Untitled Document

Student and Parent Resources

Effective Habits for Effective Study

You can prepare yourself to succeed in your studies. Try to develop and appreciate the following habits:

Take responsibility for yourself.
Responsibility is recognition that in order to succeed you can make decisions about your priorities, your time, and your resources.
Center yourself around your values and principles.
Don't let friends and acquaintances dictate what you consider important.
Put first things first.
Follow up on the priorities you have set for yourself, and don't let others, or other interests, distract you from your goals.
Discover your key productivity periods and places.
Morning, afternoon, evening; study spaces where you can be the most focused and productive. Prioritize these for your most difficult study challenges.
Consider yourself in a win-win situation.
You win by doing your best and contributing your best to a class, whether for yourself, your fellow students, and even for your teachers and instructors. If you are content with your performance, a grade becomes an external check on your performance, which may not coincide with your internally arrived at benefits.
First understand others, then attempt to be understood.
When you have an issue with an instructor, for example a questionable grade, an assignment deadline extension, put yourself in the instructor's place. Now ask yourself how you can best make your argument given his/her situation.
Look for better solutions to problems.
For example, if you don't understand the course material, don't just re-read the material. Try something else! Consult with the professor, a tutor, an academic advisor, a classmate, a study group, or your school's study skills center.
Look to continually challenge yourself.