Posts

When I began this course, I can honestly say that I had no idea the resources I could utilize to improve my online and in person courses! I feel this is a shame because I am now a second semester senior graduating in May, but two months ago, I felt like I didn’t have the best time management or scheduling tools. I also felt unorganized and at times unmotivated with a majority of my coursework.

Throughout the last two months, I have learned so much about myself a s a learner and how to improve the study habits that have developed over the past 21 years. Some of the most important things I learned form this course include:

1. Collaborating and communicating in group projects is hard, but team work requires being creative, and encouraging each member to participate. Not ever student is the same and I shouldn’t attribute laziness as the only reason for lack of participation.
2. Cramming is not an effective way to study. I know what you are thinking, “Blah, blah, blah… I’ve heard that 1000 times!” Well, there are specific ways to improve study habits, and they include exercising, working with others, testing yourself, and getting a good night’s sleep!
3. One very important thing I learned that was integrated into almost every module was that, a positive attitude and mindset goes a long way. There will always be assignments or papers that we dread, but if you can find some passion in everything you do, it will make every assignment more bearable and even enjoyable! Try it out on your next assignment!

One of the most important things I learned about myself is that I am a perfectionist! I may be completely unorganized at times, but when it comes to my coursework, it always has to be perfect. This class helped me realize that at times, I actually put off work and procrastinate in fear of failure or judgment of imperfection in my work. With this awareness, I have already started to overcome this by taking one step at a time or finishing one assignment at a time. This has really helped me decrease my overall anxiety with procrastination. I also learned that I can become more organized in terms of time management! I learned there are many more ways to track assignments and schedules that don’t require writing in a planner. I now use reminders on my iPhone and computer and use Google Calendar to keep myself on track to finishing assignments on time. In the video referenced below, Laura explains the importance of taking control of our free time, and I found this extremely useful and encourage all of you to watch it as well. She really put into perspective that we all have crazy and busy schedules, but if we can properly manage our time, there will always be more time.

Looking forward and in the future, I will continue to use the skills I have learned about time management and I will use Google Calendar to keep track of both my work and personal life. Also, like I encouraged all of you to do, I will do my best to go into any scary or daunting task with a positive attitude. I believe positivity and optimism lead to happiness. I will make an active effort to stop negative thinking to reduce overall stress and bad energy.

Lastly, like I mentioned earlier in this post, I feel it is a shame that I am a senior and I wasn’t exposed to this class earlier. So I am recommending to any current and future student to take this course as early as possible in your college career! I have learned so much that I hope to take beyond just the classroom and hopefully into the workforce, but I feel like this class and the material I learned would have helped me tremendously throughout my time here at Ohio State! Lastly, my advice for anyone reading this is to enjoy what you learn. Not every subject will be something you are passionate about, but there is a reason for each class and each topic, so try your best to be creative in how you learn because it will make your time in college more enjoyable!

As students, taking notes is an essential aspect of learning, but there are many different styles and methods for going about it. In this post, I have identified some helpful note-taking tips and have analyzed a comparison between handwritten and typed notes.

In “Episode 3: Taking Notes in Class,” Sarah, Kate, and Anthony identified three things to emphasis when taking notes. They include:

1. Active listening: Listening is more than just hearing. Active listening can be described as, “Taking steps to engage our mind and effectively process the information you hear (Module 5, Slide 12).” As students, we need to be focused during lecture to grab the important topics. We need to listen for rhythm, tone, volume, signals and phrases, and pace to be good active listeners. For example, is an instructor gets louder it may be a signal of emphasis or importance.
2. Dealing with speed: It is important to use phrases and not just copy down every word the professor says. Active listening requires us to find the key ideas and key knowledge gaps presented, and when we take our notes, we need to use abbreviations.
3. Understand lecture structure: We need to understand how the instructor lays out each lecture, it could include announcements, then introduction questions or overarching theme for the lecture, analysis, and a conclusion. If we can understand the logic behind each lecture, it may help with the organization and flow for our notes.

I encourage you to take these tips and use them in your next lecture! I also encourage you to consider what is the best method for writing notes. Is it typing them or handwriting them on paper? Each individual is different and may use a different method for each class. Here are some of the pros and cons from “Handwritten vs. Typed Notes: Which is Best for You,” to consider to better enhance your note-taking strategies:

• Handwritten Pros: Writing your notes by hand allows for customization of non-text notes like graphs and illustrations of concepts. This practice helps enhance notes and helps students remember concepts easier.
• Handwriting cons: Handwriting your notes can be time consuming and cumbersome. If you have classes that demand a lot of information, handwriting could be a harder method to use.
• Typing Pros: Typing is fast! Using technology also allows for flexible formatting and allows you to easily change and edit notes.
• Typing Cons: Because typing is easy, it requires less mental work that handwriting. Also if you choose to use a computer for notes, you have to make sure you use it in the most productive way possible. You can’t be strolling through Facebook during class.

