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Enhancing Your Academic Performance TIPS FOR STUDYING Diane Bilderback, an award-winning adviser in the Division of Biological Sciences, has compiled the following information about memory in general and for studying in particular. In high school, teachers generally do a short review before beginning their lectures and assign homework that enforces that review. With that in mind, you may have been able “cram” the night before a test and be successful (because you had heard the information several times). As such, you may have never “studied” yet have been successful in high school. At Universities, reviewing is your responsibility, as it will typically not be built in your curriculum. For example: Faculty typically don’t review. They begin anew every lecture period.
TIPS FOR MEMORY Diane also offers 5 helpful hints for recall of information. Understand the patterns in which information is presented to you during lecture. Write down the logic or reasoning necessary to move from step to step in the pattern. If you don’t understand the pattern, reorganize it in a way that makes sense to you (and is correct, of course).
Read the summary or review questions before you begin reading the chapter as it will give you the whole picture of what is most important. Then go back and read the details. GENERAL TEST-TAKING TIPS Read over ALL the directions before you begin. Listen carefully to any verbal directions or hints which the instructor might give. Many students shipwreck their chances right at the start because they do not understand or follow directions. Try not to let this happen to you. Budget your time. Take a minute or two to figure out roughly how much time you can spend on each section of the test. Write the numbers on a scratch sheet of the margin of your test paper. Be sure to have a watch with you or to sit where you can easily see a clock. First, it is helpful to answer easy questions first. Don't upset your rhythm and lose valuable time by stalling over hard questions. Instead, put a light check mark beside the hard questions and continue working throughout the entire test, answering the easy questions immediately. When answering multiple-choice questions, you might try covering up the response choices and focusing on the question that is being asked. If you can answer the question or narrow it down before looking at the choices offered, you won't be fooled by choices that are "close" but not the best answer. This also can work to calm you down and avoid "test panic."After you have answered all the "easy" questions, go back and work with the more difficult questions in the time which remains. Add a mark to the check you have already made to show that you have answered a question. With more difficult questions, keep the following in mind:In multiple choice questions, cross out options you know are incorrect and guess among the remaining choices. When guessing, do not change answers. Studies show that your first response is usually the best. Change an answer only if you can think of a definite reason for doing so. Be alert for the times that information supplied in one test question will suggest answers for other questions on the test. In multiple choice questions, if you are purely guessing, the odds may be in your favor if you omit the first and last options, and choose the options in the middle. Remember that absolute items are usually false. When answering matching items, look through the available choices carefully. Ask yourself if all of them are "real" choices.Take advantage of the full time given, and go over your paper carefully for possible mistakes. When answering essay questions, always look for how many parts are involved in the question. If the question asks you to list, define, and give an example of something, you know that the answer should have three parts. One effective way of making sure you do not forget a part is to circle each of the directive words and check them off as you answer that part of the question. This way, you are much less likely to forget or skip over an important aspect of a question. Other suggestions for answering essay questions include:Be specific. Explain to the reader what you are doing. If the question requires that you "compare and contrast," inform the reader that "I will compare and contrast." Use transitions to let the reader know what you are doing. The use of transitions shows the progress of your thinking. ANSWER THE QUESTION! Do not "skirt" the question or report something different. Remember to keep focused. Develop an outline in your head or on another sheet of paper before you write your answer. Many students lose points on an essay question because they are not specific or because their answers "wander." Be as clear as possible. Say what you are doing, do it, and tell the reader what you did at the close of your response. TIPS FOR USING THE MANSFIELD LIBRARY
The Mansfield Library will be a key player in your UM experience. With over one million volumes in the collection, more than 2,500 periodical titles, 6,000 electronic journals and over 100 electronic academic databases available to you, Mansfield Library provides the backbone to almost all your research needs. Access to the library is available to you 24 hours a day/7 days a week at: http://www.lib.umt.edu. The library building is open 7 days a week, 98 hours a week, during the academic semester with people ready to assist you with your research needs during all open hours.For individualized service, use the Mansfield Library Research Clinic by calling 243-6866 for an appointment. Library Facts
Tips for Writing Papers: Using The Writing Center at UM Whether you are confident in or worried about your writing skills, be prepared to adjust at least a few of your ideas about writing during your first year at college. While in high school, you may have been encouraged to be clever and colorful in your writing. College professors, however, are looking for signs that you have read and thought critically about course materials as you argue a point. The audience for your papers is a highly educated reader who needs to be convinced of your reliability as an author. These readers are generally unimpressed by:
Instead, UM professors will demand of student writers: What’s your point? (An explicit thesis/purpose statement is a must.) How do you know? (Arguments, examples, reasons, evidence required.) So what? (The ideas are consequential for the reader.) Where’s the love? (Following the instructions and proofreading show respect.) Professors read like this because as scholars they are immersed in the ongoing written debates in journals, books, and on the Web that energize their life’s work. They want to teach you to enter these debates. Therefore, they challenge you to read, analyze, and articulate your arguments on paper, not just sound off or fill a page with sketchy ideas. See Junking the Five-Paragraph Format for a new writing strategy you can use right away. To help you make the transition to college-level writing, take advantage of The Writing Center early in your college career. We offer free consultations with UM students at any point in their writing process. We do not write or edit papers for students, but we meet with them to discuss their assignments, how they are handling them, and ways to solve the particular problem that each new writing assignment poses. You do not need to learn the hard way what professors want when you can get expert advice at The Writing Center before you hand in a paper. Visit our website and contact us anytime at: The Writing Center
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