On the road to success

• Introduction
• Block 1
• Block 2
• Block 3
• Block 4
• Broadcast schedule
• Tools

Introduction

Up until now, we have put the emphasis on you as an individual having needs and motivations. However, even with perfect knowledge of one’s strengths, the best learners may end up wasting their time, motivation and energy if they are not properly organized.

Good organization is vital to being successful in your studies.

The immediate environment in which you work can have an impact on your organization, and therefore, on your performance. This is why it is important to work in surroundings that are pleasant, whether it be a question of lighting or they layout of the room. You should be able to easily access your material as well.

Theoretical notions

Learning strategies and work methods

The most common difficulties students have are related to their level of organization. Some examples follow:

• Difficulty to establish a study schedule that fits with their work week;
• Difficulty to meet deadlines for submitting assignments;
• Difficulty to read effectively with the objective of obtaining an overall understanding of a text;
• Difficulty to take notes on the assigned readings;
• Difficulty to prepare for an exam.

TIME MANAGEMENT

It is essential that you arrange your schedule so that you have time to devote to your studies. Establishing a schedule means adequately managing one’s time. This will help you to improve your performance, because you will have an approach adapted to your specific situation.

To help you in planning your time allocation, take a look at the hours that you devote each week to each of the various categories of activity. There are 168 hours in a week. When adding up your hours, if you exceed 168 redo your calculations.

Now compile the hours devoted to each of the categories of activities as follows:

Reading

There are specific techniques that will help you to read more effectively and, in so doing, maintain your levels of concentration and attention. Writing out of a short summary of each of the parts that you have just read may help you to remember the main ideas. Using a highlighter to emphasise certain points is another effective strategy for getting the most out of your reading experience.

Note-taking

Taking notes helps to bring out certain points of the subject matter you are studying or to summarise the information. It develops your memory and maintains your focus and attention. It is also a useful reminder for distance education courses. When you take notes with the learning material at hand, you can start studying to prepare for assignments and the final exam. How should you take notes? Write in the margins of your course texts and documents. Use post-it notes as required. In the end, taking notes allows you to better assimilate the subject matter.

The following document presents a number of tricks that will help you to take notes more effectively: http://www.cegepadistance.ca/en/apropos/articles/student_support_2007_08_13.asp.

Memory and concentration

It is important to know that stress, memory, and concentration all go hand-in-hand. The more stressed out you are, the more you risk forgetting certain things and losing your focus.

Memory is the faculty to register, save and re-use information. It is often compared to the hard drive on your computer… On the other hand, concentration is the ability to focus your attention on one subject or one assignment for an extended period of time without getting distracted. High-performance concentration is active and dynamic: It requires a degree of effort, and practice to be effective.

Video capsule

Video capsule: "Get organized"

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