reflection

Academic Care Week-At-A-Glance

I love the beginning of a semester. When a new semester begins, your grade is an A+ and you are completely on top of your work. It seems like the farther into the semester we get, the poorer our habits become. What we need to do is practice academic care to keep our habits strong.

It’s not difficult or time consuming to practice academic care. In fact, you can improve your academic health and fight the procrastination monster by focusing on one aspect every day as you study. Try using the Academic Care Week-At-A-Glance below.

Sunday: Prepare for the Week Ahead

Look over your course calendars to see what content you will be learning during the week.
Look ahead to plan for future exam or project due dates.
Skim the readings for the week’s classes to familiarize yourself with the content. Look at the headlines, subheadings, images, and vocabulary.

Monday: Start Strong

Break down large assignments into chunks that you can work on over time.
Begin your readings, filling in information missing from your lecture notes.
Start turning new information from your notes and readings into study questions.

Tuesday: Stay the Course

Continue with your strong start from Monday.
Don’t start to procrastinate! Stay on top of your notes, readings, assignments, and study questions.
Review your study questions, focusing more attention of questions you can’t answer.

Wednesday: Look at your Progress

You are at the midpoint of the week.
Look at what you’ve accomplished so far. Identify the benefits of Preparing for the Week, Starting Strong, and Staying the Course.
Focus on what you need to do for the rest of the week to stay on top of your work.
Continue with your notes, readings, assignments, and study questions.

Thursday: Modify and Adjust

Review your plan for the week. Are you still committed to following it?
Identify anything that got in the way of sticking to your plan.
Modify and adjust so that you can successfully complete your work. Do you need to change your schedule? Are you using the most effective study strategies?

Friday: Relax and Have Fun

Make notes of important information you need to review or relearn from your classes, clinics, labs, or exams.
Take the night off. Relax, rest your brain, spend time with family or friends. Do something creative and give the left side of your brain a rest.

Saturday: Finish, Review, and Reward

Finish any work from the week so you don’t have to carry it over and risk getting behind.
Review all the new content learned during the week.
Review content learned during previous weeks and connect new information to what you previously learned.
Reward yourself for all your hard work. Do something you enjoy, spend time with friends or family, whatever you want.

Enjoy Winter Break

With finals over,students are ready to rest and enjoy the Winter Break. It’s important to take time to have fun and relax so you can begin strong when the new semester starts, so here are four ways you should take care of yourself over the winter break.

Take Care of Your Physical Self

No doubt you want to have some fun during your break, but take time to get some rest and relax. You don’t want to return in January more tired than you were when you left. During the crunch of finals, many students don’t take time for meals or eat enough of the right foods. What you put into your body is important, so refuel your body by making good food choices. And, make time to exercise. While it is tempting to lay around watching movie marathons on Netflix, exercising consistently for thirty minutes three to six times a week will increase your ability to be proactive when you return to campus instead of reacting to all the outside forces around you. As a bonus, all the endorphins you produce will help you enjoy your break even more.

Take Care of Your Brain

After all the studying and preparing you do before your finals, you may think that you just need to empty your brain for a while. What you want to do it feed it; or more specifically, feed the creative side of your brain. Let’s face it; almost all your finals required you to use the left side of your brain. You had to practice logical thinking, accuracy, and analysis, and all that brain work has left you exhausted. To refresh your brain do something creative. Read a book, just for fun. Write in your journal, or blog, or just a letter to a friend or family member. Paint something, take some pictures, build in Minecraft, sing and dance, or play some video games. Do something that requires you to be intuitive, subjective, random, and creative. Rest the left side and enjoy engaging the right side of your brain.

Take Care of Your Spirit

Taking care of your spirit means to reconnect to your value system and the things that inspire you. This is a very personal form of renewal and people do it very differently. Some people immerse themselves in distinguished literature or surround themselves with great music. Others head outdoors to communicate with nature. Still others refresh their spirit through prayer and meditation. Whatever method you use, take the time to reconnect and recommit yourself to those things that inspire and uplift you.

