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3.5 Some tools for students.

Well, duh.

The basics work. Come to class for every meeting, do the reading before class, start the homework as soon as it is assigned, and participate in class discussion. If you do these basics, you will do well in this class. I guarantee it.

Eat right, exercise, and get enough sleep. Yes, I sound like your mother. Many college students believe they don’t need much sleep. If you think that, you are probably wrong. According to The Better Sleep Council "If you sleep longer on the weekends than during the week, you probably aren't getting the sleep you need every night."

Start practicing your IE skills by keeping the material for this class organized. Be aware of the due dates for homework and the date of the midterm. Track your progress on revising each homework assignment. Talk with your colleagues in the class. If you explain a concept to someone else, you benefit a lot from having to organize and present your thoughts.

Beyond the basics, I’ll describe one tool for learning that may be new to you.

Concept map. A concept map shows the relationships among concepts, especially how they are related to one central concept. This web page gives a good explanation of how to create a concept map, including an example with Saint Nicholas as the central concept. I find that creating my own concept map is a very good exercise to help me reinforce and organize my knowledge; looking at someone else's concept map doesn't usually help me much. This web page has good advice on how to use a concept map to review reading, to review for an exam, or to organize your thoughts to write an essay. This web page has some example concept maps for biology.