How to Ensure Two Heads are Better than One

(Teamrise, 2013)

In our educational career, we have always been taught “two heads are better than one”. This idea remains true only if we are able to avoid the awful groupthink!

For those of you who are unaware of groupthink, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines this phenomenon as “a pattern of thought characterized by self-deception, forced manufacture of consent, and conformity to group values and ethics.” Simply, it is when everyone accepts an idea without analyzing it. This is often out of laziness.

Disclaimer: At certain and rare points (i.e. when you are doing the assignment the night before it is due) groupthink is an okay strategy.

Imagine the situation: You and your group have just sat down to brainstorm the topic of your paper. You suggest the first thing that comes to your mind. Everyone suddenly thinks that this is a great idea and you run with the idea. At no point did you consider any problems with that topic or alternative ideas. As you finish your assignment, you discover a key flaw! Now it is the night before and you have to redo the entire assignment all because no one questioned what you suggested! This is the problem of groupthink.

So How can we Avoid Groupthink?

Here are 4 simple ways to ensure you and your group are able to have a productive group work experience:

1. Mix things up!

While you may not always be able to choose your group, selecting people who have different skills and perspectives will allow you to address the issue on various levels. Try to diversify your group with dedicated individuals and wait to see how much you learn from each other throughout the project!

2. Make it a safe place

Dominic Packer determined through a psychological study that individuals will not contribute if they feel threatened (2009). Set some ground rules to ensure that you and your group are creating an environment where people are willing to speak up and question each other’s ideas. Ensure that every group member knows that no perspective, question, or suggestion is a dumb or a wrong idea.

3. Have a Devil’s advocate

Devil’s advocate is a role where one/multiple individuals will look for the potential problems in an idea or suggestion. It is important that everyone understands that the devil’s advocate is making constructive comments to help further the group, not attacking an individual’s idea. This will ensure the idea is examined from various views and approaches

4. Provide yourself with time

In order to successfully avoid groupthink, your group needs time to examine the issue from various sides and opinions. If you attempt this approach in a rush, your group will likely become frustrated and annoyed. Just like a cake needs time to bake to become delicious, your ideas need time to be pondered before they become delicious too!

I hope with these tips your group work will be effective and inspiring!

Marshal

Senior Facilitated Study Group Leader

Packer, D. (2009, May). Avoiding groupthink. Psychological Science,20 (5), 546-548. Retrieved from Sage Journals.

Effective Time Management Skills

 

      Let’s face it, many people want to have good marks, a social life and face no stress during their university career, but how do you balance all of your work when all your classes seem to require so much effort? Developing effective time management strategies is crucial to your success as a student. Here are some useful tips in order to help you manage your time better!

 

Plan Your Day

       Setting up a day plan will help you envision your daily goals. Day plans can also be used as a reminder of the tasks that you hope to complete for the day. However, make sure that these goals are manageable and that you schedule time for interruptions. An example of a specific and manageable goal would be: “My assignment is due in one week. Therefore, I’m going to finish all of my research for the assignment today and start writing a rough draft tomorrow.”

A daily time schedule tends to be my favourite strategy as I generally write out all the things I hope to achieve for the day and set manageable time limits for each task.

• Useful tools: agenda, to-do lists or daily time schedules

 

Daily Time Schedule

Time                                                                   Monday                                             Tuesday

 

8:00- 9:00
9:00-10:00		Study
10:00-11:00	Criminology Class	Tutor
11:00-12:00	Criminology Class
12:00-1:00	Lunch	Lunch
1:00-2:00	Study	French Class
2:00-3:00		French Class
3:00-4:00	Grocery Shopping	Gym
4:00-5:00	Return Library books
5:00-6:00		Study
6:00-7:00	Supper	Supper
7:00-8:00	History Readings	Watch T.V.

 

 

Prioritize Tasks

            Make a list of all your tasks that need to be completed for the week. Make sure the most important things are at the top of the list. Once, you have created your list of your weekly tasks then work at completing them. If you notice that some of your tasks are not being completed you may have to reevaluate whether that task is important or should be taken off your list.

 

Set Deadlines for Yourself

            When you have a task to complete, set a realistic deadline that you’ll be able to stick with. Try to have the set deadline a little before the actual deadline in order to get a little ahead in case something unexpected happens that might eat up some of your time. Once you’ve completed the set deadline, reward yourself for completing the task. 

            I tend to use this strategy for many of my assignments and it definitely helps with overcoming procrastination!

