The New Science of Learning How To Learn in Harmony With Your Brain 3nbsped 1642675016 9781642675016 - Compress

Advance Praise for
The New Science of Learning, Third Edition
“An instant classic when first published in 2013, this updated third
edition of The New Science of Learning should be required reading
for every college student. It is an invaluable resource for educators
searching for concrete, evidence-based ways to help students build
academic skills, agency, and self-efficacy. It is a truly empowering
book for students and instructors alike.”—Jessamyn Neuhaus,
Director, SUNY Plattsburgh Center for Teaching Excellence; Author of
Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds
Who Want to be Effective Teachers
“This book masterfully weaves together leading brain research and

practical examples to show students ‘how to learn.’ It addresses
common pitfalls that students encounter in their learning journey,
and provides a clear roadmap of research-based strategies that can
enhance comprehension, long-term retention, and the overall
learning experience (such as spaced practice, metacognitive strategies,
and yes, sleep). This book is a must-read for students who want the
tools to succeed in college and beyond!”—Tolulope (Tolu) Noah,
Instructional Learning Spaces Coordinator, California State University,
Long Beach
“Zakrajsek’s systematic, approachable, and humorous discussion of

‘the research’ makes this book both accessible and meaningful for any
learner in higher education—and faculty too! He provides condensed,
clear theory as well as pathways of practice for improving our learning
through thought and deed. Any reader will come away with specific
applications that will in turn provide profound improvements to
their learning. This is a must-read for every student, regardless of
previous academic success!”—Ian Wolf, Instructor of English, Vance-
Granville Community College
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“A must-read for our entering students . . . a distillation of the
long-standing science on learning and the brain into easy-to-
follow explanations and compelling real-life examples. This book
encapsulates proven components of successful and enduring learning,
offering numerous practical strategies that students can begin to use
immediately. Kudos to the author for situating this latest edition in
our current social landscape. I am constantly searching for tools to
strengthen our students’ learning retention. This is a grand slam!”
—Angela P. Hegamin, Assistant Dean of Academic Support, College of
Optometry, Western University of Health Sciences
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T HE N E W S C IE N C E O F LE ARN IN G
Third Edition
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 2 30-05-2022 13:13:14
Todd D. Zakrajsek
T HE N E W
S C IE N C E O F
LE ARN IN G
How to Learn in Harmony
With Your Brain
THIRD EDITION
Foreword by
John N. Gardner
STERLING, VIRGINIA
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COPYRIGHT © 2022 BY STYLUS PUBLISHING, LLC.
Published by Stylus Publishing, LLC.

22883 Quicksilver Drive
Sterling, Virginia 20166-2019
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced

in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known
or hereafter invented, including photocopying, recording, and information
storage and retrieval, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-64267-500-9 (cloth)

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-64267-501-6 (paperback)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-64267-502-3 (library networkable e-edition)
13-digit ISBN: 978-1-64267-503-0 (consumer e-edition)
Printed in the United States of America
All first editions printed on acid-free paper

that meets the American National Standards Institute
Z39-48 Standard.
Bulk Purchases
Quantity discounts are available for use in workshops and

for staff development.
Call 1-800-232-0223
Third Edition, 2022
The content of this book is based on the author’s teaching

experience and his expert interpretation of the published
literature, and the publisher’s best effort to prepare
the information for publication. The information and
suggestions within are provided for a general audience
with the hope that it will be beneficial to individuals. The
suggestions and strategies contained in this book may
not be suitable or appropriate for your specific situation.
Readers should always work with professors, advisors, and
other college personnel to ensure changes adopted are
appropriate for the reader’s situation.
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To my mother, Ruth Ann Fisher,
an avid reader, a lifelong learner, and
my first and favorite teacher.
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Instructor’s Manual Available
For a description, see https://styluspub.presswarehouse.com/landing/instructors-manual/

for/9781642675016
To request your copy, click on https://styluspub.presswarehouse.com/request-instructors-

manual/9781642675016/
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C O N TE N TS
FOREWORD ix
John N. Gardner
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
INTRODUCTION 1
PART ONE: SET UP FOR SUCCESS
1 LEARNING FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES 11
2 DISCOVERING YOURSELF AS A LEARNER 28
3 DEVELOPING YOUR LEARNING STRATEGY 46
PART TWO: BUILD THE FOUNDATION
4 IMPROVING THE LEARNING PROCESS 65
5 EXPLORING SOCIAL INFLUENCES 89
6 FINDING AND USING PATTERNS 107
vii
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viii contents
PART THREE: SUPPORT YOUR LEARNING
7 THRIVING IN HIGHER EDUCATION 127
8 DEMONSTRATING YOUR LEARNING 147
9 AVOIDING LEARNING PITFALLS 165
PART FOUR: KEEP IT GOING
10 SLEEPING TO ENHANCE LEARNING 183
11 EXERCISING TO ENHANCE LEARNING 207
12 BEING AN EFFECTIVE GROUP LEADER/MEMBER 224
APPENDIX A: ONLINE LEARNING 245
A MESSAGE FROM DR. Z 251
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 255
INDEX 257
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W E LC O ME TO D R . Z’S B O O K
T HAT C O U LD C HA N G E
YO U R LIF E
Yes, students, this book could change your life—if you let it . . .
If you read it . . . if you apply its really clear and practical advice to the
person who matters most to you—YOU.
This book can be the most important book you are asked to read
in college.
Because this book is about you, how YOU learn, and how you
could learn more effectively.
And because successful learning in one of the most basic human
functions you must master for every life objective you may ever have.
And because most entering college students have never been taught
how to learn and how to improve their learning abilities.
As you’ve probably heard some say: college is about personal self-
discovery. So, in order to make you a more successful learner in college
and life, we first have to help you better understand yourself. And
that’s what this book is going to do. This is a book about who you are
now and what you can become—all a function of how you go about
learning how to learn.
You’re probably asking, as you should be, “Who’s the guy m aking
all these claims about how important this book is going to be for me?”
Well, I’ll tell you. I am a fellow higher education professional—a
professor and an expert on student success like Dr. Z. But I do not
know him personally and have never interacted with him. Now I do
feel like I know him because of being introduced to this book, which
is so readable, personal (yet scholarly with a wonderful bibliography
if you want to read further), friendly, and respectful in its tone and
ix
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x foreword
substance. And his advice is so clearly understandable and applicable

to me as a learner, just like you.
So how did I get to provide this foreword? Because the presi-
dent of Stylus Publishing that produced this book asked me to! Why?
Because he knew I am the leading authority on what is called “the
first-year experience.” This is a term we in higher education give to a
long-established national and international movement to improve the
beginning college and university experience to make more students
like you successful.
Another reason I really got into this book was because Dr. Z and
I have something important in common: We both came very, very
close to dropping out of college in an initially unsuccessful first year.
And both of us had the extreme good fortune to have some key people
intercede and prevent what would have been a great misfortune for us.
Suggestions for Getting the Most Out of This Book

1. First, read the introduction and find out what Dr. Z is trying to
do for you.
2. Then jump to the very end of the book to “A Message from Dr. Z.”
This will tell you some important things about Dr. Z to put him
into understandable context. You should be asking “Just who is
this guy who could change my life?” and his concluding “message”
will tell you that.
3. Before reading anything other than the introduction and Dr. Z’s
message, read the Table of Contents. Look at this like it’s a restau-
rant menu or buffet. Make some initial decisions for what initially
strikes your fancy and let your curiosity and preferences guide
which chapters you would want to read and in what order. Of
course, as in a restaurant, you can always change what you order.
4. Read this book, ideally, with a partner. This is like a fine meal or
your favorite beverage—meant to be shared with someone spe-
cial with whom you could do the “discussion exercises” and share
reactions. Request honest feedback about how you apply Dr. Z’s
advice to how you think you learn.
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foreword xi
5. Work on one chapter at a time. This book is highly readable and

entertaining, but each chapter gives you a lot to think about and
practice. So, take it slow and digest each chapter before moving on.
6. Consider carefully all the examples that Dr. Z provides about how
students go about their learning. Where do you see yourself in
these examples? Ask yourself, is this really me he is writing about?
Which of these examples fits you best? What do you learn about
yourself from making these comparisons?
7. Unless expressly assigned to do all the “discussion questions,” don’t
let the sheer number of them overwhelm you. Just pick several for
starters that look more interesting to you.
8. Apply some of the strategies to specific assignments and the way
you are studying for tests right now.
9. After receiving your grades back on assignments or tests and see-
ing how you performed, go back and look at the strategies you
attempted to practice and make some decisions about how you
think they worked for you and what improvements you still need
to make.
In conclusion, I hope my comments will help you get the most out of
this book. I am very confident that this can be a positive game changer
for you.
Best wishes
—John N. Gardner,
Founder of the John N. Gardner Institute for
Excellence in Undergraduate Education
Pisgah Forest, North Carolina
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A C K N O W LE DG ME N TS
Regardless of the name on the cover, books are never the

product of one or even a few people. This book is no exception.
My family has provided extensive assistance on this project. My wife
Debra pored over multiple drafts and helped me to shape the overall
structure of the manuscript. My daughters, Emma, MaryHelen, and
Kathryn, and my sons-in-law Ryan and Liam, each with varied col-
lege experience, provided insights into the life of students and added
depth to concepts throughout the book. Watching my grandchildren,
Matthew, Preston, and Lorelei, grow continues to inspire me with the
speed at which learning transpires. Sincere appreciation goes out to
John Gardner for his authority and expertise in shaping much of what
the first-year experience and undergraduate education are today. His
foreword for this book was beyond anything that I had hoped for and
effectively set the entire book’s tone. John von Knorring continues to
be a friend and mentor and provided expert feedback through every
step of the writing. The Stylus team of Andrea, Patti, and Iris, along
with Marianna, have all helped to make this project what it is, as it lies
in your hands. Finally, I am indebted to McKenzie Baker, for without
her efforts, this book would have never come to light. She is noth-
ing short of brilliant in sifting through reams of pages and locating a
common theme that ties words and ideas together. There are others,
of course, too many to mention here, who have helped me to be the
educator I am today. These individuals made it possible for me to share
my experience in hopes that this book will help students find a way to
become stronger learners by learning how to learn.
xiii
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I N TR O D U C T I O N
Welcome to the third edition of The New Science of Learning: How to

Learn in Harmony With Your Brain. Across the first two editions, this
title has been one of the best-selling books in higher education devoted
to helping students be better, stronger learners. This edition contains
the core concepts from the first two editions that made it popular,
like the impact of sleep and exercise on learning. This edition also has
updated and expanded research pertaining to how deep learning works
and how to achieve it. Overall, my goal was to bring together informa-
tion from many sources to give you research-informed strategies for
learning that you can apply in any course and after graduation.
Your Host
This book is a tapestry of information woven together to help you
become a stronger learner, and I, Dr. Todd Zakrajsek, will be your
host for this adventure. College was quite an adventure for me. I was
the first person in my family to go to college. I still remember the
excitement that fall as my parents drove me to a small college in north-
ern Michigan. After settling into my dorm room, I was nervous but
couldn’t wait for classes to start. As classes began, I started thinking
about what it would be like to earn a college degree in criminal justice
and become a Michigan State Police officer.
It didn’t go as planned. Just about a month into my new adventure,
I nearly flunked out. I received an F minus minus (it turns out they
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2 introduction
have those) on a chemistry test, an F plus (yes, those as well) on a

physics test, and a D minus on an Intro to Criminal Justice test. I recall
thinking that none of this made any sense. High school was easy—I
cruised along with high Bs and low As with next to no studying. Failing
a test was foreign to me; the idea of failing multiple tests was incon-
ceivable. After doing so poorly on my first set of exams, I concluded
that I was “high school smart,” but not “college smart.” Frustrated and
embarrassed, I began the process of withdrawing from college. It was
depressing.
After getting four of the five necessary faculty signatures to com-
plete the withdrawal form, I needed only my Intro Psych professor,
Dr. Sawyer, to add his name, and college would be over for me. He
asked why I decided to drop out, and then explained that it wasn’t
my intelligence that was the problem. He said I had to figure out the
difference between being familiar with the content and knowing the
content. Motivated by his words, I told him I would figure out a solu-
tion before midterms. His advice was simple but challenging: Find a
different way to learn. I went to the library and found an old copy of
The Memory Book (Lorayne & Lucas, 1975). At the time, I didn’t know
there were books written to help people remember, and books about
learning how to learn. The book helped. The following month was
a bit better, and so was the next and the next after that. I read more
books on learning, and about a year later I switched my major from
criminal justice to psychology.
So, how did I go from nearly flunking out of college after just
1 month to graduating and then going on to earn a PhD in psychology?
By learning how to learn in harmony with my brain, which is so
important that it is the subtitle of this book. In this book you will
find strategies, tips, suggestions, and research about how best to learn.
I have presented the information you are about to read to undergrad-
uate and graduate students throughout the United States. Students
regularly come up after the presentations and ask why nobody told
them this information before. I understand their frustration. Nobody
told me this information either, and it almost took me out of col-
lege. Like many of you, I didn’t know there were strategies to make
a person a stronger learner. I find it odd that learning how to learn is
not taught systematically throughout school. Without knowing more
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introduction 3
about how to learn, many students waste hundreds of hours of study

time, and way too many good students flunk out of college, just like
I nearly did. Many of the students who struggle in college don’t lack
the intelligence to succeed. They just don’t know how to learn effec-
tively. The good news is that you can change that right now and take
better advantage of the learning opportunities college offers.
Where This Book Came From

So, where did I find the information on learning how to learn that
is included in this book? It turns out there is a staggering amount of
research about the science of learning, with new articles published
every day. When teaching, I do my best to break the studies down
so that my undergraduate students find the material interesting.
To write this book, I pulled together all the information I had that
applied to learning how to learn. The work presented is designed
to empower you as a lifelong learner to experience more classroom
success and carry forward skills outside the classroom. The research
in this book comes from a wide variety of areas: neuroscience, cogni-
tive psychology, social psychology, motivation, and others. It is a lot,
but don’t worry, everything will be explained in a way that is easy to
understand.
Throughout this book, you will find strategies that you can use
to help you take exams, write papers, interact in class, and work in
groups. Often relatively straightforward changes can have a significant
impact on your learning. Although not all strategies work for all peo-
ple, research on information processing, learning, and memory shows
remarkable consistency across a wide variety of learners. By trying dif-
ferent strategies, you will find what works for you and what doesn’t.
You will find that everyone struggles with learning at times and that
failure is a learning experience. The secret is to keep learning to learn.
What I find fascinating about learning is that there are consistent
ways humans process information. Yes, we are all unique, but nearly all
people share common learning functions when encountering similar
learning situations. You don’t get better just by doing something. You
get better at something (e.g., taking tests, driving, baking) by working
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4 introduction
at getting better at some aspect of it (e.g., trying new study strate-

gies, driving on different surfaces, experimenting with types of sugar).
If you learn about and apply evidence-based strategies, like those in
this book, to specific areas you wish to improve, you will get better at
learning. You will be learning in harmony with your brain.
The Structure of This Third Edition