Overall, both handwriting and typing notes can be great uses for note-taking, however, we need to be considerate of the best ways we learn as individuals and for each class to understand the best note-taking strategy for us. Like I said, I encourage you to test each method and see what works best, and I also encourage you to remember to be an active listener, to deal with speed, and by understanding the lecture structure to enhance the way you take notes.

Handwritten vs. Typed Notes: Which is Best for You

Have you ever stayed up late to cram for a test or big presentation? I know I have! Well, this late night cramming is actually not a good way to study and could lead to bad grades and scores. Cramming and information overload doesn’t allow our brains to put information into the long-term memory. Good study habits happen when information is stored and reflected on. The video, “Some scientifically proven best ways to study,” shares the importance of creating a study program to ensure effective and efficient studying.

Procrastination happens to all of us. To be honest, I am procrastinating right now! Instead of studying for my exam this week, I am writing this blog post. Procrastination, as defined in the dictionary, is the action of delaying or postponing something. “How to Stop Procrastinating: Overcoming the Habit of Delaying Important Tasks,” highlights that procrastination is an active process where we choose to do one task over another. It usually involves ignoring a daunting or unpleasant task and doing something more enjoyable. The module we covered this week highlighted the importance of procrastination recognition and identifying strategies trailered to students based on the reasons we procrastinate.

Here are the three reasons why students procrastinate from the article,”Why Students Procrastinate: 3 Hidden Reasons.”

1. Fear of Failure: Judgment of imperfection could lead some student to procrastinate or push off assignments to the last minute. This idea says that maybe some students don’t want to put in 100% effort in fear they won’t do well, and instead do an assignment last minute knowing its not their best work.
2. Fear of success or standing out: Here, some student fear that being at the top of the class may make the susceptible to criticism from other classmates.
3. Fear of authority: As a way of rebelling against authority, some students wait to the last minute, “because no one should tell me what to do.”

Personally, my procrastination stems form a fear of failure. The most useful thing I learned was that with this awareness I am able to overcome it and adopt some anti-procrastination strategies. The first strategy I learned was to ask someone to check up on me! It seems simple, but by reaching out to family ad friends for support, they can help keep me on track to finishing tasks efficiently and effectively. Another strategy is to “act as you go.” I need to do complete assignments or tasks as soon as they arise, and avoid letting them build up to the last minute. Lastly, I learned that I need to give myself a reward. If I complete a hard task, I need to reward myself with a coffee, Netflix episode, or a 20-minute nap. This will help incentivize getting work done and not putting it off.

Overall, procrastination is sometimes inevitable, but if we can recognize that we are procrastinating and understand why we are procrastinating, then we can build strategies to manage our time more effectively. My advice to you guys is to monitor how you procrastinate in the next week and see if there is any room for improvement!

If you feel like you procrastinate like me, look at this article for tips on how to avoid procrastination! Link: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_96.htm

If you want to laugh, watch this short video about Lev’s procrastination!

Who else dreads the idea of working in group projects? I know I do!

I think we can all agree that working in groups can be enjoyable and discouraging all at the same time, but the reality of being a student or having a full-time job is that working in groups is essential. One of the most useful things I learned from this module was a lesson in dealing with group members both in an in-person and online setting.

The video called “5 Tips for Dealing with Lazy Group Project Members – College Info Geek,” gave some really useful information about how to properly deal with a difficult group project team/member. These tips include:

1. Don’t blame members for being lazy. It might not be laziness, but it could be inefficiency due to communication. It is critical to assign roles and tasks at the beginning of the project. Group communication is vital to the success of s project, and it may involve being adaptable and adjustable to different members communication styles!
2. Use a tool used for group work like Google Docs to emphasis collaborative communication.
3. Pay attention to deadlines and breakdown a larger project into smaller deadlines/checkpoints. Maybe another solution is to assign a project manager to make sure each group member is turning in assignments on time. Or create a team charter that is a physical document laying out roles, responsibilities, expectations, and deadlines!
4. Reach out to the professor if group members are unresponsive, and make sure issues are addressed earlier rather than later.
5. Sometimes the solution is to just “suck it up.” In the real world, sometimes group work doesn’t go as plan, but try your best to keep a positive attitude and complete the work as best as you can.

The reality of life is that working in teams and groups will always be required, but if we can successfully navigate through the difficult projects or members, then we can find team work bearable and enjoyable! Even if and when we encounter a difficult group project team or member, I believe these 5 tips will guide myself and others to still find success in the project or assignment.

Watch the video below for more details!