The Obvious truth is that a particular method for
assuming academic success and making a first class
degree in school cannot be applicable to everybody.
However, there are specific principles that you can
follow in order to guarantee your academic success
and earn yourself a first class degree during your time
at the University. The department or course not
withstanding, earning a reputation for yourself with
that CGPA or aiming to be the best in your faculty or
the university depends on most of these frequently
overlooked but important cues. It’s quite a long post
but I cheer you on to read, learn, contribute and share
with friends. Here are 9 ways to guarantee your
academic success and consequently earn a first class
in the university:
1. Please go to class and attend lectures! (You
Paid for it)
While going to class sounds too simple to be a primary
concern, this is one of the most effective study habits.
Going to class not only keeps you disciplined and
focused on what you’re at the University to do, it
allows you to absorb the subject matter simply by
sitting through the lectures. If you’re an auditory
learner, this is tremendous because listening to the
explanation in the lectures will create an
understanding that should be convenient enough to
pass the class in itself!
If you’re a visual learner then watching the notes being
written on the board or reading through the slides (if
available in your university) during the presentation
will give you the necessary understanding to pass the
class. Going to class also ensures you have the latest
news on assignments, tests, quizzes, and exams
straight from your lecturer’s mouth. You don’t want to
be that student that shows up for class once a week
only to find there’s a scheduled test on that day!
2. Pre-read your lecture material before
classes.
One night I was bored – very bored. I grabbed a
textbook for a class whose lecture I had the next
morning and I began reading from the point we
stopped at in the previous lecture. It was difficult to
understand and took a lot of focus to push through it
but the next day in class while listening to the teacher,
it crystallized in my mind and was easy from then on.
It had the added benefit of being committed to my
long term memory giving me a better understanding
of the material. It makes sense if you think about it. I
was essentially learning the material twice. First, alone.
Secondly, with the help of an expert. These combined
into a solid understanding that I still possess to this
day.
It is suggested and advisable that you do this for every
class. Also, you may use this technique for anything
that you deem to be very difficult or abstract. That way
you’ll have a great head start on understanding and
mastering the hard stuff, leaving plenty of time for
filling in the gaps with the easy stuff!
3. Explore other recommended and helpful
resources.
Many class outlines will have “optional” reading listed
along with the required textbook. This is often a HUGE
opportunity for easy marks and guaranteed success in
the particular class. Lecturers are humans just like me
and you. Their job is to relay the required material and
then test you on it. If they’re using the required
textbook as reference for the learning part, where do
you think they’re going to get the material for the
testing part? If you say “the required textbook”, you’re
probably wrong! Lecturers will often take exam or test
questions out of their favorite textbooks, resulting in
quality assessments from a trusted source. Those
favorite textbooks are often listed as optional reading
material on the course outline. Also don’t forget the
mighty Internet. Use Wikipedia and Google as well to
find extra (often better!) resources on whatever it is
that you’re struggling with.
4. Get to know more of your classmates.
This one can be extremely demanding for many
people these days. Meeting people is becoming
increasingly difficult in a world of social stigmas and
fears of disapproval. I’m not going to tell you how to
meet people. But when you do, the benefits will
become apparent. Having someone to lean on for
notes from a lecture that you missed, being able to
bounce questions and ideas off of somebody, and
most importantly having someone to check your
assignment answers with before you hand it in, are all
spectacular reasons to swallow your nerves and start
saying “Hi! My name is….” to the people in your class…
and don’t have too many female friends, if you’re a guy
5. Always get your confusions resolved as
soon as possible.
Information in your field of study is cumulative and
the last stuff you learned will be instrumental in
understanding the next stuff! So anytime you don’t
understand something or have a question about the
subject matter, get your question answered as soon
as you can. Whether by asking during class, after class,
or by asking a fellow student – do it. You need to stay
on top of the subject matter in order to be ready for
the next stuff that’s coming. Don’t let the holes in your
understanding be knowledge pits for the future!
6. Make maximum and wise use of your time.
Use your time wisely in
between classes as well as before and after school.
There are many opportunities to sneak in some
studying or homework that many students either don’t
realize or just don’t use. I’ve known people who would
study on the keke on in the bus during the ride to and
from school. I’ve also known people that would
combine the time waiting for a lecture to begin with
their study time!
Just bring your notes and instead of pinging or
chatting endlessly with friends. You get a workout for
your body and for your brain! Always keep your notes
handy and use any spare time for simple review to
make sure you’re on top of the material. All of those
small moments you fill with studying will really add up
to a solid understanding. You’ll discover that you will
require less studying when exam time arrives. That’s
huge.
7. Begin studying for tests and exams early.
Between academics and your social life, time is not
something you will have in ample quantity throughout
your stay in University. One cardinal act you should
always make time for is studying early for exams.
There’s nothing worse than leaving all of the studying
for the night before an important test or exam. The
stress causes you to panic and you won’t perform as
well as you normally would if you had studied early
enough. Studying a little bit during the semester will
not only make you better prepared but will also
remove most stress you’d have if you leave your
studying for the last minute.
Early exam studying allows a student to identify weak
spots in their understanding and to prioritize their
studying accordingly. Just imagine studying until the
early morning of the day of your exam only to find
you’ve completely ignored a section that you have little
or no understanding in. Don’t let that happen.
8. Obtain past exam question papers and
assignments from your senior colleagues.
Doing this helps you procure a satisfactory idea of
what subject matter the instructors are most likely to
test you on. They are even more useful because you
can attempt the exam/assignment as a check of
knowledge, identifying weak areas that you must take
into further consideration or re-study.
Last semester, I was studying gluconeogenesis in
Medical Biochemistry and a senior colleague of mine
happened to pass by. He appeared interested and
proceeded to supply me a couple of past questions.
One was “Gluconeogenesis is not necessarily the
reversal of Glycolysis. Explain”. Propitiously, in my end
of semester examination, it was asked exactly as I was
given in Number 2. It was worth 10 marks.
One common tactic many students use for science
laboratory classes is to find a graded laboratory
notebook from a previous year. Laboratory work is
notoriously difficult with respect to time limitation and
what is expected from a student’s lab report. Having a
format to follow along with is a phenomenal help.
Knowing where to avoid mistakes is fundamental as
well.
9. Take notes extensively and relentlessly.
Probably the most tedious of our top 10 9 ways to
guarantee academic success and earn a first class in
the university, maintaining a consistent habit of taking
good notes is hard to do. In our present world, many
students find it difficult to maintain their focus long
enough to record the information given out during
lectures. The advantage being that when time comes
to write a quiz/test/exam, you’ll be glad you have that
pile of notes to review and refresh your brain with.
Taking good notes is an act of learning in itself. This
small but potent act goes a long way to creating the
foundation for a quintessential and unparalleled
understanding of the material being covered.
An excellent method is also to scribble down
everything that seems useful in some manner, almost
as if you were transcribing the lecture. Later, transfer
and rewrite the notes into an understandable form in
another notebook. This will cement the information
into your mind, moving the material from your short
term memory into your long term. Time and again, we
seem to understand a lecture when it is delivered.
Unfortunately though, a week later or two we seem to
lose almost every point that was made. Note taking is
one of the best ways to consolidate short term
memory into long term memory.
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