Reading before Exam 1

Question 1

What are the characteristics of a “successful student?”

Answer 1

• Successful students are able to employ more efficient and effective study habits, as well are able to motivate themselves and are able to adapt learning techniques as needed.

Question 2

What is the difference between a “mirror question” vs. a “summary question?” Give an example of each.

Answer 2

• Mirror = reflects information in the notes • Summary = major theme or main ideas

Question 3

According to Dembo & Seli, what is “self-efficacy” and why does it matter for success?

Answer 3

Self-efficacy is the belief in a student’s ability to be successful at a task. Students with high self-efficacy are more likely to try complex learning strategies, apply more effort and persist through periods of adversity.

Question 4

According to Cox (2009), how might past failures affect a student

Answer 4

Past failures equal fear, students fear that their weaknesses will be exposed.

Question 5

What are the four reasons that Prochaska and Prochaska suggest people have difficulty changing? Explain these four reasons with one sentence each.

Answer 5

Cant change aspects theyre not aware of in themselves

Doesn’t want change due to belief current strats were effective in HS or not understanding different skills/strats for college

Belief current strats are as good as new ones learned

Not aware of what needs to change despite willingness to change

Difficulty translating new strats into diff. classes & lack of self-control

Question 6

Why do you think it is that research has found that students take less notes when the class is in a discussion format vs. when the class is in a lecture format

Answer 6

• Students fail to recognize information that is noteworthy when involved in a discussion versus lecture. Students may not have an appropriate note taking method for discussions or may not be aware that discussions produce important course information.

Question 7

According to research, what are skillful readers able to do?

Answer 7

• Determine importance • Summarize information • Draw inferences • Generate questions • Monitor comprehension

Question 8

List the “disengagement strategies”:

Answer 8

Self-Doubt + anxiety = lower goals; Self-doubt = belief in failure; Not asking for help; Will not engage instructor; Lower academic goals. Not attending class. Will not ask questions

Question 9

What is the difference between a “mastery orientation” vs. a “performance orientation”?

Answer 9

Mastery goals focus on student understanding, effort and improvement, performance goals focus on student to student comparisons.

Question 10

According to Dembo & Seli, what is “stereotype threat” and how might that affect performance?

Answer 10

The stereotype threat is the fear/anxiety a student may have that their actions may confirm a stereotype. Students may react to this fear by setting lower goals and underachievement.

Question 11

Many students highlight as they read. What is the problem with this?

Answer 11

Highlighting is ineffective because it does not help transfer information to long term memory. Time is spent highlighting information that may not be relevant, and does not engage the reader in the content. Text that is highlighted may become confusing when attempting to review the material. Highlighting can also distract the reader and lead to missed opportunities to connect themes and main concepts.

Question 12

Covington (as cited in Dembo & Seli) has identified four ways in which people try to feel good about themselves in the face of possible failure. Identify two of them and explain how they protect self-worth.

Answer 12

Procrastination, and anxiety are highlighted as ways to protect the image of self-worth during periods of possible failure. Students procrastinate when they fear failure, and use anxiety to explain poor performance. Students use these methods to hide their failures to preserve their sense of self-worth. When students respond to potential failure using these coping methods the student breaks the self-worth feedback loop. Self-worth → Ability = Performance

Question 13

How do Debo & Seli suggest that you approach reading a textbook? (Do a bullet list and/or outline with these large categories: Before you read, While you Read, After Reading)

Answer 13

• BEFORE YOU READ: o Review for learning aids o Survey assignment o Read provided questions • WHILE YOU READ: o Text as conversation o Turn headings to questions o Highlight and annotate text o Comprehension monitoring • AFTER READING: o Answer out loud questions generated o Summarize material o Outline material o Map material

Question 14

. In your own words, what is the difference between “attention” and “concentration?”

Answer 14

Attention is the ability to focus or ignore stimulus from our environment. Concentration is how we shift our attention from one stimulus to another.

Question 15

What are some of the negatives that procrastinators experience?

Answer 15

• Worse health • Higher stress • Worse grades

Question 16

Complete the following sentence: “Instructors like students who…”

Answer 16

try

Question 17

If someone does poorly on an exam, what types of attributions would make it less likely that a student would seek help? A student is less likely to attend a review session/seek help if the student attributed their poor performance to:

Answer 17

Students who attributed their poor performance to their lack of ability, difficulty of the exam or the instructor.

Question 18

What are the pros and cons for the following methods of note-taking: typing vs. traditional pen & paper. What is the advantage of using a digital pen?

Answer 18

• Digital pen provides some of the same benefits as long hand, but also uploads notes into easy to read fonts.

Question 19

What have some medical imaging studies found about the brains of those who are “mathpobes” when they are thinking about doing math vs. when they are actually doing it?

Answer 19

• The anticipation of math caused the pain areas of the brain to light up, however, when actually doing the work, the pain areas were no longer affected.

Question 20

Why do students sometimes fail to seek help?

Answer 20

Students may find it embarrassing, an admission of defeat or something to be avoided to protect their self-worth.

Question 21

Sometimes, there are challenges to having mandated study halls. How can one make the best of the situation? Students can:

Answer 21

• Select specific study goals
• Select space most conducive to study
• Reduce vision contact with distracting people
• Limit social interaction to breaks

Question 22

Complete the following sentence. Based on her research would Carol Dweck agree with this or disagree? “But the better you get at something…”

Answer 22

• “The more you’ll find you enjoy it.” Agree

Question 23

How is procrastination like an addiction?

Answer 23

• Procrastination provides an avenue to feel temporarily good and a relief from boredom.

Question 24

What are you trying to take notes on during a class?

Answer 24

• Notes should focus on concepts, facts, main ideas and supporting details. Students should record concepts that were repeated as well as any information that is unclear or areas of less understanding. Students should attempt to capture discussion prompts in the form of questions and answer the questions with the notes.

