How (Not) to Fail Miserably in Academia
"I don't like this class."
"I'm going to fail; I just know it."
"Oh, I'm doing really bad [sic] in this class!."
"I'm never going to get it!"
"This is going to hurt."
These are only some of the things I've heard fellow classmates say in various situations: some before an exam, others after taking notes in lecture, yet more in lab/discussion for courses which have these separate. Yet, I can't for the life of me fathom any possible reason for this thinking. I keep trying to reassure people of this and explain it to them, but no one seems to understand: It's all psychological. Your thoughts and feelings about a class will significantly push your grade in one direction - be it positive or negative.
If you truly believe that you will fail a class, then guess what? You will fail it. Telling yourself that you are not good at such a subject will serve only to reinforce your failure. Believing that you will fail makes you susceptible to remember less of what you have studied, not completing your assignments on time, et al.; but on the other hand, if you truly believe that you will do well, you'll be apt to study more, remember in clearer detail what it is you've studied, put more effort into homework and other assignments.
Secondly, if you're taking a class, you should at least put a lot of effort into it. Are you taking the class to kill a few hours every week? Are you taking the class to be with a significant other who is registered for it? Are you taking the class simply to say you took it? I surely hope the answer to these is a resounding "No;" but I perpetually find that the opposite holds true for far too many people. (One is too many.) So many students are simply not trying. Whether or not you are good at the subject; heedless of your studies skills and natural talents - if you never TRY, you will inevitably fail. There is no question about it.
I've done it before (and nearly failed a course in high school because of it); and I see it now in the introductory Music Theory course that I'm taking, as prevalently as it was when I first started my collegiate studies and as prevalently as it has stayed throughout nearly all of my classes. For example, according to a poll taken on the session by the professor, about one third or so of our class has a year or more of formal musical training (in theory, instruments, or some other aspect). Yet, many of these people continually say that they will do horribly, or that they will fail. Many of them simply do not try to participate in class or do practice assignments or other homework. Is it really all that surprising to them, then, when their scores on exams are lower than simple guessing might statistically give them? (I'm not exaggerating on this one, either...)
Likewise, the other two-thirds of our class have no real formal musical background, yet enjoy it and endeavor to do well. We study harder; we participate in class more; we do more practice problems from the book and in the computer labs; we ask questions. Is it not surprising that most, if not all, of these people fare significantly more successful than those with prior musical training who simply do not apply the the effort?
I still cannot find even one iota of understanding or reasoning for it. Why do students put themselves through a class without effort and without faith in their own abilities, then become frustrated when they end up failing the class or otherwise obtaining a horrible mark for it? I'm stunned at the sheer lack of will power people have to studying. Sure, some - perhaps many - classes are boring. I will absolutely ascertain the validity of that statement without question. But, as any senior student will tell you, it's better to just take it with stride and strive to do your best. Do well in a boring class once, and you can rid your mind of it afterward. If you can't learn to overcome these things in academia, especially as an undergraduate student or before, then you will not be able to overcome them later on in life, when their ill effects are far more cataclysmic to your well-being.
That said, once you've overcome it, the time comes to learn how you learn. (Bare with me, this will all make sense momentarily.) Some, as I am, are very visual people. For instance, when dealing with mathematics, I write down everything and draw graphs or simple figures to illustrate the problem any time I possibly can. In my studies of music, I've come to always have an mental image of the grand staff and the basic piano keyboard as applicable and how the notes in question relate to each other on both. Studying Biology, I make diagrams for myself of the process(es) in question. Even when taking notes, I do this. My notes tend to be much more like a flowchart or brainstorm than simple lists of points as are given to us in the lecture slides of the professor: arrows going every which way, having more important or relevant items in larger text size, etc.
Some might learn more suitably through audio (reading the text aloud, recording and replaying the professor's lecture, et al.) or various other methods. Find the way that you learn the best, and if you can adapt yourself to that method, your learning will be more efficient - your notes will be more easily studied, you'll probably remember a lot more of what it is you study for the exams and whatnot, etc.
Now that my rant is done, I'd like to add that I've amended my old Blog's configuration with some Apache Redirect-fu, so if all goes well any links to my old feed should point to that of this LiveJournal, and stuff should (hopefully) stay unbroken with that. :)
"I'm going to fail; I just know it."
