Successful students

7-8

7. … understand the actions affect learning. Successful students know their personal behavior affect their feeling and emotions which in turn can affect learning.

            If you act in a certain way that normally produces particular feeling, you will began to experience those feelings. Act like you’re bored, and you’ll become bored. Act like you’re disinterested, and you’ll become disinterested. So the next time you have trouble concentrating in the classroom, “act” like an interested person: lean forward, place your feet flat on the floor, maintain eye contact with the professor, nod occasionally, take note, and ask question. Not only will you benefit directly from your actions, your classmates and professor may also get more excited and enthusiastic.

8. …talk   about what they’re learning. Successful students get to know something well enough that they can put it into words. Talking about something, with friends or classmates, is not only good for checking whether or not you know something, it’s a proven learning tool. Transferring ideas into words provides the most directs path for moving knowledge from short-term to long-terms memory. You really don’t “know” materials until you can put it into words. So, next time you study, don’t do it silently. Talk about notes, problems, reading, etc. with friends, recite to a chair, and organize an oral study group, pretend you’re teaching your peer. “talk-learning” produces a whole host of memory traces that result in more learning.

Choose the right!