Steps to Scholastic Success
Careers in science, engineering, and technology require success in higher learning. The most widely accepted criterion of academic success is high grades in the course work completed. Grades often are the most important basis for being selected for a job, being admitted to college or graduate school, or receiving a scholarship.
A combination of factors seem to affect a student's scholastic success. The most significant of these are intelligence and special abilities, motivation to succeed, and management of effective study methods. The latter two factors can be improved by efforts on the part of the student. The key to success is to identify your special abilities, interests, and potentials, and make the best use of them.
Careers in science, engineering, and technology require interest and ability in mathematics, science, and technical subjects. What school subjects do you like best? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What examples do you have as evidence of your abilities? Grades you have earned in past courses are good indicators; others are scores on achievement and aptitude tests. Your guidance counselor will interpret these scores for you. It is important to understand your special abilities and match them with potential career fields. Your career will be much more rewarding if it challenges you with work appropriate to your abilities and interests.
Your interests and your abilities go hand-in hand when planning for potential careers. If you have a great deal of interest in an area but little natural ability, you will not be capable of performing the tasks competently. Likewise, if you have the ability to perform but little interest in an area, you are likely to be unhappy with that career. Natural ability plus an interest in a particular career will lead to more satisfaction with your work. Interest inventory tests have been designed to help you become aware of areas of interest. You may want to ask your guidance counselor to arrange for you to take one of these tests.
Many extremely bright students fail courses and many students with average intelligence excel. What accounts for this difference? Experts say it is partially the desire to learn the subject material and to achieve long-term goals. A strong desire and intention to learn results from interest in the subject material, the ability to comprehend the material, and a purpose for mastering the material. Motivation or a desire to succeed academically supplies the energy necessary to plan and practice effective study procedures.
Motives are among the strongest influences on your behavior. They affect the amount of time and effort you are willing to exert in order to succeed. The most powerful motivations arise from your goals and aspirations. For example, if you really feel successful and happy when you have mastered complex mathematical equations, your career goal may be to become a mathematician. You will be motivated to study and learn basic mathematical principles. If your goal is acceptance at an Ivy League college and that depends upon earning straight As, you will dedicate yourself to efficient study patterns. If the praise of your parents and associates depends upon academic success and you want their praise, you will develop and follow effective study schedules. For these reasons, students with average intelligence and strong interests and goals usually will succeed in their studies. On the other hand, students gifted with intellectual abilities, but lacking interest and purpose for studying, may not be successful.
Goals and aspirations reflect how you picture yourself in terms of other people. They reflect your estimate of your chances of succeeding. Past successes and failures influence your goals and aspirations. Successful academic experiences increase confidence in your ability to succeed. They motivate you to continue the work necessary for repeated successes. Goal setting requires that you recognize your interests and abilities. Past experiences are good indicators of these interests and abilities. The most satisfied students seem to tie their aspirations closely to their levels of performance. They set flexible goals so that changes can be made. These changes may result from acquiring more information, more self-awareness, and more maturity. Flexible and attainable goals will prevent frustrations and disappointments.
If your goal is to become a scientist, engineer, or technician, you must have natural or acquired abilities, interests, and past successes in math, science, and technical subjects. Science and engineering careers require at least a bachelor's degree. This requires developing study patterns which will lead to success in college courses.
The following questions may help you clarify your goals and motives for pursuing a career in science, engineering, or technology. Spend some time thinking about these questions:
1. Do I really enjoy studying mathematics and science courses?
2. Do I have the interest and ability to succeed in these courses?
3. Why have I considered a career in science, engineering, or technology?
4. What special qualifications do I have for these kinds of jobs?
5. Do I really want to go to college?
6. Am I going because my friends are going?
7. Am I afraid I'll disappoint my parents if I don't attend college?
8. Can I handle the freedoms of college life—no curfews, managing my own expenses?
9. Am I responsible enough to complete assignments on time without the watchful eye of my parents or teachers?
10. Can I establish short-term educational goals for each semester or quarter?
Efficient management of
time and study procedures is also a significant factor in the formula for academic
success. Efficiency implies maximum learning from the least time and effort
expended. It requires organizing your time into effective study patterns that
work for you. Planning a study schedule, and sticking to it, requires real effort.