The information in this book is carefully laid out for you. Each chapter
has strategies regarding how learning works and ways to apply what
you are learning. The chapters are designed to stand alone and can be
read in any order.
Part One sets you up for success. Chapter 1 kicks off by identifying
the perspectives we hold (positive, negative, internal, external, indi-
vidual, and systemic) and how interacting with others while critically
thinking about their perspectives enriches our lives. Identifying and
combating biases and nurturing awareness and understanding are key
to improving higher education for all. Chapter 2 helps you to under-
stand more about your “self,” so you can learn to work with your
strengths and be a more efficient learner. Chapter 3 provides a road
map for you to chart a plan for success. Research about taking control
of one’s situation and setting and maintaining clear goals has consist-
ently shown positive outcomes. By the end of chapter 3 you will be
able to plan a strategy for success in any arena, academic or on the job.
Part Two introduces foundational concepts of how learning
works and strategies to facilitate your learning. Chapter 4 provides a
quick introduction to the process of how the brain learns, from the
first time you encounter a new concept to how it is stored, retrieved,
and strengthened with practice. Chapter 5 embraces the social side
of learning. None of us exists in a vacuum (thank goodness), and
understanding how others can positively and negatively impact our
perceptions is crucial for learning in harmony with our brain. Chapter
6 pieces together ways for you to look for and then use patterns.
Experts in every field have two learning superpowers: They know how
to chunk information and how to identify patterns that emerge from
that information. Being aware of and leveraging patterns means they
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introduction 5
can do a great deal of heavy lifting when it comes to learning even the
most complex new material.
Part Three explains, step-by-step where possible, how to thrive
using the traditional classroom metrics, and discusses some new, more
inclusive practices you may encounter in or even introduce to your insti‑
tution. Chapter 7 reveals resources you can utilize on campus and dur-
ing your own studying to reach your personal best. Chapter 8 focuses
on how to be successful in structured learning environments. Here you
will find strategies for taking tests, writing papers, surviving a less than
ideal lecture, and using feedback effectively. Learning how to learn is
undoubtedly important, but recalling information when you need it
in a class (or in your career) is what really matters. Chapter 9 exposes
what most students and even some faculty members don’t know: learn-
ing pitfalls. Pitfalls give you the impression you’re doing the right thing
academically, and then let you down when it matters most. Avoiding
these pitfalls could be the difference between not making it through
college and graduating.
Part Four takes us beyond the classroom, from how to hack our
innermost physiology to how we interact in group settings during
and after college. Chapter 10 lays out the research on the impact
of sleep on learning. Chapter 11 stretches across the research on
the positive impact exercise can have on your learning. Engaging
in any aerobic exercise helps you learn faster and more effectively.
Chapter 12 addresses the moans heard nearly every time an instruc-
tor announces that group work will be a large part of the course. As
important as group work is to your future, both in class and your
future jobs, it is rare to be taught how to succeed at working in
a group. Information from this chapter will help you develop as a
leader and a group member, which will help you right now in school
and later in your career.
That may sound like a lot for one relatively small book. It is.
Learning requires work, but I have done my best to make it interesting,
accessible, and applicable. I hope you even find it fun at times. There
are so many possibilities when you learn how to learn in harmony with
your brain.
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6 introduction
A Note to Students
This book addresses the many issues I have seen students struggle with
in my time as a college faculty member. I wrote it because the demands
of college are generally very different from what you’ve encountered
before, and I hope that this material, together with your effort, will
help you excel in your academic studies. The information through-
out the book is grounded in science and may at times be a bit dense.
That is because some of the concepts are a bit dense. I use examples
throughout the book that I hope make those concepts understandable,
but you may have to read a few paragraphs more than once to get
the information. That is a learning strategy of the sort I offer in this
book. I do the same thing when I read research articles. At times I even
read the articles out loud, as that helps me to better understand really
challenging information.
Now that you have the opportunity to pursue a college degree, it
is up to you to succeed. You can do this, but it won’t be easy. Things
of value rarely are. I’ll be with you all the way through this book,
and I am confident that the information you learn will help you suc-
ceed. My final piece of advice as we get started is to work through the
challenges and celebrate your successes. I wish you well.
Note: I use the word “college” in place of “college and university”

throughout this book, only to make it less clunky to read. The c ontent
is equally relevant whether you’re at a college, technical school,
or university.
A Note to Faculty
Although I wrote this book for students, I hope you’ll find much of
it useful in your teaching. I have seen students flunk courses when
they didn’t attend class or refused to do required work. I also know,
from decades of teaching, that those students, although undoubtedly
salient in our minds, are by far in the minority. The vast majority
of students are in our courses to learn. Unfortunately, we lose too
many students, filled with potential, because we fail to teach them
processes necessary to succeed in college along with the content of
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introduction 7
our fields. It could be argued they should have these skills when they
come to our classes, but if they don’t—whether due to graduating
from underresourced schools, lack of support, or simply not being
taught how to learn—we are morally obliged to remedy the situation.
As noted earlier, I came within one signature of flunking out of col-
lege within my first 2 months. I had the motivation and the academic
background. However, as a first-generation student, I didn’t know
what I was doing. Four out of five faculty members that fateful fall
would have watched me fail and blamed me for it. One of five went
another way, and here I am today. In the years since my first months
at college, I believe that many more faculty members have come to
realize that navigating college presents new and major challenges for
many students, and those students depend on us for the guidance and
support described in these pages.
I wholeheartedly believe that the students coming into our courses
hold the potential to do amazing things. They just need a bit of help in
the transition. I hope this book, along with your skill as an educator,
enriches their journey.
Discussion Questions
1. What do you find easiest to learn? Why do you think that new
information in the area you noted is so easy for you to learn? What
about an area in which you struggle? What makes that area so
challenging?
2. Find and read one article that contains something about how
people learn. What was the major overall finding or point in the
article about learning that would help you to be a stronger learner?
Reference
Lorayne, H., & Lucas, J. (1975). The memory book: The classic guide to
improving your memory at work, at school, and at play. Random House.
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P A RT O N E
S E T U P FO R S U C C E S S
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 10 30-05-2022 13:13:15
1
L E A R N I N G F R O M M U LT I P L E
P E R S P E C T IV E S
One of the most valuable aspects of attending college is the o pportunity

to be part of a community of learners with a wide variety of perspec-
tives. Unfortunately, books designed to help students become better
learners typically omit this critical element. Why is this element criti-
cal? Many of the individuals who have chosen the same institution as
you have had vastly different life experiences, which means they will
have perspectives different from yours. When you begin college, your
perspective is grounded in your experience, your background, and
how you make sense of the world around you. Your many life experi-
ences shaped who you are, and unchanged, that single perspective will
drive (and sometimes limit) how you think (and make decisions) in
the future. Here is the fantastic thing about college: It provides you an
opportunity to broaden your perspective. How much will depend on
who you interact with and the experiences you choose to pursue. In
addition, you can actively strive to change based on your willingness
to learn from others and share with them in return. It’s all up to you.
Learning in harmony with your brain starts with reflecting on your
perspective on life and the extent to which you choose to change how
you interact with the world around you.
11
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12 set up for success
Perspective Taking
I have long argued that dichotomous thinking is weak thinking.
A dichotomy is something divided into two parts—one way or the
other, black or white, up or down, day or night. The world is much
easier to navigate using this simplistic view. By using dichotomous
thinking there is loss of an ability to consider details, that circum-
stances change, and that nearly everything is open to interpretation.
Those relying on dichotomous thinking are often very confident and
unchanging in their position without even realizing the drawbacks of
their opinion (Dunning, 2011).
Critical thinking changes this perspective. Critical thinkers move
from “knowing” their position is right to understanding the world is
more complicated than that. Critical thinkers pick at the edges that
dichotomous thinkers claim are so sharply drawn. As an example, a
dichotomous thinker would claim confidently to know the difference
between day and night. Midnight and noon are easy to classify, but
what about dusk and dawn? Here we have an example of the edges
that make knowing uncertain and interesting. How do we know at
dusk when day stops and night begins? What about an individual
who e xperiences dusk in Times Square in New York City, where bill-
boards make midnight as bright as noon, or someone from Starbuck,
Washington, where blazing sunsets ease into darkest night? As a c ritical
thinker, your consideration and openness to consider other points of
view make even this basic concept of day and night so much more
nuanced by determining how to tell the precise moment day becomes
night. But of course, college is not about discussions of a setting sun.
The issues are much more complex, and I am not suggesting it is easy
to use critical thinking to delve into the complexities of concepts,
courses, and relationships. In reality, it is frustrating, challenging, and
sometimes exhausting. Thinking critically and finding answers to the
types of problems we as a society face at present will take immense
effort. The challenge is finding critical thinkers from different perspec-
tives who are willing to discuss and analyze messy issues and look for
the most appropriate solutions. That is where you come in.
In college, there will be courses filled with individuals, each
with their perspectives, participating in discussions facilitated by
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 12 30-05-2022 13:13:15

learning from multiple perspectives 13
a professor, a content expert who has a perspective of their own.

It is true of you, and it is true of me. I have a perspective based
on my life. My world view is shaped by the fact that I am a late-
middle-aged, White, heterosexual, cisgender male from a small town
in Michigan, who has spent his life in higher education and traveled
extensively, including riding a bicycle through Starbuck, Washington
(population 137) and walking through Times Square in Manhattan
(population near 8.5 million). The diverse perspectives that students
bring to the discussions are why I so highly value each class I have
had the privilege to teach.
In the classes you take, you will encounter individuals with wildly
different perspectives on learning. These contrasting perspectives
bring the richness already mentioned, but they also bring challenges.
The following concepts are just a few things to keep in mind as you
encounter new, exciting, and challenging viewpoints, learn how to
process them, and flourish as a result. Doing this will help you learn in
harmony with your brain by thinking in ways that intersect with the
perspectives of others.
Ubiquitous Struggles
“Be kind; everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” This quote is
attributed to Ian McLaren (Quote Invest, n.d.). It will enrich your
understanding of others if you keep this in mind. I know upon meet-
ing you that something in your life is a current struggle, or perhaps you
carry an invisible ongoing struggle. I don’t need to know the struggle
itself, only that you have one. It is important because experiences—
battles lost, won, and ongoing—impact attitudes and perceptions. If
someone in class is very committed to a position, or you find your-
self strongly committed to one, be aware that the individual taking
that strong position likely has a real connection to the issue. It may
even be directly tied to their personal battle. Whether you agree or
not, you can remain respectful and contribute your perspective or per-
haps just listen with your undivided attention. Wise people and critical
thinkers often disagree and still respect the position of others. Carry
space for consideration of others’ contexts.
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First-Generation College Students

First-generation students often struggle financially and with guilt for
being away from their families (Beresin, 2021). College, when done
right, changes a person. It changes one’s perspective. That change may
be challenging for a family to accept. If you are a first-generation stu-
dent, you will take on new perspectives as you proceed through college.
Be mindful that these changes will, in all probability, impact relation-
ships you have held with some family members and high school friends
who knew you before college.
First-generation students also often find it challenging to fit in and
are confused about how the college system works. As a first-generation
college student, I did not even know that a person could drop a class
if it wasn’t going well. Many first-generation college students also feel
insecure and like they don’t fit in. The feelings of isolation and non-
belonging make it challenging to have a positive social life. In class
discussions, first-generation students may not contribute much for
fear of responding in a way that might reveal perceived shortcomings.
These individual concerns add up: Ives and Castillo-Montoya (2020)
reported that “only 56% [of first-generation college students] earn a
baccalaureate degree within six years compared to 74% of students
with a parent who graduated from college” (p. 139).
The good news is that research has shown that many students
find relief talking to other first-generation students, and there are
likely many more first-generation students on campus than you
think. Approximately one-third of college students are the first in
their families to enter higher education (Ives & Castillo-Montoya,
2020). Also, note that most campuses now have free, confidential
resources to help with the transition to college. If you are a first-
generation college student, seek out others who understand your
position. If you are not a first-generation student, but know someone
who is, keep in mind that their perspective is partly driven by their
introduction to higher education.
Recognizing Individuality
As already discussed, classrooms within higher education are composed
of a rich collection of perspectives. But where do our perspectives
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 14 30-05-2022 13:13:15

originate? From birth we each start a journey made up of lived experi-

ences. Those experiences are the building blocks of who you become.
Two individuals, born on the same day at the same hospital, will reach
the end of very different lives. How different will depend on circum-
stances, opportunities presented, and experiences chosen. Individuals
frequently fail to consider the lived experiences that make up a person’s
life when they are interacting with one another.
Many events that determine how a person sees the world are subtle,
like a conversation about the weather or watching the sun set. Other
experiences alter one’s perspective to a larger degree, such as struggling
with a language barrier, attention deficit disorder, or poor self-esteem.
Nobody chooses these sorts of (or any) life experiences, but they do
have to navigate them. As these examples illustrate, perspectives evolve
because of factors outside one’s control.
Interactions with individuals and experiencing events that seem
totally innocuous at the time can radically change our lives. Imagine
a middle school teacher who makes discouraging statements, and the
student wilts. Performing poorly in middle school excludes the stu-
dents from courses in high school that lead to college. Imagine that
the same middle school teacher, for some unknown reason, comments
positively on another student, and that student thrives, excels at their
work, and ends up in college prep courses. When individuals interact,
they rarely consider the complexity of lived experiences. A person can
be seen, but their lived experience can’t. Inferences are made based
only on what can be observed, such as skin color, clothing, or accents.
From such information, too many people make inferences about the
person, often unkind and inaccurate. In this book, we will unpack
why these inferences happen. “Isms” exist in higher education, just
as in society (Carrasco, 2021; National Center, 2019). They need to
be addressed, and we all need to be vigilant against them, because a
clearer understanding of the bias we bring to the learning environ-
ment will impede or enrich our ability to understand the perspectives
of others.
Disarming Microaggressions
Students of color and those identified as “different” (e.g., a nonmajor-
ity gender identity, a learning disability, or different levels of physical
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 15 30-05-2022 13:13:15

ableness) face a constant barrage of microaggressions, which are subtle

statements and behaviors, intentional or unintentional, that are hostile
or derogatory. Many instigators of microaggressions claim that victims
of these statements are “overly sensitive,” that nobody is really hurt by
such comments, and that they need to realize they are only jokes. That
might be true if a person from a marginalized group heard these com-
ments only infrequently. Unfortunately, these not-at-all innocuous
statements and behaviors are a constant, daily assault on the v ictim’s
sense of self. It would be like a friend poking you in the side with a
finger. It wouldn’t be an issue at all if it happened only once, or once
every 6 months. But what if it happened frequently, and several of your
friends started to poke you in the side as a joke? You may tolerate it
for a while, but there would likely come a moment when you would
yell at a person poking you to stop. At that point, imagine if they
said, “What’s the big deal, it is only a poke with a finger? Wow, you
need to toughen up.” You may have responded this way because you
were frustrated and infuriated, and your side started to hurt. Imagine
further that the person poking you in the side was in a position of
power and you had no power to make them stop. Finger poking is
an innocuous example to illustrate what microaggressions are like for
people from marginalized groups. It is the accumulation of insults that
makes microaggressions so insidious.
There are a wide variety of microaggressions. Examples include
crossing the street to avoid an oncoming group of Black men on
the sidewalk (implying that they are dangerous), complimenting
a Japanese American student on their English (negating or refusing
to acknowledge they are American), or using derogatory language
to belittle particular groups. Microaggressions were initially defined
as subtle discrimination toward ethnic minorities but can equally be
directed to any minoritized group, such as LGBTQIA+ individuals
(Anzani et al., 2021).
With an increased awareness of what microaggressions are and
the damage they can do, we need to call out and work to prevent
such behavior. Inaction and silence support the dividing nature of
microaggressions (Limbong, 2020). If you note someone committing
a microaggression, and you feel safe, say something. Derald Sue and
colleagues (2019) at Columbia University, in their article “Disarming
Racial Microaggressions,” point out several ways to help work against
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 16 30-05-2022 13:13:15

microaggressions. One way is to be a deflector, a person who puts an

end to an act of aggression, acts as an ally, and educates the trans-
gressor. Suppose a student sitting next to you in class points at the
person in front of them and says, “We should get him to do our math
homework. Chinese are good at math.” To be a deflector, you might
say, “I have to say, that’s not okay. It really reinforces a stereotype that
we need to let go.” If you catch yourself making a microaggression,
it is appropriate, and often greatly appreciated, to call a “foul” on
yourself. I have said something without thinking and immediately
apologized. A self-correction can be as simple as saying to a group of
four women, “Hey, I just used language that I shouldn’t have. I said,
‘you guys,’ when there are no guys in the group. I’m sorry about
that.” When that h appened to me, one of the women in the group
said, “That’s okay, I don’t mind.” I replied to her, “I am glad you were
not offended, but it isn’t right. It would be equally inappropriate to
say to four guys in a group, ‘hey gals.’” Individuals typically appreciate
when someone is practicing personal growth.
Stereotype Threat
Steele and Aronson (1995) identified the concept of stereotype threat,
in which one person is assumed to stand for their entire perceived
group, and such assumptions often result in a negative impact on
performance. For example, if a Black student is in a predominantly
White school, according to Steele and Aronson, the Black student
may be concerned that if they do poorly, it will reinforce a nega-
tive stereotype about Black students not being as good as White stu-
dents. Research shows that whenever an individual believes that they
are being singled out for their group identity (e.g., being a woman
or Black) as they embark on an activity or test, they will perform
poorly. Croizet and colleagues (2001) from universities in France and
Belgium noted the impact of stereotype threat based on socioeco-
nomic status (SES). There is a negative stereotype that individuals
from lower SES do not do as well academically as those with higher
SES. Croizet’s study showed that when individuals were told that a
test was simply a cognitive psychology study, there were no differences
between the two groups. However, using the same test, if p articipants
were told it was a diagnostic test of abilities and limitations, lower
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 17 30-05-2022 13:13:15

SES participants missed significantly more items than did partici-

pants with higher SES (Croizet et al., 2001). When told the test
was diagnostic and would differentiate based on knowledge of the
material, students felt the pressure to do well, which typically lowers
test performance.
In another study, Stricker and colleagues (2015) demonstrated
stereotype threat for Black test-takers. When questions about race were
asked prior to taking the test, test scores were lower than when race
questions were not asked prior to the test being completed (Stricker
et al., 2015). This and other studies have shown that making a person
from a marginalized group think about their race or ethnicity puts
added pressure on them to do well. Stereotype threat and its implica-
tions on individual perspectives have been studied for many groups.
Additional examples include Native Americans regarding grade point
averages and hopelessness (Jaramillo et al., 2016), women’s math per-
formance (Spencer et al., 1999), and social interaction for individuals
on the autism spectrum (Botha et al., 2020).
Implicit Bias
Implicit bias is an automatically triggered association between a social
group and the perceived attributes of that group by third parties
(Payne et al., 2018). Implicit bias is measured through reaction times
on cognitive tests, which is a valuable measurement of bias. Reaction
time tests are more accurate than self-report measures, which are
problematic because individuals can and often do self-censor to hide
their bias. Payne and Vuletich from the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill, along with Brown-Iannuzzi from the University of
Kentucky, found that self-reports of implicit bias have declined in
recent years, but cognitive tests show that this bias remains common
(Payne et al., 2018). Implicit bias can be directed at any group, for any
reason. Some common biases that are being studied are biases against
Latinx individuals (Blair et al., 2013) and LGBTQIA+ students, caus-
ing them to receive poorer health care (Morris et al., 2019), and social
exclusion of individuals on the autism spectrum (University of Texas
at Dallas, 2021). If you watch your behavior across several days, you
will likely note implicit biases at times. Suppose you take your car to
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 18 30-05-2022 13:13:15

the service station to check the engine, and when you pull in a woman
and man are standing in the garage talking. If you assume that the
man is the mechanic, that is an implicit bias. There is a very good
mechanic at the garage where I take my car for repairs. I asked her
how people who come in for service treat her, and she said it is awful,
and it is constant. She said nearly everyone, until they get to know her,
asks her if any mechanics are available.
Summary of Biases
As you engage in higher education, you will interact with individuals
from various groups. Your points of view will differ from theirs, and
you will have preconceived ideas about those individuals. They will be
prejudging you in the same way. We all have biases in some respects.
The challenge is to work to mitigate those biases as much as possible.
There is no harm in seeing differences among people. Differences are
positive in many ways because they offer a diversity of perspectives and
richness of life. The challenge is not to let those differences disparage
or disadvantage anyone. As you engage in discussions about biases such
as microaggressions, stereotype threats, and implicit biases, consider
that bias is never restricted to a single group. We live in a country that
has achieved great accomplishments and also perpetrated behaviors for
which we are not proud. Avoid the dichotomous thinking discussed
earlier. These are challenging issues, but we can make progress with a
bit of effort, openness, and critical thinking. As Maya Angelou said,
“The truth is, no one of us can be free until everybody is free” (CNN,
2013, 1:09). That includes being free from bias.
From Uneasy to Understanding

