Reading for PSYC102
You must read the assigned textbook chapters to succeed in this course! The material you read will overlap with the material presented in class, but it is not a 1:1 relationship. Our in-class lectures will include helpful demonstrations, exercises, and peer interaction to supplement or help explain concepts from the readings. To maximize this course structure, students must read text chapters and attend class. We strongly suggest that you read each assigned Chapter before the corresponding lecture so that you know what parts your are unsure about, and what you’d like to ask questions about to clarify. This will help everyone! Use the guiding questions at the end of each chapter and Active Reading Tips as a source for class preparation.
Studying for PSYC102
A recent literature review investigated various common study techniques, and then classified them as having high, moderate, or low utility for remembering and using information.
Students can consider using some of these evidence-based strategies to study for this (and other) courses:
- Practice tests, including self-tests (e.g., turn chapter headers and learning objectives into test questions)
- Distributed practice to spread out study over time (rather than cramming)
- Elaborative interrogation (explain why a concept is true)
- Self-explanation (explain how new information relates to what you already know)
- Interleaved practice that mixes around different material (rather than studying all of unit 1, then all of unit 2, sequentially, for example)
This paper also revealed which study strategies students should avoid. Techniques with low utility are listed below:
X Summarizing
X Highlighting/underlining
X Keyword mnemonics and mental imagery to link with verbal material
X Re-reading the text after having read it once