Take Care of Your Emotional Self

Take some time to heal after the stress of finals. Spend time with people you enjoy: with family and friends who make you feel loved and secure. Perform at least one act of service, especially an act of anonymous service, where you will gain nothing more than the satisfaction of helping others. Make a difference to someone else on a small way. As humans, doing something that is meaningful and beneficial to others brings out the best in us and renews our emotional self.

You will find that the best self-care comes through finding the balance in each of these four areas. So enjoy your Winter Break, relax, and we will see you when you return in January.

Human Errors

You may have noticed a mistake or two in the text of this blog. There are at least 8 (a light-hearted illustration on my part of the theme of the blog). Can you find them all? You may email me at remusser@uams.edu for a list of the ones I intentionally included.

Oops. I did it again. I apologize. My misteak. Earlier this week I sent an email to a colleague, and I included a brief description of the file I attached. Guess what—I failed to attach the document. Know what happened the next time I sent that same person an attachment? Your right, I attached the document. Why are we so afraid to goof up? In the book Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning, the author Peterr C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, and Mark A. McDaniel make the observation, “. . . errors are an integral part of striving to increase one’s mastery over new material.” And later in the discussion they add, “When learners commit errors and are given corrective feedback, the errors are not learned.” This finding is in contrast to a widely-held belief that the very act of making a mistake reinforces that mistake in the mind and actions of the learner. Not so, if the learner or the instructor provide reflection and correction.

Some of the Best Learning is Built on Errors

I can hear the naysayers (myself included) push back that some errors are more critical than others. As Stewart on the TV show “The Big Bang theory” observed, “It’s wrong to say a tomato is a vegetable; it’s very wrong to say it’s a suspension bridge.’ I don’t want my surgeon or my airline pilot getting it wrong. That’s why there are flight simulators and practice ahead of time—it’s better to make our mistakes in the learning lab than on the actual job. With reflection and another go at it we learn, and we do better. We do make mistakes; the time tested statement is correct, “to err is human.” It might be nice to live an error-free life in an error-free world, but we do not. In fact, contrary to our expectations the best learning is built on failures and on the subsequent efforts to evaluate what went wrong, why, and how to avoid that problem next time. After all, Edison’s light bulb was not nearly his first attempt nor was he the first person to create an electric light.

In our culture to accept mistakes, even more to embrace them as a valued component of learning, goes against the grain. One of the unfortunate affects of this attitude is that we become risk averse, unlikely to test new skills or to try new ways of thinking. Yet, novel thinking and novel methods are necessary for improvement. So, give yourself a brake. Embrace your mistakes. Do note them, examine them (why did that happen, what exactly happened, how can I do better next time), and learn.

Resilience Study

More years ago than I care to remember, in high school, I ran the 880 yard dash and one mile relay leg. Meets opened with those nutty guys running the 2 mile. Only in that race did everyone run together: the varsity and the freshman/sophomore teams. At one race, when I was a senior, a lone freshman from another town ran so slowly he was in danger of being lapped twice by the winning varsity runner. Only a desperate sprint at the end of his sixth lap prevented this ignominy. He struggled to the next curve and fell off the track into the grass, not finishing. Some years later my younger brother, one of those nutty long-distance runners, told me “The Rest of the Story.” That same runner moved to another event, off the track even, onto the field, and he won the conference meet in the high jump his senior year.

Success, Failure, and Resilience

As we think about resilience in this series of posts, why does one succeed and another not? What is resilience? Is it the dogged determination of General Grant, or is it the transition to another endeavor to which a person is better suited? Both seem resilient in different ways. Both moved on to success.

3 Models of Resilience

Resilience study has become an established academic subject, principally among psychologists and psychiatrists and originally focused on childhood development in the face of crises or traumas. In her book Ordinary Magic: Resilience in Development Ann Masten notes that some research has given attention to the variables in situations requiring resilience. At least three models of resilience have arisen out of attention to these variables. One model notes that resilience arises in the direct interplay between a person’s assets and some risk or adversity. As a UAMS student you might spend your assets of organization and detailed recall to prepare a paper or study for an exam.