It means you must decide upon priorities.
A good rule of thumb is that, particularly for mathematics and technical courses,
you should allow at least two hours for study for each hour spent in class.
As you develop a study schedule, you may find it necessary to give up or postpone
activites that are fun, such as watching TV, going to the movies, talking on
the phone, or just visiting with friends. Leisure time activities are important
to all of us. However, they must be scheduled in relation to the study schedule.
A sensible balance between leisure activities and study increases a student's
chances of success. Your schedule for study should become a habit. Setting a
time to study a certain subject increases the likelihood that you will retain
the material and decreases the amount of time that you are likely to waste.
Regularity seems to be the key as well as having one's priorities in order.
Developing effective and efficient study habits requires a knowledge of good
study techniques and developing a study plan. Counselors, teachers, and a number
of reference books can provide information on study skills.
The following are some examples of techniques that should prove helpful.
Study Habits for Students
The
Physical Setting for Study
The physical setting for study affects concentration. Inability
to concentrate is one of the major causes of inefficient use of study time.
A good location makes it easy to start studying and helps concentration. Here
are some points that may help:
1. Locate a good study
desk or table located in an area away from distractions, such as other people
talking, radio or TV, etc.
2. See that your study area is well lighted and wear glasses if you need them.
3. Study by yourself most of the time.
4. Keep study materials and books near at hand.
5. Make efficient use of
study periods and free time during the day at school.
Planning or budgeting your study time is very important. It is essential not
to fall behind. Once you fall behind, it is very hard to catch up because there
is always new work to be done. This is true of all subjects, but particularly
so of mathematics, science, and foreign languages, where an understanding of
the material already covered is usually essential to understanding the new material.
Here are some points to remember in planning your study time.
1. Make and keep a study schedule.
2. Budget your study time.
3. Use odd moments for
studying—take advantage of brief times during the day or enroute to school.
Better Listening and Note Taking
In school, as well as out of school, listening is very important. Good listening
is an active process and requires concentration. Unlike reading, listening cannot
be repeated (without potential embarassment) if you miss the point the first
time. The good listener is constantly thinking, evaluating, and drawing conclusions.
In school, be alert to important ideas that are discussed in class. Your teachers
and classmates will present material and explanations that you may not find
in your textbooks. No one else can listen for you, and someone else's notes
are not a good substitute for your own. Improving your listening habits and
skills will improve all of your school work. Here are some aids that will help
you to train yourself to listen better:
1. While listening, look for main ideas.
2. While listening, take notes (but don't try to take down everything).
3. Revise notes later to clear up points, and fix the material more firmly in your mind for future use.
Preview Reading Assignments
Previewing is important. It will save you time because it prepares you for better
understanding and faster reading. It also will help you remember better. Here's
how to preview:
1. Read over the title of the chapter. From the title try to get an idea of
what the chapter will be about.
2. Look over the section headings.
3. Read the first and last paragraphs of the assignment.
4. Study the pictorial aids (illustrations, graphs, tables, etc.).
5. Take an inventory—ask yourself, "What do I know about the chapter?"
Reading the Assignment
Reading an assignment requires active thinking. What you derive from your reading depends largely on what you bring to it. Good reading requires interest, knowledge, and curiosity. For good reading:
1. Make up questions suggested by the main headings. Turn chapter headings and
subheadings into questions.
2. Read to answer your questions. As you read, watch for the answers to the questions you have raised. It means reading all of the material required by your assignment, but you should be looking for your answers as you read.
3. Check your understanding by reciting the answers. After finding the answer to your question, repeat it to yourself. Stop reading at the end of each section, take time out, and repeat in your own words the answers to your question.
4. Reread when necessary to clarify any ideas of which you are unsure.
Note Taking
1. Jot down the key words and phrases in a preliminary outline. These notes
are for your personal use and should be helpful to you. Notes will not supply
all the information in detail, but they will give you a picture in outline form.
