Gee! I studied hard and I’m failing. What now?

DO THIS

Check your class attendance.

You hour in class is the most valuable hour. It takes 3 – 9 hours on average to catch up for every class hour you miss. Missing class is not good time management.

Read your textbook.

You should allot 3 hours of study time for every hour in class. This is an average. If you are behind in Social Studies, or have difficulty reading or writing, please allot more.

Study for tests

Attend the review, if any is given.

Use the study sheet, if given.

Use the study sheets to study, not as a substitute for the semester’s work.

Use the quiz bank as a study strategies only after you have attended class, read the material, taken notes or whatever you do, reviewed. Use the quiz bank to test your studying. Do not use the quiz bank as your only study method, as you will find this is time consuming, confusing, and ineffective.

My disadvantaged students across town tell me they study as few as 2 hours and pass. Aim for much higher than passing. Aim for a B or an A.

Do error analysis

Go over you test, Find the right answers. Figure out why you made your error. Are you having difficulty with objective tests? Probably not, as Kendall and I requires less skill in testing than the State of Texas requires on 5^th grade TAKS. If so, however, find study material on objective tests. Fifth grade will suffice. More likely you will find that you need to read the text more closely and study in a way that enables you to come to the exam remembering the right information.

Consider using new study methods.

The library, the tutoring center, and OSD all have resources. The instructor also has resources either in the library or her office. Study groups help most students.

See the instructor in her office about study difficulties if you have done these things and still are not doing well.

DO NOT

• Think you will gain points by complaining rather than learning
• Argue against the grading
• Suggest that the course is too hard (!)
• Become belligerent
• Stop coming to class and think the school somehow will magically drop you
• Ask for variance from syllabus rules rather than for help in studying
• Fail to drop if you are making an F and will not change your input
• Suggest that because you are not doing well that the instructor is a communist, a fascist, or an adherent of some ideology that conflicts with yours and conclude that your grade is a result of opinion clash. Your grade depends upon the facts you can demonstrate you know and your understanding of how those facts relate to one another. If you have a viewpoint, use it to propel your learning more facts and better use of the interrelation of those facts.
• Argue that you should be given a point for attending when you are late – because notice, syllabus advertises that no points are given for attendance
• Keep hoping that your grade will go up with no work or no change in study habits; grades are not randomly assigned

If it doesn’t work in algebra class – why should it work in Sociology?