A second model notes that mediators, indirect influences, are often present. Masten recounts that economic downturn in the late 20th century led to a significant rise in worsening adolescent family relationships among Iowa farm families. In our situation, poor sleep, unhealthy diet and exercise, and other issues can contribute to adverse academic performance. As best you can, eat well (not much, but well), sleep well, keep active. Take care of yourself, and you will more likely thrive. A third model suggests that moderators are often significant. A moderator is an intervention which removes or ameliorates an adversity. They function like airbags, Masten suggests, lying dormant, unused until needed. For instance, someone prevents an attacker or shields a victim. Masten mentions the widespread use of 911 as a moderator which greatly improved outcomes.

I think of our Student Success Center as this kind of moderator. We are here for academic coaching, for peer tutoring, for writing help, for referral to other services. Help us help you be more resilient when you face adversity at UAMS. Face adversity you will; be as prepared as you can to bounce back, a resilient success.

Resilience After Failing

At the end of the first day of the Battle of Shiloh Tennessee in 1862, the forces under General Ulysses Grant were demoralized and defeated. Late that night Grant’s second-in-command, William T. Sherman found Grant under a tree in the pouring rain. ‘Well, Grant,’ said Sherman, ‘we’ve had the devil’s own day, haven’t we?’ ‘Yes,’ Grant replied, ‘lick ’em tomorrow, though.’ http://www.historynet.com/account-of-battle-of-shiloh.htm

The next day, they did. Reinforcements arrived, and Grant’s army succeeded in pushing back the Confederates to win the battle. General Grant’s resilience made it possible for him to push for victory after a calamitous setback and failure.

What is Resilience?

Resilience is the inner quality that enables you to pick yourself up after a failure or setback and move forward toward a success. Instead of giving up, a resilient person takes time to reflect and honestly analyze the why behind the failure or setback. He or she corrects their errors, formulates a new plan, and moves forward toward the goal.

Resilience helps students come back after failing a test. While performing poorly on an exam can be upsetting, remember, you will usually have many opportunities to “show what you know”. What is most important is that you move forward, and perform better the next time.

What Does a Resilient Student Do After Failing?

So what should you actually do after failing a test? The actual process is quite straightforward, although every student will execute it differently. Very simply, you should reflect, analyze, make changes, and execute.

Reflect. Begin with reflecting back over your preparation, and your expectations before you took the test. How well did you manage your time? What study strategies did you use to prepare? Did you learn as much as you could about the test? What were your expectations going into the test? Did your expectations match reality?

Analyze. It’s not enough to find the right answers to the test questions you missed. Instead, do a careful review of your exam and analyze each item to determine why you missed it. Did you not know the information? Did you misread the question, rush through it, or forget to come back to it? Did you panic and shut down? Were you sick or hungry? All of these are reasons for poor performance, and it’s important to know why you missed a question so you know what to change for the next test.

Make changes. Once you know why you missed an item you can make changes in the way you prepared (studied) or in how you took the test. For example, if you didn’t know the information, you can make sure that it’s in your notes and you tested yourself on it before the exam. If you misread the question, you can read it more deliberately, and read each response before you select one. Figure out what you need to do, and then plan how you will do it.

Execute. Now, follow through and do the things you need to do to be more successful. Your planned changes are worthless if you don’t actually put them into practice.

Developing your resilience will serve you well during your academic and professional careers. If you want help coming back from failing a test, complete the Academic Coaching Request to schedule an appointment with a Learning Specialist in the Student Success Center. We will be happy to help you make positive changes in your study and test-taking habits and become more academically successful.

What Do You Expect from Your Instructors?

Last week I asked you what you expected from your education. I asked you to think about why you are here at UAMS, and whether your experience is meeting your expectations. I also advised you to reflect on and alter your expectations from time to time, because when your expectations are aligned with your experience, your motivation and satisfaction increases. And, motivation and satisfaction are important for academic success.

This week, I want you to think about what you expect from your instructors. Instructors tend to be the most visible representatives of a college or university, and students will often base their evaluation of their program on their opinions of their instructors. And, while instructors have a lot of expectations for their students, those same students arrive in class with expectations for the faculty.

