Time management is one of the biggest stressors that college students face. In this second episode of our Time Management series, Adam and Dinur break down planners and wall calendars to help you get a handle on your time! Click here to download this episode’s transcript! Show Notes To-Do List 1 To-Do List 2 Backwards […]
As final exams approach on the calendar, many students resort to the “cram and jam” method of learning. While this is understandable, it’s also not going to help – cramming never does. In past posts on this blog, I’ve recommended self-quizzing, which is a scientifically-supported way to get better scores on exams. But I don’t […]
Time management is one of the biggest stressors that college students face. In this first episode of our Time Management series, Dinur and Adam go into how to make the humble to-do list one of the rockstar tools of getting your time under control! Click here to download this episode’s transcript! Show Notes To Do […]
When you’re staring down the barrel of finals week, you may begin to feel a little panicky. This is normal! And just like everything else, if you plan for it, it makes it less stressful. Here’s a quick checklist to follow for each of your final exams. What Will The Exam Look Like? First, find […]
Many students feel really intimidated when they don’t immediately understand what they’re learning. In this episode, Adam and Dinur go over why this confusion is completely normal, and how to handle it! Click here to download the transcript of this episode! Show Notes The First 20 Hours by Josh Kaufman
The Student-Athlete’s Dilemma Earlier this term, I had a student-athlete come to office hours. He was pretty far behind in class, and pretty discouraged. “I hate studying,” he confessed. “It just seems like a waste of time.” I’ve had many students, not just student-athletes, tell me this. Why study? they ask. They don’t see the […]
Today’s episode is for students who struggle with writing, and instructors who struggle with “how do I make my students understand what we need for writing?” We’re honored to have our first guest, Dr. Stacy Smith, here today to talk to us about the different issues that undergraduates face when they have to learn how […]
How to Stick To It: If Only I Knew It! I freely admit it: Sometimes I have trouble keeping myself faithful to the goals I’ve set. I’ll write something in a planner with the best of intentions, and two weeks later, I’ll realize I never followed through. I’ll take my big project, break it down […]
Emerson said that the greatest discovery of his generation was that by changing your attitude, or how you think, you can change your circumstances. Since attitude, or how we think, is one of the few things we can control, this makes sense – but how do you change your attitude? In this episode, we’ll talk […]
Many students today tend to “write like they talk.” This means that their writing may not take notice of things like spelling and sound-alike words. In a first draft, that’s understandable. Some students don’t realize that the word they wrote isn’t the word they meant to use. Others are hoping for the best, because they […]
A lot of students have a black-and-white view of success: you’re either an A student, which means “perfect,” or you’re a failure. So in this episode, we’re going to talk about how to shift your goals away from perfection and towards improvement. You can download the PDF of this episode’s transcript by clicking here.
Most of the time, high-school students aren’t learning on a deep level. Their learning is usually focused around stuffing in information for tests and then spitting it back out on those tests. They know facts – but they don’t know why they are learning them. It’s just “what the school requires them to learn.” This […]
In the information technology world, there’s a saying: “fast, right, cheap – pick any two.” Recently, we realized this also applies to education: “fast, correct, low-stress – pick any two.” In this episode, we’ll talk about the outcomes of each tradeoff, and how to encourage your students – or yourself – to make the one […]
The biggest question I got from my students in emails this past week was: “I keep overthinking tests and assignments. How do I stop overthinking?” Overthinking is a really common problem in high school and college! Part of the reason is that tests are usually high-stress situations, and big assignments often “count” for a lot […]
Most students think they know how to study: they read, they re-read, and they re-re-read. But there’s a lot more that goes into studying effectively! In this episode, Adam and Dinur go over several ways to maximize your study time, by identifying and using new ways to interact with the material. You can download the […]
Almost every student I’ve ever met stresses out about tests. Whether it’s a quiz, a midterm, or a final exam, it’s one of the most stressful things students cope with. And it’s no wonder – we live in a society that prioritizes test scores! But research has also shown that going into a test stressed […]
Too often, learners think that there are people with a natural talent for learning, and that they must not be that person, because learning is not easy for them. This is an example of what Carol Dweck calls the “fixed mindset.” In this episode, Adam and Dinur go over these ideas, and how to develop […]
Flash cards. They’re old-school, sure, but they’re versatile. You can flip through them to learn terms, concepts, and ideas while you’re riding the bus, or waiting for class to start. You can get someone else to quiz you with them, or you can quiz yourself. You can play different games with them in your study […]
In this episode, Dinur and Adam discuss the ever-present student method of “studying” – cramming – which is something that the high school mindset almost demands. But when you get into college prep and college, it stops working! Join us as we talk about how to stop cramming and start studying – and how to […]
The other day, I had a student ask me about her start-of-class quiz. She hadn’t done well. “Tell me what happens when you see the questions,” I said. “I always think I know the answer, but then I think I must be wrong, so I choose a different answer.” “And how does that work out?” […]