Professors' Pet Peeves - Sociological Images

The wonderful folks at Sociological Images do an outstanding job in making contemporary societal issues accessible and understandable to a wide Internet audience. I find their approach to presenting statistics and criticizing how statistics are presented especially refreshing.  I'm planning to incorporate quite a few of their articles into my upcoming social psychology class.

In browsing their website, I came across a truly golden nugget of advice that applies to all students, not just sociology students. Whether you're deep in the midst of summer classes or kicking back academically until fall, it's well worth your time to read Professors' Pet Peeves to make your interactions with your instructors and professors more pleasant and productive all around. 

Taking Notes By Hand: Low Tech, High Efficiency

In the 21st century, we are surrounded by technology designed to help us accomplish a multitude of tasks.  While this is beneficial in many ways, we should not assume that going high tech is always best.  Sometimes a low tech, time tested approach is still the best way to approach a situation. 

Recent research conducted by Pam Mueller of Princeton University and Daniel M. Oppenheimer of UCLA revealed that using a laptop to take notes in class may not be the best thing to do in order to truly learn the material.  While several prior studies have indicated laptops can be problematic in the classroom because they present opportunities for distraction, Mueller and Oppenheimer found that even when laptop users stayed on task, their notes tended to be close to word-for-word transcriptions of lectures rather than the students' own processing of the material.  This quasi-transcription phenomenon even persisted when students using laptops were advised ahead of time to put their notes in their own words. 

The impact of this approach was clear: students who had taken notes on laptops performed significantly worse on conceptual test questions than students who had taken notes by hand.  In one part of their study, while students' performance on factual questions was similar regardless of notetaking method, the laptop users were unable to apply those facts to solve more complex questions.  The act of handwriting combines recording of information with simultaneously processing the information, thereby jumpstarting the learning process.

Since many of my students report never having been taught anything about how to take notes, I am planning a future post on the art and science of effective notetaking.  Keep an eye out for it.

Playing to Learn Can Work for College, Too

As children, most college students of today grew up with access to computers and to educational games.  Playing learning-focused games is a widely accepted activity for children because it helps develop children’s basic academic skills while engaging them in fun activities.  Now that you’re in college or about to go to college, the fun and learning games are over, right?  Not necessarily.

Websites such as Eduxtive, which is mostly geared toward younger learners, also can contain games suitable for the post-high school audience.  For example, I was very challenged by The World History Game and played it several times to try to increase my score.  I found myself recalling information from my community college history courses (over 20 years ago!) and taking in some new knowledge along the way.  The game is divided into seven sections to test a broad array of history knowledge.  The chronology section calls on the player to arrange several important world events in the order in which they occurred.  The fact checker section is much like a traditional multiple choice quiz, and the geo skills directs the player to match up historical hallmarks with the region in which they occurred.  The important people, key terms, and culture and lands sections complete the game, and the player is given a report card showing his or her score on each section and an overall letter grade.  (No, I’m not saying what my letter grade was.)  This scoring method will help a student to track improvements over time and to identify what areas of knowledge need further study and attention.  This would be a nice tool for students wishing to refresh their world history background before taking college history classes.  I did find the game sounds a trifle annoying, but they are easy to turn off if you wish.  I was also pleased to find helpful math and science games on the Eduxtive site as well.  

While this is a sponsored post for which I am being paid a nominal amount, I have long used game and study websites, both those geared for K-12 and college audiences, as support material for my classes.  There is a ton of good teaching resources out there just for the googling of them.  For that matter, savvy students can support their own learning by searching for game and study websites related to class subjects.  Sometimes having a little fun with the learning makes it stick all that much better.

Take Home Tests: They're Not What You Might Think

So you're excited to learn that you will be having a take home test for your final exam in one of your classes.  "Piece of cake," you say.  "How much more simple can it be, taking the test with my textbooks and notes on hand?  Sweet!"

