DISTANCE LEARNING | CONTINUING EDUCATION | ONLINE DEGREES

College is a ceaseless barrage of assignments, deadlines, and papers. Somehow, between running to classes and pounding out essays, you have to actually absorb the deluge of information being thrown your way, to say nothing of maintaining your sanity and sense of normalcy.

Although learning styles differ, it has been found that certain techniques almost universally help students learn and retain knowledge better and faster. Check out the following five ways to improve your study skills:

1. Repetition. Repetition. Repetition. Did I mention repetition? That’s probably because “repetition is the mother of knowledge.” It was true when you were a newborn babe, and it’s true now. Humans learn by being exposed to things again and again and again. Research has found that humans, on average, must encounter information seven times before they commit it to long-term memory. Other research has found that frequently returning to the same information greatly increases retention.

How does this apply to you? It means that attending lecture isn’t enough. It means that you need to increase the number of times you see and think about the things you are learning. This may be as simple as reviewing your lecture notes the next day, reviewing material in a study group, or doing assigned homework exercises. The more you return to the information, the greater your chances that the information will be in your head when you need it.

2. Take notes. Something magical happens in the brain in the process of taking spoken information into the ears and translating them into words on the page. The brain has to process the information once when it hears it and then once more when it sends the signals to the hand to write it. The result: your brain thinks twice about information it is receiving, which is a good thing!

So, don’t substitute the digital recorder for taking good notes. Notes go a long way toward increasing retention. Returning to your notes can recall important memories of lectures and intuitive links made during those lectures. They are an essential companion to repetition.

To increase the power of note-taking, don’t just write down rote what the professor has on the board. Change up the wording. Put it in language you can understand and will easily recall later. This adds one more opportunity for your brain to process the information before moving on to the next item.

3. Diagram it. Before letters and words came along, man started his communications career using pictures to convey feelings, stories, and information. It seems the human brain is just hardwired to understand the world through pictures. So, you might as well use this unique ability to get through school.

When studying complex concepts, try sketching out diagrams that explain them in succinct but correct ways. Put these diagrams in the margins of your notes, over your Gene Simmons poster, or somewhere else where you will see them often. You will be amazed at how these diagrams pop right back into your head during exams or even later during crucial job interviews- instead of, say, pictures of Gene Simmons.

4. Create a space. Maybe as important as how you study is where you study. Places with lots of noise or activity create traffic jams in your brain with only limited amounts of desired information making it to your memory banks. On the other hand, places with lots of room and peace and quiet let you focus solely on the information before you and ensure maximum retention.

Experts recommend that you find your temple of study, a place that you can return to again and again with the sole purpose of studying. Look for a place with the following characteristics: good lighting, good ventilation, a comfortable (but not too comfortable) chair, and a desk large enough to spread out your materials. Some things you want to avoid: a view of activities that you want to be involved in, a telephone, a loud stereo, a TV, and a talkative friend. Pretty much anywhere in your dorm is a bad place to study.

Remember, you’re trying to train your brain to go into study mode every time you enter this space. So, don’t do anything else in your study temple but study. Some good candidates for study temples: libraries, wilderness areas, and study rooms/carrels.

5. Budget your time. Adequate study takes time and won’t usually happen accidentally. This means you’ve got to keep a planner, schedule in times to study, and stick to your schedule.

Having a consistent study schedule, like having a consistent study temple, helps your brain get used to studying intensely at certain times. This makes it easier for your brain to absorb maximum amounts of information.

The human brain is a powerful thing, and there’s a lot you can do to unlock its potential. What do you do to get the most out of your studying? Any tips for us? Let us know below…

College is an awesome way to learn, grow, and, of course, improve your future. You meet wonderful people and get exposed to things you never otherwise would have. You get challenged and earn your stripes, so to speak, in the real world. All good things. But I just hate some things about it.

This might seem like a funny thing to write on a website about education. However, after six years of higher education- just keeping it real here-, there are some things I will never get used to. In fact, leaving school and then returning for a master’s degree has not made it any easier. You know the whole absence-makes-the-heart-grow-fonder thing? Well, that’s not true with college.

