Study Guide: Chapter 2 Getting Started

Vocabulary:
Academic Planner – provides organized individuals and groups having a common
details concerning upcoming assignments, interest.
projects, and events.
Procrastination – a way of thinking that lets
Goals – intended result to be reached by one put off doing something that should be
personal actions. done now.
Learning Styles – referred to a student SMART Goals – goal setting guide;
preferred approach to receiving and specific/measurable/attainable/relevant/time
retaining information. bound.
Motivation – providing a reason to act or VARK – using a combination of congestive
behave in a certain way. input to strengthen and enhance the process
of the way one learns; visual – auditory –
Networking – a supporting system of
read/write – kinesthetic.
sharing information and services among

Ideas to Understand:
1. What are 3 types of goals and how are they different?
- Short term goals: goals you can achieve in 12 months or less
- Midterm goals: goals that can take between 1-4 years to achieve
- Long-term goals: goals you can achieve in 4 years or longer.
2. Describe SMART goals. Why are SMART goals important for success?
 - Smart goals set you up for success by making goals specific, measurable,
achieveable, realistic, and timely. Gives you a sense of direction, pushes you and
helps you organize and reach your goals.
3. Compare and contrast students with positive and negative attitudes. Which is more
productive? Why?
- Having a positive attitude makes you wanna put effort into what you’re doing and
wants to get things done while having fun but with a negative attitude you’re just put
down and don’t care or want to do anything which sets you back.
4. What are 6 ways for students to remain motivated? Which tips are you planning to use
this semester?
- Keeping eyes on long-term goals while still working towards immediate goals.
- Don’t let past habits drag you down.
- Avoid multitasking.
- Focus on your successes.
- Plan ahead to avoid last minute pressures.
- Working to keep a positive attitude.
- I think I’m planning to use all of these tips. Trying to think about my goals and not
the past trying to focus on my self and not let anything get in the way with having a
positive attitude and trying my best to plan ahead and not get behind.
5. What are 10 strategies to make the most of your time? Which ones are you currently
using well?
- Breakup large projects into small pieces
- Do the most important studying first.
- Take breaks.
- Reward yourself.
- If needed talk to someone
- Use a calendar planner and Dailey todo list.
- Use your best -and most appropriate- time of day.
- Use unscheduled time to work ahead.
- If having trouble getting started, try doing easier task first.
- Keep your momentum.
 - I think the ones I’m using really well right now are doing the most important task first
and using my free time to be ahead on my school work and trying to keep things
planned out so I don’t miss anything. But also keeping a positive attitude and taking
breaks and rewarding myself.
6. What are 5 ways to battle procrastination? Which 2 will you try now?
- Counter a negative attitude with positive thinking.
- Do not dwell on the thought of failing. Learn from past failures.
- Keep a study journal.
- Schedule times for studying using a Dailey or weekly planner.
- Write yourself a note about it for later and get it out of your mind.
- I would try writing my self a note to get something’s I stress about out of my mind
and also not thinking about my past mistakes and failures and just learn from my
mistakes.
7. Explain the four cycles of learning styles.
- Prepare: being prepared is an important part of a learning style. If you come to class
unprepared, semi or fully late you’ve already missed important information to start
that day's lesson off. It’s important to always be prepared for class and know what
you need to have to learn and listen to what’s going on that day.
- Absorb: absorbing refers to the actual taking in of new ideas, information, or
experiences. In college you need to understand the topic not just repeating facts or
information. What you learn in college is not just for a test; it is learning for life.
- Capture: capturing refers to taking note. The more effective your note-taking skills,
the better your learning abilities. Take notes always when reading textbooks.
- Review: reviewing is the next step for solidifying your learning and reaching a real
understanding of the topic. Going back to the beginning to prepare you for attentional
learning.