When taking notes, keep these points in mind:
a. Use your own words whenever possible.
b. Confine your notes on a chapter to one side of a notebook sheet, if possible.
c. Look over your notes a day or so after taking them.
2. Underline key words and phrases. If you own the book, you may prefer to underline
key words and phrases in the book. However, do not underline a major fraction
of the text.
3. Make diagrams to clarify ideas whenever this seems necessary or appears to be helpful.
Remembering
1. Find an interest in what you are studying.
2. Have a clear-cut grasp of the basic ideas. Clear understanding is necessary for good remembering.
3. Learn by wholes. Before you begin to study, know what the author's main theme is and how the main ideas are related. Then study the parts, the details which support the principal ideas.
4. Use more of your time in reciting than in rereading. Reciting helps you to remember better than rereading, because it forces you to think harder as you try to recall what you have learned.
5. Spot the key words and phrases. They will help you remember the ideas for which they stand.
6. Use as many of your senses in as many ways as possible. Try reading, reciting, writing out the answer, or sketching diagrams where appropriate.
7. Distribute your learning practice over several study periods. You will remember more from an assignment if you divide your learning of any subject over two or more separate periods of moderate length.
8. Learn for the future. If you memorize something only well enough to pass an examination, you will probably forget it quickly. If a fact or idea is worth learning at all, it is worth retaining. You should overlearn to compensate for the curve of forgetting.
9. Try to use what you learn. You tend to remember the things that you put to use. You might explain a lesson to someone, use a new idea during a discussion, try to relate new facts or concepts to ideas already studied in the same subject, in other subjects, in conversations, and in your own personal experience.
10. In most mathematics, science, and engineering courses, problem-solving is essential to effective learning. You should not only work all the assigned problems, but be sure you understand how you arrived at the answer(s).
Taking Examinations
Your best preparation for examinations is regular, day-by-day study. You should
set some time aside for periodic review; at least one hour for each subject
per week should consist of review. Here are some aids in preparing for examinations:
1. Plan a definite examination study schedule and stick to it.
2. Prepare and study a master outline of the subject. The master outline is a condensed version of all your notes on lectures, discussions, and readings.
3. Try to make up an exam for each course in which you expect to be tested. Then take it, check it. Be serious about it.
4. Get a good night's sleep before the examination.
Study
Helps
Five
Sources of Information
1. Use your own resources as much as possible:
a. Get into the habit of relying on yourself. Do not lean on others any more
than necessary. But, know when and whom to ask for help.
b. Take an active interest in your studies.
c. Use initiative when studying. Do some extra reading, whether or not it is
assigned. Work some extra problems beyond those asigned. Be alert for current
events that may have a bearing on what you are studying.
d. Prepare carefully for class. Carry out the required assignments and master
them. Do not let yourself fall behind.
e. Participate actively in class. Enter into discussion. If there is something
you do not understand, ask questions. Listen attentively and take notes during
class.
2. Master your textbook. After yourself, your textbook is your most important
study help. Get thoroughly acquainted with it.
3. Learn from other students. Listen actively to what your fellow students have to say during class discussions, recitations, question periods, and when they report on books read or projects undertaken. You may not agree with what they say, but this in itself contributes to learning.
4. Talk over with your teacher any questions you have concerning your work. When a question comes up about your work which you cannot answer, do not let the matter drop. Ask the question in class. If the answer given in class does not satisfy you, make an appointment with your teacher to discuss the matter further.
5. Browse in the library.
This means reading here and there in books and magazines. You can browse for
recreation or for study purposes. Browsing for information should be systematized
and purposeful. You browse for information on a specific topic or to enlarge
your background and knowledge of a particular subject. Some of the tools in
the school library and in the public library that you should become familiar
with are:
a. Dewey Decimal System
b. Card catalog/microfiche
c. Dictionaries and glossaries
d. Encyclopedia and its supplements
e. Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature
f. Library of Congress Classification System
g. Indexes and abstracts
Read Faster
A problem that faces students in planning study time is the limited periods
of time which can be set aside for that purpose. Reading faster (while keeping
the level of comprehension high) can be a great asset.
