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How Would You Help This Student?

By Mona Pelkey, United States Military Academy, West Point

The interactive feature "How Would You Help This Student," which highlights case studies, has now moved to the Learning Center Exchange online discussion forum. Check it out by clicking on the link below:

http://www.learningassistance.com/forums/

B Jeannette has come to you as a last resort. She reports that no matter how hard she studies, she performs poorly on exams. She opens her backpack and pulls out three notebooks, full of Cornell-style notes, for chemistry, math, and history. She pulls out her chemistry text and shows you several pages with notes written in the margins. The next thing she pulls out is her student planner. In it she has written in all the hours she has planned for studying for exams, all semester. She then pulls out two sets of vocabulary flash cards, one for chemistry and one for history. Last, she pulls out her history exam practice essays-she has even written out the possible essay questions and answers ahead of time! She has studied alone, in groups, in the library-never in her dorm room because the dorm is too noisy. She cannot understand why her extensive note taking, planning, and many hours of study have not paid off. She reports that some of her friends get As on the exams and they do not work as hard as she does-and she is lucky if she earns a C.
How will you help Jeannette to perform better on exams?

Questions or comments? Contact the author at edpelkey@juno.com.

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