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

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48 CHAPTER 2

professor asked her to explain how she studied, she opened

her book bag and produced more than 100 index cards with

terms on one side and definitions on the other. She

explained how she spent hours memorizing all the terms in

the required textbook chapters. She did well on the multiple-

choice questions, but poorly on the essay questions.

If you were the professor, what advice would you give her to prepare

for the next examination?

2. Analyze a Student’s Behavior

Read the following information concerning Ruben. Discuss the

strengths and weaknesses of his motivation and learning strategies.

What suggestions do you have for helping him become more successful?

Ruben is studying a chapter in his biology textbook for a quiz

the next day. His experience taking biology in high school was

mostly negative because his instructors focused on facts and

definitions. As a result, he never developed much interest in the

subject. He has been told that he will be asked to answer one

essay question to test his knowledge of the material. He is not

sure exactly what content will be tested but decides to develop

a study plan to gain a general understanding of the main ideas

and to recall the most important facts. He paraphrases each

section of the chapter and underlines the important informa-

tion. He realizes that he has difficulty comparing and con-

trasting some of the concepts discussed in class. Therefore, he

decides to develop and write responses to short-answer essay

questions he thinks may be on the test. He develops so many

possible questions that he quickly becomes frustrated and only

answers two essay questions. He then reads the chapter sum-

mary. Finally, he reviews the underlining in his textbook and

decides it is time to move on to another subject.