So, in the spirit of complete honesty, I just wanted to gripe about college-related things I just can’t stand. I am hoping, obviously, that others out there will share my frustrations with the whole university experience. I also wince at the prospect that I am just being a big wimp about the whole ordeal and this will broadcast that wimpiness across the expanse of cyberspace, a risk I am willing to take. For your reading pleasure, following are the five things I hate about school. You’ll notice that most of these stem from my belief that universities should operate more like free market businesses and less like the stuffy universities of two centuries ago:

1. Expensive textbooks – Okay, nothing says ‘Welcome to a new semester of school!’ like paying several hundreds of dollars for books that you will go through in three to four months and never read again for the rest of your life.

Universities make very little effort to rein in money-hungry publishers and make things a little easier for students who are already paying out the yin-yang just to pay tuition and rent. The university holds our arms behind our backs while the publishers sock us in the stomach.

2. Grades (especially on the curve) – News flash: in the real world, there are no grades. Especially, people are not graded on the curve and they sure as heck aren’t graded on how well they tell the professor what he wants to hear. In fact, the most successful organizations are those which create win-win environments where all participants achieve their potential.

The university grading system is still around because, well, it’s just always been there and that’s what people expect to see. It’s high time this relic of a performance measure was retired and sent to a cold, lonely grave.

3. Anal professors – It’s no secret that professors often regard their classes as their own personal kingdoms, their word as gospel, and opposing viewpoints as a threat to their authority. Running ironically contrary to the supposed goal of universities to foster debate and free thought, these powermongers too often suppress their students merely for the pleasure of hearing themselves speak. Their lust for power is also manifest in their unwillingness to compromise with students on test scores or assignments.

Not every professor is this way, but too many are. Last time I checked, I was the customer, the one forking out the dough to consume their service. Shouldn’t they cater to me, instead of the other way around?

4. Anal students – Especially in groups, these students become extremely annoying. These students have bought into the false sanctity of grades, GPAs, perfect scores, and the pot of gold they will receive for graduating magna cum laude.

Were they to see how very little grades and test scores matter after school, they might loosen up and enjoy the company of their fellow students, stop and smell the roses. Sadly, their fate will be to tear through college only to enter the workforce and be shunned by their co-workers because of their lack of interpersonal skills or perspective.

5. Clueless professors – You walk into class one day only to find your classmates taking an unexpected midterm. When you ask the professor about it, she remarks, “Oh, I mentioned it two weeks ago in the middle of my lecture on tenant farming in the 17th century. You must have missed it.” Professors who are too laid back or who offer excessively ambiguous syllabi also can make your college life miserable. These professors make it virtually impossible to stay on top of the work in their class. The worst of these evaluate your work with a much more critical eye than they do their own.

There it is! I said it. Just had to purge there for a moment. Education is a wonderful time in your life full of discovery and inspiring teachers (except for all those things I just mentioned). Tell us your college-related gripes below…

College roommates can be less than desirable. Let’s be honest: they can be downright revolting. Some are severely challenged in hygiene and organizing skills. Some are insanely clean and demand the same of others. Some take your stuff. Some won’t give you a thing. Some are too loud. Some are freakishly quiet.

To commemorate these annoying, infuriating, and sometimes endearing habits, we have compiled the following list of bad habits. Vote for which ones you think are most annoying:

Borrowing without asking (a.k.a. stealing) – Includes taking or using clothes, electronics, food, toiletries, dishes, CDs, DVDs, magazines, and books. It also includes not contributing to the purchase of common items, like toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc.

Picking nose – Includes dredging the nasal passage walls for mucous build-up. Most troubling cases involve ingestion of removed mucous or depositing of mucous on furniture. Leaving used tooth floss or q-tips around may also fall under this category.

Leaving dishes unwashed – Includes using dishes, silverware, or cookware and then leaving them in an uncleaned state. Whether they are left in the kitchen sink, on the coffee table, or buried under a pile of clothing, any abandonment of unclean dishes falls under this category.

Not taking a bath – Includes lack of regular showering or bathing within two or more days of the last instance of showering or bathing. Sponge baths do not constitute showering or bathing.

Being too noisy – Includes playing music, shouting, laughing, or otherwise generating noise at higher than acceptable sound decibel levels, especially during sleeping or study times. However, if noise occurs during other times, you may be guilty of improperly assuming authority (see below).

Being a recluse – Includes not returning greetings, not reciprocating polite conversation when offered, hiding in one’s room, or otherwise inhibiting reasonable communication and interaction with one’s roommate.