"Oh, I'm doing really bad [sic] in this class!."
"I'm never going to get it!"
"This is going to hurt."
These are only some of the things I've heard fellow classmates say in various situations: some before an exam, others after taking notes in lecture, yet more in lab/discussion for courses which have these separate. Yet, I can't for the life of me fathom any possible reason for this thinking. I keep trying to reassure people of this and explain it to them, but no one seems to understand: It's all psychological. Your thoughts and feelings about a class will significantly push your grade in one direction - be it positive or negative.
If you truly believe that you will fail a class, then guess what? You will fail it. Telling yourself that you are not good at such a subject will serve only to reinforce your failure. Believing that you will fail makes you susceptible to remember less of what you have studied, not completing your assignments on time, et al.; but on the other hand, if you truly believe that you will do well, you'll be apt to study more, remember in clearer detail what it is you've studied, put more effort into homework and other assignments.
Secondly, if you're taking a class, you should at least put a lot of effort into it. Are you taking the class to kill a few hours every week? Are you taking the class to be with a significant other who is registered for it? Are you taking the class simply to say you took it? I surely hope the answer to these is a resounding "No;" but I perpetually find that the opposite holds true for far too many people. (One is too many.) So many students are simply not trying. Whether or not you are good at the subject; heedless of your studies skills and natural talents - if you never TRY, you will inevitably fail. There is no question about it.
I've done it before (and nearly failed a course in high school because of it); and I see it now in the introductory Music Theory course that I'm taking, as prevalently as it was when I first started my collegiate studies and as prevalently as it has stayed throughout nearly all of my classes. For example, according to a poll taken on the session by the professor, about one third or so of our class has a year or more of formal musical training (in theory, instruments, or some other aspect). Yet, many of these people continually say that they will do horribly, or that they will fail. Many of them simply do not try to participate in class or do practice assignments or other homework. Is it really all that surprising to them, then, when their scores on exams are lower than simple guessing might statistically give them? (I'm not exaggerating on this one, either...)
Likewise, the other two-thirds of our class have no real formal musical background, yet enjoy it and endeavor to do well. We study harder; we participate in class more; we do more practice problems from the book and in the computer labs; we ask questions. Is it not surprising that most, if not all, of these people fare significantly more successful than those with prior musical training who simply do not apply the the effort?
I still cannot find even one iota of understanding or reasoning for it. Why do students put themselves through a class without effort and without faith in their own abilities, then become frustrated when they end up failing the class or otherwise obtaining a horrible mark for it? I'm stunned at the sheer lack of will power people have to studying. Sure, some - perhaps many - classes are boring. I will absolutely ascertain the validity of that statement without question. But, as any senior student will tell you, it's better to just take it with stride and strive to do your best. Do well in a boring class once, and you can rid your mind of it afterward. If you can't learn to overcome these things in academia, especially as an undergraduate student or before, then you will not be able to overcome them later on in life, when their ill effects are far more cataclysmic to your well-being.
That said, once you've overcome it, the time comes to learn how you learn. (Bare with me, this will all make sense momentarily.) Some, as I am, are very visual people. For instance, when dealing with mathematics, I write down everything and draw graphs or simple figures to illustrate the problem any time I possibly can. In my studies of music, I've come to always have an mental image of the grand staff and the basic piano keyboard as applicable and how the notes in question relate to each other on both. Studying Biology, I make diagrams for myself of the process(es) in question. Even when taking notes, I do this. My notes tend to be much more like a flowchart or brainstorm than simple lists of points as are given to us in the lecture slides of the professor: arrows going every which way, having more important or relevant items in larger text size, etc.
Some might learn more suitably through audio (reading the text aloud, recording and replaying the professor's lecture, et al.) or various other methods. Find the way that you learn the best, and if you can adapt yourself to that method, your learning will be more efficient - your notes will be more easily studied, you'll probably remember a lot more of what it is you study for the exams and whatnot, etc.
Now that my rant is done, I'd like to add that I've amended my old Blog's configuration with some Apache Redirect-fu, so if all goes well any links to my old feed should point to that of this LiveJournal, and stuff should (hopefully) stay unbroken with that. :)