Taking summer courses at any level can be frustrating but there are ways to make it seem less daunting. These tips will relate most to college students but can be applied to high school courses as well. Going back to the basics is the best thing to do for a balanced semester.
These seven tips that follow are good to follow for two reasons. The first being that summer school will be more enjoyable. Secondly, doing these simple things will make cramming for tests or essays less stressful. Remember that simple tricks such as these are often the best to apply:
Make a schedules of due dates
Do weekly readings at a cafe
Write quick notes in columns beside readings
Use a highlighter sparingly
When a question arises, always get it answered
Start planning a term paper early
Always attend tutorials
Using a Less Structured Environment
The first thing that any student should do is to make a schedule of all due dates. Post this sheet somewhere visible daily. Having this reminder may cause some initial stress but it can serve as excellent motivation to get started on assignments early.
Completing readings at a cafe or in a park can be inspiring. On AcademicTips.org, students themselves have commented on where they prefer to study. Some students preferred their desks, while others said they have had more luck sitting outside. They offer some insight on even how to set up your personal desk at home as to avoid distractions.
Getting a grasp on the course readings is vital in order to get those ten participation marks. Ten percent may not seem as though it counts for anything but it is the difference between an A and a B. Also, if a student is struggling in a course, it can be the difference between a D and a C. With this realization, it should not be easy to spend a couple hours each week reading.
Tips on Minimizing Review
When doing those readings, mark any observations or comments along the margins or on some post-it notes. Making these observations now saves the student having to completely re-read and analyze all the readings before the exam.
Highlight or underline only the key points in the article. Do not highlight the entire explanation of a point unless the professor explicitly discusses this or if it would be a good point to argue in an exam question. The point of highlighting is to be able to re-read and understand the text in a matter of minutes.
Often when students encounter something confusing, they tend to hope someone else will ask about it or that it will not be tested on. Do not take that chance. Asking a question in a large lecture is daunting so try e-mailing the professor or see them personally during office hours. Understanding all the material will ease studying but it will also increase confidence, which is important as well!
Start Planning the Term Paper Early
While doing weekly readings, students should keep the term paper’s topic or specific question in mind. This is often how an idea for the paper strikes. It is best to at least have the idea down early because it allows time for the student to develop it and find other ways to relate the course to the real world.
The next step is to create an essay plan. This could simply include a topic idea and some arguments in point form. Bringing this sheet to class makes it easy to add any insights that the professor’s speech may bring to the future essay. Once a general idea is planned out, find sources early. This does not mean that one should start writing right away but already having the basic idea and the sources together will definitely help at crunch time!
Importance of Attending Tutorials
It can be easy to skip out on class or tutorial in order to gain extra study time during midterm season. That being acknowledged, always goes to tutorial. It offers a few bonuses that class does not.
The first is that the tutorial leader usually goes over what happened in class anyway. Secondly, weekly presentations usually offer a helpful guide on this week’s reading and often, this week’s lecture as well. Thirdly, often courses leave 10% of the grade for tutorials and that can be a simple participation grade. By simply showing up, a student is increasing his or her grade.
The most important bonus of tutorial is that it offers an excellent place to find an acquaintance to call when questions arise during studying. Even when studying solo, it is a good idea to have someone to call.
These seven simple tips may appear obvious but many students do not follow even these. Allowing oneself to have some rules during semester is ironically the best way to have a fun semester. While the sun may be shining, doing a few hours of work every week will avoid that huge crunch time before exams. The key things to remember are to start early and do assigned readings every week! Listed below, are a couple links for more detailed information.
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