When parents think about helping their college students succeed academically, the first thing that comes to mind is studying. Yeah, that’s important, but it’s a mistake to assume that studying—and taking care of other individual tasks like notetaking—is all it takes to succeed academically. The truth is, college students need to develop a collection of skills that include communicating with professors, employing study groups, and knowing when—and how—to ask for help.
Studying Smarter, Not Just Longer
College courses require significantly more independent learning—and outside reading—than most students experience in high school. One big adjustment: they need to read to understand, not just read to get the reading done. (That was my problem in my first college semester.) It’s not about reading over and over, but reading effectively—a skill they’ll need to develop.
Research has told is that both practice testing and distributed practice can help students succeed academically. The principle is simple: rather than for your student to keep reading a passage or chapter, they should close the book and ask what they recall of the reading. In addition, textbooks routinely include practice questions at the ends of chapters or sections. The smart students test themselves with those questions every time—even if it appears to add time to their reading. Practice questions, flashcards, explaining a concept without looking at the answer, and taking practice exams turn studying into an active process.
Parents can encourage their students to ask themselves: “What can I remember without looking at my notes?” That question is often more useful than, “How many hours did I study?”
Students should also experiment with different approaches. What works for a history course may not work for a chemistry, mathematics, or literature course. The goal is not to find one magical study method but to develop a toolbox of strategies.
Study Groups Can Make a Difference
Studying doesn’t mean always having to study alone. A well-organized study group can give students another way to understand difficult material and prepare for examinations. Years ago, I wrote a study group booklet while serving as a campus dean at a community college. The guide included examples of notetaking methods and strategies to start an organized study group.
Did you catch the word “organized?” Students groups shouldn’t become a social gathering where students spend more time talking than learning. Effective study groups encourage students to compare notes, quiz one another, and discuss difficult concepts. In addition students can work through practice problems or take turns teaching a topic to the others. This last technique works well as explaining an idea to someone else reinforces the “teacher’s” own learning.
Study groups can also provide accountability. When a student knows that classmates are expecting them to be prepare for a meeting, they’re motivated to get the work done—even if only to avoid embarrassment.
But study groups don’t always work. Sometimes, the combination of students isn’t right, or some members don’t participate fully. Encourage your student to look at their study groups critically, and make the changes needed to keep them useful.
Effective Notetaking Is a Learned Skill
Good note-taking is more than trying to write down everything a professor says. In fact, that often works against effective learning. Students should listen for major ideas, important examples, explanations, questions, and connections among concepts. Notes should also make sense when the student looks at them several days later.
One well-known study by Pam Mueller and Daniel Oppenheimer found that students who took notes by hand performed better on conceptual questions than students who used laptops. One reason cited for this was that students using laptops often transcribed the professor’s lectures word for word. Students writing notes longhand tended to process and restated what they hear as they write. This restating is a key part of their learning process. Encourage your student to find what works best for them. For some courses, a laptop might be better, while for others, longhand works better. The larger lesson is that reflecting on the material as they take notes is more important than recording every word.
Encourage your student to review and reorganize notes soon after class. Adding questions, definitions, examples, or connections can transform notes from a record of what happened in class into a study resource. My college roommate was notorious for transcribing his notes every night for just those reasons.
Learning to Talk With Professors
One of the most intimidating tasks a new college student faces is speaking with professors. Yet communicating with professors is an important part of college life. It’s so important that when I directed a scholars program, I required all my new students to do it in the first two weeks of school. They didn’t like this requirement, yet most admitted afterwards that it gave them greater confidence to ask for help in the future.
In this program, I suggested that new students approach their professors, introduce themselves and tell how excited they were to be in the class. Further, I suggested that they acknowledge that they may want to come to office hours sometime if they needed help. The vast majority of faculty members responded positively to this, asking the student about their experiences and showing a genuine interest in them. The students were often floored, but also more prepared to speak with faculty in the future. Faculty members are the people who provide the most graduate student recommendations to students. They are also the folks who can mentor your student while they’re enrolled. The students with the strongest genuine connections with faculty benefit from college the most.
An important side note: parents can help by encouraging students to take responsibility for these conversations themselves. Calling or emailing a professor on your student’s behalf seldom solves a problem. In fact, it may make it harder for your student to become the independent learner they need to be in college.
Asking for Help Is a Strength
Perhaps the most important academic skill is recognizing when help is needed. Colleges typically offer far more support than students realize: academic advising, tutoring centers, writing centers, supplemental instruction, libraries, disability services, counseling and other academic-support programs. And the biggest regret of these departments is that students don’t access their services until it’s too late. Students should learn what their college offers before they have an academic crisis.
Most importantly, students should not wait until the end of the semester to seek assistance. A poor examination grade, a confusing assignment, or difficulty keeping up with reading is a signal to act—not a reason to give up.
Parents should reinforce a simple message: asking for help is not an admission of failure. It is part of learning how to succeed.
Academic success in college is not about spending more hours at a desk studying. It is about learning how to learn, communicate, solve problems, and recognize when additional support is necessary. Those are skills that will serve students not only during college but also in their careers and adult lives.
Pass it on.