 

Become Organized

            I know that this may not be everyone’s strength but when you’re organized you have all the information and materials you need at your disposal. In order to stay organized try using a planner to keep track of your assignments, a calendar to track all of your courses’ deadlines, and place all of your class work in separate binders. Following these three simple steps may help you to better structure your time.

 

Be Efficient with Your Time

       It is very important to make appropriate choices regarding how you will use your time. If you notice that your academics are piling up, you may have to make some sacrifices with your usual habits. Therefore, look for ways that allow you to multitask some of your work (Ex. Study while you’re on the bus). Next, look for time that is usually wasted and make use of it.  An example of this would be to schedule study sessions for yourself in between classes when you would otherwise waste this time.

 

Know How Much You Can Handle!

        Sometimes it may be hard to say “no” to people but when you keep saying “yes”, you increase the amount of work you have to do and this can lead to low morale, stress and poor performance. Therefore, learn to say “no” to the person if you know you will not be able to handle it. Another effective strategy would be completing the time analysis exercise. In this exercise, you list all of the activities you do in a week (Ex. Sleeping, meals, chores, exercise, transportation, work, classes, studying…) and find out how much you spend on average for each activity out of the 168 hours you have in one week. Afterwards, you can reflect on what activities you focus on the most, if these activities deserve that much time and if you can any make possible changes.

 

Avoid Procrastination

            I know that there has probably been a time in everyone’s life where we have procrastinated. However, procrastination can cause stress if you leave a task to the last minute and have many other priorities to complete as well. Therefore, you should stay organized from the beginning in order to avoid getting behind in your schoolwork. However, if you find that you are getting behind, creating goals and incentives, as strategies tend to work for overcoming procrastination. Furthermore, breaking your work into little steps, changing your environment, creating a detailed timeline with detailed deadlines and changing some of your procrastination habits, are other possible solutions.

 

Take Breaks When Completing Assignments

    It’s impossible to keep your focus on your task when working for long periods of time. Therefore, take breaks in order to give your brain a break before you want to start the task again. In regards to writing assignments, these tend to be more mind-intensive activities. Thus, try to schedule writing when you feel the most alert.

 

Emily Runstedler

Peer Mentor

 

 

 

 

 

Get the Most from Your Readings!

Photo by Luke Haytor (Flickr Creative Commons)

Have you ever spent an entire weekend reading, then shown up to class without any recollection of what you read? Or even worse, after spending hours reading, you immediately forget everything? Fear no more! Here are some tips and tricks on how to become an active reader and get the most from your readings.

There are many different types of readings such as academic articles, novels, and textbooks. Therefore as readers, we must vary our approach to how we read for each of these different types of texts.

Take notes while you read!

• Taking notes will make the reading process longer; however, you will benefit from these notes later on. For example, when you are studying for an exam you will probably not remember all of the main points of each assigned text for that course. If you take notes throughout the semester, you will only have to look at the summary of key points that you made rather than have to do all of the readings again.

You can take notes in several ways:

1)      Write in the margins –Practice summarizing! Clarify in simpler terms what each section talks about.

2)      Write on a separate piece of paper –A great way to get all of the important information on one page.

3)      Use sticky notes –You can also colour code these to show specific themes in the text.

4)      Highlight –A great way to quickly see what is important on a page. However, be careful not to over highlight! To prevent this, try highlighting key words rather than entire sentences.

5)      Underline –A great alternative to highlighting because you can erase these marks when you are done.

Consider WHEN you read:

1)      Consider what type of learner you are. For all you lucky morning people out there, do your readings in the morning! In contrast, if you are a night person, do your readings at night! During these times you will be more alert and you will most likely remember more. In addition, try to read material that is more challenging when you are most alert.

2)      Manage your time well. Another good strategy is to chunk your reading into sections, rather than trying to push through it all as fast as possible in one sitting. Taking breaks is crucial because one’s attention span and ability to concentrate are limited.

**However, when chunking your reading, try to avoid stopping in the middle of a section. By not stopping, you will be able to fully process an idea and you will less likely be confused when you start to read again.

Consider WHERE you read:

1)      Reading in bed can be comfy; however, it can sometimes become too comfy and you will fall asleep. Monitor how often this happens to you, and if it is becoming a regular occurrence, perhaps you should try studying at a desk instead.

Quiet Reading Spots on Campus:                                       Avoid:

-Upstairs SC Johnson                                                                                      -Student Centre main floor

-Student Centre computer lab                                                                   -RCW front foyer

-Library                                                                                                                 -Odeon Lobby

2)      Lots of people read on campus; however, some locations are full of distractions and this prevents you from fully engaging with your readings.

