To be a competent student you must be an active participant in the learning process. This is not a couch potato type of activity. Below are guidelines to help you be a competent student:

  Get organized

Family, friends, work and play will compete with your education for time and resources. Life is busy and difficult. You don't need to waste it or make it more difficult by being disorganized.

•   Use an organizer. Don't miss an important meeting or exam because you forgot.      Schedule study time. Don't leave it to chance that you will study whenever. You should make out daily plans for a week at a time. Did you schedule enough time for studying? Count the hours. Are there three hours for each hour of class time? It can also help you remember a parent or spouse's birthday.

  Take notes

•   Freshman don't always recognize how important it is to take good notes. Upper class students report they take and rely on notes more than beginning students. Divide your note taking paper into two columns. The left column will be about two inches wide with the larger column on the right. The left column is for key words, phrases and concepts. The right side is for elaboration. Later when reading over your notes it is easier to go down the left side looking at the key words and reading detail only when you need it.

•   Don't take down every word. If you try to keep up with a lecturer by taking down every word you won't be able to understand it. Write down ideas and put them in words you understand. If there is a word or phrase you don't know, write it down. You can ask the instructor about it or look it up at a later time. If you think you need every word, ask your instructor if you can tape the lecture.

•   As soon after class as possible, review and edit your notes. If you wait weeks or even a day or two before reading your notes you will have lost a lot. Review them while they are fresh in your mind. Add and edit the notes for accuracy and to make them read more clearly.

•   Clear up inconsistencies and problem areas by consulting your text and/or instructor. Were some of your notes unreadable? Does something seem to contradict something else? Did you hear there were four (4) key elements but you wrote down only three (3)? Clear these problems up immediately. Think about how your notes and how they relate to other parts of the class. Teachers usually try to integrate lectures, readings and assignments. Make an attempt to understand how the various parts fit together.

  Reading textbooks

Many college courses, especially undergraduate courses, use a standard textbook. Learning how to read and retain what you read is critical to being a successful student.

•   Read assignments before class. When you read before class you have a much better understanding of what the lecture and/or discussion is about. When you have not read the assignment, comments may not make sense to you thus you will be more likely to forget them than you would if the comments made sense.

•   Read the summary and conclusion first. Don't read a textbook like you would a novel from the front to the back. If there is a summary start there. Before reading the main text turn to the end of the chapter and read the summary. If the text provides a glossary at the end of each chapter read it next. Doing this gives you an idea of what the author thinks is important. Now you can read the main text with a better idea of where to focus your attention. Let's suppose you were applying this strategy to reading a novel. If you read the last chapter first and discovered the butler did it, the suspense and surprise would be lacking and you read the book. However, when you did read the other chapters you would pay extra attention to the butler and have a better idea of how and why he did it. When it comes to academic literature, knowing how and why is more important that being surprised.

•   Use a highlighter and write in the columns. If you don't mark up your text, you might get another dollar when you resell it after the course is finished. But wouldn't you pay a dollar for a better grade? With textbook companies issuing updates every year or two there is a good chance you might get nothing for the old text.

•   Pay special attention to graphs, tables, photos and inserts. Too often students tend to skip over these. The author, however, wanted them to jump out at you.


•   Pay special attention to graphs, tables, photos and inserts. Too often students tend to skip over these. The author, however, wanted them to jump out at you.

•   Read a recommended reading or reference. OK, your time is limited and you barely had time to read the assignment. But on occasion you should follow up a reference or recommended reading. It will give you a broader understanding of how the author summarizes and integrates information. This is easier to do if it is a topic you are really interested in.
    
•   Think about how the current chapter relates to other parts of the course. This  means think about how this chapter related to other chapters and even readings from other sources. Then think about how the reading relates to lectures and assignments.

  Reading research articles

For some introductory and many advanced courses you will be required to read published research articles. Like small print legal documents and directions for assembling toys, some students become needlessly frightened.

•   Read it before class. Like your textbook, read them before class if they are assignments.

•   Read the abstract and conclusion first. Research articles usually include a summary, referred to an abstract of 100 to 250 words. Like the textbook, read this first then go to the summary and conclusions section at the end of the article.

•   Take notes. Make up forms for the following information. Fill out the form as you read the article - 1) author(s); 2) title; 3) purpose or hypothesis of research; 4) any independent and dependent variables; 5) how these variables were  measured; and 6) key findings (were they consistent with the hypothesis?).


•   Pay special attention to tables, graphs and inserts. These are what the author thinks are most important.

•   Think about how this research is related to other readings, lectures and assignments for the course. Try to put the article in perspective. Ask yourself why your instructor assigned this article and why she wanted you to read it.