As you interact with individuals who are different from you, it is per-
fectly normal to feel uncomfortable for a while. This happens because
of how the human brain is wired. We feel comfortable when someone
looks like us, acts like us, and likes what we like (Iacoboni, 2009).
Why wouldn’t we feel comfortable around, essentially, ourselves?
Individuals different from you represent uncertainty, and uncertainty
can put people on guard and make them uncomfortable. However,
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 19 30-05-2022 13:13:15

if you are exposed to the same person repeatedly, the brain better
understands what to expect with such interaction, and with time that
discomfort around the unfamiliar goes away (Martinez & Derrick,
1996). The best way to feel comfortable with someone different
from you is to interact with them as much as possible. As you make
an effort to consistently interact with those who are different from
you, and those with whom you feel unfamiliar—for fear you will not
understand them or say something culturally insensitive—across time
you will find it easier and faster to understand and appreciate the
perspectives of literally anyone.
Equity, Equality, and Accommodations

There are two ways to think about what is “fair”: Equality and equity
(Zakrajsek, 2021). Equality is a form of fairness where everyone gets
the same thing, whether that is something of value, access, or any
other opportunity of value. Suppose an alumnus donates a huge sum
of money to your campus, and every student gets $1,000 dollars.
That is equality because everyone gets the same. Now suppose that
the money is divvied up based on how big of an impact to individuals
some extra funds would make. With this metric, students with fami-
lies making at or below the poverty line would receive $1,100 dollars,
whereas students with families who make more than 100% above the
poverty line (for whom $1,000 would make no difference in their
lives) wouldn’t receive anything. This second distribution based on
impact is the second type of fair called equity, and it’s already hap-
pening on your campus now, by the way, if you or a friend have
need-based financial aid.
Given there are two concepts of what is fair, each with a differ-
ent definition, how can we decide which to use? One way to look at
this is to determine starting points. If everyone starts the same, and
has access to the same resources, then giving everyone the same is
fair. But everyone does not start the same. There are differences that
begin at birth. Most societies discriminate on many dimensions, and
the United States is no different. Due to accepted norms of what is
perceived valuable, a person may be treated differently their entire
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 20 30-05-2022 13:13:15

life based on a seemingly irrelevant physical attribute that is out of

their control. For example, consider attractiveness, a completely social
construct. Our society determines what is considered attractive. Two
classic studies on the attractiveness of defendants and judicial out-
comes demonstrate the subtle ways that individuals are treated differ-
ently in our society.
Downs and Lyons (1991), researchers at the University of
Houston – Clear Lake, looked at judgments for fines against defend-
ants. After fines were assessed, cases were sorted based on attractiveness
ratings of defendants. On average, for the same crimes, judges fined
defendants with the highest attractiveness ratings $500, versus $1,400
for defendants with the lowest attractiveness ratings. In another study,
Stewart (1980) found that defendants rated as attractive received sen-
tences of an average of 1.87 years in prison, whereas defendants rated
less attractive received 4.1 years for the same crimes. There is such a
notable bias toward attractive people in our society that psychology
has a term for this: the beauty is good stereotype (Griffin & Langlois,
2006). Based on thousands of studies in psychology, it is evident that
attractive people receive more benefits in life. That does not seem at all
fair. Based on this one uncontrollable factor, lives are lived differently.
Of course, attractiveness is just one example. We treat people differ-
ently based on their height, skin color, speech, mobility, economic
status, and a host of other factors.
When it comes to determining who gets what, if everyone gets the
same (equality), then those born with more advantages (more affluent,
better schooling and health care, travel opportunities) would seem to
be getting a double, and unfair, advantage. However, if we give those
who need it more than those who don’t, we can balance just a bit
(equity). In thinking about the prison sentences, imagine that every-
one was given 6 months off their sentences. That would be equality,
but that doesn’t seem fair as attractive people already had sentences
that were more than 2 years shorter. It would seem more fair to first
give sentence reductions to those who had unfairly received harsher
sentences. That would be an example of equity.
This same principle is used for accommodations at the university.
If a person has cognitive processing issues, severe ADD, or mobil-
ity challenges; is vision or hearing impaired; or is navigating other
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 21 30-05-2022 13:13:15

circumstances that hinder their chance to learn, it is “fair” to use an

equity-based approach and provide those individuals with accommo-
dations to enable them to succeed. Individuals with learning chal-
lenges are not getting anything extra; they are getting what they need
to come closer to being equal to those who started at a more advanta-
geous level. If you have a learning challenge, I urge you to visit the
office that provides accommodations to be tested to identify what
options may be available to you. If you are provided with accommo-
dations, please use them to give yourself an even chance to do well.
For those of you who don’t require accommodations, be considerate
of those who do need them. Your peers who receive accommodations
are simply getting assistance to offset the challenges that they have
through no fault of their own.
Engaged Learning
Remember the discussion on different perspectives that opened this
chapter? Engaged classrooms make those conversations possible, but
the field of active and engaged learning is relatively new to higher
education. For almost 1,000 years, the lecture was the primary teach-
ing method (Brockliss, 1996). That changed in the mid-1990s when
researchers figured out that although lecturing was an “efficient” way
to deliver lots of information, it was not an effective means of ensur-
ing students understood, could remember, and could apply what was
taught (Barr & Tagg, 1995; Dunlosky et al., 2013). Of course, there
are still faculty who lecture all the time, as you know.
Although lectures are ideal for presenting a large amount of infor-
mation quickly, research has shown that including some engaged
learning strategies with lectures results in significantly more learning
(Freeman et al., 2014), because students have to reflect on or apply
the information just presented. As a result, an increasing number of
faculty are including engaged learning strategies, such as think-pair-
share, discussion groups, jigsaw, and gallery walks, just to name a few.
As has been the theme of this chapter, students hold many different
perspectives concerning engaged learning strategies. Some students find
them extremely helpful. However, I have heard more than one student
say, “I pay a lot to hear what the professor has to say on the topic. I am
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 22 30-05-2022 13:13:15

not interested in what the person sitting next to me thinks.” Although

some students’ knee-jerk reaction is to prefer lectures because they are
used to them, most students find that participating in the class activity
increases their grades (Deslauriers et al., 2011). If you tend to prefer
the traditional structure of a lecture-based class, keep an open mind
and give engaged learning a chance.
Online courses offer an additional opportunity to be more engaged
in the learning process. Online asynchronous courses not only allow
for in-depth conversations and interactions between students and pro-
fessor and students, but it’s also the case that some students who strug-
gle to participate in on-site courses thrive in online classes. The ability
to take time to think through answers before contributing to a discus-
sion board or threaded discussion can be incredibly helpful, given the
multiple, rich perspectives within the course.
Given the prevalence of online courses, especially following the
COVID-19 pandemic (Smalley, 2021), and some of the unique chal-
lenges that go along with the unique opportunities, you will find a
more detailed discussion about the online learning environment and
about being an online learner in Appendix A.
Chapter Summary
College is an excellent place for the opportunity to have conversations
with those who hold perspectives different from yours. Critical think-
ing requires that we avoid dichotomous thinking, as life has very few
issues that require simple yes/no answers. As we engage in conversa-
tions in our courses, remember that everyone has a reason for their
perspective and that everyone has a battle they have fought or are fight-
ing. Along with those battles, some individuals have perspectives heav-
ily influenced by their circumstances, such as being a first-generation
college student. Many individuals in minoritized groups struggle with
unfamiliar academic material and the different demands of college and
feelings of insecurity, which are reinforced by microaggressions. Don’t
be partner to them and do call them out when you’re aware of them.
Along with microaggressions, marginalized groups also face stereotype
threats and implicit bias.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 23 30-05-2022 13:13:15

You will be uncomfortable at times in college, as will others in

the room. With time and work, that discomfort will dissipate as
you critically examine your preconceptions and biases (which we all
have), and you will be left with new connections and a variety of
perspectives rich with possibilities. As those connections develop,
you will also see how equity helps bring individuals the same
chance of success. Classes that are increasingly using engaged learning
strategies are excellent opportunities to reinforce this work and give
individuals the opportunity to learn from one another. This happens
both in on-site courses and online. There are many possibilities for
rich discussions and personal growth should you avail yourself of the
opportunities.
1. Describe one topic you have observed that is often presented
dichotomously. Does this topic have two clear positions? What
points of view or arguments can you think of on either side of the
issue you’ve noted?
2. To what extent do you think the average person understands that
others have internal or external struggles? Select one battle related
to being a college student that you think many students face (e.g.,
microaggressions, first-generation student status, implicit bias,
racism, etc.). Describe the impact of dealing with such an issue.
3. Over the period of a few days, watch for microaggressions (behav-
ioral or verbal, made by others or yourself ). Describe one of the
microaggressions you observed and its likely impact. Explain what
was hurtful and disparaging about this microaggression.
4. If you had the opportunity to have a completely open and con-
fidential conversation with an individual from a marginalized
group to learn more about their perspective and experiences, who
would you like to talk to, and what general topic would you desire
to know more about? What resources, books, or articles can you
access to begin educating yourself?
5. What teaching strategy do you prefer and why: mostly lecture,
primarily engaged learning, or a mix?
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 24 30-05-2022 13:13:15

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2
D IS C O V E R I N G Y O U R S E L F
A S A LE A R N E R
In this chapter, we turn our attention to several select, fundamental

aspects of learning about your “self ” as a learner. After the information
about regulating one’s behavior to fulfill a planned course of action, we
look at the extent to which an individual believes they can be success-
ful. As some individuals fear doing poorly, even with evidence to the
contrary, there is a section on imposter syndrome. The chapter ends by
offering a course of action to build your confidence about your studies.
Self-Regulation
Self-regulation is the process that helps you to meet your personal
goals (Inzlicht et al., 2021). Sometimes what you want and what is
the best for you at that time are the same. When it isn’t, you need to
regulate yourself and choose what is most appropriate. I once asked
my 4-year-old daughter what she wanted for breakfast, and she said,
“Hmm, how about Pepsi and a Kit Kat?” I told her she needed to
pick something else, and she retorted that when she was grown, she
would have Pepsi and Kit Kat bars whenever she wanted. She is grown
28
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discovering yourself as a learner 29
now, and although I suspect that every so often she does start her day
with soda and a candy bar, she doesn’t do so regularly, even though
she would like to. She is self-regulating her behavior. The first year of
college allows students a lot of freedom that was likely not available
just a few months prior. Some first-year students will engage in a great
deal of nonacademic behavior, whereas others will quickly establish a
sustainable schedule that balances fun, relaxation, and a steady study
schedule. The difference is important. Nearly one out of every three
students drops out of college before sophomore year (Hanson, 2021).
Many of those who don’t succeed likely struggled with self-regulation.
Self-regulation requires an individual to identify a target outcome,
plan how to reach the target, and stick to the planned behavior until
the target outcome is reached. For example, you make a goal to be on
the dean’s list your first year at college. You decide to study for 1 hour
for each of your four classes every day, including Saturday, although
you plan to take Sunday off to relax and do something fun. During
the 4th week of the semester, a few of your friends tell you that they
are going away for a biking trip leaving Friday morning and returning
Sunday evening, and they have room for one more. You love biking,
and the trip sounds amazing. You may start to rationalize that you can
study more next week or that even if your grades drop a bit, you can get
them back up later in the semester. It will take a lot of self-regulation
to turn down the trip and stick to your study plan. Self-regulation is
impacted by internal and external factors, making it more nuanced
than simply whether or not you do something. The following are some
of the primary aspects of self-regulation that impact your ability to set
your target, plan, and carry out the plan.
Study Tip 2.1: Start as small as necessary, but develop a habit of

completing whatever goal you set.
Establish a Habit of Success

Establishing a productive self-regulation system is critical in the first
semester of college. After your 1st year, the self-regulation processes you
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establish become habits for success, which you can continue to adjust,
adapt, and alter as needed. As you establish solid self-regulation, keep
in mind that there are many components that must come together for
this to happen. One of those components is metacognition, which is
discussed in chapter 5. Metacognition is the process of thinking about
your thinking (Jost et al., 1998). Metacognitive strategies are an essen-
tial component of self-regulation (Winne & Perry, 2000). Some of
those metacognitive strategies are planning, carrying out an action,
evaluating behavior after the fact, and adjusting behavior as needed.
Self-efficacy also impacts self-regulation in several ways, most
notably in your belief that you can carry out the plan you establish.
Having high levels of self-efficacy will help with both delayed gratifi-
cation needed to achieve some set targets and carrying out the tasks
necessary to be successful (self-efficacy will be described in more detail
later). Procrastination—or, more accurately, being able to avoid pro-
crastinating—is another aspect of self-regulation. An important com-
ponent of procrastination is engaging in an avoidance behavior that
you would prefer to not do but engage in anyway. This comes directly
into play for self-regulation. Cognitive load (discussed in detail in
chapter 4) also impacts the success of self-regulation. Cognitive load
is the amount of information being actively processed at any given
moment. One component of cognitive load pertains to automatic-
ity, which is repeating a task so many times that it happens auto-
matically. This reduces cognitive load because you don’t have to think
about the action, you just do it. If you can make the steps of your
plan automatic, it will take less energy to process the information and
you’ll have more bandwidth to focus on your goal, rather than getting
bogged down in the individual steps to get there. Essentially, if cogni-
tive load is not maxed out, you have the capacity and time to monitor
your plan and how you’re accomplishing it. As with all learning, the
more you practice self-regulatory behavior, the easier it will become
(Panadero, 2017).
As noted earlier, self-regulation is much more than just whether
or not you do something. Self-regulation involves thinking about
the actions (metacognition), the extent to which you believe you
can be successful (self-efficacy), completing tasks when that action is
desired (avoiding procrastination), and having the mental energy to
complete the action (cognitive load).
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Managing Emotions
Self-regulation of emotions starts at a young age and is a core behav-
ior we teach children. It is important to note that temperament is a
big part of self-regulation. If a child has an aggressive or anxious tem-
perament, for example, it takes more effort for them to demonstrate
emotional self-regulation (Rothbart, 1981). I note temperament here
to bring to light that managing emotions is easier for some people
than it is for others. However, society does not make allowances based
on temperament; everyone is expected to manage emotions appropri-
ately. To survive, or hopefully thrive, in society, regulating emotions is
extremely important.
Ideally, emotion is managed through a complex interaction of the
situation, attention, modification, reappraisal, and response modifica-
tion. For situations, individuals continually and actively decide whether
to approach or avoid a given event. For example, if you come upon an
accident that just occurred and there are already a few people help-
ing, do you stop to see if you can assist or keep going because there
are already people helping? Your decision is primarily based on the
situation.
Attention deployment is the extent to which you attend to the
environmental stimuli. You “deploy” attention to gather information
and then self-regulate accordingly. This works well for most situa-
tions. For example, if you approach an accident to assist and find
one of the people in the car is bleeding, you can assess the situa-
tion, determine the cut is small, and manage your emotion: self-
regulation. Sometimes, you may need to distract yourself from a very
emotional situation by making yourself think of something else, so
you don’t end up replaying the emotional thoughts in your head. For
example, if the cut is bad, as you assist, you might pretend you are
in a TV program to reduce the stress. This regulates emotion at the
time, but can be a poor regulation strategy if used too often (Nolen-
Hoeksema et al., 2008).
Situation modification comes into play if you decide to engage in
the situation and explicitly modify the external environment while
self-regulating your emotions. Imagine you decide to approach the
accident just mentioned. Your affect will rise. Physiologically, you
will enter a heightened state and need to keep your raised emotions
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in check. You can, however, modify the environment to change the

