What bites students in the butt
Stephen Walker
Issue date: 7/1/09 Section: Campus
The crippling trend in college students' work ethic is the ugly and personal Achilles' heel-procrastination. Learning good study techniques can help solve this dilemma.
"Truthfully [I study], like 15 minutes, while running up the stairs to class. I definitely work well under pressure. My favorite place to study would be while actually sitting in class," said Trinette Apodapa a summer student at SLCC.
Procrastination is a common study-avoidance technique many college students cling to until right before class, when the 15-minute quickie crunch session begins. For the other students out there, striving for good grades takes more than the 15-minute pick-me-up session.
Procrastinating catches up with many students in the long run and is an easy trap to fall into. As Patrick Pacheco put it, "procrastinating, that is basically my motto."
For each credit hour taken, it is projected that the average student will need at least 1-2 hours outside of class for individualized study time each week. So for the student taking a full-time load of 12-18 credit hours, that means 24-36 hours of study time in addition to the hours already allotted for class attendance.
"I probably study around 9 hours a week. I don't like to procrastinate but sometimes I do," said George Wens, a mechanical engineering major.
What can students do to break the vicious cycle? There are several ways that students can prevent the last-minute scramble from occurring. A student can fight the procrastination bug by attending study improvement workshops, visiting self-help websites, having willpower and working hard to integrate the study skills learned on a very regular basis.
SLCC offers free study workshops that have little bits of advice for helping students excel in their schoolwork. One suggestion a student could get from these workshops is to create daily schedules, blocking in study time. "We [Learning Center] coordinate with the TRIO program. Every semester they have student improvement workshops to learn studying techniques," said Shirley Turley, a Learning Center Specialist.
One website (www.academictips.org) suggests, "Students should prioritize responsibilities and engagements in order of importance. Some people do not know how to prioritize and become procrastinators. A "to do list" places items in order of importance." The knowledge available online is accessible to every student, for his or her advantage.
Finding the willpower within oneself to make a change from poor to good study habits can be a first step towards better grades. If there is a big test the following day, it may be a better use of time to stay home and study rather than going to the movies! Prioritization can be that simple.
Be wise when setting goals. Do not try to be a perfectionist. No one is perfect. Trying to be a perfect person sets students up for defeat. Set achievable, but slightly challenging, goals and stick with it.
Working hard to fight procrastinating will affect all areas of a student's life. Student's lives can be hectic and busy. To find extra time in the day try combining several activities into one time spot. This will free up more time for studying.
"I study an hour on, 10-15 minutes off playin' around to prevent anxiety," said Geoff Daniels a SLCC student. He went on to explain that this helps him not get so stressed out when he is studying for the more difficult subjects like math.
Not every person learns and likes to study in the same way. Several SLCC students and faculty have advice for their peers about effective studying techniques.
"I am a procrastinator to the extreme. I also have online classes I have to take. I have to study more for online classes. They are more difficult for me because I plan on doing them later in the day but then I get too tired to work on it. I keep pushing it off and forget about it," said Jessica Noren, a pre-health major.
Online classes are becoming more and more popular each day. They appeal to those who have busy schedules and need classes they can do on their own time schedule. Online classes revolve around self-motivation and time management, which tends not to be ideal for all students.
"I solve this problem [procrastinating] by setting a certain time each day for my online classes so I won't forget about them," says Noren.
"Reading comes first. Then going through all my notes and combining what I already know," said Hadiyah Muhamed, a business major. Repetition has been proven to make things stick in the brain. Muhamed uses repetition in her three-step plan to get her good grades.
"I like to use the Internet when I study. I Google whatever I need," said Patrick Pacheco. Krystal Gibson, on the other hand, suggests highlighting, annotating, working out example problems, and looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
"Studying is important with math in particular. Math builds on itself. You can't just skip a chapter and expect to understand something further down the line," said Turley, Learning Center receptionist.
Several students take advantage of the other resources available on all the SLCC campuses. These include the Learning Center, where tutoring is offered in various subjects, the Writing Centers, and the Reading Centers.
Click here to read about the best places for students to study at Salt Lake Community College.
