My stuggling student

carolyn
Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:41:13 +0000

My daughter did well her first semester in college, but second semester of freshman year was suprisingly hard for her. Her grades took a nose dive.

While she too claimed that she spent “hours” studying, after thinking it over, she realized that part of her problem was trying to “study” in her dorm room. There were so many distractions there – everything from friends dropping by to the lure of computer games – that, while she’d think she was “studying for hours,” in reality her actual effective study time was minimal.

She solved her problem by forcing herself to go over to the quiet area of the library every day, including weekends, during set hours, and focusing just on studying, writing papers, etc. there. She no longer works in her dorm room, even on art projects (she goes to the studio now to do those). It’s worked for her. She says she now can feel herself switch into study mode the moment she walks into the library, and her grades last semester and this have been much improved.

The other hump my daughter had to get over was refusing to ask for help. She now takes full advantage of the tutoring and review sessions offered by her college, even in courses where she thinks she is doing well. And, she’s learned that teachers really do want students to stop by during office hours if they’re struggling.

So, if your son feels that he’s “studying hard” but not getting anywhere, it may be that he’s not studying in the “right” place or way. Just taking the computer home might not help if his roommate or his buds down the hall are also playing computer games. I’d encourage him to think about where he could go on campus to have the fewest distractions possible, to set standard hours for going there each day, and to look into and start using tutoring, review sessions, and meeting with professors.