emotional tone of the situation. Through self-regulation, even though
you are nervous, you take a deep breath and then speak with a lower,
slowed voice and calm demeanor. This may be a situational modifica-
tion that helps the angry driver that was hit in the accident manage
their emotions. Reappraisal involves cognitively changing what you
recall from an event to reduce or raise the emotional impact (Davis
et al., 2011). In extreme cases, individuals may convince themselves
they didn’t experience the event at all. Imagine that stopping at
the accident was traumatic—many people were shouting, and you
were attempting to help a person who needed medical care. However,
as you replay your memories, you reconstruct what happened. You
remember seeing that the EMTs were on the scene and capably assist-
ing, so you didn’t need to step in, and you left. That recreated reality
is a way to regulate your emotional response to the accident in the
days following.
The last aspect of emotional self-regulation is response modulation,
which is the extent to which a person holds their emotions in check
in bad situations. Some people keep relatively calm in really tough
situations, whereas others “lose it.” Unfortunately, when stressed,
some people look to substances or behaviors to mute their emotional
response. Turning to drugs, alcohol, or anything bad for you to moder-
ate emotions is considered maladaptive (Sher & Grekin, 2007). There
are other ways to control emotions. I think a double-hot fudge sundae
after an unusually and unexpectedly rough day modulates my emo-
tions, but if I do that too often, it will be a problem. Another way to
modulate a response is through exercise. Not only will exercise change
your physiological response to a situation (e.g., lowered blood pres-
sure, more controlled heart rate), but research has also shown that
those who exercise regularly are better able to control their emotions as
situations emerge (Oaten & Cheng, 2006).
Self-regulation of emotion can be very challenging. Emotion is
part of the limbic system, the oldest and most primitive part of the
brain. Emotions can emerge and escalate without the individual even
knowing why they feel that way or at least why they feel that intensely.
Failure to regulate emotion can be harmful. An example played out
recently when I witnessed a car accident. While waiting at a stop sign
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 32 30-05-2022 13:13:16

to turn onto a main street, I saw a trailer passing a white car on a

double-yellow line. The driver with the trailer sideswiped the white
car and barely missed an oncoming car. Having seen the whole thing,
I pulled up to help. After making sure there were no injuries, I asked
the man pulling the trailer what happened. He was angry, and I was
trying to help him modify his emotions. The man driving the trailer
said the person driving the white car had cut him off about a mile
back. That means the person driving the trailer was so angry that
someone cut him off that he followed the white car through town for
a mile, passed that driver on a double-yellow line, and almost hit an
uninvolved car head-on. A lack of emotional self-regulation can cause
much more than hurt feelings. Disagreements can get so heated that
good friends are lost, or in some cases, a car accident occurs where a
person could be hurt or killed.
Self-Efficacy
Self-efficacy pertains to the extent to which you believe you can be
successful at a given task (Bandura, 1997). This becomes particularly
important when faced with difficulty. A person with high self-efficacy,
believing they can succeed, will put forth an effort. A person with low
self-efficacy, not thinking they can successfully complete the task, will
typically give up.
According to Bandura, as you proceed through life, you notice
things that others do, how they are treated, and the extent to which
they are successful. You also note within your social group what
behaviors result in acceptance from the group and what is discour-
aged or punished. If a person in class talks to a student in the next
seat, and the professor does not say anything, then it seems that
talking to others during class is acceptable behavior. Understanding
self-efficacy is important, as it impacts what and how someone
thinks about something, their motivation to try something new, the
feelings they have when trying something, and how the individual
makes decisions.
Bandura believed that four major influences determine our
level of self-efficacy and, therefore, how we may behave in a given
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 33 30-05-2022 13:13:16

situation. Self-efficacy is developed through performance outcomes,

verbal persuasion, vicarious experiences, and physiological feedback.
Performance Outcomes
If you are asked to do a task that you have never done before, you will
likely form a quick opinion as to whether you think you can accom-
plish this task. In judging the possibility of success, you will probably
compare this task to other tasks you have done. If you have already
done something very similar to this task, you will be more likely to
believe this new task is also possible. If this new task is nothing like
anything you have done before, you are not likely to have much self-
efficacy (confidence in your ability to complete it). Another possibility
is that you have tried something similar to the new task and failed. In
such cases, you may still give it a solid try, but if things are not going
well, it will be relatively easy to give up, as you have no prior experi-
ence of success. That lack of successful experience will diminish your
self-efficacy.
Vicarious Experiences
In social learning, you can watch someone else attempt a task and learn
from their experience. An essential aspect of learning through mod-
eling is that you can somehow identify with the person completing
the behavior. These are your role models and may be siblings, parents,
friends, teachers, and even celebrities. Anyone you look up to can serve
as a social role model. If you see one of these individuals accomplish a
task, it impacts your self-efficacy. You are motivated to try, because you
presume you can also be successful. Think of the number of times a
sibling, friend, or teacher did something to show you how it could be
done or you tried a dance you saw on TikTok. This is learning through
vicarious experience.
Study Tip 2.2: Seeing a task being done correctly builds your self-
efficacy. If you don’t know how to do something, ask someone to
show you, so you can see someone be successful at the task.
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Verbal Persuasion
Another way for you to determine whether it seems plausible that
you could complete a task is what others say to you. A p erson you
trust who encourages you is a powerful force. The phrase, “Come
on, I know you can do it,” is a verbal persuasion. In teaching
statistics, I regularly encourage my students this way. Unfortunately,
verbal persuasion may also be detrimental to self-efficacy if an indi-
vidual is discouraged. Imagine the self-efficacy of a 13-year-old girl
in middle school if a biology teacher tells her she is struggling in
class because girls are not good at science. As reprehensible as that
is to imagine, the biology example actually happened to someone
in my family. Verbal persuasion can also be less explicit, such as
the “chilly climate,” where women are not treated as well as men
in the classroom, p articularly in STEM fields, and microaggres-
sions, where individuals from underrepresented groups are told via
implied, offhand, and (often) unintentionally cruel statements they
cannot be successful because of their membership in a marginalized
group (Walton et al., 2015).
Physiological Feedback
Performing any action (e.g., waiting for your final exam to start, speak-
ing to your professor for the first time, giving a presentation) results in
physiological (bodily) feedback (e.g., racing heart, sweaty palms, nausea).
How you interpret those feelings will impact your self-efficacy. Even
though I have given a lot of presentations, I still feel my heart rate
speed up, my mouth gets dry, and my stomach feels uneasy just before
I start. If I interpret those sensations as standard nerves before a pres-
entation and remind myself that feeling a bit nervous makes a person a
better presenter, then my self-efficacy increases. However, if I interpret
those feelings as insecurity because I don’t feel I prepared well enough,
my self-efficacy may decline.
Self-efficacy has a significant impact on behavior. People are much
more likely to put forth energy toward a task when they are reasonably
confident of success. Conversely, individuals will avoid or expend lit-
tle energy in situations where they anticipate the possibility of failure.
Of course, this does not mean that just because you think you can do
something, you can. Self-efficacy is all about motivation to try. If you
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 35 30-05-2022 13:13:16

try harder because you know you can be successful with effort, then
the probability of success is higher. That is why self-efficacy often does
lead to success. There are many ways to increase your self-efficacy and
probability of success. Fencl and Scheel (2005) found that just about
any teaching method that included student participation increased
self-efficacy. So, participate in class when collaborative and engaged
learning techniques are used. Avoid negative talk, as it can lower your
self-efficacy, and embrace positive attitudes instead. If you start small
and work your way up to a task, you will build self-confidence and
increase self-efficacy. Watch good role models do well, and keep your
emotions in check. These things can help you learn in harmony with
your brain.
Imposter Syndrome
Clance and Imes (1978), while at Georgia State University, first
described imposter syndrome after leading individual psychotherapy
sessions with more than 150 successful women. Many of these women
did not perceive themselves as successful, despite outstanding achieve-
ments, high praise, and professional recognition. Instead, Clance and
Imes reported, these women said they felt like “imposters.” At the
time (the late 1970s), it was reported that exceptionally high achieving
women were much more likely to have imposter syndrome than men.
They further described these individuals as perfectionists and as set-
ting very high goals for themselves. Other researchers confirmed
this finding, reporting that this highly successful group of predomi-
nantly women had an “internal experience of intellectual phoniness”
(Matthews & Clance, 1985, p. 71).
Research into imposter syndrome exploded, and researchers began
investigating where imposter syndrome came from and how to best
describe it. For example, Ferrari and Thompson (2006) noted that
those with imposter syndrome wanted to be successful and recognized
by colleagues for their work, but they were cautious about working in a
way that exposed their imperfections or that revealed their limitations.
Other researchers picked up on this theme and asserted that those who
struggled with imposter syndrome were self-conscious individuals who
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did not want others to see their vulnerabilities (Frost et al., 1995).
Imposter syndrome was considered a pervasive, but individual, issue,
with as many as 70% of all adults experiencing feelings of being an
imposter at least once (Gravois, 2007).
Current research on imposter syndrome now looks at this phe-
nomenon in a very different light. Instead of ascribing to individual
fears of coming short and being characterized as an imposter, research-
ers are looking at situations that cause specific groups to feel as though
they are imposters (e.g., professional women, especially high-achieving
women of color [Mullangi & Jagsi, 2019]; individuals from under-
represented groups; specific subgroups of men). For example, within
our society, women are socialized to be nurturing, gentle rather than
abrasive, and often present suggested changes as questions (Johnson,
2017). Suppose Alice has an idea as to the direction a new initiative
should take. Instead of saying, “Given the information at hand,
I think we should start this in June,” she says, “With what we know,
June seems a reasonable time to start. Does that make sense to the
group?” When the first statement is made, it appears that Alice knows
the answer, but in the second pitch, her question seems to be seeking
validation. Framing in such a way can cause others to question

whether the person making the pitch actually believes in the strategy
and to what extent she can commit to it, and their reaction causes her
to question herself. Once you question yourself, you have succumbed
to imposter syndrome.
Individuals from marginalized backgrounds are constantly
questioned about their abilities and contributions relative to others
(Tulshyan & Burey, 2021). These individuals are put into a position
where they must always be cautious to not “offend” anyone. Being
assertive or questioning those in established positions is usually seen
as hostility, so it is muted. After some time, those in the majority see
someone in the marginalized group as uncertain about their work and
unwilling to defend it. As a result, those in the marginalized group
have to constantly justify their knowledge and experience, and often
begin to question their own expertise.
Imposter syndrome has many negative implications. Those with
imposter syndrome are more likely to have stress, anxiety, depression,
and are more likely to drop out of college (Chrousos & Mentis, 2020).
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Imposter syndrome is found at much higher rates for underrepresented

and marginalized groups (e.g., women, LGBTQIA+, Latinx, etc.), and
these individuals are much more likely to slip through the cracks of
higher education. That makes understanding and combatting the tra-
ditional concept of imposter syndrome critical. Thankfully, it is much
more acceptable in today’s society to share emotions and admit doubt
at times (Kar, 2021). It is also essential to recognize that nearly eve-
ryone feels insecure, uncertain, not worthy, and that others are more
competent than they are. As Kar (2021) notes, these are perfectly nor-
mal feelings. The point is that if you feel nervous or uncertain or won-
der “What on earth am I doing here?” you are experiencing life very
much as everyone else does. There is no need to question your overall
ability or justify why you are part of the group. At the same time, it is
vital for us to rethink what behaviors represent expertise and knowl-
edge. If a person is asking questions instead of making statements in a
meeting, they may very well be taking a more collaborative approach.
If an individual from an underrepresented group makes a mistake
or does not know something, do not ascribe it to their background.
These outmoded and incorrect perceptions are what perpetuate ste-
reotypes and injustices. Individuals from the majority group equally
make mistakes or lack knowledge in some areas, but their lapses tend
to be attributed to the difficulty of the situation. In contrast, those
from underrepresented and marginalized groups in the same situation
are accused of being unprepared or incompetent. It is time to stop the
double standard.
Given all of this, you may still question whether you are in over
your head or worry that you don’t have the expertise or innate ability
to be successful. The key lies in listening to feedback and evidence.
If you can demonstrate you know the material, present solutions or
positions others agree with, finish programs, or receive congratulations
from your peers and awards for your accomplishments, you are doing
well. Pay attention to feedback and recognize that a person may be
nervous or uncertain of their ability in any role at any given time. I am
anxious and unsure at times, my colleagues are, and I am sure you are
as well. All that means is that you are like everyone else. Let’s close the
discussion on imposter syndrome and find better ways to support each
other as needed.
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Learned Optimism
There are likely times when you will feel like there is no value in trying.
In some situations, there really is no way out and giving up is justi-
fied. But what if there is a way to overcome a negative situation, but
you don’t even try to find the solution? This situation may be a case of
learning to be helpless (Seligman & Johnson, 1973).
In 1975, Hiroto and Seligman conducted an experiment in which
they divided college students into two groups. The first group could
push a button to stop a loud noise, and the second group had a but-
ton with no effect on the noise. Later, when put into an environment
where noise could be eliminated by moving a lever on the wall, those
in the button-pushing group quickly learned how to stop the noise,
whereas those who had no control earlier did not learn how to do this.
Hiro and Seligman concluded that if an individual had been successful
in the past, they would be confident trying again. If the person had
failed in the past, they would not try in the future. In such a case, a per-
son has learned to be helpless. In a series of later studies, Seligman and
colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania studied how learned help-
lessness could result in depressive symptoms like loss of interest, weight
loss, sleep problems, fatigue, and feelings of worthlessness (e.g., Klein
et al., 1976).
Learned helplessness has been used to explain why individuals fail
to resolve a negative situation. If a person has tried in the past and not
been able to escape a negative outcome, they have no reason to believe
the situation has changed unless advised otherwise. Instead of blaming,
it is helpful to understand why a strong, intelligent, and independent
person can be trapped in a situation that the observer believes is escap-
able. For example, learned helplessness can help explain why partners
stay in an abusive relationship, even when there may be programs to
assist (Walker, 2017). If an abused spouse has never successfully been
able to leave, they cannot imagine that they could do so “this time.”
Some researchers have also noted that overparenting, where the parents
do everything for their children, can later result in learned helplessness
as the children do not believe they can do tasks for themselves. The
parents feel they are helping their children, but overnurtured kids can
become helpless (Bredehoft, 2021).
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If you have tried to pass a statistics course multiple times and

failed, you may decide to stop trying. A person who has done poorly
in science classes in the past may dismiss a STEM-related major, even
if they are passionate readers of astronomy books in their spare time.
These are all examples of learned helplessness. Even if shown a means
to success, it is understandable why a person would not try “just to
fail one more time.” The question becomes, how can we increase (or
restore) self-efficacy so individuals feel empowered to make a change?
Two areas of increased self-efficacy may prove helpful. First, try
something small to achieve any sense of success. Through stepwise
progress, a person may figure out at some point they could be success-
ful in their overall goal. Second, share a similar person’s success in a
similar situation.
In 1990 Martin Seligman, the same individual who began study-
ing learned helplessness in the 1960s, became the person who started a
movement that was almost precisely the opposite: learned helplessness.
He launched the new area of positive psychology and published a book
called Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life. To
that point, psychology was founded on pinpointing what was wrong
and fixing it. In positive psychology, one focuses on a person’s assets
and builds on them (Seligman, 1990, 2018).
Researchers began to look at how to instill optimism, primarily
by working on helping individuals develop favorable expectancies for
the future (Carver & Scheier, 2014) and identify ways to think about
the causes of optimism (Seligman, 2018). Individuals who focus on
optimism have many positive outcomes, such as lower stress, better
health, and lower blood pressure. Learned optimism starts with chal-
lenging negative thoughts, and many of these processes can be self-
taught. The cognitive distortions that tend to bring about negative
thoughts are: (a) personalization (this is all my fault); (b) pervasiveness
(a bad outcome will impact other areas, e.g., if I lose this job, everyone
will think I am a loser); and (c) permanence (I will never be able to keep
a job). To learn optimism, one can adapt a strategy developed by Albert
Ellis called the ABC technique (Saelid & Nordahl, 2017). ABC stands
for Antecedent-Belief-Consequence. An antecedent (event) prompts a
belief about the self, which leads to consequences (choosing a course of
action). By carefully examining and modulating your belief so that it
is rational and positive, you can avoid falling into a negativity trap and
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 40 30-05-2022 13:13:16

learned helplessness. For example, imagine before engaging in ABC

you flunk a biology exam (antecedent/event). You may think to your-
self, “I am stupid, and I might as well drop out of college” (belief ). As a
result, you decide to withdraw (consequence). After ABC training, you
could realize that your pessimistic belief is actually pervasive (identify
the type of pessimism) and a bit overblown. Reframe it more rationally
as “I am not doing well on biology exams right now, and could use
some help.” From there, your action changes to “Get help for biology,”
not “Withdraw from school.” You have moved from feeling helpless to
optimistic and learned how to overcome something that moments ago
felt inescapable!
Chapter Summary
Self-regulation is an essential aspect of learning, as it includes setting
a course of action and following that course. This is an important
component of impulse control and reaching goals. Self-regulation
interacts with many of the other concepts presented in this book,
including metacognition, self-efficacy, procrastination, and cognitive
load. These concepts by no means work in isolation. A critical area of
self-regulation is emotion control. Our society, from the classroom to
the supermarket, is based on being able to control one’s emotions and
behaving within certain parameters in public.
Along with self-regulation, self-efficacy is exceedingly impor-
tant when it comes to learning. Self-efficacy pertains to the extent
to which a person believes they can be successful at a task. From tak-
ing exams to writing papers, the belief that one can succeed is an
integral part of motivation. Imposter syndrome has been shown to
impact academic performance, but as this concept has been studied,
it has taken on new meaning. Researchers are now looking at social
demands that place individuals into situations where they question
their own expertise. That means what has been described as feelings
of being an imposter may well be the transient feelings of nerves that
everyone feels. Imposter syndrome is not a personal issue; it is a cul-
tural and societal issue and must be addressed. Another area in which
to better understand yourself as a learner is learned helplessness and
now learned optimism. The extent to which successfully navigate cer-
tain circumstances may well be more a function of how you perceive
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 41 30-05-2022 13:13:16

yourself rather than any implied strength of behavior. The good news
is that positive psychology in learned optimism can proactively and
positively impact future behavior.
1. Being at college can bring about many emotions: missing home,
navigating roommate interactions, increased scholarly expecta-
tions, and a host of other experiences and demands. What positive
coping skills have you used? What maladaptive coping skills have
you used? To what extent do you feel you are successful in manag-
ing your emotions?
2. Describe one area in which you have low self-efficacy and one area
where your self-efficacy is relatively high. List what interactions
led you to experience the high self-efficacy. Then explain what you
could do to help raise your self-efficacy in the first area (consider
areas of performance outcome, vicarious experience, verbal persua-
sion, and physiological feedback).
3. Research indicates that nearly 70% of adults experience imposter
syndrome at some point. Do you feel you have experienced
imposter syndrome? Describe why or why not.
4. Provide examples different from those in the book of the three
forms of pessimism (personalization, pervasiveness, and perma-
nence) that might be seen in a student who is struggling in their
first semester at college. Which of these forms do you think are
most frequently experienced when students take an exam that is
significantly more challenging than expected?
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3
D E V E LO P I N G YO U R
LE A R N I N G S TR AT E G Y
I am amazed by the number of students and advisees I have talked to

who have no “plan” for succeeding in college. Each semester they amass
supplies, go to their classes, study, take tests, write papers, and repeat.
Those are important things to do, but it isn’t a plan. Some students
get by this way, although too many cannot, and even those who do
“get by” are not reaching their full potential. I selected the topic of
developing a learning strategy because as a student it took me a while
to figure out the value of developing a game plan each semester. In this
chapter, we look at strategies to plan for success, including setting goals
and outcomes, building schedules, setting up to-do lists, being organ-
ized, and communicating with faculty. Developing a learning strategy
and an action plan supporting your learning is a game changer. If you
spend just a little bit of time up front, you may well find that you learn
a whole lot more and spend a whole lot less time doing it.
Setting Goals and Outcomes

