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2010-04-23 14:21:21, 조회 : 3,150, 추천 : 301 |
대학서 A학점 받기 10계명
'직접 필기···공학은 피하라'
교수와 정기적 대화도 '필수'
대학에서 학점을 잘 받으려면 어떻게 해야 하나.
워싱턴 포스트(WP) 인터넷판이 12일 대학에서 A학점을 받기 위한 10가지 비법을 제시해 눈길을 모으고 있다.
신문은 요즘에는 학점을 잘 받는 것이 전보다 쉬워졌지만 프린스턴대학이 지난해 봄 모든 강의에서 A 학점의 비율을 35% 이하로 제한할 계획이라고 발표하는 등 대학들이 학점 관리를 강화하는 추세라고 설명했다.
다음은 신문이 소개한 A 학점을 받는 비법.
① 수업에 출석하고 강의 내용을 직접 필기하라 = 직접 필기해야 한다는 것을 아는 것은 수업에 출석하도록 만드는 중요한 일 중의 하나다.
② 공학을 전공하지 말라 = 정확한 답을 요구할 뿐 생생한 작문 분석을 요구하지 않는 공학같은 분야는 전공하지 않는 것이 좋다. 물론 공학자가 되고자 하는 경우는 예외.
③ 큰 난관을 피하지 말라 = 좋은 학점을 받는데 있어 중요한 장애물은 중요한 과제물과 같은 큰 도전을 피하려는 인간의 본능이다. 중요한 일의 핵심으로 들어가 직접 부딪혀야 한다.
④ 교수와 수시로 대화하라 = 학점을 잘 받으려면 과목을 가르치는 교수와 정기적으로 대화하는 것이 매우 유용하다.
⑤ 많은 과제를 내는 강의를 피하지 말라 = 일부 학생들은 과제물을 쓰는 것보다 시험에 의존하는 과목을 좋아하지만 작문은 인생에서 중요하고 필수적인 기술이다.
⑥ 독립된 장소에서 가급적 이른 시간부터 공부하라 = 밤늦게 공부하려고 할 경우 일단 저녁을 먹고 자료를 정리한 뒤 공부를 시작하려고 하면 잠자기까지 남은 시간은 얼마 되지 않는다.
⑦ 토론 모임을 활용하라 = 토론은 강의를 이해하고 학점을 높이는데 매우 유용하다.
⑧ 과제로 부과된 것중 가장 중요한 대목을 읽어라 = 모든 것을 당일 읽기에는 시간이 충분치 않은 만큼 교수가 자주 언급하는 자료나 혼란스러운 부문을 명쾌하게 해주는 자료같이 중요한 것으로 보이는 것을 읽는데 집중해야 한다.
⑨ 과제를 시작하기 전에 분석부터 해라 = 학생들이 과제물의 주제에 대한 어떤 생각도 해보기 전에 도서관부터 찾는 경향이 있지만 훌륭한 과제는 개인적인 사고에서 나오는 경우가 많다.
⑩ 주요 과제는 초안을 전문가에게 보여주고 상의하라 = 중요 과제의 초안을 교수에게 보여주거나 상의하라. 또한 똑똑한 친구나 해당 분야의 전문가에게도 보여주고 그들의 의견을 경청하라.
More Than One Way To Make the Grade
College Tips Range From the Basic (Go to Class) To the Startling (Forget Reading Everything)
By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 12, 2006; A12
Getting good grades in college these days is supposed to be easier than ever. But there are signs of grade deflation in the future. Princeton announced in spring 2005 that it planned to limit the number of A's awarded in any course to 35 percent of all grades, down from the old 50 percent rate in some courses. Other schools are talking tough about grades. Even in grade-inflated times, many students find that success in this part of the learning process is a mystery.
What is the secret? Experts say good time management, careful selection of courses, avoiding wasted effort and inquiring into what the professor really wants. Here are 10 ways to get college A's, as suggested by professors and former students who consider grade-grubbing an unfortunate label for the honorable effort to master the material. They say many of these methods will also work in a growing number of high school classes offered in the Washington region that aim for college-level rigor.
