This is to all college freshmen.The ways of college are much different then what most you are familiar with.In high school, you might have been able to pass a class without ever paying attention to the instructor.Well, it isn’t that way in college, you are going to have to work on all class and homework assignments to pass the class you are taking.Most college instructors want you to receive the education you are paying for, so they want to maker sure you are learning the material needed in everyday life and the knowledge needed for the major you are seeking.Here are three things from the learning strategies course that are beneficial to you and your success as a college student.They are, using the ten memory principles, the label in the margin system for taking notes, and using the resources provided by your school library.

The ten memory principles are very important.You will use them for the rest of your life.The memory principles are (1) interest, (2) intent to remember, (3) basic background, (4) meaningful organization, (5) selectivity, (6) association, (7) mental visualization, (8) recitation, (9) consolidation, and (10) distributed practice.Each of the memory principles has a task for your brain to perform so that information you are taught will be easily remembered if you use them to the best of your ability.Let me explain what the tasks are for each principle in a way that I think you will better understand.Interest: you must be interested in something in order to remember it.If you are not interested in a class then you normally don’t remember much about it or anything that happened in it.If you can make yourself find something interesting about the class you are taking then your brain will be more likely to remember information about that class.Intent to remember: if you have a positive attitude and intend to remember something you usually do.You must intend to remember things from your classes in order to pass the final at the end of the semester.Basic Background: you must have basic background about a subject in order to understand what will be taught at the next level.For example, in math classes you start with basic math, you must know basic math before proceeding on to elementary algebra.Meaningful Organization: is when things being learned are put into a specific order that you will understand best.You may choose to use mnemonics for meaningful organization such as PEMDAS, which is used for the order of operations in math. Selectivity: you must decide what is important and choose those parts to study from.Making your own practice test to study for a test is using selectivity.Association: is making new material familiar with something you already know.When you create you password to your frank account you might use something that is going to be easy for you to remember.Mental Visualization: making a mental picture of your choice.Recitation: is repeating information out loud in your own words.Consolidation: is giving your brain time to let new information soak in.If you practice some math problems after math class then you are using consolidation.Distributed Practice: is studying in short study sessions rather than hours at a time.If you practice using these memory principles as a college student you will see how beneficial they can be in everyday-life.

Using the ten memory principles is important as a college student, but taking notes is just as important.If you take notes bad it will be hard for you to succeed in college. College professors lecture a lot, so therefore you will be expected to take notes.The notes you take in a class may be all you will have to study from for a test if the instructor doesn’t give much class work.Most freshmen write too much when taking notes.If you do not try to write down everything the instructor is saying you might miss the most important information in the lecture.Taking notes while reading a chapter of a book for class are also as important as lecture notes.The learning strategies class teaches students to use the label-in-the-margin system for taking notes.It will help you to get the most information possible from the lecture or from textbook reading.Using the label-in-the-margin system for lectures, you will write down information from the lecture given in as short form as possible.Then, you will write a question in the margin of your paper that you think your instructor may ask on a test.This will help you to remember the information from the lecture that will be on the test.Using the label-in-the-margin system for textbooks, you will read a paragraph (one-at-a-time) then, you will write a question in the margin of the text to identify the main ideas in the paragraph.After writing the question you should underline in the least amount of words as possible then answer to your question in the paragraph.This strategy will help you throughout your college career.

The memory principles and the label-in-the-margin system are essential for success in college, but using the resources offered by the college library will also help in your success.The learning strategies class teaches students how to use the resources in the library to help with all classes.Often students are intimidated by the size of a college library.If you are taught how to use the resources offered, then you will use them to your advantage.In the library at MTSU, there are quiet study areas, computers for students use, copiers, many books, periodicals, and helpful staff.MTSU library runs off of a database known as Voyager.This is the electronic card catalog.You would use Voyager to find books, journal titles, and other materials.Some of the other databases used by the library are Infotrac, Research Gateway, and Lexis-Nexis.The Infortrac is used to find periodicals from the year 1980 to present.If you need to find a periodical before the year 1980, you must use the Reader’s Guide collection.Research Gateway is where you may be able to find it under a certain subject.The Lexis-Nexis is used to find newspaper articles of all kinds.You may also use the Internet for research.It is in your best interest to utilize the resources offered to you, failure to do so may increase your chance for failure as a college student.

As and incoming college freshman, you may not have acquired the correct study strategies necessary for college.Using the strategies stated in the paragraphs above, you will be prepared to utilize class material and process information in a way that will be simple and organized.