Time Management - Study Skills

Click here for a copy of Counseling Services Time Management Sheet.

Click here for a description of how to use the Time Management Sheet.

Click here for tips on how to optimize your memory while studying.

 

The difference between talent and skill...
It's common knowledge that a lot of talented people get admitted to Michigan Tech, talent being defined as "an ability that comes naturally and is acquired with very little if any effort." Sometimes it seems as though some Tech students simply placed their hand on the outside of their textbooks in high school and instantly knew the materials. Many MTU freshmen report graduating from high school with a 3.5 or even a 4.0 grade point average "without ever having broken a sweat," as far as studying was concerned.

As they say, a lot of talented people get admitted to Michigan Tech.

But, as they also say, no talented people graduate from Michigan Tech. Highly skilled people do.

What happens in between admission and graduation for those talented individuals who get admitted to MTU is that sometime between their freshman and sophomore years, they hit the ceiling on their talent.

Suddenly, they go to a chemistry, calculus or physics class, do what they always have done as confidently as they've ever done it, and suddenly instead of getting an A on a test like they've always gotten, they get a D. Or maybe even an E. "Something's wrong here! But... on second thought... no big deal. I can pull out of this. I always have..."

In spite of good intentions, the student then goes to that Friday night party and continues to rely on his or her talent to carry the day like it has always done in the past. And then what happens?! Another D. Or E. Or suddenly there's a letter from Student Affairs informing them that they have been placed on academic probation...

Often at this point students come in to Counseling Services to finally learn time management and study skills. Until now, these students never had to learn how to study or manage their time efficiently. Now that they really need to do so, they don't know how.

Skill is defined as ability that is acquired through hard work, self-discipline and persistence.

Skill never comes naturally. It has to be learned.

Talented people do not gradutate from Michigan Technological University. Highly skilled people do. The ability to work hard, exhibit extraordinary self-discipline and to persist at a task in the face of difficulties and unexpected obstacles is one of the hallmarks of Michigan Tech graduates which make them so valuable in the professional marketplace.

Typically three counseling sessions
Most students coming in to Counseling Services to learn time management and study skills require approximately three sessions to really get the hang of it.
Click here for a copy of Counseling Services Time Management Sheet.
Click here for a description of how to use the Time Management Sheet.
Click here for tips on how to optimize your memory while studying.

Sometimes learning disabilities are discovered
In the course of learning time management and study skills at Counseling Services, a few students discover they have learning disabilities which complicate their situation. While frustrating and sometimes discouraging in the short run, such a discovery is good news in the long run, in that the student, knowing that he or she has a "learning challenge", now is in the position of doing something about it. With counseling, individual learning management strategies can be developed to help the student with a learning disability cope with whatever that disability is while succeeding in their academic career here at Tech.

Sometimes other problems are found
Other students, in the course of learning time management and study skills, discover they have additional academic problems such as test anxiety or problems relating to poor personal stress management. Still other students discover they have various personal problems that interfere with their ability to academically concentrate or manage their time effectively. Again, such discoveries can be frustrating in the short run, but they are good news in the long run, in the sense that a problem, once defined, is well on the way to being resolved.

A helpful hint
Studying is not about doing your homework. Studying is not about comprehending the material you read about in your textbooks (although that is clearly a part of it). Studying is not even about how many hours you spend studying (believe it or not!).

Studying is about retention, which involves transferring what you learn every day into your long-term memory. Doing your homework, comprehending your materials, and spending long hours in a study cubicle do not necessarily mean that you are going to remember the material you studied over the long term.

The problem with cramming
Cramming, which involves saturating your short-term memory with material immediately prior to a quiz or an examination, employs almost the opposite study strategy of that used in long-term memory retention, or study efficiency. Studies have consistently shown that information learned while cramming is almost entirely forgotten within 72 hours of its acquisition. Cramming *may* get you a passing grade on a quiz or an exam (if you're lucky). Cramming does nothing to further your education.

Learning effective long-term memory retention skills is what will best further your education. Learning time management and study skills is the most effective way to learn how to manage your long-term memory to your best advantage.


It's easy to make an appointment to come into Counseling Services and learn time management and study skills. Go ahead. Do it today!