Hundreds of studies clearly and consistently show that specific and
challenging goals, just beneath maximum performance, result in better
46
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developing your learning strategy 47
performance and greater feelings of achievement than easy goals, no

goals, or general goals, such as “do the best you can” (e.g., Locke &
Latham, 2006). For example, a goal of scoring 90% on an exam is
better than aiming for 100% or just “to study.” The challenge is that
if you can’t meet the goal because it’s too ambitious (missing one
question) or too ambiguous (what counts as “best”), then the motiva-
tion to keep trying decreases.
The best way to start every semester is to identify an overall goal,
designed with specificity of action and maximum outcomes. If you are
a first-year student, your goal may be to make a 3.5 grade point average
(GPA) and see 10 historic sites near campus. If you are a senior your
goal may be to line up at least five quality job interviews or apply to
five graduate programs.
It is also a good idea to write outcomes. Goals are statements of
where you wish to go, and outcomes are the things you will be able to do
once you get there. Some individuals will also discuss objectives in addi-
tion to goals and outcomes. There is a subtle difference between out-
comes and objectives, but for the level at which we are working here, the
difference is not important. As you plan your way, you will want both
goals and outcomes. Just keep in mind that goals are larger and broader
statements of what you will do, such as “study 3 hours per day, 5 days a
week,” or “get an A in statistics.” Note that some goals are process goals
(the study goal) and others are end goals (the goal of getting an A). Many
people set end goals but forget the equally important process goals nec-
essary to get you there efficiently (Latham & Brown, 2006).
Outcomes, on the other hand, are statements of what you will be
able to do at the end of a period of time or effort. An outcome might
be, “by the end of this week, I will be able to write a SMART outcome
without looking at any notes,” or “by the end of class today, I will be
able to list all of the brain structures involved in the limbic system.”
The good news is that the SMART framework can be used for both
goals and outcomes. In the examples following, I will explain goals,
but the same process and definitions can be used for outcomes.
Set SMART Goals
The acronym SMART is frequently used to remind individuals
of the components of a well-written goal. There are many quick
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and easy resources regarding how to write effective SMART goals

(e.g., Martins, 2021).
This framework will help you write specific goals at multiple
levels: course, semester, year, and even graduation goals. I use shorter
goals to keep me motivated and longer goals to keep me focused
across time. Without layered goals across levels, it is easy for your
behavior to drift, resulting in your overall desired outcome slipping
away. Organizations write mission statements, which are like really
large goals, to stop mission creep. Mission creep is when the overall
goal of an organization changes slowly without the organization real-
izing it (Jonker & Meehan, 2008). The same process can happen at
the individual level. Writing SMART goals will prevent what I like
to call goal creep, a slow progression away from a desired destination
without realizing it. As an example, suppose you start the semester
with a process goal that is not specific: “study every day.” You might
start by studying several hours a day and do well on your first set of
exams, so you miss a study session here and there. With less study
time you don’t do as well on the next set of exams, but you still do
quite well. So, you miss more study time. This is one type of goal
creep, and it can happen at any goal level. It is one way a person may
start a semester planning to get high grades and finish the semester
scrambling to pass. Goal creep is problematic, and it is preventable if
you start with SMART goals. The following is a discussion of each of
the five parts of SMART goals. The letters of SMART refer to goals
that are: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely.
Study Tip 3.1: Practice setting one SMART goal and one SMART
outcome for each individual study session. It will become faster and
easier to set quick goals and outcomes.
Specific
Your goal needs to be specific, clearly defined, and identified, so
you know exactly what you are striving to accomplish. Suppose you
set a goal to “do well” in all your classes this semester. This is an
admirable goal, but it is not specific at all. What do you mean by
“well”? Will “do well” mean the same at the end of the semester as
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it did at the beginning? A specific goal removes doubt: Maintain a

B- average for all assignments and exams.
Measurable
Set goals that are objective and quantifiable. Ask whether someone
else would be able to measure your progress the same way you would.
Examples of goals that are not measurable include: Do well, walk
more, and be more social. Instead, use measurable metrics: Make at
least a 70% on each quiz, walk 10,000 steps every day, and eat dinner
with friends twice a week.
Achievable
Achievable means you can reach the goal. If you are averaging a 65% in
your class going into the final, a goal to score a 100% on the compre-
hensive final exam and get an A in the class is not achievable. Set goals
that are challenging, but within reach. An ideal goal is about 90% of
the estimated level of the best expected outcome possible (Locke &
Latham, 2002).
Relevant
Your goal should mean something to you. You need motivation to
put in the work necessary to achieve a goal. When I taught behavior
modification, I could always tell when people wanted to stop smoking
for themselves versus doing it for someone else. Those who wanted it
for themselves had a higher success rate.
Timely
It is best if your goal has a specific time element. Your goal should
balance short-term gratification with long-term impact. In other
words, you should have enough time to really achieve something, but
it shouldn’t be so far in the future that you lose interest along the way.
For example: Walk or run 5K in the Fun5K event 2 months out on
May 15th.
Break Large Goals Into Smaller Goals

Long-term, large goals provide a great sense of accomplishment but
can be overwhelming on a day-to-day basis. For example, imagine that
you set the following SMART goal: Get a 3.0 GPA for fall semester.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 49 30-05-2022 13:13:16

That’s specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time bound, but

it’s complex and requires an extended period of time. To have a bet-
ter chance of success, break it into smaller SMART goals that will
serve as subgoals to support your overall goal (e.g., determining the
number of hours you will study each day, setting up study groups,
or increasing the use of metacognitive strategies). Create subgoals
that are short-term, smaller tasks that can be accomplished relatively
quickly to provide motivation and feedback to long-term, larger goals
designed to bring about significant overall learning or other success
(Tabachnick et al., 2008).
Stretch Goals
Stretch goals have a low probability of success (~10%) but are still
technically attainable. If completed successfully, they can have a
massive impact on individuals who weren’t sure they could actually
achieve the goal. Organizations use stretch goals to motivate individu-
als as well as make positive organizational change (Kerr & Landauer,
2004). We can do that for ourselves.
Study Tip 3.2: Set a stretch goal for studying for each exam for each
course. As stretch goals, they should be tight, but possible.
I suggest setting up a few challenging, but reachable, SMART goals

for the whole semester, and one stretch goal. This stretch goal should
be very challenging but offer a great personal or professional reward
if you achieve it. When I was just a few years into teaching, I had the
opportunity to work on a writing project on an incredibly tight
timeline. If I hit the tight deadline (stretch goal), I would receive
a large bonus. If I needed an extension, it was essentially a regu-
lar timeline (SMART goal). I figured I had about a 10% chance of
hitting the deadline, but halfway through the project, I realized that
I really had a chance. That motivated me to push harder, I ended up
hitting that stretch goal, and it changed my outlook on what I could
achieve as a writer. Of course, I have also developed many stretch
goals that I didn’t meet, but when I do it is meaningful. Try this
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in your classes or for exercise. Maybe one million steps during the
school year. Do the math. It is a stretch, but doable. The best thing
about stretch goals is that even if you miss you accomplish a lot.
Managing Multiple Tasks

With goals in place, the next step is to manage the tasks necessary
to achieve them. Use your course syllabus to map out your academic
responsibilities, and add your class, family, and work obligations to
your schedule or calendar.
I recognize the burden that many of you face as you juggle multi-
ple responsibilities. Perna and Odle (2020) reported, via the National
Center for Educational Statistics, that 27% of full-time students and
71% of part-time students work 20 or more hours per week. In that
same article, the authors presented data from the U.S. Department
of Education showing that students from historically underserved
groups, independent students, and students who are single parents
with a dependent child are particularly likely to work long hours in
addition to their academic responsibilities. Acknowledging this heavy
load, I urge you to build a written schedule to help manage your time
while fulfilling responsibilities. If you have a schedule, and work ahead
as much as possible, you will have more capacity to handle schedule
glitches when, not if, they happen.
Build Your Schedule

As far in advance as possible, write out your commitments (personal,
professional, and academic) on your calendar to create a single sched-
ule. The following are some good tips to build that schedule:
•• Put all exams, quizzes, assignments, or other class deadlines from

each course syllabus on your calendar. Schedule a bit of extra time
before deadlines as a buffer.
•• Map out exactly when you intend to study and where. Treat those
study blocks like attending a meeting; they are scheduled, and you
are committed to those blocks of time.
•• Consider varying your study spaces to keep yourself engaged
(Brook, 2019).
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•• Schedule time for yourself. Just like meetings, classes, or study

blocks, if your time is scheduled, you are more likely to follow
through.
•• Reserve an hour every day in case something (errands, drafting
an outline, picking up the kids, unexpected wait at office hours)
takes longer than expected. If everything goes as planned, enjoy
the luxury of some unanticipated “you time”!
•• Learn to say “no.” Eventually, your calendar will be full of study
time, classes, work, deadlines, “you time,” and so on. That will
help you to say “no” to requests, when needed. Thank the person
making the request and explain that your calendar simply has no
availability (a great skill to develop).
Manage Your Schedule

Once built, it is challenging to manage your schedule and all the mul-
tiple tasks. There are many systems out there, some more intuitive
than others. I manage my to-do list using Todoist.com; it’s free if you
want to give it a try. There’s also TickTick, Notion, Microsoft To Do,
Habitica, and many more (Pot, 2021). Find whatever system works
best for you, because the more consistently you can build and follow
your calendar, the better you will be able to handle even a chaotic life.
An ideal system will allow access from all your devices or, if you prefer,
a single physical planner is also a great option. Many people like to
use sticky notes, and they can be helpful reminders, but they are not a
schedule management system.
To-Do Lists
Find a to-do list system that works for you and stick to it. There are
many ways to manage a to-do list. The following are strategies that
I have found helpful over the years:
•• As soon as you think of something that needs to be done, put it

on your to-do list. Don’t burn brainpower trying to keep a task
in mind.
•• Set a date by which each list item should be done. If it is not done
by that time, pick an extension. If it is not done by the extension,
consider whether you need to do it at all.
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•• If you can do a task immediately, do it. Then put it on your to-do

list and check it off!
•• Each morning and every evening, look over your list and update
it with what you’ve accomplished and what new tasks you’ve
gathered.
•• Put an estimated completion time for each item. As you estimate,
your estimates will improve. (I still struggle with this.)
•• Check the internet for other tips. There are many free resources
available online (e.g., Barratt, 2019).
It’s ideal if you can integrate your to-do list with your schedule. An
integration method I recommend is to schedule time for anything
on your to-do list that will take more than 30 minutes. For exam-
ple, you have to identify a theme for a term paper, and you think it
will take an hour. Write “Theme for term paper” on your to-do list
and immediately schedule an hour in your calendar to research and
brainstorm. Integrating the list and the schedule right away keeps
you from being overwhelmed.
Organization
Have you ever noticed that some people have a very organized work-
space and computer desktop, whereas others have piles of papers all
over their workspace and can’t find anything on their computer desk-
top? I am convinced it is because the first person considers a task
“done” only when the product of the task (paper, flashcards, spread-
sheet) is filed and the second person considers the task done when
they hit the send key. The second individual doesn’t file the completed
assignment in a drawer, their hard drive, the cloud, or anywhere else.
When you finish your term paper and email it to your professor, cross
the task off your to-do list and take an extra 2 minutes to save it in a
system where you can find it later—maybe Documents → 2023 Fall
Semester → PSYCH 101 → Final Paper → COMPLETE. Don’t just
trust that you’ll remember when you sent an email or that you sent
an email at all. Think of it this way: Is dinner done when you finish
eating or when the dishes are done and everything is thrown away or
put away? To keep your workspace (computer desktop and physical
work area) neat and organized, don’t consider the task done until you
file everything away.
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A final tip is to be sure that what you are working on is what you
need to be doing. There is little opportunity for wasted time in col-
lege. It is a good practice to check in with your professor whenever you
have the slightest doubt regarding any of the items on your to-do list.
I know this can be intimidating for some people. It was tough for me.
The following section is designed to give you some tips on making the
most of communications with your faculty.
Effective Communication Patterns

Some readers might scoff at a section about talking to a faculty mem-
ber, but as a first-generation college student, I had no idea what was
appropriate. I have also noticed through my years as a faculty member
that students from different backgrounds have different skill sets in
this area. Communicating with faculty is something that all students
have to do at some point, so it can only help to cover strategies for
communicating successfully now and build those skills for communi-
cating successfully in professional situations in the future.
Be an Active Listener
When speaking with a professor and later, during internships, extern-
ships, and at your future place of employment, it is vital to be an
active listener (Brownlee, 2020). Most importantly, listen carefully to
what is being said. Monitor your thoughts to ensure that you are not
thinking of something else while your professor, peer, or colleague is
talking. I admit that my mind wanders at times while others are talk-
ing. I have to make a concerted effort to attend to the conversation
at hand. This has nothing to do with the quality of their communi-
cation and everything to do with my tendency to think about many
things at any given minute. This is a natural human condition, but
especially difficult for people with attention deficit disorder. However,
it’s important to make the effort to stay tuned in. If needed, practice
mindfulness and being present.
Stay engaged and confirm you are understanding by summariz-
ing any significant points that your professor covered in the conver-
sation. For example, imagine you are at your professor’s office hours
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 54 30-05-2022 13:13:16

to talk about choosing your paper topic. You decide to write about
microaggressions in the classroom. You could finish the conversation
by saying, “I appreciate you helping me to think through the paper
topic. Microaggression is a great topic, and I can’t wait to read a few
of the articles from the Journal of Diversity in Higher Ed that you just
mentioned.” You could also ask if you could summarize the main top-
ics to ensure you have everything right. Doing this is not wasting the
faculty member’s time. It will only take about 10 to 15 seconds, and
your p rofessor will be impressed that you want to get it right.
I suspect it goes without saying, but it’s too important not to say
it: Never multitask while conversing with a professor. If you would like
to take notes on your phone or laptop, that is fine. Just ask first, “Is it
okay if I take notes on my phone/laptop/planner? I don’t want to for-
get the resource you just mentioned.” Doing so makes it clear to your
professor that you are attending to the conversation and not distracted
by reading texts during your meeting.
Finally, if you are confused or uncertain about anything, ask
for clarification. It is much better to ask rather than get something
wrong in an assignment. Students will sometimes assure faculty that
they understand, because they are embarrassed that they don’t or they
are nervous and want to escape the conversation. Faculty want you
to be successful. Most will take the time to hear you out or even
schedule follow-up conversations to keep working on something
that’s unclear.
How to Address Faculty