What Do You Expect from Your Instructors

The expectations you bring into the classroom are often influenced by your experience with your previous instructors. You will probably want them to do the things your favorite instructors did in the past. For example, you might have had an instructor whose passion for their subject inspired your curiosity, or sparked your interest in your current field of study. It would be natural for you to expect the same passion from your instructors at UAMS. At the same time, we all remember that professor whose class we endured, probably because it was a requirement. It may have been an important course, but you missed out because of the way it was taught. You are probably expecting your instructors to do better than that in your current program.

Keep in mind that your instructor can’t be aware of the expectations you bring into his/her classroom. Every student is different, and their expectations are unique to their personality and prior experience. In addition, student expectations are rarely shared with the instructor. These factors often lead to a disconnect when expectations make contact with reality.

When Expectations Meet Reality

So, what should you do when reality doesn’t live up to your expectations? First, remember why you are here and what you want to get out of your educational journey. Renewing your commitment to your academic journey will help reduce the impact of misplaced for unmet expectations.

Second, reach out to your instructors. Ask questions, engage in discussion, and seek guidance. They are masters of their professions, and they want to help you achieve your professional and academic goals. They have chosen to teach – to invest in future generations of professionals – and they want to do their best. So, don’t decide to disconnect. Reach out instead.

Finally, remember what you have the power to change. You can change how you react and what you do. Take steps to make your learning more satisfying and enriching. Connect with your peers to go deeper into the content. Look for places to volunteer, where you can interact with professionals on the front lines. Find opportunities to connect what you are learning to real world experience. You don’t have to make a huge time commitment to deepen both your learning and experience.

You bring expectations of your instructors to class, and sometimes the reality will far exceed those expectations. When it doesn’t, don’t become discouraged. Know why you are there, what you want, and take steps to make things better.

Traditions from Babylon: Resolutions for Success

Are you part of the nearly 45 percent of Americans who say they make New Year’s Resolutions? The tradition dates back to the ancient Babylonians who made promises to the gods in an effort to gain their favor. While we’ve been keeping the tradition ever since, today our resolutions focus on self-improvement.

Reflection to Resolutions

January 1st is a great opportunity to make resolutions to change academic habits that aren’t working for you. Think back over the last semester.

How successful were you?
Did you meet your goals?
Were your goals attainable?
How well did you balance your academic requirements with the other areas of your life?
Did you manage your time as effectively as you could?
Did you work hard enough to achieve your goals?
If you worked hard, do you need to find ways to work smarter so you can maximize your study time?

Potential academic resolutions lie in your answers to these questions. If everything is running smoothly, that’s great! But if it isn’t, what do you want or need to change? If Plan A isn’t working, then it’s time to move to Plan B or even Plan C. No plan is ever perfect. You should always be updating and changing your plan based on your needs. What worked for you in the past may not work in your current situation. So, make a new plan and meet your goals for academic success.

Resolutions to a New Plan

If you want some help creating a new plan, the Student Success Center has a wide range of resources to help you find what you need. Visit our On Demand Support page to find materials that provide support and guidance. And if you don’t see what you need, tell us what you are looking for. Use the Academic Coaching Request form to make an appointment with a Learning Specialist for personalized guidance and advice. We will work with you to find what you need.

Learn from the traditions of ancient Babylon. Make your resolutions for the new academic year. The Student Success Center is here to help if you. We want you to have a very successful New Year.

Reflect: How are you doing?

At this point, most students are about halfway to mid-term exams, making it a good time to look at how the semester is going. How is your academic performance? Have you set yourself up for success? What about your study skills and test scores? If you aren’t where you hoped to be, it’s probably a good idea to reflect on how well what you are doing is working for you.

Realistic Goals

Goals provide structure to your academic life. They help you focus on what’s important and ignore other distractions. Are you on track to meet your semester goals? If you are, then you probably don’t need to change anything. If not, then you will probably want to consider some changes.

Are your goals achievable? If not, you’ll need to revise them. If, on reflection, your goals are realistic, ask yourself if you you have planned adequately to achieve them. You may need to change some of your habits, like how you manage your time, or try sharpening your study skills. Often, our goals require us to change how we work to achieve them.