  Writing a paper

Papers are favorite assignments in many courses. The assignment can be less stressful and even a pleasant task if you do it correctly.

•   Chose your topic carefully. Assigned papers usually have parameters with some flexibility. Read the rules carefully and be sure your topic fits the assignment. Within the boundaries select something you are interested in. There is no worse assignment than writing a paper that bores you.

•   Make an outline or list of sub topics. This list does not need to be neat or organized and will likely be longer than you could possibly write about.

•   Do a computer search of your topic. For sociologists this means using SOCIOFILE, PSYCHLIT and other computer data bases. Read the short abstracts to get an idea of what the article is about and if it is relevant to your paper. If it is relevant, get a copy of the entire article.


•   Narrow your topic. The major error students make in writing papers is they try to cover too much. Someone once told me, "Dig your trenches narrow and deep." What he meant was to keep the topic area narrow and go beyond the superficial analysis.

•   The body of the paper should be "funnel shaped." Start your discussion somewhat broad. If your paper was on rape, you might start with some general comments and statistics. Then quickly focus the topic more narrowly (e.g., date rape among college students).

•   Organize the paper. Don't expect to write the paper in one draft. You will likely need to "cut and paste." Try to discuss topic X in one place rather than three different places between topics A, B and C.

•   One topic per paragraph. Paragraphs should not have more than one topic. There is nothing more difficult than trying to read a paragraph that goes on for pages covering several topics.

•   Remember the rest of the course. Papers are not entities unto themselves but are designed to be part of the larger course. Think over the lectures and readings and how they relate to this paper. When relevant include a reference from your assigned readings. It is hard to believe none of them would be relevant to your paper. One of the most disappointing things for a teacher is to read a student paper that does not reference any of the readings the teacher selected for the course.

•   Remember the discipline this course is taught in. Papers often cut across disciplines. In sociology you might be doing a paper in health issues, professional sports or the impact of computers on religion. Your sociology instructor is not going to want a paper detailing blood gas readings, the nuances of throwing a curve, details on how microprocessors work or pages of theology. You might have to include some specifics and details but keep it limited, easy to read and relevant to the discipline - in this case sociology. The key issue in the paper should be sociological issues.

•   Science not political rhetoric or morals. Professors often like papers to "make an argument" or "take a position."  What they mean is to use the discipline's theory and data to support an issue. Political rhetoric and religious moralizing are not generally rewarded even if your position is consistent with that of the professor.

•   Proofread. If you are like me, you have probably said things you wanted to rephrase or even take back. With writing you can do that. Take advantage of it. Correct spelling and grammar errors. Rewrite clumsy sentences. After you have proofed the paper several times, ask a friend to read it or take it to the writing lab. Do not get defensive when your friend or someone at the writing lab makes suggestions! Be polite and listen. After all, they are doing you a favor and you can ignore their suggestions if you think they are inappropriate. And give their suggestions some serious thought.  There just might be a better way to say what you are trying to say.

•   Type the paper. Never turn in any assignment without typing it even if your instructor says it is OK. Handwriting is harder to read, even with good penmanship. This is like dressing up and combing your hair for the resume photo. Put your best foot forward which means no handwritten papers.

•   Don't forget the references. Do them and do them correctly. There are very harsh penalties for plagiarism and it is your responsibility as a student to get it right. If you need help go to the writing lab.

•   Save a copy of the paper. Never turn in your only copy of a paper. They can get lost. Also you might be able to use portions of the paper or references in later courses. Sometimes it is worthwhile (if not mildly painful) to read a paper you wrote years ago.

  How to study for exams

Neither students nor teachers like exams. But the fact is exams are a very big part of school. Don't mess them up.

•   Read the assignments. This should be obvious but many students don't read the assigned readings and few read the suggested one. Readings should be kept up with and read before the class. Don't expect to read everything the night before the test and do well.

•   Do the assignments and exercises. Teachers usually make assignments and exercises to teach specific skills. More often than not these skills are tested on exams.

•   Leave time for review. The day or two before an exam should be for review not to do the readings or assignments.  Review your notes.

  How to survive the bureaucracy

Educational institutions are bureaucracies. Reading your text and staying awake in sociology class might help you survive and even thrive at school.

•   Read the Student Handbook. Some of it is boring. But you are responsible for following the rules in the handbook. Failure to know and follow the rules could cost you money, time or even your degree.

•   Get to know your advisor. Advisors don't bite and they can sometimes help.

•   Learn how to read the IUCARE reports. The IUCARE reports show your progress toward a degree.