Always having company over – Includes continuous presence of non-roommate persons in the premises, especially at inopportune times of the day to the point of encroaching on privacy and personal property. Level of annoyance depends largely on physical appearance of and unwanted noise generated by non-roommate persons.

Creating unfavorable odors – Includes gastrointestinal expulsions, poorly prepared food items, lack of personal hygiene, and odors originating from environmental hazards that are the result of neglect (i.e. dirty clothes hamper).

Improper assumption of authority – Includes all communications, both verbal and nonverbal, implying a dominant role on the part of the communicator. Common examples include leaving out sarcastic notes, scolding, and glaring disapprovingly.

Overuse of facilities – Includes exceeding one’s daily hot water quota, toilet time quota, or remote control time quota.

Tell us which ones annoy you the most. Got one to add to the list? Tell us about it below…

For the millions of college students out there, ’tis the season for interviews. Yes, the interview: that most uncomfortable of meetings between you and a prospective employer where you must dress the right way, say the right things, and avoid, at all costs, saying the wrong things. It is the last hoop to leap through before attaining your desired job. It could also end up being a flaming ring of doom and whirling blades that puts your career goals in intensive care.

We’ve all been tripped up in interviews. Interviewees have been known to screw up in pretty much every way possible. From bad breath to insulting the interviewer’s kids to completely forgetting what job you’re interviewing for to clogging their toilet, interviews tend to bring out everyone’s inner idiot. This phenomenon may be caused by nerves, over-confidence, lack of preparation, or just plain bad habits. Following are five of the most common faux pas people commit during job interviews:

1. Showing up late As if the gods of chaos were suddenly unleashed to work mischief on the mortal world, the darnedest things tend to happen on the day of an interview to make you late. Cars have been known to break down. Kids have been known to lose their Happy Meal all over interviewee’s suits. Twenty-car pileups have been known to clog up every known road and highway.

This does little to promote your image as a confident, capable professional, especially when you show up with your shirt untucked, mustard on your cheek, sweat drenching your suit, and a faint cloud of engine exhaust lingering around you.

2. Talking bad about previous employers Almost everyone has had an unpleasant experience with a past employer. That’s usually why they’re looking for another job. When you start up a new romantic relationship, it is common to tell them how terrible and unfulfilling your last relationship was. This makes your new friend feel good that you have completely detached yourself from the last one. With employment relationships, however, the opposite is true.

When you say, “Yeah, my last boss was a mindless drone, concerned only about profits and unable to loosen up and have fun,” the interviewing thinks you are unconcerned about profits, just out to party, unyielding, negative, and possibly toxic to organizational harmony. If you couldn’t get along with your last boss, why would you get along with your new one?

3. Dressing down There is no one uniform that would suit every job interview. Shorts and t-shirts may work in some. Crisp business suits may work in others. It all depends on the type of company you’re interviewing with.

Many individuals unfortunately make the mistake of dressing however best fits them, without considering the type of company they are interviewing with. Some self-absorbed hipsters have been known to wear mauve corduroy suits to interviews with investment banks. In any case, the I’m-too-sexy-for-this-firm approach really only sends one simple message: CLUELESS.

4. Responding that you are too perfect, brilliant, or otherwise unchallengeable when asked what your biggest weakness is Nobody’s perfect. Nobody wants to work with someone who is purportedly perfect. People who think they are too much of a perfectionist, too brilliant, too incredibly gifted in tracking general ledgers, etc., usually turn out to be: 1) not really that good; 2) full of themselves; and, therefore, 3) impossible to train or integrate into a team.

Besides, the “perfectionist” answer just feels like a cop-out. It shows that the interviewee hasn’t done enough introspection to identify a real weakness.

5. Not knowing anything about the company or the position After submitting applications and sending in resumes, some interviewees get to the interview only to reveal that they really have no idea what the job entails, what the company does, or if they are even remotely qualified for the job. This is bad.

Depending on the interviewer, they may end the interview right there, make noticeably small talk for the remaining time, or take the time to educate the interviewee about the company and the position. Regardless, unless applying for an entry-level position with McDonalds, this usually spells certain doom for the interviewee’s chances of getting hired.

Don’t let these glaring mistakes ruin your career path. Plan ahead. Do some research beforehand and then approach them accordingly. This is your chance to strut your stuff. Don’t blow it!