Academic Skills: Tips and Techniques

Here's an example of how to properly write an email:

Subject: "ENGL 101: Shock, Wu: Proper Email Example"

• The subject should identify the class, include your name and summarize the content of the email in as few words as possible.

Greeting: "Hello, Dr. Smith,"

• Appropriate greetings can be "Dear" or "Hello" and are always followed but the person's name and title (Mr., Mrs., Dr.).
• Inappropriate greetings include "Hey", "Howdy", "Yo", or not having one at all.

Introductory statement:  "My name is Wu Shock and I am a student in your ENGL 101 class^*. I'm emailing you to demonstrate proper email etiquette^**. "

• ^*An introductory statement isn't needed if you already know the person well, but is needed if they don't know you.
• ^**Explain why you're emailing at the beginning of the email, so the recipient does not have to look for it.

Email content: "Emails aren't like text messages or instant messages, as they're more formal and require more thoughtful consideration of what to say. A proper email should always contain an appropriately titled subject, a greeting, and introductory statement, the actual content of the email, a respectful close, and a salutation. Signatures which come after the salutation are optional, your name isn't."

• Follow your introductory statement with the rest of the content of your message, which might include some details to further explain what you're looking for or what you need.

Attachments: "Attached, you will find a a scanned .pdf copy of this guide."

• If you're attaching a document, it's wise to reference the document in the email with a statement, such as this example.

Schedule or appointment: "I'd like to confirm our appointment on Friday, August 22, at 2:00 p.m. in Neff Hall, room 115." 

• If you're confirming an appointment via email, it's wise to fully expand the date and time so you will not be misunderstood.

Closing: "Thank you for your time."

• It's wise to close with a respectful statement thanking the person for taking time to read or respond to your email, question or request.

Salutation: "Sincerely, Wu"

• Salutations such as "Very Respectfully" and "Sincerely" are always acceptable, however more casual salutations may be used with people you know on a more personal level.

Successful students will tell you that it's important to get to know your professor. Professors will decide your grade and have the potential to be a valuable reference later on in your college and professional career.

Establishing the foundation of the relationship is important from day one of your class. After the first class, stay after and introduce yourself to the professor.

"Hello professor _(last name)_. My name is _(your name)_. I just wanted to introduce myself and let you know that I'm really looking forward to this class."

Arrange a Meeting

If you're going to miss a class period, have a question about homework or a test, or would like to discuss something with your professor, you should arrange a time to meet.

• Do your best to meet with your professor during their arranged office hours.
  • These hours can usually be found on your class syllabus.
• If you're unable to visit with your professor during the posted office hours, call or email your professor to arrange a time that works for both of you.
• Dropping in unannounced may be seen as rude by your professor.

At the Meeting

• Be sure to show up on time. If you're running late or unable to make the appointment, let your professor know.
• When meeting with your professors for the first time, be sure to ask them how they'd like you to address them.
  • Not all professors have PhD’s, others may prefer to called by professor or by their first name.

Come prepared to the meeting with specific topics or questions to discuss. Examples include:

• "While working on the homework, I keep getting stuck on problem 12. Here are my notes, can you show me what I'm doing wrong?"
• "I'll miss class on Monday and Tuesday for a conference, what can I do to make sure I’m caught up in class?"
• "I’m really interested in the topic of Thursday’s class discussion, can you point me towards any additional reading on the topic?"
• "I studied a lot for last week’s test but only got a C. I’m worried about my grade. Is there anything I can do to improve my scores?"
• "I'm working hard to take good notes in class, but sometimes you speak really fast. Would it be possible for you to slow down, pause for questions, or for you to record your Zoom lecture during class, so I could listen again?"
• "I'm trying to block out my study time based on scheduled assignments. You've changed due dates several times and it's making it hard for me to stay on top of things. Could you provide an updated syllabus with your changed due dates?"

Class attendance is highly correlated with success in class.

Research shows that providing slides to students before class does not decrease attendance; student learning is increased likely because you are able to focus on what the professor is saying and write down important questions, rather than trying to copy slides.

Questions force you to think about the material and remember answers from memory rather than simply recognizing them; remembering strengthens the connections in your brain making the information easier to recall in the future; like creating a path through a field, the more you walk it, the easier it is to find and walk down again.

Sleep allows your brain to combine new knowledge and incorporate new information into existing memory networks; studies have shown a direct relationship between lack of sleep and a decrease in alertness and mental performance even though you don’t feel like it.

Typing is faster than writing which allows you to take down more notes; however, the quality of the notes is worse because of the speed-comprehension trade-off; writing out notes (or better yet questions) forces you to spend more time thinking about what you want to write and to be more selective about what exactly you write.

Studies show the closer your phone is to you, the worse you perform on thinking tasks, even if your phone is on airplane mode or completely turned off.

Flash cards are a great way to study many types of information because they can combine the generation effect, distributed practice, and free-recall. 

• Create don't copy:
  • Making your own flashcards with definitions in your own words will help you remember the information better than if you simply copy definitions out of the book or use someone else’s flash cards, this is called the generation effect.
• Bigger is better:
  • Using a larger rather than smaller deck of cards puts increased time between when you see each card, this is a great way to get the benefits of distributed practice within a single study session, increasing long-term learning.
• No peaking:
  • Studies show that recalling information from memory, rather than simply re-looking at the answer, is an important part of long-term learning.

Even when you feel that you aren’t learning any new information. Students often quit studying too soon due to poor judgement on how much they have learned. Don’t fall victim to these biases: 

• Hindsight Bias (the "I knew that" bias)
  • Can't remember the answer when tested, but think you know it because you recognize it after it has been revealed.
• Foresight Bias (the "I'll know it when I see it" bias)
  • Believing that because you know an answer while you’re studying, you’ll remember it on the test. However, on the test there will be other answers to distract you.
• Stability Bias (the "forgot that I forgot" bias)
  • Not accounting for how much information you forget over time; also, the assumption that further studying will not provide any benefits for you.

Conditions during studying should match those during testing as close as possible; meaning, if you drink caffeine while studying, drink a little caffeine before the test – or – listen to a particular song before and after each study session while thinking about the material, then listen to that song before you take the test – or – eat a particular flavor of mint while studying, and eat that same flavor of mint while taking the test.

The A range denotes excellent performance.
The B range denotes good performance.
The C range denotes satisfactory performance.
The D range denotes unsatisfactory performance.
An F denotes failing performance.

To calculate your grade point average:

1. For each course, multiply the number of credits of each course by the grade earned in that course.
2. Add up all the results for Step 1.
3. Divide the sum in Step 2 by the total number of credits.