect on your life after college. Few employers care about how many times you were on the Dean's List, whether you graduated with honors, or even what your GPA was. Graduate schools do, of course, look at grades, but many put more emphasis on your GPA for your last 2 years than your first few years. So, your grades in introductory courses will probably not be important. Indeed, there are so many famous psychologists who did not do well in General Psychology that some have suggested (jokingly???) that getting an "A" in General Psychology ends any chance of one becoming a famous psychologist.

• APA Dictionary of Psychology
• PsychWeb (contains an online textbook and other resources)
• Simply Psychology (a short online textbook)
• Discovering psychology ( a video series)