RESOURCES

Try a note-taking strategy that helps students retain more information from readings and lectures. Click here to watch a short video.

Learn more about how attentional difficulties can increase challenges for learners in academic environments. Includes a self-assessment for your executive functioning abilities.

“Attention is an incredibly complex, multifaceted function of the mind. It plays a crucial role in what we perceive, remember, think, feel, and do.” -Thomas E. Brown

This simple self-assessment helps you identify executive functioning difficulties that may create some challenges in your daily life. It was developed by the Landmark College Institute for Research and Training (LCIRT).

DISCLAIMER: This self-assessment is one tool to better understand yourself as a learner and is not an official diagnostic tool for learning disabilities.

Executive function is how the brain organizes and implements tasks at hand. Brown’s model of the executive functions organizes the functions into six clusters. When attentional issues cause any of these clusters to fail, the daily life practices, numbered below the clusters, are affected.

Thomas E. Brown, PhD, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and associate director of the Yale Clinic for Attention and Related Disorders

For more information:
Executive Functions by Thomas E. Brown – This article describes each of the six clusters of executive functions from the model.
Brown Clinic for Attention and Related Disorders

Big Picture Time Management Resources

Check out these calendars, to-do lists, and goal-setting resources from Oregon State University’s Learning Corner to help you prioritize and organize your time more effectively.

The Pomodoro Technique

If you are easily distracted or try to cram your learning into very long study sessions, try the Pomodoro technique. It utilizes a timer and planned breaks to maximize your focus, so your brain does a better job transferring information into your long-term memory.

Digging into Procrastination

This Learning Corner resource discusses 6 common reasons people procrastinate and offers suggestions to address each one. Working with those suggestions will require some self-reflection, and it may benefit you to talk through these challenges with your Student Success Coordinator, your instructor, and/or a trusted family member or friend. 

For further reading, check out the Executive Functioning material above.

Use this tip to stay on track with your program. Never miss an email from your instructors or Emily Griffith staff.

Watch the video here.

Using strategies to manage physical and online textbooks will minimize study time and maximize learning.

Often assignments include studying multiple chapters in a short period of time.
Don’t Panic! Everyone can use strategies to become a more effective student.
It just takes practice.

Problem – “I read and read and still am not ready for the test.”

• Reading and re-reading chapters is a time-consuming and ineffective way to learn.
• Studying for more than 25 or 30 minutes without a break is also ineffective.

Solution – Learn strategies and tips for more effective reading and studying (from physical or online books).

1. Integrate all available instructor-provided resources: For example, lecture notes, vocabulary lists, chapter outlines from Moodle, or additional study guides (If it is not perfectly clear how the classroom resources work together, ask the instructor for further clarification).
2. Cornell Notes: A note-taking strategy to help retain more information from readings and lectures. Many students like this and find it improves focus while reading or listening.
3. How To Read Your Textbooks (video 4:40 mins): College student offers excellent tips for more effective textbook use.
   *Take notes with this tool while watching Video 1.*
4. How to Read a Textbook-Study Tips to Improve Reading Skills (video 7:42 mins): Very clear tips for saving time while reading but still getting more information.
   *Take notes with this tool while watching Video 2.*
5. Digital Textbook Tips (video 15:51 mins): An overview of common tools included with online textbooks that allow students to be more physically interactive while studying to take notes, search for content and vocabulary, and highlight key points.

Students: does the thought of tackling word problems cause you stress?
Instructors and Tutors: do your students say I can’t do word problems? The key to mastering word problems is knowing that mastering problem solving is NOT a math issue, but a separate skill that can easily be learned and practiced. Review this resource to experience rapid improvement and growth in confidence.

Few have been introduced to the distinction between mastering a strategy for solving word problems and attending to the math within the problem. Because of this, many lack the confidence necessary for approaching word problems in high-stakes testing environments.

In this video, Word Problem? No Problem! (Runtime: 8:20), learn how to reduce the anxiety and negative self-talk experienced when confronted with solving word problems. Learn to distinguish between struggling with problem-solving or with math, and become an expert at speaking to the difference.

This concise description of the 5-step Strategy for Solving Word Problems was created as a handy cheat sheet to use as a reference until mastery in solving word problems is achieved.

These tips and strategies may be helpful for increasing your confidence when taking tests. Click here for tips.

Question: How can I remember everything I need from my program to pass my licensure exams? 

Challenge: Most of our programs are fast and dense. You have a lot of information to master in a short period of time. You might be in the habit of cramming for frequent quizzes and tests, but you need to remember that information much later in order to pass licensure exams and/or start a job in the field.

Here’s a study technique you can start today to help your future self!
Check out this video on Spaced Practice from The Learning Portal.

Sample Study Plan with Spaced Practice:

Nice idea, you might be thinking, but I don’t have 15 minutes to review my notes. Try the following digital tools to help you review while you’re on the go:

Ways to integrate spaced practice into a busy schedule: 

1. Use your phone’s voice notes to answer study questions or quickly summarize the main ideas from an instructor’s lecture (also good for homework questions, emails, short essays). Especially if you’re a slow typist, this is a great way to save some time while reviewing content. If you’re submitting the work to be graded, though, make sure you check grammar and spelling before you hand it in.
2. Use text-to-speech apps to help lighten your reading load. You can take photos of your textbook, upload them to the app, then have the app read the chapter aloud to you during your daily commute or while you’re doing household chores.
   Level up:  periodically take voice notes to help you summarize and remember key information from the text.
3. Use AI to help you search for specific texts and complete chapter summaries. This works best if you like to get an overview before you tackle a longer reading OR if summaries help you review main ideas and important processes. Don’t do this INSTEAD of doing the reading.
   Level up: upload the summaries to your text-to-speech app and listen to them as part of your study routine
4. Use AI to generate study questions. Be Careful! Make sure you’re using your textbook and class notes to check answers. Google’s Notebook LM is a great place to start.
   Sample prompt: Create 10 questions about lifting patients safely that a licensed nurse assistant should be able to answer. 
5. Create specialized vocabulary lists using AI (upload text; generate list)
   Sample prompt: Read the text. Create a vocabulary list from the text. Include words that are bold or italicized. Include words that are defined in the text.
   Level Up: Prompt AI to quiz you on the meaning of the words. Try a variety of question types (multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, open-ended, etc.).
6. Pull study questions and flashcards from Quizlet. Review questions when you have spare time- such as while you’re waiting at the doctor’s office, waiting in line at the grocery store, waiting for your friend to pick you up, etc.
7. Check out RemNote for various file types to flashcards & study question generation

Check out these other study techniques and test-taking strategies:

• Pomodoro Technique – Use a timer to help you focus.
• Textbook Tips to Help You Study – There are better ways to study than rereading the same page.
• Ways to Reduce Test Anxiety – Multiple strategies to handle different causes of text anxiety