Common Distractions	Strategies to Overcome that Distraction
Internal distractions(i.e. stress and worrying)	Create daily, weekly, and term schedules. The Learning Services Centre can help you make these to improve your organization and time management. Also consider creating a “worry sheet”. Note your worries on a sheet of paper so you can address them later.
Texting	Turn your phone off or put in on silent.
Watching the clock	Set an alarm/timer to tell you when to stop studying.
Reduce Background Noise(i.e. music and people talking)	If you like having music on while studying, make a playlist of songs that do not have lyrics. Also, try to study in places where other people will not be hanging out or places where people are always walking by.
Social media(i.e. Facebook)	Log off of these programs. If you do not need your computer for studying, put it in a different room so it will not be there tempting you to go back online.

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions:

1)      Many academic articles contain language that seems like it is from a different planet. Look up these words! The need for defining these terms is crucial, especially if the word seems to come up repeatedly throughout the article. Becoming proficient in being able to understand and apply the terms used in your discipline is an important aspect of your education.

2)      Engaging with your reading is a process that continues into the classroom as well:

• If you have any questions at home, write these down so you don’t forget them, then ask the questions while in class. Most likely other students will have the same questions and they will appreciate that you had the courage to ask.
• Many professors give out participation marks, so these questions will actually help boost your mark in that area too. Yes, you will receive marks for saying that you have no idea what is going on! Embrace the opportunities to learn more!

**Ultimately, by using these strategies to become a more active reader, you should see your memory and comprehension improve greatly. Remember, we do not approach each reading in the same way, so you will have to test out a few of these strategies to see what the perfect fit is for you.

Happy reading!

-Kayla Goetz
Peer Mentor

First Impressions Count: Creating an Effective Essay Title

As an undergraduate student, I know that many of you who will be reading this already have experience with essay writing. We all remember those high school days where we would work really hard on a paper—only to finish it off by slapping on a title such as “My Essay”, or “Persuasive Essay”, or “English Essay”. That is simply not fair; a well written essay deserves a well written title!

I believe that the power of an effective essay title can be easily underestimated, especially by the novice academic writer: something so small can actually have a multitude of benefits for both the writer and the audience. Your essay title is usually the first thing that your audience will read, and usually the last thing that you will write (or at least is something you may write early on but continue to revise throughout the process of writing your paper). Having a good essay title is useful in providing the reader with key information on the essay, and helps to set the tone for the rest of your paper. (CliffsNotes, 2013)

So what is the purpose of the title in an academic paper? A good title should catch the interest of your reader, be informative on the subject matter, and relate to your thesis. Keeping in mind the fact that the title is usually the first thing that is read on a paper, you want to make sure that it is attractive and interesting. Think of a title as a hook—while taking into account the audience’s interest, the writer should create something that will appeal to the audience specifically, grabbing hold of the reader immediately and drawing him or her into your essay. It should symbolize the essay, showing its spirit to the reader. However, it needs to be concise; having a title that is too wordy or lengthy can actually lose the attention of the potential reader. (CliffsNotes, 2013)

Booth, Colomb, and Williams (2008) provide some helpful examples for developing a title:

“The Crusades” vs.” Political Motives of the Crusades” vs. “The Crusades as a Force in European Unity: Preventing Internal Political and Theological Division through External Distraction” (p. 248)

So, we see that the process starts with a very general title to describe the topic, which is not very interesting.  Next we have a slightly more specific title that provides some insight into the essay’s content.  Lastly, we have a formal academic title where the information provided relates directly to the thesis, so it gives the reader enough information to decide if the essay interests them, but it is not too lengthy that they will lose interest.

Another version that may be more reasonable for an undergraduate essay may be something like Politics and Power: An Analysis of the European Crusades.

The last two titles are both excellent examples of an effective essay title. The first example offers a little more detail, and the second example is more straight-to-the-point.

So before you finish writing that essay, be sure to review your title and ask yourself these three questions:
1. Will it catch the interest of my reader?
2. Is it informative on the subject matter?
3. Does it relate to my thesis?

Keeping these questions in the back of your mind during the writing process will both help you stay on track while writing your excellent essay, and will also help you produce an effective title to match!

Fall Term is almost finished, keep up the good work Laurier!

Mason Gomes
Peer Mentor

Works Cited

Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The Craft of Research. Chicago & London: University of Chicago, 2008. Print.

“Titles.” CliffsNotes. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.                 <http://www.cliffsnotes.com/writing/writing/revising-and-editing/titles&gt;.