iv. Falls farther and farther behind waiting to find time to catch up
v. Crams at the last minute to read the material
vi. Doesn’t do assignments because they are late or only worth a few points.
vii. Panics and gives up.
V. Diagnose your problems, develop a workable plan for improvement, and set realistic goals.
a. Put yourself in the best position to improve and do better.
b. If you have poor study habits, it will take a sustained effort to improve them because
you have to both overcome entrenched, overlearned bad study habits and develop new,
more effective ones.
c. You may have to try multiple different study strategies before you find the ones that
work best for you. There will be setbacks, and success probably won’t happen as quickly
as you like,
d. Once those good study habits are established and automatic, they will give you an edge
in any learning situation.
For Further Reading
If you would like to read more about the cognitive basis of effective instruction, especially with regard to
student beliefs and behavior, I recommend the books and articles below. Much of the information in the
videos is covered and elaborated upon in these readings. I have included links to some of the articles,
which were working when I wrote this. The other articles can easily be obtained through an internet
search. I did not include the links because they were on personal websites.
Ambrose, S. A. et al. (2010). How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching.
San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Chew, S. L. (2010). Improving classroom performance by challenging student misconceptions about
learning. Observer, 23(4), 51-54. http://psychologicalscience.org/observer/getArticle.cfm?id=2666
Cox, R. D. (2009). The College Fear Factor: How Students and Professors Misunderstand One Another.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Gurung, R. A. R., & McCann, L. I. (2011). How should students study? Tips, advice, and pitfalls. Observer,
24(4), 33-35.
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/publications/observer/2011/april-
11/how-should-students-study-tips-advice-and-pitfalls.html
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319,
966-968. doi:10.1126/science.1152408
Pashler, H., McDaniel, M., Rohrer, D., & Bjork, R. (2009). Learning styles: Concepts and evidence.
Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9, 105-119.