I once had a student who consistently scored near perfection on his exams. Many students continually asked me when I was teaching, "How can I improve my grade?" I was so impressed with my successful student that I asked him, "How do you do it?" His answer was concise: "I came to class, took notes, read the book, and learned the material." There you have it, struggling students who are forever looking for a magic short-cut to academic success. Come to class. Listen and take careful notes. Read the textbook. And, in the process, learn the material. There are no short-cuts. There are no magic paths. There are no quick learning pills you can take. There are no substitutes for the hours of discipline and effort required to learn the material. The sad thing is, so few students really follow these rules and then must continually ask me how they can overcome their low test scores.
COMMENTS
The curmudgeonly student would spend all Sunday morning in bed with lots of pillows, strong coffee and the 2-300 hundred pages she had to plow through for the week. Then she would stand at her easel for the 8 hours each studio class outside of school, required for homework. (9 credits of painting, 24hrs a week in class, 24hrs a week outside. This is undergraduate.) That was years ago, when I became deaf to Med students complaints. Higher education takes a bite from the old schedule.
Posted by: molly | March 17, 2008 at 04:21 PM
