In the Tutor-tutee Group Meeting, a freshman has asked me a frequently asked question: “What do I have to do to be successful in college studies?”
As a member of the Programme Counseling Team of Associate in Business, I have provided, purely coincidentally, “FAQs” as the answer: Focus, Attend, Question, and Study.
Focus on the educational and/or other goals that students have set before or after entering the college. In most cases, it is articulation to UGC-funded universities. This will give students a purpose for coming to college and provide enough intrinsic motivation for them to be persistent even though they may encounter stress or difficulty.
Attend classes on time and pay attention in class. Learning takes place when students regularly attend both the lecture and the tutorial with undivided attention. Full concentration is important in listening to lecturer’s explanation, taking notes for future review and understanding the subject matter during lecture. Active participation in class activities, such as practicing exercise, discussion and presentation, during tutorial is important.
Question lecturers and classmates on textbooks, notes, and exercises when students have doubts in understanding them. Students should first identify areas or concepts that they do not understand and look it up further or ask their classmates. They can also prepare succinct questions before asking their lecturers during walk-in consultation hours or by appointment to get clarification on concepts taught and get advice on studying for the subject.
Study hard and manage time effectively. Effective study habit is essential for achieving and maintaining a high GPA. Students should have a scheduled study time matching the suggested time allocation of four hours on self-study per week for each subject in addition to the regular three hours of classes. They can use a planner to help break the work into small chunks to make difficult tasks easy.
The actions mentioned above are just basics that freshmen have to do in college. They have to be reinforced by positive learning attitude to achieve successful results for their goals.