How To Become A Straight- A Student

By Cal Newport

Step 1 - TAKE SMART NOTES

Don’t Read Your Assignments, but Do Keep Them Handy Bring textbook materials to class to follow the professor’s examples. Only refer by helping to fill in the blanks after attending the professor’s lecture.

Make sure to have the reading material ready to go before class.

Prioritize Your Note-Taking

1. Record the problem statement and answer
2. Question the confusing: insist on asking questions when they don’t understand a specific step.
3. Record the steps of the sample problem
4. Annotate the steps: if you get ahead, annotate the steps with little explanations of what they accomplish or why they’re important.

Step 2 - DEMOTE YOUR ASSIGNMENTS

Minimize the time spent on assignments while still learning exactly what they need to know.

Work Constantly Divide the weekly assignments or problem sets in little chunks.

• Sit down Sunday night to plan out the week.
• Do little chunks every day.

Don’t Read Everything Always read the assignments from favoured sources — usually textbook or course reader (provide the basic structure for the course by outlining key facts and arguments in a condensed form.)

Select only the most important supplemental readings for review.

Don’t work Alone on Problem Sets

• Work on them constantly: work on problem sets in small pieces while you’re between classes or activities
• If get STUCK: use available resources such as classmates.
• Identify 1 or 2 students with same abilities/skill level and then construct a regular schedule for working together on the class assignments.
• Set meeting times 2 or 3 days before deadlines
• Take advantage of OFFICE HOURS
• Always go to office hours
• Arrive knowing which homework problems pose the biggest challenge to you.

Solve Problems on the Go Familiarize with the problems, try to solve it, then put away your notes and move to something else. “Instead of trying to force a solution, thing about the problem in between other activities.”, then try to solve it by setting aside a schedule/time.

Write Solutions Right the First Time Go slow and deliberately the first time. Write the answer carefully, and clean it up immediately until it is of submission quality. Then cross assignment off the list.

Step 3 - MARSHAL YOUR RESOURCES

”Smart student understand that if you’re studying hard, then you’ve done something wrong. Preparing for a test should not be painful. And it should not require a lot of time.”

Follow steps 1 and 2: taking smart notes and handling assignments effectively!!!!

1. Organize material intelligently
2. Perform a targeted review of this material

Define the Challenge First, define the scope of the exam: “You need to know what kind of information the professor wants you to know.”

• Which lectures and reading assignments (or problem sets) are fair game?
• What type of questions will there be, and how many of each?
• Is the exam open note or open book?
• For a technical class, will formulas be provided or do they need to be memorized?
• How much time will be available?

Build a Study Guide (Organizing Technical Course Material) Problem set assignments are the KEY to your review process.

1. Match the lecture to the problem set that covers the same material.
2. Copy sample problems from these lecture notes onto a blank sheet of paper. You don’t have to copy the steps or the answers, just the question.
3. Label the blank sheet of paper with the date of the lecture. This will help you later figure out where these problems came from, where the answers can be found.
4. Fasten this sheet with a paper clip to the problem set you matched it to step one.

Print out practice exams if available!

Prepare Memorization Aids Flashcard Anki

Schedule Your Organization Wisely Don’t organize and study in the same day! Brain will be too tired to accomplish both effectively on the same day.

Step 4 - CONQUER THE MATERIAL

Trust the Quiz-and-Recall Method Most effective way to imprint the concept: REVIEW and TRY TO EXPLAIN IT, unaided, in your own words. Close eyes and articulate/explain or stare at a blank sheet of paper and reproduce a solution without a mistake.

Using the Quiz-and-Recall Method for Technical Courses

• Start with explaining the concepts: makes it easier to solve the sample problems.
• articulate answer for problem, give them out loud, as of lecturing a class. OR write it out!
• Solve the problems, write the equations, the concepts.
• Mark the questions that give trouble.
• Take a break.
• Come back and redo them
• Do practice exam, review carefully after finishing it.

Step 5 - INVEST IN ‘ACADEMIC DISASTER INSURANCE’

Eliminate Your Questions Marks Put a question mark beside notes for any topic that I do not understand. → KEY: Start eliminating question marks well before the exam! How:

• Ask questions during class.
• when in doubt ask questions in class for more clarifications
• Develop a habit of talking to your professor briefly after class.
• Head over to the professor and see how many of the question marks can get eliminated.
• Immediately correct your notes before you forget the explanations.
• Ask classmates.
• Talk with other people about the topic right after the lecture.
• Come prepared to exam review sessions (if offered).
• Before you arrive, jot down all of the topics from your notes that you are still unsure about. During the session try to get all of them answered.

Step 6 - PROVIDE “A+ ANSWERS”