Moving from high school, where nearly everyone is Mr. or Ms.,
to a world of professors, doctors, adjuncts, and instructors can be
confusing. However, there are actually some straightforward and
consistent rules for addressing your postsecondary instructors,
whether you are at a university, college, community/technical col-
lege, or any other institution. When talking to a faculty member
teaching your course, the safest way to go is to call them “Professor.”
This is particularly true if they have “professor” anywhere in their
title, including assistant and associate professors. These are ranks, not
job descriptions. Assistant professors are typically faculty in their first
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5 years, associate professors are typically faculty in their 5th–12th

year, and full professors are individuals who have been teaching for
around 12 years and have met other job requirements. It takes a lot of
work to get to the title of full professor. Adjunct faculty members and
instructors (sometimes known as contingent faculty, these individuals
are hired for set periods of time) also teach, and these individuals
may all be called “professor.” They will let you know if they pre-
fer something else. If you know the faculty member has a doctorate
(PhD, EdD, PsyD, PharmD, MD, etc.), you can call them “Dr. Last
Name.” If you don’t know how to pronounce their name, ask them
or find out from the department office professional. This isn’t being
rude—it’s being respectful of their name.
Do not call faculty members “Mr.” or “Mrs.” That may seem
polite, but many faculty members find this offensive. Again, when in
doubt, use the title of Professor. One exception to addressing your
instructors as “Professor” is graduate teaching assistants (TAs). They
can be called “Mr.,” “Ms.,” or “Mx.” (pronounced mix), unless they
have completed their doctorate, in which case it is appropriate to call
them “Dr.” If you are unsure, it is encouraged to ask the graduate
student how they prefer to be addressed.
Overall, you will likely be told how to address your professor or
teaching assistant on the first day of class or the first online class mod-
ule. But if not, the previous guidelines should work well for you. By
the way, if our paths should happen to cross, call me Dr. Zakrajsek
(zuh-CRY-sick), Dr. Z, or Todd, whichever you find most comfortable.
Make Use of Office Hours

You might not be sure what “office hours” means. Although some mis-
takenly think office hours are reserved times for faculty to work, that is
not the case. Office hours are times set aside for students to access their
faculty. This time is for you to talk about any aspect of the course, so
you don’t ever need to start by saying, “I’m sorry to bother you.” It is
fine to start with “Do you have a few minutes?” during an office hour.
Also, if a professor is working, they are just filling time until you stop
by to chat; they are not too busy for you. I mention this because once
a student came to my office hour and let me know he had been by on
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two other occasions that week, but I had been on my computer, so he

left. If your professor is working, simply knock. Professors who teach
large lecture classes often offer appointments for office hours. I suggest
making an appointment in these cases, to save you sitting or standing
in line for an extended period.
You don’t have to rush, but do be respectful of your professor’s
time, particularly if other students are waiting to speak with the pro-
fessor. I can typically cover a lot of ground with my students in 5 to
10 minutes. It is not rude to stop by, ask a question, and be on your
way in a minute or two. Finally, if none of the times listed as office
hours work for your schedule, it is appropriate to ask your professor if
you can schedule another time to meet. That meeting does not have to
be in person. It might be possible to set up an appointment on Zoom
or by telephone to meet.
Emails to Faculty
Most faculty haven’t realized that email is for old people. I know most
students do not use email frequently, and even when they do, they
don’t send many formal or semiformal emails. However, most faculty
and businesses still use email as a major communication platform,
so professional written communication will be a lifesaver in college
and beyond.
Take a few minutes and read the blog post in Figure 3.1 by Laura
Portwood-Stacer (2016).
Figure 3.1. QR code for “How to Email Your Professor (Without Being
Annoying AF).”
Note. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@lportwoodstacer/how-to-email-your-professor-

without-being-annoying-af-cf64ae0e4087
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 57 30-05-2022 13:13:17

Portwood-Stacer does an excellent job of covering the basics. Here

are a few additional tips:
•• Send your email from your college email account so your profes-
sor’s spam filter doesn’t flag it.
•• Keep personal information to a minimum. If you missed a class
and want to let the professor know, you can simply say that you
could not attend class and note that you can provide details if
needed. Most faculty members will not ask for them, but some do.
•• Use professional verbiage.
{{ Write words out in full.
{{ Use conventional spellings.
{{ Don’t include emojis, memes, or gifs.
•• Close with “Best,” or “Thank you,” and your name.
Finally, be sure to include your full name, what class you are in, and
the time the class meets somewhere in the email. Most institutions
have faculty members teaching many classes. I once taught three intro-
ductory psychology classes with 200 students each. That semester, a
student sent me an email that said, “This is Chris from your Intro
Psych class. I just wanted to let you know I was sorry about missing
class.” I had multiple Chris’s in every section. To this day, I haven’t
figured out which Chris missed class that week.
Following Up
If your professor does not reply to your email (and you need a reply,
not just a confirmation of receipt), it is appropriate to resend the
email. It is ideal to wait a week before resending, and include a note
that references your previous email as well as an acknowledgment
that you are sending it again and you appreciate their time. A week
may seem like a long time, but some faculty get 200+ emails a day.
I certainly do, and despite my best efforts, it can sometimes take me
4 or 5 days to reply.
Making Requests
Sometimes you’ll need to miss class, make up an exam, turn in an
assignment late, or something similar. Check the syllabus carefully
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and learn as much as you can about the course policies before
emailing with a request. If the syllabus clearly states there are no
extensions or makeup exams, acknowledge that you have read the
syllabus’s policy about extensions, be prepared with an incredibly
good reason why you need one anyway, and be prepared for a “no.”
The following are the three big considerations for your professor
when you make a request:
1. Time. Two minutes to respond to a request adds up fast, particu-

larly if your professor has a hundred students.
2. Fairness. If you ask for an extension regarding a paper deadline,
your professor needs to offer that to others in the class. Addition-
ally, moving the due date means the time to return the assignments
also moves.
3. Respect. Remember, you are essentially asking for a favor (even
if you feel that you have an ironclad reason). Keep the exchange
respectful. A student once left me a message, saying, “Hey, this
is Morgan. I couldn’t make it to the exam yesterday. Give me a
call, and we’ll schedule a makeup.” My syllabus clearly stated that
I would give a makeup exam to anyone who needed it, as long
as I was notified in advance, so that I could schedule all makeup
exams at once. Morgan called after the exam, didn’t give a reason,
didn’t leave a way to get in touch, and, frankly, failed in basic pro-
fessional communication. Be considerate with messages. Don’t be
like Morgan.
Keep the Big Picture in Mind

You have to handle a lot in college, much more than simply showing
up for class—navigating financial aid, scheduling courses, arrang-
ing for makeup exams, assessing tests, and untangling paper require-
ments. You may walk into a classroom and realize that you missed
a final exam that you studied hard for and was worth 50% of your
grade because you wrote the time down wrong. (Yes, that last one
happened to me.) The point is that things are going to happen—
good, bad, and average—but keep the big picture in mind through
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it all. College is a way for you to see and think about the world,
to say nothing of almost being a requirement for getting a good
job with good benefits (Long, 2021; Torpey, 2018). Not everyone
is fortunate enough to attend college, and certainly lots of people
who do attend don’t seriously engage or develop a successful learning
strategy. I attended college at 17 and never left. I still spend my days
on campus and in lecture halls. It changed my life, and with the tools
in this chapter and throughout this book, it can be life-changing for
you too.
Chapter Summary
Setting goals motivates you to learn, especially moderately difficult
goals and the occasional stretch goal. The stretch goal may not be
reached, but it will push you to be better and, if achieved, will be a
fantastic outcome. Use the SMART framework to ensure your goals
are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and timely. Include sub-
goals in your big goals so you get regular bursts of achievement and
stay motivated.
Developing skills to manage multiple tasks is critical for college
success. Choose and use a single calendar system, maintain a to-do
list, and organize work as it is completed. College is also a time to
develop and strengthen professional communication. When talking
to professors and classmates, develop active learning strategies to
ensure comprehension and address professors using the appropriate
professional title. Use office hours or make an appointment to clarify
information or ask questions. It may be that an office visit is not
necessary, and an email or phone call will suffice. Use professional
language in those communications as well, and always check the
syllabus before making any requests. Finally, in setting goals, inter-
acting with your professors, and meeting the course requirements,
there will be periodic setbacks and some fantastic moments. Through
that rollercoaster, keep the big picture in mind and focus on your
ultimate goal for attending college.
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1. Write out one SMART goal and one stretch goal for the semester.
Explain why you selected this stretch goal and to what extent you
think it is possible to reach it. Also write one SMART outcome for
a given study session. The stretch goal can be an extension to one
of the goals written or a new goal.
2. What calendar system do you use or will you use? Explain why you
prefer this system. Load the deadlines and expected time to work
on classes into your calendar. How busy is the semester going to be
for you? What concerns you most about your calendar, schedule,
and maintaining this system?
3. What system do you use or will you use for a to-do list? Explain
why you use this system or why you might switch.
4. Read through each of your syllabi. Note what requests you can
and cannot make based on professors’ policies. Explain briefly why
you think your professors have the policies they do for attendance,
paper deadlines, exam makeups, and so on.
5. Why are you in college? Give this a bit of thought. For example, if
you are in college to “get a better job,” why do you think that will
happen? What will college do to help you with that?
References
Barratt, B. (2019, January 30). How to write a to do list that you’ll actually
stick to. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/biancabarratt/2019/01/30/
how-to-write-a-to-do-list-that-youll-actually-stick-to/?sh=8291461279e4
Brownlee, D. (2020, August 6). Are you really listening or just waiting to talk?
There’s a difference. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danabrownlee/
2020/08/06/are-you-really-listening-or-just-waiting-to-talk-theres-a-
difference/?sh=77b698b76085
Jonker, K., & Meehan, W. F., III. (2008). Curbing mission creep. Stanford
Social Innovation Review, 6(1), 60–65. https://doi.org/10.48558/75BE-
MA15
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Kerr, S., & Landauer, S. (2004). Using stretch goals to promote organiza-
tional effectiveness and personal growth: General Electric and Goldman
Sachs. The Academy of Management Executive (1993–2005), 18(4),
134–138. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4166134
Latham, G. P., & Brown, T. C. (2006). The effect of learning, distal, and
proximal goals on MBA self-efficacy and satisfaction. Applied Psychology:
An International Review, 55(4), 6060–6123. https://doi.org/10.1002/
job.70
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2002). Building a practically useful theory of
goal setting and task motivation: A 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist,
57(9), 705–717. https://doi.org/10.1037//0003-066X.57.9.705
Locke, E. A., & Latham, G. P. (2006). New directions in goal-setting
theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15(5), 265–268.
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00449.x
Long, H. (2021, April 22). Many left behind in this recovery have something
in common: No college degree. Washington Post. https://www.washington-
post.com/business/2021/04/22/jobs-no-college-degree/
Martins, J. (2021, January 8). Write better SMART goals with these tips and
examples. Asana. https://asana.com/resources/smart-goals
Perna, L. W., & Odle, T. K. (2020). Recognizing the reality of working
college students: Minimizing the harm and maximizing the benefits of
work. Academe. https://www.aaup.org/article/recognizing-reality-working-
college-students#.YiVJphNKhBw
Portwood-Stacer, L. (2016, April 26). How to email your professor (without
being annoying AF). Medium. https://medium.com/@lportwoodstacer/
how-to-email-your-professor-without-being-annoying-af-cf64ae0e4087
Pot, J. (2021, November 16). The 8 best to do list apps of 2022. Zapier.
https://zapier.com/blog/best-todo-list-apps/
Tabachnick, S. E., Miller, R. B., & Relyea, G. E. (2008). The relationships
among students’ future-oriented goals and subgoals, perceived task instru-
mentality, and task-oriented self-regulation strategies in an academic
environment. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(3), 629–642. https://
doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.3.629
Torpey, E. (2018, November). Employment outlook for occupations that
don’t require a formal educational credential. U.S. Bureau of Statistics.
bls.gov/careeroutlook/2018/article/no-formal-education-outlook.htm?
view_full
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P A RT T WO
B U I LD T H E FO U N DAT I O N
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 64 30-05-2022 13:13:17
4
IMP R OV I N G T H E
LE A R N I N G P R O C E S S
We do a lot of things that we don’t think about as they are h appening.

For the most part, our brains run on autopilot, so we aren’t over-
whelmed by, well, everything. When you drive, you watch for other
cars, but you don’t think about the amount of pressure you keep on the
gas pedal or how hard to grip the steering wheel; when you walk, you
avoid obstacles, but you don’t focus on tightening your core to remain
upright or think about shifting your balance. At any given moment,
your brain is doing a lot of work at a level you don’t notice.
Running on autopilot with minimal attention works well to
keep things going as they are. But what if you want to get better at
something? To do that, you must turn off autopilot and focus on that
specific skill. Once it is improved, you will be able to shift back to
autopilot, and on a whole new level. That is what this chapter is all
about. When you study, you focus on content, rather than considering
your attention level, how you are processing material, or whether you
are using the best learning strategy. We will look at the foundations of
learning and memory, turn off autopilot for a while, improve the pro-
cess of learning, and build a better learning base to become a stronger
65
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 65 30-05-2022 13:13:17

66 build the foundation
learner. I like to use the phrase “becoming a stronger learner,” because

it is just a matter of getting into shape. When individuals decide to get
into better physical condition, they identify what they want to work
on and start working out. It is the same thing for your brain; you can
use this book as your cognitive workout guide. If you do a bit of work,
you will be a stronger learner and remember better in all your courses.
A Few Theories and Models of Learning

You are already very good at learning. You should be good at it; you
have been learning all of your life and almost all of the time. To give
you just a few examples, you learned where to get food, which of your
friends can keep a secret, and to look before crossing a road. However,
most of the learning you have done is what I call “learning while liv-
ing.” It’s the kind of learning you do as you go about your everyday
life. Learning in school looks very different than learning while living,
but the foundational principles are the same. It’s time to turn off the
autopilot and learn about learning.
Let’s get started with the extraordinary capabilities of the human
brain. There are approximately 86 billion neurons in an average brain
(Azevedo et al., 2009). It is hard to comprehend the number 86 billion,
so I will use cash as an example. So, how big is 86 billion dollars? If you
received $50,000 every day at noon, it would take only 20 days to hit
one million dollars. It would take 55 years to get to one billion dollars.
It would take you just over 4,700 years to get to $86 billion, which is
approximately the number of years back to when the pyramids were
built in ancient Egypt. That is a lot of dollar bills. Another amazing
thing is that each one of those 86 billion neurons has up to 10,000
connections. That is approximately 40,000,000,000,000,000 connec-
tions. That number is too large for me to understand. Now, make a fist
with each hand and put your two fists together. That is about the size
of your brain. The 40 quadrillion connections among 86 million neu-
rons move information around in that amount of space. That is what
makes the human brain so amazing. No matter how much you learn,
your brain can easily hold a lifetime of information. So how does that
information get stored?
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improving the learning process 67
When you experience something, the critical information from

that experience hits your sensory system and races to the appropri-
ate areas of the brain to be stored, leaving an impression on neuron
pathways. This could be seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, or tast-
ing something. If you have this same experience repeatedly, the neural
network for that experience gets faster. If a neural pathway is never
used, it fades away to make room for a pathway carrying new informa-
tion. That gives us the ability to learn new things, and, in the process,
develop complex systems of networks that support even more future
learning (Rudy, 2020). This fantastic adaptive process is built for you
to learn. Your ability to learn is not in question, but you do need to do
a bit of work to build the right neural networks.
So, what do we mean by learning? Learning isn’t something you
can see. You can see the result of learning, but you can’t see learning. In
teaching psychology courses across time, I have seen complicated defi-
nitions of learning. At the root, though, it comes down to something
very straightforward: Learning is the process of acquiring the ability to
do something new from experience. That’s it. Neuroscientists talk about
brains changing because of learning, behavioral psychologists talk
about learning to do new things, and cognitive psychologists empha-
size how thinking changes when we learn. That is all covered with our
definition: Learning is the process of acquiring the ability to do something
new from experience. Note the “ability to do something” rather than “to
do something.” That is because individuals can learn something before
they have the opportunity to actually do it. You likely learned how to
drive a car before getting behind the wheel.
There are many learning theories in psychology, and there is not
enough space to go over all of them in this book. However, I have
provided quick summaries of three overarching theories that cover
most of how we take information from experiences and turn them
into learning.
Classical Conditioning
If Pavlov (1927) rings a bell, you are correct. He is the researcher who
launched the idea of classical conditioning. This area of learning is all
about associations. For example, if you have a response (feeling queasy
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because of the flu), and that response is paired with a neutral thing
(drinking a peach milkshake while having the flu), the previously
neutral thing (peach milkshake) takes on the response of the origi-
nal item (peach milkshake now makes you feel a bit queasy). Classical
conditioning explains why some students, in their first year of college,
develop a distaste for specific “flavors” that may last a lifetime.
The interesting part of classical conditioning is that you don’t have
to do anything other than be exposed to the stimuli. For example,
when I was an undergraduate, I took calculus, and the last month
of the course was a very unpleasant experience for me. The follow-
ing semester, I showed up for the first day of a sociology course, and
shortly after sitting down, I started to feel sick to my stomach. Why
was I feeling queasy? After a few minutes, I realized I had been in that
same room for calculus the previous semester. Calculus made my stom-
ach hurt, and the room became paired with feeling ill. I had become
classically conditioned: The objectively neutral room now made my
stomach feel uneasy. These associations don’t have to be negative; they
can just as easily have a positive impact. If you are nervous about tak-
ing tests and have a cherished dog or cat, try petting them while you
study for an exam. When you see the material during the exam, it may
well be associated with your pet, and you may be less anxious.
It is important to note that this description just touches the surface
of classical conditioning. Classical conditioning can explain just about
any feeling you have that doesn’t seem to have a clear source: why we
have phobias, how we can learn to respond negatively to something we
have never seen before (most people are afraid of snakes the very first
time they see them), and many of our unexpected emotional responses
(like your best friend not using a baby name because of a bad associa-
tion from many years ago). Some therapists use classical conditioning
to eliminate fears like math anxiety and fear of flying.
Operant Conditioning
The field of operant conditioning was moved forward by B.F. Skinner
(1953). For this type of learning to occur, an individual must respond
to something. After your response, there is a consequence. If you do
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something that has a positive consequence, you are more likely to

respond similarly in the future. If you do something and a negative
consequence happens, your behavior will decrease. Let’s try some
examples. If you study in the library and score well on an exam, you
are likely to study in the library more often. If you wear a blue shirt to
a big rivalry game and your team loses, you may never wear that shirt
to a game again. You play a video game and enjoy playing, so you keep
on playing, even when you think you should stop. Video games are
designed by people who know a lot about operant conditioning, so
they know how to program the game to encourage you to keep playing
even when you plan to stop. The interesting thing about operant con-
ditioning is that what you think about the behavior is not considered
essential for this kind of learning. Watch your behavior, and you will
see that thinking is optional. Individuals procrastinate without know-
ing why, and gamblers keep playing even when they know it is having
a large negative impact on them. You may take your lucky pencil to
an exam, knowing it has nothing to do with how well you do, but you
take that pencil anyway.
Social Learning Theory