Maybe you haven’t consciously set goals for yourself. If that’s the case, I strongly encourage you to make the time to do so. Goal setting should be part of your academic preparation. Without specific and realistic goals, you will find yourself making random decisions you may regret. You can find more information about goals setting on our post, Setting Academic Goals.

Organization and Time Management

I know I’ve said this repeatedly, but the fact is that success at UAMS is dependent on organization and time management. It’s hard to keep up with multiple courses, projects, exams, and family, friends and, often, a job. Are you actively managing your time? Do you know where you are in every assignment? You may need to change the way you manage your time. Learn more by reading Time Management and Organize and Manage Your Time on this blog. You can also find resources to help you under the Time Management tab on our Learning Support page.

Study Skills

Successful students have good study skills. Even if you’ve never had to study much before, you will need strong study habits to meet the rigorous academic requirements at UAMS. Reflect on what you have been doing. Do you feel you are well prepared for your exams? Maybe it’s time to improve how you study and build your skills. You can read more in our posts Sharpen Your Study Skills and Step Up Your Study Skills. You can find more resources under the Study Skills tab on the Learning Support page.

Test-Taking

Test-taking skills begin before the test. In fact, the time to begin preparing for a test is the first day of class. Good test-takers use strategies before, during, and after a test. Reflect on your test performance. If it’s not what you hoped, consider the following.

Before the Test: One of the leading causes of low test scores and anxiety is poor preparation. Students often wait until the last minute to study, and then cram all night trying to catch up. They arrive at the test exhausted and overwhelmed. If they try to replace rest with caffeine they might begin to feel sick, which will make it even harder to perform well. Take a look at how you prepare, including your studying, note-taking, and time management. Making necessary changes will help you improve your academic performance.

During the Test: Even the best prepared students can make errors during the test. They may lose track of time, spend too long on one question, or second guess themselves and change answers that were correct. You may need to look at how you are taking your test, and correct some of your habits.

After the Test: What you do after the test is very important to your success. Good test-takers examine their test results to find the source of their errors. Were you missing the information? Maybe you left questions blank. Analyzing your errors can help you take steps to avoid making them on your next test.

There are more helpful resources under the Testing tab on the Learning Support page.

Make the time to reflect. How is your academic performance? Now is the time to change the things that aren’t working for you. Use our resources to help you improve your time management, study skills, and test taking skills. If you want more personalized help, complete and submit the Academic Coaching Request to make an appointment with a Learning Specialist to find the strategies that will work best for you.

Reflecting on Reflection

I’ve been thinking about reflection a lot lately. Maybe because the school year is over and I’m wrapping up finished projects and starting new ones. Maybe it’s because as I’ve grown older, I’ve become more reflective. Mostly though, I think it’s because I believe that reflection is the key to growth, and I look for ways to improve. Taking time to reflect always results in making changes in how I do the things I do.

Uncomfortable Reflection

I don’t always enjoy reflection. I’m never a superstar when I look back over what I’ve done. Most of the time I see things I could or should have done differently. In hindsight, I could have accomplished more, had less stress, or drama, learned more, increased my efficiency, and been more organized. More personally, I could have been kinder, more helpful, more encouraging, and more patient. I could always have been more patient. So it’s not exactly fun.

Joyful Reflection

On the other hand, it’s not a total downer either. I get to see what I’ve accomplished, the goals I’ve achieved, and a whole bunch of new experiences and challenges I didn’t expect, but really enjoyed. Taking time to reflect helps me appreciate all the great people in my life; my family and old and new friends. We celebrated graduations, birthdays, new homes, and even qualifying for the Boston Marathon (my husband). Reflection brings gratitude because I am so lucky to get to celebrate with the people in my life.

Balanced Reflection

I think the key to growing through reflection is to find the balance between celebrating success and taking steps to improve. When I look at things reflected in water, it’s never a clear or perfect picture. Shapes are exaggerated and lines are blurred. What you see are fuzzy images rather than crisp detail, because we reflect through a filter of our own feelings and thoughts. Knowing this, I focus on learning from my reflections, changing the things I can change, and enjoying the celebrations. Doing this helps me grow both professionally and personally, and makes the reflective process both useful and satisfying.