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

 GI      $

A GUIDE FOR COMPLETING A SELF-MANAGEMENT STUDY 293

The disadvantage of using the tally sheets is that they limit the

amount of information you can gain from using them. For example,

the tally sheets only provide you with information about the location

where, or time periods when, the student experienced distractions.

However, they do not provide you with information about the types

of internal and external distractions experienced. Therefore, if you

decide to use tally sheets in your study, your instructor will most likely

require that you keep a journal that describes what you learn each

day from your tally sheets.

Checklists

Checklists are similar to tally sheets. The only difference is that

checklists use checkmarks to monitor whether or not a particular

behavior on a list has or has not occurred. For example, you may

wish to use a checklist to keep track of such things as: your class

attendance, the criterion for an assignment that you have met, the

assignments listed on your course syllabus that you have finished, and

the items on your weekly priority task list that you have completed.

Once you complete a thorough investigation of your problem using

one or more of the previously described methods, you will need to pro-

vide a brief narrative description of what you learned from each doc-

ument, chart, journal, tally sheet, or checklist you use (i.e., just like a

doctor makes notes of what he or she learns in a patient’s chart). For

example, if you were to collect the data displayed in the first chart

(Motivation and Learning Strategies class), you might describe the fact

that you were not confident about your study techniques and received

a low quiz grade when you: (a) were not interested in the content, (b)

used rehearsal strategies (e.g., underlining and rereading), or (c) were

anxious during the exam. However, when you were confident and

received a high quiz score, you: (a) could relate to the material, (b)

used elaboration and organization strategies (e.g., turned headings into

questions, came up with your own examples, and developed a matrix),

(c) studied at the library, (d) discussed your thoughts with a classmate,

(e) tested yourself before the exam, and (f) made a brief outline before

answering each question. This narrative description serves two pur-

poses. First, it helps identify the changes you need to make to reduce

or eliminate your problem. In addition, it helps you and your instruc-

tor keep track of your reasoning throughout the course of your study.

GOAL SETTING AND STRATEGIC PLANNING

By now, you should have established a SMART goal such as: “I

want to obtain a 3.0 GPA. this semester” or “I want to get a B in

my Psychology class this semester.” Chapter 4 describes the steps you