Success Stories Pt 2

Jeff K. writes:

Faced with horribly low grades at the beginning of the semester. I was forced to find a remedy to raise my ailing average. I had been relying on my keen sense of recognition to recognize key terms on the multiple-choice exams. This presented a problem when I recognized too many familiar words in the wrong choices (distracters) on the tests. So, after a couple of failing scores, I was open to any suggestions to help my grades. I quickly applied the information presented to the class by Professor Dewey.

Jeff K.

My method is quite simple. I read the two pages that are directly in front of me. As I come to study questions I read them before I read the sections with which they are affiliated, as a guide for my attention. As I am reading I highlight key terms that will jump-start recall. After I am finished reading the two pages I turn on Counting Crows' Walkaways. I become deeply engrossed in the music and make sure that psychology is the furthest thing from my mind. After the song (which is only about 50 seconds long) I come back to the text and quiz myself with the study questions.

I recommend this method to all. It has produced surprising results for me.

Dr. Dewey adds:

Jeff (who got 100 on his latest quiz) commented, as he left my office, "I also read what you said in the Memory chapter and it was really true: it is much easier to remember something when you take an interest in it. That has helped me a lot."

Russell T. writes:

Russell T.

When I started taking this class, I was slightly intimidated by the large amount of information located in each chapter. I did not think I could read all the information in one week. So I just studied the questions, and I only read what was by the questions. This method worked until about the 3rd and 4th quiz. My scores dropped about 10 pts. After that I began to read the chapter without looking at the questions, Then I would test myself with questions from each section. After that I would test myself with questions from the whole chapter. This improved my grades to the best level yet.

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