1. Go to class and take notes yourself.
This seems obvious, except there are so many ways these days to avoid class and still get some idea of what went on: a friend's e-mail, lecture note sales at the campus store, a look at the textbook. Lynn F. Jacobs and Jeremy S. Hyman, authors of the "Professors' Guide to Getting Good Grades in College," warn that professional notes or the notes your roommate gave you in exchange for doing her laundry often leave out import!!ant material. They write: "Knowing you'll have to take notes is one of the main things that gets you to go to the lecture in the first place," which is import!!ant for other reasons.
2. Don't major in engineering.
Alexander W. Astin of UCLA and Leticia Oseguera of the University of California at Irvine examined the graduation rates of 56,818 students at 262 colleges and found several things, such as smoking, that did not correlate with college success. Among them was picking unusually demanding and precision-loving majors, particularly engineering, with exams that require the exact answer and not some lively written analysis of why exactitude is no longer applicable in a post-modern age. Of course, if you want to be an engineer and love precision, go for it.
3. Make a big event out of your most-feared academic tasks.
Cal Newport, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dartmouth College seeking a computer science doctorate at MIT, wrote "How to Become a Straight-A Student." He says a major barrier to good grades is the human instinct to delay big challenges, such as a major paper or a foot-high stack of reading. He recommends turning the chore into an import!!ant occasion, a big date with yourself. Pick a restaurant, coffee shop or cafe a long way from where you live, so you won't be tempted to go home right away. "You are sitting alone at a table in a public place, surrounded by strangers," Newport writes, "and if you don't start doing something soon, people will begin to wonder: Who is that odd student sitting alone and staring into space?"
4. Speak to your professors frequently.
At most campuses, professors and teaching assistants must have office hours during which they are available for questions. Jacobs and Hyman, professors themselves, say they find it a sign of interest -- not incompetence -- if a student shows up. Newport recommends making a habit of chatting with professors during the five or 10 minutes they hang around the podium after their lectures, which can happen only if you go to class. To get a good grade, and to enjoy the oft-overlooked byproduct of actually learning something, regular conversations with the people who are teaching the course and grading your work are very useful.
5. Don't shy from courses with lots of papers.
Some students don't like to write papers and prefer courses that rely on exams. But writing is an import!!ant life skill, and practice is essential. Also, Jacobs and Hyman write, "Taking courses that include papers will allow you the freedom to stagger your workload and avoid test overload."
6. Study in an isolated place as early in the day as you can, and do a five- to 10-minute break every hour.
People who save study for nighttime find, Newport writes, that "by the time you finish dinner, gather your materials, and finally begin your work, you really have only a few hours left before it becomes too late and your desire to sleep hijacks your concentration."
7. Use section meetings for more than getting to know attractive classmates.
The discussions are very helpful in understanding the course and raising your grades. Stay on topic, talk less if you are talking all the time and prepare for sections -- but apologize and pass if asked a question about which you have no clue. Jacobs and Hyman advise not to ask questions for the sake of it, and don't announce that you are not prepared.
8. Don't do all of your reading.
This is Newport's most shocking piece of advice. He writes that there are not enough hours in the day to cover all the reading that professors assign. Instead, focus on the reading that appears to be most import!!ant -- material written by sources the professor mentions often, material that makes an argument (crucial for exams) and material that can clear up points you find confusing in the lectures.
9. Before you start work on a paper, do the analysis in your head.
College students have a tendency to think they have to go to the library before they do any thinking about a paper topic, but the best papers tend to be those that grow from personal thoughts. Reflect on experiences you have had that relate to the topic. Kick it around with friends at dinner. Explore views you have heard on the topic that make no sense to you. Graders often give A's for original takes on old issues. The only place to find such fresh thinking is in your head.
10. Let experts look at drafts of a major paper.
First show the draft to your professor, and if he forbids that practice as too likely to overload his schedule, make sure to discuss the shape of your argument and your choice of sources during office hours. You can do this more than once with the same paper if you have developed a rapport with the professor, who, keep in mind, likes you because you always come to class. Also show your draft to smart friends. It would be best if they are in the same course, but if you have no friends there, pick people with some expertise in the subject and listen to what they say.
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