Choose one of the classes you are taking this summer or one of the classes you took this past spring.

Discuss how you might use 5 of the 18 ideas presented to improve your learning in the class you chose.

18 IDEAS TO IMPROVE YOUR LEARNING:

Idea 1. Make sure you thoroughly understand the requirements of each class, how it will be taught, and what will be expected of you. Ask questions about the grading policies and ask for advice on how best to prepare for class.

Idea 2. Become an active learner. Be prepared to work ideas into your thinking by active reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Idea 3. Think of each subject you study as a form of thinking. If you are in a history class, your goal should be to think historically; in a chemistry class, to think chemically, and so forth.

Idea 4. Become a questioner. Engage in lectures and discussions by asking questions. If you don't ask questions, you will probably not discover what you do and do not know.

Idea 5. Look for interconnections. The content in every class is always a system of interconnected ideas, never a random list of things to memorize. Don't memorize like a parrot. Study like a detective, always relating new learning to previous learning.

Idea 6. Think of your instructor as your coach. Think of yourself as a team member trying to practice the thinking exemplified by your instructor. For example, in an algebra class, think of yourself as going out for the algebra team and your instructor as demonstrating how to prepare for the games (tests).

Idea 7. Think of the textbook as the thinking of the author. Your job is to think the thinking of the author. The best way to do this is to frequently role-play the author. Explain the main points of the text to another student, as if you were the author.

Idea 8. Consider class time as a time in which you practice thinking within the subject, using the fundamental concepts and principles of the course. Don't sit back passively, waiting for knowledge to fall into your head like rain into a rain barrel. It won't.

Idea 9. Relate content whenever possible to issues, problems, and practical situations in your life. If you can't connect it to your life, you don't know it.

Idea 10. Figure out what study and learning skills you need to develop. Practice those skills whenever possible. Recognizing and correcting your weaknesses is a strength.

Idea 11. Frequently ask yourself: "Can I explain this to someone who is not in this class?" If not, you haven't learned it well enough.

Idea 12. Identify and elaborate for yourself the key concept of the course during the first two or three class meetings. For example, in a biology course, try explaining what biology is in your own words. Then relate that definition to each segment of what you learn afterward. Fundamental ideas are the basis for all others.

Idea 13. Routinely ask questions to fill in the missing pieces in your learning. Ask them of yourself and your teacher. Can you elaborate further on idea x? Can you give an example of idea y? If you are not creating everyday examples for ideas, you are not connecting what you are learning to your life.

Idea 14. Test yourself before you come to class by trying to summarize, orally or in writing, the main points of the previous class meeting. If you cannot summarize the main points, you haven't learned them.

Idea 15. Learn to test your thinking by using intellectual standards. Ask yourself: Am I being clear? Accurate? Relevant? Logical? Am I looking for what is most significant?

Idea 16. Use writing as a way to learn. Write summaries in your own words of important points from the textbook or other reading material. Make up test questions and write out answers to your own questions.

Idea 17. Frequently evaluate tour listening. Are you actively listening for main points? Can you summarize what your instructor is saying in your own words? Can you explain what is meant by key terms?

Idea 18. Frequently evaluate your reading. Are you reading the textbook actively? Are you asking questions as you read? Can you distinguish what you understand from what you don't?