Social learning theory was popularized by Alfred Bandura (1977). In
this model, we learn by observing, modeling, and imitating others.
Bandura pointed out that we don’t have to actually do something in
order to learn from it. We simply observe or infer someone engaged in
an action in order to learn. Suppose you see a person walk across the
street in the middle of the block and get stopped by the police. After
seeing that, you are less likely to jaywalk in that area. If a customer gets
a free ice cream cone for filling out a short survey, you may ask for a
survey. The important feature here is that you learn by watching oth-
ers and thinking about what they are experiencing. If you see a person
raise their hand in class and the professor calls on the student and then
praises the student, that may increase your likelihood of raising your
hand. On the other hand, if the professor scoffs at the answer and
says it is a terrible response, that action may decrease the likelihood of
raising your hand.
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One interesting thing about social learning is that we don’t

have to see the outcome of the behavior. We infer outcomes and
behave accordingly. Suppose a person in a small group makes an
insensitive comment about a student in class who is on the autism
spectrum. If the professor stops the person after the class ends and
quietly off to the side says the insensitive comment was inappropri-
ate, the other group members, not knowing about the conversation
after class, will infer there was no consequence and assume there are
no consequences for inappropriate comments. Therefore, if someone
engages in a negative behavior, it is important to say something about
behaviors when it happens. In addition, learning is more pronounced
when the person observing the behavior is similar to the person
being observed. Researchers at the University of Austria found that
when young adults saw an actor who seemed like themselves drink-
ing alcohol on television, the students perceived drinking alcohol as
a more positive behavior than when the actor was seen as different
(Mayrhofer & Matthes, 2020).
Observational learning has rich implications for how we learn as
humans. If you watch closely, you will notice that many of us engage
in many behaviors because of watching others, even when we don’t like
to admit to it. We like to feel that we are making our own choices, but
we frequently follow according to other people’s behavior. What sports
we watch and how we dress are influenced by others. Observational
learning includes modeling behavior of others in our lives. This helps
us understand such varied behaviors as cycles of domestic violence and
prosocial behavior (e.g., helping others). This brief description pro-
vided a quick overview; observational behavior is a deep and nuanced
source for a better understanding of how we learn.
The truly astounding thing is that these three general areas of
learning account for most of how we learn. If these areas of learning
Study Tip 4.1: Study in the same area as students who are very
focused when studying. Being around people who study well will
improve your study habits.
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interest you, take a psychology class on the topic of learning or search

the internet and read up a bit more on these approaches. They get very
sophisticated because they are complex models of understanding how
we learn. The more you know about these approaches, the more you
will see them in your day-to-day life. Revisiting the definition of learn-
ing as “the process of acquiring the ability to do something new as a
result of experience,” I hope you now better understand how we gather
information from those experiences and learn as a result.
As noted earlier in this chapter, as we must process a lot of infor-
mation at any given moment, we run many aspects of our lives on
autopilot so as not to be overwhelmed. We can perceive selected things
and ignore others as we navigate our environment. This explains how
it is possible to pay attention during a lecture. We use autopilot to
filter out things like overhead lighting, sound from the air conditioner,
deciding which muscles we use to sit upright, and determining how
hard to grip the pen or type on the laptop. We use autopilot to save
cognitive space to process important things. But how much cognitive
space do we have? The answer is in the concept of cognitive load.
Managing Cognitive Load

While at the University of New South Wales, cognitive psychologist
John Sweller (1988) developed the cognitive load theory. This con-
cept is now used worldwide. Cognitive load refers to the amount of
information that can be processed at any given moment. Once we max
out cognitive load, it becomes difficult to process any additional mate-
rial, and errors increase. Learning to recognize when you have maxed
out your cognitive load will help you to avoid wasting study time.
Unfortunately, most people don’t understand when the max is reached
and how to lower the load. We all max out from time to time. For
example, you have likely become frustrated because people are car-
rying on a conversation in the same room where you are trying to
read an assigned chapter in a challenging textbook. In this case the
combination of the challenging reading and a nearby conversation is
too much and cognitive load is maxed out. As a result, one of the
actions must stop. Either the conversation has to move or you will
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need to find another place to read. One of the things that will make
you a stronger learner is recognizing when cognitive load is causing a
learning challenge and knowing how to lower the load when needed.
There are three types of cognitive load: intrinsic, extraneous, and ger-
mane (Sweller et al., 1998). Once you understand these, you can make
adjustments to maximize your learning.
Intrinsic Load
Intrinsic cognitive load is the complexity that naturally occurs in any
given task. Reading in a language you are just learning is always more
difficult than reading in your first language. Reading a physics book
is more challenging than reading most novels. Putting a large IKEA
bookcase together for the first time is more challenging than, well,
almost anything. The level of expertise you hold in an area will impact
the intrinsic load because those with expertise can combine elements
to reduce intrinsic load. As you become more proficient at something,
the intrinsic load drops.
With a bit of practice, you will become better and better at esti-
mating your intrinsic load for an academic task, which will help you
structure your study or work time. If you have to gather materials for
flash cards—that’s not challenging and is a low intrinsic load, so you
can plan to do that while watching a show or hanging with a friend.
If you have to outline a term paper or start a challenging new organic
chemistry chapter—that’s a high intrinsic load, so you’ll need to sched-
ule focused study time in a quiet place. Taking just a few minutes to
determine your task’s intrinsic load will set you up for success when
planning your upcoming study time.
Extraneous Load
The second type of cognitive load is extraneous load. These are dis-
tractions in your environment that take cognitive energy but do not
help solve the problem at hand. Reducing extraneous load helps
make your study time more effective as you have more mental energy
to allocate to your academic work. You may be able to learn more
content than you have in the past, and perhaps even in less time. Try
something right now. Take a short pause from reading this book for
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just a few seconds and check to see what extraneous load exists in
your environment. If there is none, that is fantastic. However, if the
TV is on or roommates are having a debate about dorm food, that is
extraneous load. Most music is also considered extraneous load, even
classical music (Kumaradevan et al., 2021). However, many students
tell me they prefer some sound in the room because silence is unset-
tling, or that sound is helpful to drown out people talking in the
neighboring apartment. If you need sound while studying, try using
ambient music or “music to study by” from an app, YouTube, or a
streaming channel. Now you know the psychological rationale for
finding a quiet, comfortable place to study. It reduces cognitive load
and improves your study sessions.
Study Tip 4.2: Check your environment to minimize extraneous

load before you start to study. Put your phone away when studying.
Another source of extraneous load is smartphones. It greatly

increases cognitive load if you text during class. Brandon Whittington
(2019), a psychology faculty member at Jefferson College in Missouri,
ran an experiment in his introductory psychology course whereby
students could voluntarily put their cell phones away in a sealed
envelope for the entire class period in exchange for some extra credit.
Student participants scored better on exams, and at the end of the
study, 79% of the students who agreed to put their phones away said
the project was helpful. Additionally, 99% of the students said they
would recommend that their friends participate in the project. I know
it is challenging, but if you put your phone away during class and
actively pay attention to what is going on, it will make a difference in
your learning.
Germane Load
The final type of load is germane cognitive load. This type of cogni-
tive load can help you to level up academically. Germane load refers to
the cognitive energy devoted to processing and handling information.
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Germane load increases cognitive load in the short term because

processing and handling new information takes energy, but learning
is much easier after completing this step. Consider it a short-term
payment for a long-term gain. There are two important aspects of
germane load: automaticity and schema activation.
Automaticity
You do many things on any given day—some of the things you do
frequently, and some you do once and never do again. Your brain is
very good at putting more energy toward the activities you do fre-
quently and allocating little or no energy to things you do not repeat
or do only on rare occasions. In psychology, we call these different lev-
els of processing either controlled or automatic (Schneider & Chein,
2003). New or infrequent behavior takes focused cognitive energy.
Such actions are called controlled processes because it takes cognitive
control to establish a path. However, if you do something frequently,
the brain decides to make that path a superhighway, ensuring that the
information is delivered fast. When you do something so frequently
you don’t give it a thought, we call that automatic processing, and it
takes very little cognitive energy.
Automatic processing tasks include tying your shoe, driving on a
clear dry road with little traffic, and walking. Your brain devoted some
germane load to put energy into these tasks to make them automatic.
Once they are automatic, no additional germane load is needed, and
the task has a lower intrinsic load. Win–win. There is an added benefit
to this. With no real cognitive expenditure necessary to do an auto-
matic task, you can combine that task with another task.
If you can figure out the foundational terms, concepts, and pro-
cesses in your academic work and practice them repeatedly to make
them automatic, intrinsic load will drop. With foundational tasks
automatic, you can then put cognitive energy toward complex work.
Here is a simple example of this. As a child, you may have had to learn
some words by sight and learn to recall them fast: “the,” “and,” “this,”
“mom,” “dad.” You practiced these words over and over. Eventually,
as soon as you saw the letter formation “a-n-d,” you just knew it was
“and.” You didn’t have to think about it. Over time, you did that with
a lot of words. The next thing you know, recognizing most words is
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automatic. If you see a word that is not automatic, you can look it
up. If you then use the word a few times each day, it will soon join
the other words that are automatic as long as you don’t get frenetic
about the process. Automaticity saves a ton of cognitive energy. “Car”
automatically pulls up “a small transportation device that is typically
privately owned and holds one to five people” in about 0.25 seconds
with no cognitive load expended. That is the power of repetition. You
can read this book without stopping to think about or look up each
word. Instead, you can focus on the research and strategies presented.
For your coursework, identify the foundational material and make it
automatic. From there, you can move like an academic ninja. This is
how students ace exams and how faculty members become experts in
their field.
Schema Activation
As you interact with the world around you, your brain puts similar
information together. This grouping of information and understand-
ing of how the pieces of information interact with one another is called
a schema. Putting this information together takes a bit of brainpower,
so the germane load increases as the associations are made. But once
schemas are in place, it is incredible how fast you can learn new things.
When you go to any McDonald’s, you know how to order and that the
restroom is nearly always in the same place. Similarly, when you walk
into any classroom, you can use your knowledge of how classrooms are
generally set up to figure out where you’ll sit and where the lecturer
will stand. By pulling up the “classroom schema,” your brain now only
needs to see what things are different from your schema and to secure
a few pieces of vital information, such as the front of the room, so you
know where to sit.
As you learn new material, if you can pull up a schema that has
organized a chunk of similar, already-known information about that
material, the novel information is much easier to learn. Your schemas
get more complex, and it’s easier and easier to add more new infor-
mation. I have taught many sections of learning and memory across
a LOT of years. That means when a new study comes out, I scan it,
activate a schema or two, and just like that, add the latest informa-
tion to my existing knowledge structure. A novice will require some
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study time and energy in the form of germane load to build schemas.
As you do that, learning additional information gets more accessible
and easier.
Key Factors to Deep Learning

Learning is incredibly nuanced. Many factors can go into whether you
learn something, but some universal elements must always exist, or
learning is very challenging, if not impossible. If you are mindful of the
following universal principles, you will learn much more effortlessly.
Attention
Take a minute right now, close your eyes, and listen carefully. What
sounds do you hear? More importantly, what do you hear that you
didn’t hear before you listened carefully? I asked you to do that to
provide an example of all the stimuli in your environment. Some you
notice, and some you do not. A lot of stimuli reach your body, but not
all are processed. Attention is the process of attending to a stimulus.
If you don’t attend to something, like those sounds you didn’t hear
before, then it is as if that thing never happened.
Attention is the first, and perhaps most important, step for learn-
ing (Lindsay, 2020). If you don’t attend to a stimulus, there is no way
for you to learn anything from that stimulus. This doesn’t guarantee
you will learn it, but there’s a chance. In class, it is important to force
yourself to attend to what is happening so you have a chance at learn-
ing. If your professor is lecturing, it is important to listen. You may
be tempted to text a friend or check out something on your laptop.
When you do so, your attention moves from the material being pre-
sented, and you no longer attend to the lecture information. Look for
ways to improve attention, like coming up with possible test ques-
tions during class as the material is being presented. If you are in a
small group and a classmate is talking, you will only learn about their
different viewpoint by attending to what they are saying. During typi-
cal conversations, most people “listening” are actually thinking about
how they will explain their position, rather than listening to what that
person is saying. When you are reading, check periodically to be sure
your focus is on the material you are reading. It is common for your
mind to wander as you read. By mentally completing a self-check of
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your attention, you can regain focus and return your mind to reading.
At some point, everyone has finished reading something and realized
that for the last 20 minutes they have been thinking about something
else. In chapters 6, 7, and 9, I’ll share specific strategies you can use to
focus in different learning situations. It is challenging but do your best
to practice focusing your attention. That will at least start the learning
process in any situation.
Value
The next critical part of learning is finding some value in the informa-
tion. You might be aware of two people talking at the table next to you,
but you don’t hear their words until one of the two people says the
name of your best friend. The value suddenly increases. At this point,
you are not only going to pay more attention to the conversation; you
are much more likely to remember what was said.
As you attend lectures, work in groups, or read an assigned c hapter,
keep looking for value. While reading, if you think to yourself, “I don’t
know why I have to read this stuff, I am never going to have any use
for it in my life,” you are signaling to your brain that the information is
not worth spending the time to process this information in a way that
will make it available later. Why would your brain spend the germane
load to build a schema if you don’t expect to see it again? Instead, signal
to your brain that it is worth spending energy to process the informa-
tion. Make the information relevant to you. For example, a lecture
on the inner ear, which controls balance, could conjure up visions of
yourself balancing during basketball practice. There are ways to bring
value to what you are learning to signal to your brain that you want to
keep this for later use.
Understanding
Along with attention and value, the new information must be under-
standable. If you don’t understand what is being presented, your brain
won’t know what to do with the new information because it won’t
know which schema to activate. This explains the feeling you get
when a person is telling a story or explaining a concept that you just
don’t “get,” even though you were paying close attention. You might
say, “Wait, what happened after he walked into the restaurant?” or
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“Could you please explain again how molecules move from a trans to
a cis configuration?”
Maximum learning happens when you push yourself and pro-
cess information just at the upper edge of what you understand. Lev
Vygotsky (1978) developed the zone of proximal development (ZPD)
to explain this process. There is a zone of difficulty for which an indi-
vidual can learn. If the information is below this zone, the information
is too easy and the learner is bored. If the information is higher than
the zone, it is too complicated, and the learner is frustrated. Learning
happens best in that zone between bored and frustrated, which is your
ZPD. While learning, we get bored at times, and sometimes we get
frustrated, but if we hang at the upper level of that ZPD and ask for
help when needed, we learn the most. Speak up in class if you’ve been
paying attention and don’t “get” part of the lecture or the reading.
Chances are, you aren’t the only one, and getting clarification will help
you and others.
Anticipate Success
Another component of learning new information is the extent to
which a learner expects to be able to learn. Social psychology research-
ers call this the self-fulfilling prophecy. It means that if you expect to
succeed, you likely will, and if you expect to fail, you probably will
(Cox et al., 2021). Do your best to limit thinking that you can’t learn
something. There are a lot of resources if you need them, and everyone
is on your side for you to be successful. You are more likely to succeed
if you believe you can do it. Everyone struggles with learning at times,
which simply means the information level is just a bit higher than your
ZPD. If needed, back it down into your zone and be confident that
you can get it with work.
Foster a Better Memory