Hold on there.  Take home tests are definitely not the easy A experience many students assume them to be.  When a professor would assign a take home exam when I was a student, I would have to do everything I could to stop myself from groaning out loud while many other students were smiling and happy about it.  Here's the inside scoop about take home tests.

Take home tests tend to be harder, longer, and more detailed than in class tests.  The grading standards tend to be much higher for essay and short answer tests in particular because of the amount of time you've had to prepare them.  Because of these factors, avoid the procrastination temptation.  You do not want to have the horrified feeling of sitting down to throw together your take home exam the night before it's due only to realize there's far more work to do there than you thought.

Treat essay questions as seriously as you would a research paper.  Once you've read each question, go through your textbook and notes to flag the material that will help you write your answer.  If you have multiple essay questions on your exam, multicolored sticky notes are helpful.  Outline the answers to essay questions before you start writing them.  Proofread your answers several times and make the writing as clear and concise as possible.

Do not collaborate with other students unless your professor or instructor specifically tells you it is okay to do so.  To do otherwise is academic dishonesty, which has dire consequences, not only for your grade on the test or in the class, but possibly for your educational record as a whole.  I think many students would be surprised at how readily those of us who teach can detect when students have been working together on something when they should not have been.  Even if you are given the okay to consult other students on your take home exam, don't assume that means it's fine to submit the same or substantially the same answers.  That is the specific form of academic dishonesty called plagiarism, which also carries serious consequences.

If you put enough time and effort into completing a take home test, you're more likely to get good results.  Be ready for it to be tougher than the average test and you'll be ahead of the game.

Final Exams? Don't Be Tempted to Cram!

The words "final exam" inspire panic in quite a few students and trigger massive last-minute studying binges.  However, studying for classes is something a wise student does regularly throughout the semester or quarter.  He or she knows that true learning takes place over an extended period of time, built in little chunks at a time on a strong foundation of knowledge.  What's that you're saying?  You're not that kind of student?  Well, you can be.  It just takes a bit of planning and a strong commitment to your education and yourself.  You should give it a try next time around.  Here's how.

Start your plan for success at the very beginning of classes.  One of the first things you should do when starting a new semester or quarter is to gather the syllabi for all your classes together along with your planner.  Begin by highlighting exam dates and important deadlines for each of your classes, and then enter that information for all classes into your planner.  This will give you an accurate view of the "big picture" and help you plan ahead to have plenty of time to prepare for important tests and projects.

For each exam you have in your classes, make a study plan.  For instance, if you are taking a 16 week course and have a cumulative midterm in week 8, you might want to start adding some extra study time for that class in about week 6.  Consider the length and point value of each exam and/or project when planning preparation time.  A 20 point multiple choice quiz over two text chapters should take less study time than a 200 point final exam over the entire course.

Good class preparation and follow up is half the battle.  If you keep up with assigned readings, take good notes during lecture, and review your notes and text on a regular basis, you are building that strong foundation of knowledge upon which your test preparation efforts will firmly rest.  Reading and reviewing your notes and the text are best done in small, manageable chunks that allow your brain to fully integrate the information well before the day of that important test.

Do some concentrated studying the night before.   Even if you are well-prepared, there's something about really cracking down for a couple hours the night before a final exam that boosts your confidence.  Don't overdo it though, and be sure to get a good night's sleep.

BUT -- if you find yourself in a tough spot and you need to cram, do it strategically.

• Concentrate on one class at a time if at all possible.
• Remove all distractions of any kind from your environment so you can focus.
• Use the study aids contained in your textbook (summaries, highlighted terms, definitions, and so on) and skim chapters for highlights and main ideas.
• Make sure you have all the supplies you need for studying on hand.
• Do not pull an all-nighter; your brain will not operate at its best without sleep!
• Plan not to put yourself in this stressful cramming situation ever again.

Want more final exam tips?  Check out The Day of the Final Exam for extra advice.