Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success : A Self-management Approach

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322 APPENDIX B

Areas for Improvement. The student could have improved her study by com-

pleting a more thorough analysis of her self-talk by listing and classifying

each negative statement she made. She mentions that her self-talk can be clas-

sified as that of a worrier, critic, victim, and perfectionist, but she does not

support this claim with evidence. If she had classified each statement she

made, she would have been better able to determine the type of positive self-

talk she needs to counteract her beliefs and ultimately change her behavior.

In the next section of her paper, the student mentions that her tendency to

procrastinate contributes to her anxiety. Here she could have improved her

study by providing the reader with information on how she uses her time,

as well as the extent of her procrastination.

Goal Setting and Strategic Planning

Strengths. The student sets a goal to reduce her negative self-talk and pro-

crastination so she will feel less anxious and more confident in herself and

ultimately improve scores on the exams she takes between November 16th

and 20th. By listing her grades in her math and educational psychology courses,

she made it possible to monitor her progress toward this goal. Further, her

plan, which includes monitoring her self-talk through a self-reflection journal

and monitoring her anxiety though a chart, made it possible for her to mon-

itor her anxiety and confidence levels. The student selects a variety of strate-

gies such as breaking tasks down into manageable parts, scheduling tasks

ahead of time, and using positive self-talk, meditation and relaxation tech-

niques, and techniques suggested by her professor to combat her problem.

Her strategic-planning chart makes it easy for the reader to follow her use

of each of these strategies.

Areas for Improvement. The student could have improved her study by pro-

viding more information about the extent of her negative self-talk and pro-

crastination prior to her study. This would have enabled her to determine if

the strategies she implements reduce these behaviors. Likewise, she could

have provided information regarding her anxiety confidence levels both prior

to and during her study. This information would have made it easier for her

to assess whether or not she met her goal. Finally, although the student pro-

vided information about her previous academic performance in her educa-

tional psychology and math courses, she did not provide any information

about her previous performance in her Art of Asia course. Thus, it is not

possible to determine if she improved her performance in this class.

Strategic Implementation and Monitoring

Strengths. The student implemented all of the strategies in her plan and pro-

vided the reader with evidence of the fact she scheduled tasks in advance and

used both positive self-talk and relaxation and meditation techniques.