To be an efficient reader, you must be a flexible reader. This means that you
must realize that you cannot read everything at the same rate. You need to read
technical books, or thought-provoking essays, more slowly than novels in order
to think them through. Set your pace in accordance with the material to be covered.
A more detailed discussion of improving your reading skills is given later.
If you plan to increase your speed, set reasonable goals. If you set too high
a goal for yourself at first, you may soon become discouraged and give up altogether.
Spell Correctly
Misspelled words will result in lower grades. Your best friend is the dictionary;
keep it handy when you write and if in doubt, look unfamiliar words up.
Build Vocabulary
Vocabulary building is necessary in all subject areas. The specialized vocabularies
necessary to the understanding of science, social studies, math, foreign languages,
and English are your responsibility. You can reserve a special place in your
notebook for definitions that are necessary in each subject. Another approach
is that of keeping vocabulary cards; put the word on one side and the definition
on the other side of a small index card. You can use different colors for different
subjects and keep the cards in a file box for handy reference and study.
Solve Mathematics and Science Problems Efficiently
Math, science, and engineering courses differ from many others in that the emphasis
is on developing an ability to solve problems. Only if you can apply the knowledge
gained in reading the textbook or listening to lectures, do you really understand
the material. Therefore, practice in solving problems is extremely important—simply
rereading the textbook is no substitute! Here are some pointers that may help
you:
1. State the question in your own words; be sure you understand what is wanted.
2. Determine what process or formulas you need.
3. List the facts and figures required to answer the question.
4. Estimate your answer; make sure that its numerical value is at least reasonable based on your general knowledge of the subject or similar, previously worked examples.
5. Work out your answer in detail; compare it with your estimate. Be sure the units of the answer are correct or at least reasonable.
Skimming
You skim a page or paragraph by moving your eyes rapidly over the material in
search of specific information. Headings, topic sentences, key words, and guide
words can help you.
Improving Reading Rate and Comprehension
1. Read regularly. Practice is extremely important. Read as much as you can.
Practice at least half an hour a day, more if possible.
2. Begin with easy material. At the outset, read material with a familiar vocabulary and ideas that can be grasped without effort. Get the feeling of moving along the lines of print quickly and comfortably while still making a conscious effort to increase your reading rate. Begin with fictionalized biography, science fiction, adventure stories, or other materials of interest to you.
3. Work toward more difficult materials. When you begin to see progress, step up to the next level of difficulty. Read news magazines and nonfiction on topics of current importance. Eventually, you will work to your rate on all types of reading. As soon as possible, turn your attention to your textbooks or other material directly applicable to your course work.
4. Understand what you read. Rate is determined primarily by the ability to comprehend. Read aggressively to answer questions. Before you start, turn the title into a question and keep asking, "What is the answer? What is the author saying?" Go in with a question; come out with an answer.
5. Determine your purpose before your begin. Decide why you are reading the particular selection and estimate its difficulty. Then set yourself to read at your most efficient rate in terms of these factors.
6. Reduce vocalization in all silent reading. Resolve to get the point by thinking the meaning, not by saying the words. Press to read faster than the top speed at which words can be pronounced.
7. Read under progressive pressure. During practice, read as rapidly as you can without jeopardizing comprehension. Read as if you were to take a quiz in 10 minutes and hadn't studied the lesson.
8. Improve your vocabulary. Strange words interfere with understanding. Since speed is a function of understanding, you will profit from a systematic attempt to increase your word knowledge. Keep a dictionary handy.
9. Increase your store of knowledge. Intelligent reading requires more than a mere knowledge of what the word means. The more you know about a subject, the better and faster you can read it.
10. Don't make a fetish of speed. Remember that speed without comprehension is counterproductive. Slow down as the occasion demands. Experts use many speeds, not just one.
11. Be persistent. There is no magic formula to show you how to double your rate overnight. Pressing to read faster and answer questions may be fatiguing at first. For a time, you may even seem more inefficient than before. But keep at it. Use any free time for additional practice. With a little persistence, more effective reading will become habitual.
From "Careers in Science and Technology" published by the U.S. Department of Energy, National Technical Association and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, September 1993.