Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Taking charge of your classwork

I’m teaching juniors this year in my BBA introductory course, BIT200. We have had a busy semester already, with a couple of assignments already turned in and several other assignments in progress. I have thrown a lot at them with varying degrees of success.

The primary difference that I have noticed that distinguish the better students from the pack is that he or she takes charge of his or her classwork. She knows what to do on an assignment and, if she doesn’t, she uses her resources (friends, online) to try to determine the answer but if she can’t find the answer, she asks. She understands what’s going on in class and, if she doesn’t, she uses her resources (friends, online) to try to determine the answer but if she can’t, she asks. She doesn’t wait until the last minute to do her homework so that, if she has a question, — guess what? — she can ask.

This is not to say that this person becomes a pest and asks a question every time doubt creeps into her mind, but it is to say that she doesn’t let uncertainty dominate her thoughts. She takes charge so that she knows what to do, she’s on top of her schedule, and she doesn’t rush to finish her assignments just before they’re due.

We can’t always reach this ideal. But this is what distinguishes the strongest students and is a sign of their maturity. It’s not a sign that they are overly compulsive about their work — it’s a sign that they understand how to give themselves the best chance of succeeding.

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