Summer semester can be both intimidating and discouraging especially when you would rather be on the beach. That’s what Sylvia (pseudo-name) felt when she and I started academic coaching six weeks ago. Sylvia, a junior at a major university, had experienced some set-backs (failing and dropping some courses) which left her full of self-doubt. “Am I in the right major? Do I have what it takes to finish college? What will my family think of me?” Fortunately, this story has a happy ending. She enrolled in a required course and earned a 90 on her final. How did she do it? She had a plan. Get ready, I’m going to show you how you can get an A in your summer semester, just like Sylvia did.

• Print up a paper calendar and label the start date and the end date for the semester. If you’re taking an online course, then your start date is the day the course is available. Your end date will be the day of the final. Next fill in all due dates for all assignments. Tape this paper calendar onto the wall so you see it every time you walk by, because we all know that “out-of-sight-out-of-mind” is our nemesis when it comes to getting assignments done.

• Find all your material. That means all digital and hard copy. Your course material might include: Power points, digital textbooks, online modules and online quizzes, articles, videos or recorded lectures, professor generated handouts. Organize ALL your materials.  Write down or take a  screen shot of the instructions for how to find material like quizzes or discussions threads or lectures.

• Now, find an accountability partner, preferably someone who is also taking this course. Make appointments and develop a routine to study together, either face-to-face or virtually. Keep each other on track. During a summer semester, there isn’t enough time to fail the first exam and recover  before the final, so every assignment grade counts. But don’t worry, you can do this!

• Now you must figure out how to get all the material into your head. You can’t rely on the professor to do that. How will YOU learn all the stuff you need to learn in four weeks?

Again, don’t stress about the quantity of material. A summer semester course in college is like spending six weeks in Mexico to learn Spanish. After living 24-7 immersed in Spanish, you’ll know a lot more than just “tacos, burritos and Coca-Cola.” During a summer semester, you’re immersed in the course material and you won’t have time to think or do anything else. The intensity of the course will make it easier to focus, plus, there are fewer distractions. No football. No Spring Break. You can FOCUS!

Back to the question, “How will you learn ALL the material?” This is where you must be gut-honest and be willing to do the hard work of owning the learning process. How you learn the material will depend on the material and your own learning style. I’m going to share some learning truths that apply to all learning.

Learning Truth #1. Establish learning hooks. All new knowledge will hang on a hook of previous knowledge. Your brain will look for something familiar to hang new knowledge onto. Without previous knowledge, you’ll feel overwhelmed and lost. But not to worry. Unless you’ve been in a coma for the last six years, you have plenty of previous knowledge to hook  your new knowledge onto. You just have to find it.

So what does this mean? Learning Truth #1 means that you will need to read the textbook prior to listening to the lecture. In other words, you need to become familiar with basic terms and new ideas before you can listen to the professor “using” these vocabulary terms and concepts. You must know and comprehend before you can apply and analyze.

Learning Truth #2. Reading and taking notes. Reading takes time especially if it’s full of new ideas or complex concepts. As you read, you must take the time to look up unfamiliar words or words that are used in a different way. Write these definitions down on a 3×5 card and keep these cards handy so you can refer to them. Pause at the end of each paragraph or section and ask yourself, “What did I just read?” Summarize aloud in your own words. Then write it down succinctly. Keep reading and taking notes by hand. 

So what does this mean? Learning Truth #2 means that you will read as much or as little as you need to understand the required concepts. You’re the person who must gain the understanding needed to complete the homework, finish the assignments and pass the exam. 

Learning Truth#3. Forgetting happens. Repetition is the antidote to forgetting. You might understand the concepts of the lecture or the procedure to solve a problem but that doesn’t mean you’ll remember. It’s like learning to play the piano. Practicing daily for 20-minutes improves your piano playing more than practicing all day before the recital. 

So what does this mean? Learning Truth #3 means that you must schedule time to learn the material for this course. DAILY. If the concept is tricky, get a tutor. Better help sooner than later.  

What happens when you have a plan to learn and you work the plan? I’ll just quote my student, Sylvia:

“I learned that I can work with a large amount of information, break it down, tackle it strategically, work it out methodically, LEARN it and come out the other side!”

Good job, Sylvia. It feels so good to earn an “A” in Statistics!

Photo by Wes Hicks on Unsplash