"Truthfully [I study], like 15 minutes, while running up the stairs to class. I definitely work well under pressure. My favorite place to study would be while actually sitting in class," said Trinette Apodapa a summer student at SLCC.
Procrastination is a common study-avoidance technique many college students cling to until right before class, when the 15-minute quickie crunch session begins. For the other students out there, striving for good grades takes more than the 15-minute pick-me-up session.
Procrastinating catches up with many students in the long run and is an easy trap to fall into. As Patrick Pacheco put it, "procrastinating, that is basically my motto."
For each credit hour taken, it is projected that the average student will need at least 1-2 hours outside of class for individualized study time each week. So for the student taking a full-time load of 12-18 credit hours, that means 24-36 hours of study time in addition to the hours already allotted for class attendance.
"I probably study around 9 hours a week. I don't like to procrastinate but sometimes I do," said George Wens, a mechanical engineering major.
What can students do to break the vicious cycle? There are several ways that students can prevent the last-minute scramble from occurring. A student can fight the procrastination bug by attending study improvement workshops, visiting self-help websites, having willpower and working hard to integrate the study skills learned on a very regular basis.
SLCC offers free study workshops that have little bits of advice for helping students excel in their schoolwork. One suggestion a student could get from these workshops is to create daily schedules, blocking in study time. "We [Learning Center] coordinate with the TRIO program. Every semester they have student improvement workshops to learn studying techniques," said Shirley Turley, a Learning Center Specialist.
One website (www.academictips.org) suggests, "Students should prioritize responsibilities and engagements in order of importance. Some people do not know how to prioritize and become procrastinators. A "to do list" places items in order of importance." The knowledge available online is accessible to every student, for his or her advantage.
Finding the willpower within oneself to make a change from poor to good study habits can be a first step towards better grades. If there is a big test the following day, it may be a better use of time to stay home and study rather than going to the movies! Prioritization can be that simple.
Be wise when setting goals. Do not try to be a perfectionist. No one is perfect. Trying to be a perfect person sets students up for defeat. Set achievable, but slightly challenging, goals and stick with it.
Working hard to fight procrastinating will affect all areas of a student's life. Student's lives can be hectic and busy. To find extra time in the day try combining several activities into one time spot. This will free up more time for studying.
"I study an hour on, 10-15 minutes off playin' around to prevent anxiety," said Geoff Daniels a SLCC student. He went on to explain that this helps him not get so stressed out when he is studying for the more difficult subjects like math.
Not every person learns and likes to study in the same way. Several SLCC students and faculty have advice for their peers about effective studying techniques.
"I am a procrastinator to the extreme. I also have online classes I have to take. I have to study more for online classes. They are more difficult for me because I plan on doing them later in the day but then I get too tired to work on it. I keep pushing it off and forget about it," said Jessica Noren, a pre-health major.
Online classes are becoming more and more popular each day. They appeal to those who have busy schedules and need classes they can do on their own time schedule. Online classes revolve around self-motivation and time management, which tends not to be ideal for all students.
"I solve this problem [procrastinating] by setting a certain time each day for my online classes so I won't forget about them," says Noren.
"Reading comes first. Then going through all my notes and combining what I already know," said Hadiyah Muhamed, a business major. Repetition has been proven to make things stick in the brain. Muhamed uses repetition in her three-step plan to get her good grades.
"I like to use the Internet when I study. I Google whatever I need," said Patrick Pacheco. Krystal Gibson, on the other hand, suggests highlighting, annotating, working out example problems, and looking up unfamiliar words in the dictionary.
"Studying is important with math in particular. Math builds on itself. You can't just skip a chapter and expect to understand something further down the line," said Turley, Learning Center receptionist.
Several students take advantage of the other resources available on all the SLCC campuses. These include the Learning Center, where tutoring is offered in various subjects, the Writing Centers, and the Reading Centers.
Click here to read about the best places for students to study at Salt Lake Community College.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Bethany Walker
posted 7/02/09 @ 12:22 PM MST
I go to Valencia Community College in Florida and I can definitely say that procastination affects all of us. Thanks for writing this article.
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