Question 25

What is one of the main drawbacks of using a computer to take notes on?

Answer 25

• Princeton/UCLA researchers Mueller & Oppenheimer found students using lap tops to take notes where less able to recall facts and main concepts when compared to long hand note takers.

Question 26

Professors teach in a variety of different ways. Two of the most common are “sage on a stage” and “guide on the side.” What is the difference between these two ways of teaching?

Answer 26

• Using classroom time to work on application of concepts, problem solving and exercises. Instructors guide discussion by presenting main topic ideas in the form of questions and discussion.

Question 27

What are the two major differences between high school expectations and college expectations?

Answer 27

• Students are expected to manage their own time to complete assignments. Learning directives and assignment progression are student driven. • College students are expected to provide their own motivation, versus HS where teachers try to motivate students to learn.

Question 28

What was the implication of the online study that had half the students receiving help from a computer while the other half received help from an instructor?

Answer 28

Students are more willing to seek help when the help can be considered anonymous, which reflects that the self-worth issue is less of a problem when no one is aware the student sought help.

Question 29

Who are LEAST likely to seek out help?

Answer 29

The students who need it most.

Question 30

What has research discovered to be a better predictor of academic success than SAT scores, high school GPA, or study habits? Why?

Answer 30

Classroom attendance & time management. The classroom allows the student access to information not available in other resources, also provides a feedback loop of information through the instructor/student interactions w/ regards to lecture, discussion and q&a sessions.

Question 31

What does “academic self-regulation” mean?

Answer 31

• The techniques by which a successful student is able to set optimal conditions for learning as well as adjust learning techniques to achieve academic success.

Question 32

What is the “typical procrastination pattern?”

Answer 32

1. Pain 2. Shift focus 3. Feel good distraction 4. Time wasted

Question 33

Covington has identified four ways in which people try to feel good about themselves in the face of possible failure. What are they and explain how they protect self-worth.

Answer 33

Procrastination, unattainable goals, underachievement, anxiety are highlighted as ways to protect the image of self-worth during periods of possible failure. When students respond to potential failure using these coping methods the student breaks the self-worth feedback loop.

Question 34

How do Dembo and Seli suggest that you take notes during a discussion?

Answer 34

• Note discussion prompt = P = prof. S = student, note discussion

Question 35

In the article about multi-tasking, which two personality characteristics have been correlated with multi-tasking?

Answer 35

The people most likely to engage in multi-tasking were those that scored high as “high sensation seekers” and impulsiveness. These two personality types were also those that had the lowest performance of multi-tasking ability.

Question 36

How do Debo & Seli suggest that you approach taking notes in a classroom? (Bullet-list/outline using the following large categories: before lecture, during lecture, after lecture)

Answer 36

• Before the lecture = complete reading // review notes // bring materials // sit in front • During lecture = listen & take notes // use indented notes // skip two lines for topic shifts • After lecture = add missed notes // review information not understood // jeopardy

Question 37

What tips are given to decrease one’s fear of failing?

Answer 37

Mastery goals of improvement

Success = best effort, improvement, understanding

Success ≠ performance; success = learning strats & attitude

Personal mastery > comparison w/ other students

Self-worth + mastery > evaluations = protection of feelings

Feedback = effort + strats + mastery + attitude; eval this equation for performance feedback

Question 38

Why do we procrastinate?

Answer 38

• Students procrastinate because the thought of doing the work causes them the feel uncomfortable. The availability of distractions and opportunity to feel good become habitual perpetuating the procrastination.

Question 39

What are “signal words?”

Answer 39

Signal words indicate what sort construct the information takes. For example, the chapter indicates a “sequence” of reading events, before, during and after. The sequences can be represented as a process.

Question 40

According to Dembo & Seli, give three examples of risk factors which make succeeding in college a bit more challenging for first generation college students or students from low-income families?

Answer 40

Lack of financial resources, student families may not be able to access additional resources that have positive outcomes for students, such as computers or tutors.

Representing ethnic/racial group, students can feel additional pressure to represent their ethnic/racial group which can increase anxiety which leads to lower performance expectation.

Lower pre-college expectations in educational systems in predominantly lower socio-economic status areas compared to more affluent areas.

Question 42

According to Newman, what are the steps one should take BEFORE actually seeking help?

Answer 42

• Student become aware of a lack of knowledge or understanding and the need for help.
• Students drop a course before seeking other ways to improve performance
• Make decision to use other forms of help. E.g. online, additional books
• Target a person to seek help from
• Prepare before you meet with your targeted helper
• Take good notes to refer to after the session

Question 43

What are some ways in which distractions can be managed so that it does not interfere with your learning?

Answer 43

• Students should limit distraction, and attempt to avoid them during study times. Distractions can lead to procrastination. Students should deal with distractions before they begin to study, improve their concentration and deal with distractions as quickly as possible happen.
• Monitor concentration, use reminders or self-directives, set goals, manage time effectively, take breaks, use active learning strategies.

Question 44

Why do students need to take notes?

Answer 44

• Note taking is important to help reduce memory loss. Effective note taking focuses the brain by concentrating on the speaker and engages the physical aspect of note taking to process and incorporate information into memory. The three inch margin note taking system allows for the capture of main ideas and concepts, supporting details and helps develop mirror and summary questions.

Question 45

What is the difference between “physical environment” and “social environment?”

Answer 45

• Physical environment is the location in which a student is going to study, typically recommended to be a location that maximizes the student’s ability to concentrate, and limits distractions.
• Social environment is whom is near the student during study periods. Usually this represents whether or not a student needs to work alone, or with peers, outside resources, textbooks, tutors or seek assistance from the instructor.