This is a short post about habits of the mind. These are useful strategies for life that you were born with and did without thinking but now probably have forgotten.
It is natural to question and be curious about how things work. But often students are reluctant to ask questions feeling they should already know answers to certain questions. Restoring you natural curiosity will lead you further than almost anything you could do in school or in life.
- Curiosity improves learning
- Openness – stay open to new ideas, new ways of thinking, listen to feedback feedback from your classmates and others.
- Engagement: Be on the D2L, Khan Academy, and WebAssign sites each day, stay on top of it to master it.
- Creativity: Look for new ways to solve problems. Watch videos and take notes in class.
- Responsibility: Each week earn your full points. Don’t be afraid of taking credit for your hard work. Acknowledge your success. But also acknowledge when you are unsuccessful. Take responsibility for it. Decide what can be done better next time.
- Flexibility: Use Openness and creativity. Try to do things differently if you haven’t had success with your method. Success takes lots of practice. So make sure you put in the necessary time. This usually means lots of small sessions not all-nighters.
- MetaCognition: Think about learning as you learn. Be aware as you solve problems that you are learning a deeper method that just the one problem you are working on. As you write, show that you are aware of this.
- Reflection: Daily/Weekly try to summarize what you are learning and accomplishing.
