"Bread crumbs" lead students to better study habits

Depending upon your outlook, when students tell us they would like more study tips, we either see that as a good thing or a bad thing.


I have written before about how my courses use the Noel Levitz retention tool, the Noel Levitz College Student Inventory ™, to leverage what students tell us their needs are with content useful to them in the course. The majority of the students in my current Comp I online course say they would like help in finding good study tips. They told me this through the CSI, which was presented prior to the start of the semester.

Of course, we teachers pride ourselves on building study tips into our courses, and so it is easy at first to say the students just are not paying attention. I can easily take this attitude as the course is marked with what I call bread crumbs. That is, worksheets, practice quizzes, diagnostics, referrals to counselors, links to tutors, and so much more are clearly labeled. I even have the words “start here” to indicate that students should start with the lectures. How can the students possibly miss all of this? Well, some do. Plus, remember that the survey was done prior to the semester when students had not seen any of the study elements.

With that, I continue to build into the online courses I teach more bread crumbs to provide the help they crave. My latest effort was to create short study tips as announcements. I have created 10, focusing on tips for essays and critical thinking. I have cued the computer to release a new one every 10 days. In addition, I plan to provide a hyperlink within each study tip announcement that tells students where they can find more on the topic.

One of my key concerns is whether or not I am giving the students the exact study tip they seek. However, I also view these tips as entry points, so to speak, to a broader resource they can find, which is why I add the hyperlinks for more help. For example, I am moving them toward the tutors, the handbook, worksheets, and myself, following a study tip in the announcements.

I am including my list of 10 resources in this blog. Readers may use any of these, if they are so inclined. If you have good ones of your own, please share. I am grateful to others who have shared many of these ideas. Here are the tips I am now placing in the announcements:

Study Tip 1: SQ3R clarifies the reading

One approach to reading an assignment, even to review your own writing, is the SQ3R approach. This stands for Survey, Question, Read, Review, and Reflect. To expand, first Survey the essay. That is, scan it. Pay attention to sub-heads, if present, and look quickly for the main ideas in paragraphs. Then think of the Questions you have after scanning the essay. This will engage your mind to look for the answers. Then Read through the essay. Next, take time to Review what you have learned and whether or not your questions were answered. Finally, Reflect upon the meaning of the content. Then repeat the process. Sometimes the essay is better with the second read.

Study Tip 2: Include three things when writing a thesis

When writing a thesis, be sure you do three things: 1. make a claim, 2. explain why it true, and 3. show why it matters. Example: Children should not stay up late at night watching television (claim) because they need eight hours of sleep each night (why it is true), so that they will not be inattentive the next day in school (why it matters).

Study Tip 3: Organize thoughts before you start to write

One element that marks the difference between the novice writer and the experienced one is taking time to organize your thoughts. Just as a home builder would not construct a house without a blueprint, the writer needs to plan thoughts. Planning an essay can be in the form of an outline, a brainstorm, a list of ideas that need to be included, and so on. The point for the writer is to consider the ideas to be included within the essay prior to starting.

Study Tip 4: Essay structure key to success

Presenting ideas in a structure that helps the reader to comprehend the ideas is important for successful communication. One essay format, the five-paragraph structure, offers the reader a format for comprehending the writer’s ideas. The five-paragraph structure calls for, in this order, an introduction, a thesis within the first paragraph, at least three main body paragraphs that each has a main idea with supporting examples and explanations, and a conclusion that summarizes the lessons learned and/or makes a prediction about the future.

Study Tip 5: Conclusions summarize lessons learned make future predictions

A conclusion should add to the points the main body has made as the writer wraps up the essay. A good way to do so is to make a prediction about the future, given the points made in the main body. A writer may also comment upon the lessons learned, for example, how the case that was just made has changed him or her as a person. A conclusion must not present ideas that were not developed in the main body. In addition, the conclusion must connect to the thesis.

Study Tip 6: Avoid distractions when studying

Many students think they are good at multi-tasking and so they study with the television or music on in the background. The cell phone and text-messaging are also close at hand. Studies show that human beings really are not good at multi-tasking, that the examples presented really should be called what they are, distractions. Study in a quiet environment and your mind will be better able to focus on the material.

Study Tip 7: Make use of Online Tutors

The course offers opportunities for connecting with online tutors for questions involving math and English. Students are encouraged to make use of the tutors. Each student has 15 hours of time scheduled with tutors per year and very few students make use of this time. Having a person who is trained as a consultant is valuable. However, do not expect the tutor to do the work. The tutor’s role is to guide the student to individual success.

Study Tip 8: Paragraphs require explanation and example

When writing a paragraph, remember that your objective is to communicate your ideas that support the thesis to the reader. Because the reader cannot “read” your mind, but is limited to only the words on the page, you need to provide details beyond the main idea of the paragraph. It is important to support the main idea with examples and explanations. Therefore, a writer must be aware of what the reader needs to know to fully understand the message being delivered.

Study Tip 9: Critical thinking valued in communication

Instructors value the concept of critical thinking, but at the same time this can be very confusing as to what is wanted because it is seldom defined. To demonstrate you are thinking critically begin with any one of three processes: one, review the evidence and conclude what is truthful; two, consider a concept and apply it to a situation; or, three, show how you would solve a problem. Note that each of these approaches must be appropriately applied to the question being asked.

Study Tip 10: Creative thinking brings out the inventor

One creative thinking approach is to combine two ideas and make something new. For example, someone in the plastics industry once looked at the spoon and fork and made a new eating utensil, the spork, combining the spoon and fork into one utensil. To apply the creative thinking concept to your studies, consider how, for example, big ideas have changed history. In addition, consider how big ideas of today are changing the world. Finally, consider how the big ideas you have learned in one course can be applied to another.