Learning is tied directly to memory. To remember something, you
first have to learn it. And if you don’t remember what you learned,
then learning has no value. They work together. But what exactly is
memory? Memory is one of those terms that everyone knows but few
can define. There are many definitions of memory, but it always comes
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down to the same simple concept: Memory is the record of learning that
can be produced as needed. That is all. Forming memories is not new to
you; you remember things all the time. That said, most of your experi-
ence is memory about everyday living, not memory in academic set-
tings. If you feel you have a poor memory for academics, keep in mind
that is an area everyone can work on to build a better memory system.
Memory Processes
There are several memory models that you can study more deeply if
this topic is of interest to you. Two of the most informative and that
have been around a long time are the multi-store model (Atkinson &
Shiffrin, 1968) with Baddeley’s adaptation of working memory
(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974), and the depth of processing model (Craik &
Lockhart, 1972). As for this book, much of the memory theories and
models can be concisely summarized with the three p rimary cognitive
processes involved in memory making: encoding, consolidation, and
retrieval (Melton, 1963).
Encoding
Encoding is how the brain takes information from the world and cre-
ates a memory trace. There are different types of encoding that allow
us to process external information. We have encoding for each of our
senses, which is why we can have memories associated with smells
(like a grandmother’s oatmeal cookies) and sounds (such as our dog
barking). Of the senses, vision is most often used, and through visual
encoding, we take images we see and convert them into memory traces.
These memory trace images can persist for a long time. Try this out.
Think of a house that you were in as a child a lot. Can you close your
eyes and count the windows? Most people can because of the strength
of our visual encoding.
We also have elaborative encoding, an essential process of taking
new information and attaching it to things we already know through
the use of schemas. Elaboration will also be discussed in greater depth
later in this chapter as a way to enhance your memory. Another
frequently used encoding process is semantic encoding. Semantic

encoding lets us process the concepts we hear, stories we read in a book,
or chase scenes we watch in a movie and turns the information into
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memory traces that have a precise meaning or information that can

be used in a specific context. Much of the content you learn in class is
coded semantically.
These encoding processes mean that you are constantly pulling
information from your encounters and turning them into pieces of
information that you can store as different kinds of memory traces.
Typically, the first time a memory trace is formed, during a novel expe-
rience, it is weak and can be lost easily by having some other inputs
disrupt it. Disruption, also called interference, inhibits your recall of
the new weak information. Imagine you are at a party. You are intro-
duced to Jordan. Your friend then introduces you to Pablo, who talks
to you seconds later. Although you started to encode Jordan’s name,
the memory trace is still weak, so the new information of “Pablo” will
replace Jordan’s memory trace. You have now met both people at this
party but can only remember Pablo’s name. This can also happen in
class when the material moves very swiftly. This process of interference
is a massive problem for classroom learning. For any given day, if you
have a political science course and right after that class you have an
intro to sociology, the information you learn in sociology will interfere
with the learning in the political science course. You can still learn, but
it will be more challenging to remember information later. Try to avoid
back-to-back classes if possible, and block off 30 minutes to review the
material from the class before the memory trace is disrupted.
Consolidation
The second memory process is consolidation, which helps to stabilize
the new memory as it is strengthened and integrated into preexisting
knowledge. The more you already know about a topic or the more you
repeat the information, the stronger the consolidation of the memory
trace and the more stable the memory. Maybe you meet Jada, who
your best friend has already told several fun stories about, so it’s easy to
add her name to an existing schema at the time you see her. Or maybe
you have never heard about her, but you repeat her name five times
during the conversation, so it sticks. The same process is true with new
information you learn in any course.
Use it as often as possible right after learning it, and the memory
trace will keep getting stronger. In addition to repeating information
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and creating links to already-known information, sleep is a critical part

of consolidation. We’ll discuss this more in chapter 10, but suffice to
say that if you decide to cram rather than sleep, you’re losing out on
truly “getting” the information.
Study Tip 4.3: Review key material you learned shortly after class
or completing homework, then once every few days after that to
solidify it in your memory.
Retrieval
The final memory process is retrieval. Retrieval is the process of access-
ing the memory trace of the item you are interested in and then
making it available to you for use. Retrieval is closely tied to consolida-
tion; you have processed the information again, so you repeat connec-
tions that help consolidate the information all over again. You may be
pairing the old information with new information and reinserting the
information into the same knowledge network or, if the information
has changed, into a new knowledge network. This process is called
reconsolidation, and every time it happens, the memory gets stronger
(Nader & Hardt, 2009). You never know what information you will
need down the road, so it is best to have as many pieces of information,
schemas, and connections among information and schemas as you can.
Memory Enhancements
Earlier I mentioned that you are learning and remembering infor-
mation all the time. Nobody needs to teach you how to remember.
However, what I suspect you will find valuable is strengthening your
memory. Researchers are working on better understanding memory
all the time. This all started with Ebbinghaus back in the late 1800s.
Ebbinghaus (1913) tested people’s memories, from which he devel-
oped the forgetting curve, which is still being actively researched more
than 100 years later (DeSoto & Roediger, 2019). The forgetting curve
shows that we forget material at an exponential rate, meaning that
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we forget a lot quickly, then the loss slows over time. As an example, if
you learn something in your biology, math, history, or language course,
unless you work to encode, consolidate, and retrieve it, most people
will forget about half of what they learned in a day or two, and 90% of
the new information is gone in about a month. In other words, if your
first exam is in early October, about 90% of what you learned will be
gone by Thanksgiving, and by the comprehensive final in December,
you will need to relearn much of the information all over again.
I learned this the hard way in Calculus 1. The course started
okay—there were four exams, one final, and optional homework
assignments. I didn’t do any of the assignments, which in hindsight
was poor idea number one, and I stayed up all night before each exam
to learn that exam’s information; poor idea number two. On these
unit exams, I made high Bs and low As. The problem is that although
I did well on unit exams, no repetition of the material studied for
each exam meant I forgot most of the information 2 days later. About
3 weeks before the final, I knew I was in trouble. Nearly everything
I had learned the first half of the semester and much of the second half
was gone. I studied the best I could for the final, but there was too
much to relearn. I scored a 37%.
I have seen this pattern of study repeatedly among my students.
It even happened to a few students in my junior-level Learning and
Memory course. (That hurt a bit.) The following are four ways you can
keep from losing the information you worked so hard to learn. There
are more, but these are the most researched at the moment.
Elaboration
The word elaboration means to add detail. For memory elaboration,
the idea is to create alternative paths to a memory trace (Bartsch &
Oberauer, 2020). The more you can connect the information to what
you already know (your preexisting schemas), the more quickly you
can access and understand that new information. Elaboration strate-
gies lighten your cognitive load. Anything that puts information into
your own words is a good form of elaboration. One easy method is
augmented notes. Take notes in class in a standard way, then, within
12 hours, go over the notes and rewrite concepts in your own words. If
appropriate, come up with an example for concepts or terms. I’ll offer
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even more strategies on how to elaborate to strengthen memory for

newly learned material in chapter 9.
Repetition
Each time a memory trace is activated, it makes the memory stronger.
(Remember this from the germane cognitive load section in this chap-
ter? Congratulations! You just strengthened a memory trace!) The
brain perceives information or tasks that are recalled or performed
multiple times as important, and the recall or task becomes easier and
easier. Maybe on the first day of the biology lab, you had a hard time
focusing the microscope, or perhaps you had a hard time recalling the
quadratic equation in algebra, but after using the microscope for each
lab and working out some quadratic equations, things improved. It is
obvious, but important to point out, that the task did not get easier.
The more you did it, the lower the intrinsic load, and the better you got. In
psychology studies, we call this effect of repetition “the testing effect.”
When you take tests, you read a question and pull up an answer. The
more tests you take, the better you become at pulling up answers. This
is why some of your teachers give a lot of quizzes. They are trying to
help you become better at retrieving a specific memory trace when you
need it.
It is also important to point out that you may have a friend or
roommate who has a class with you who seems to learn the material
very quickly. You practice and practice, and the other person reviews
and does better than you. This can happen if that person has a stronger
background in the area or has already practiced the types of problems
you are solving. The point is that everyone must put in the energy
to learn. Some do it well before the class and others in the class, but
everyone must work to learn at some point.
A team of researchers in Sweden who specialize in studying how
the brain functions found that the testing effect works for students at
all cognitive levels (Jonsson et al., 2021). Regardless of how you are
doing in class, you will very likely benefit from the testing effect. You
can do this independently by making flash cards, answering questions
at the end of the chapter, doing practice tests, and working with a
friend to quiz each other. Remember, it may be challenging at first, but
it will get easier with repetition. I have been teaching for many years,
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but students who practice regularly always become stronger students in

my classes, even if they struggle at first.
Interleaving
Interleaving is a bit like weaving material. Instead of studying in blocks,
such as chapter 1 and then chapter 2, you would weave the material
together, maybe by using terms from the first chapter as you define terms
in the second and come up with an application example that uses infor-
mation from both chapter 1 and chapter 2. This is very different than
how college has been taught and students have learned for a very long
time. This approach is important because the learning you do in a college
classroom is very different from your learning in life. As noted, college is
typically taught and learned in blocks of material. Exams are even laid
out so the order of the test questions matches the order of the material
in the book. Learning in life is not like that at all. Maybe after work at a
new job you find a shortcut to your favorite grocery store, spend a few
days focusing on other things, then need to revisit that shortcut for an
emergency ice cream run. In this case, if you can’t immediately recall
the shortcut, you might imagine being at your new job and use that as a
cue to recall the shortcut. Instead of information being sequential like it
is in your courses, material in life is interleaved, repeating and alternat-
ing with new information. Interleaving your course material will make a
positive difference in your recall and understanding.
Researchers note that interleaving keeps material in your brain
much, much longer, and even more so when the concepts are similar
to one another (Brunmair & Richter, 2019). When students study
material and are tested using an interleaving system, they tend to do
much better on the final and remember more information in classes
the following semester. This does not mean you are going to like
this approach. Students at the University of South Florida looked at
hypothetical math class course syllabi and were instructed to select
the course they felt would be most effective (Hartwig et al., 2022).
Students rated the courses with interleaving as the least desirable.
I know it looks more challenging when you first study and practice
quizzing using an interleaved approach, but it is much better for
learning. It will help you remember information when you take final
exams, in future courses, and after you graduate.
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Spaced Recall Practice

As has already been noted in this chapter, retrieving information multi-
ple times helps keep that information in memory for a more extended
time. It is common in college for students to cram for exams the night
before the test. Sure, that’s retrieving information, but the retrievals
happen close together in time. By spacing out studying, you are spac-
ing out when you practice recalling information, which means mem-
ory traces exist longer. Just about the time a memory may be ready to
fade, there is a practice session, and the memory trace is strengthened.
So, what does the research say? Overall, the spaced practice wins
nearly every time. A group of psychologists from the University of
California-San Diego conducted a meta-analysis (reviewed many
studies) on cramming versus spacing out studying (Cepeda et al.,
2006). Out of 271 studies, 259 showed better results for spacing out
studying, and only 12 showed better or equivalent results for cram-
ming. In one study, students took a test right after a cumulative review
session (equivalent to a session of cramming), whereas other students
had review sessions spread out over several weeks. Students who had
been doing spaced reviews scored 9% higher on the actual test. When
the material was tested a month later, students who had completed
spaced out reviews scored 22% higher than those who only crammed.
That’s a two-letter-grade difference! The research is clear: It is easy to
fall into a cramming study method, but you will be a much stronger
learner if you set up a schedule and regularly space out study sessions.
It is also much less stressful the night before the exam.
Chapter Summary
Learning is a natural process that we all do every day, but few think
about the process. Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and
social learning theory explain a great deal about how we learn. All
learning is limited by how much can be processed at a given time, and
the cognitive load model explains where processing challenges come
from when learning something new. The components of intrinsic,
extraneous, and germane loads work together to indicate the amount
of information that can be processed at any given time.
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When it comes to learning, a few universal components need to be

present for any learning, whether in a college course, working at a job, or
teaching children to pick up toys. These elements are attention, value,
understanding, and (critical) anticipation of success. Differentiating
memory from learning, information regarding the fundamental pro-
cess for remembering is presented in this chapter: encoding (taking in
the information), consolidation (finding a place to store the memory),
and retrieval (getting the desired information and making it known).
In the last part of the chapter, research pertaining to forgetting is
noted, along with methods to strengthen memories: elaboration, repe-
tition, interleaving, and spaced recall. The disadvantages of cramming,
otherwise known as massed practice, were also discussed.
1. Charu has a younger sibling, Noshi. How might their interactions
result in learning for Noshi according to (a) classical conditioning,
(b) operant conditioning, and (c) social learning? Briefly describe
one example for each of these learning models.
2. Think about a place you like to study. Imagine studying for a test
here, and list five sources of extraneous load. Finally, think about
the last time you studied or did homework for any class. How
would you rate the material in that study session on a scale of
1 (very low intrinsic load) to 10 (very high intrinsic load)?
3. What is your current primary strategy to remember new mate-
rial? Describe using the concepts of encoding, consolidation, and
retrieval. What new strategies could you develop to study for a
test (e.g., reviewing notes 15–30 mins after class, creating quizzes
for yourself, etc.)? Finally, for courses currently in your schedule,
where could you go right after class to review notes for 15 to 30
minutes? Do you currently engage in that process?
4. Protecting a memory trace and strengthening it are important so
as not to lose the newly learned information. Select one of the
strategies noted at the end of the chapter—elaboration, repetition,
interleaving, and spaced recall—and explain how you would use
the technique to study material from this chapter.
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5
EX P LO RI N G S O C I A L
IN FLU E N C ES
Chapter 4 laid a foundation designed to help you better understand

what cognitive psychologists study regarding how humans learn. In this
chapter, I will extend that information by drawing on social psychology,
which looks at how a person’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect
themselves and other people (Kasin et al., 2021; Stangor et al., 2011).
Much of this chapter pertains to an area of psychology called social
cognition, which is a combination of cognitive psychology and social
psychology. Social cognition is critical for learning in harmony with
your brain, as our brains are wired for social interaction (Schmidt et
al., 2021). Although social cognition makes learning and memory
much more complicated, it is unbelievably rich and interesting, mak-
ing it one of my favorite areas to teach.
For this chapter, I have selected four concepts that I think are
important to understand and that directly relate to learning. The first
is mindset, showing the importance of thinking about how learning
and constructive feedback help us to get better at any task. The second
area is metacognition, demonstrating that thinking about the process
of learning will help to improve how well you can learn in the future.
The third area is attribution, which will help you see how making
89
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judgments about causes of behavior impacts your perception of your-

self and others. The final area noted in this chapter is egocentric bias,
an area of research that demonstrates why we perceive as we do and
ways to see a larger picture.
Mindset
Carol Dweck (2007), a psychologist at Stanford University, spent
much of her career developing the concept of mindset. The foundation
of this work is that individuals have either a fixed mindset or a growth
mindset. One’s mindset impacts the perception of events, thoughts,
and interactions in their lives. A fixed-minded person believes they
were born with a certain, set-for-life level of intelligence, talents, or
abilities for learning or dealing with the world. Practice or work in an
area might help a bit, but mostly, their belief is that you either “have it”
or you don’t. Growth-minded people, on the other hand, believe that
intelligence, talents, and abilities change throughout a person’s life
depending on the extent to which the individual puts forth effort to
improve. We have a mindset for pretty much everything we do, such
as playing basketball, painting landscapes, and giving presentations.
A person’s mindset is often, but not always, formed in childhood and
then guides thoughts, behaviors, and feelings for the rest of their life.
Most individuals have no idea of the impact a mindset has on their
behavior or how that mindset influences their interaction with others.
However, at the end of this section, you will know about mindset and
how to better use it for your success.
The Origins of Fixed-Mindedness

No reasonable person tries to instill a fixed mindset in another person.
Fixed-mindedness is fostered by accident and primarily by people who
are trying to be supportive. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take much for a
person to become fixed-minded. Mueller and Dweck (1998) found
a person can be impacted after just one trial. For example, a teacher
may say to a child, “Another 100%. You are so smart,” or “Scoring two
goals in a soccer game is amazing. You are a natural.” Those messages
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exploring social influences 91
convey to the child that they have a gift or a natural ability. The child
assumes that intelligence and talent are inherent characteristics, and
they are happy to have them. The child develops a fixed mindset of
being smart or being talented. Sadly, the opposite is also true: If teach-
ers tell students that they are “dumb” or “naturally clumsy,” the stu-
dents develop a fixed mindset that is negative, seeing themselves as not
inherently intelligent or talented. When it comes to mindset, people
often ask, “If you can’t say a child is smart, or a natural, how can you
praise them?” The answer is simply to focus on the effort put into a
task. For example, it is entirely appropriate to say, “Another 100%.
You must have studied hard for this.” Or “Great game today, scoring
two goals is amazing. I can tell you have been doing your drills!” The
praises here signal that the result was due to their effort, that working
at it is paying off and, ostensibly, working harder means they could
do even better. This cultivates a growth mindset. The only difference
between these two situations is telling a child they are smart or a natu-
ral (fixed-minded), or they worked hard (growth-minded).
Fixed mindsets can also emerge or be strengthened in college.
A team of researchers from the University of Georgia, Agnes Scott
College, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found
that students in an organic chemistry course who struggled across an
academic year developed mindsets that were significantly more fixed
compared to those who did not struggle (Limeri et al., 2020). This
can happen for writing, math, speaking, drawing, and almost anything
else where a person was told earlier in their life that they are a natural,
they are smart, or that they are just plain talented. I developed a fixed
mindset regarding writing from a bad middle school experience, when
I was told that some people are good writers and others are not. The
teacher told me I was in the “not good” group. That stayed with me
until I was several years into being a faculty member. I turned down
multiple offers to write books because I had a fixed mindset toward
writing. Then Laura, a colleague of mine from the English department
convinced me that people can learn to be better writers. So, I worked
at writing, and now you are reading one of my books. If there is any
area in which you flat out say, “I am not good at (fill in the blank),”
you, like me, also likely developed a fixed mindset.
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Spotting a Fixed Mindset

There are several ways to spot a fixed-minded person. One easy sign
is that fixed-minded people do not take criticism well. These indi-
viduals see criticism as very personal, and they will either overre-
act, tell you that your assessment of them not being successful was
flawed, or offer justification as to why there was no way they could
complete the outcome at the expected level. When goals are not
met, it is almost always someone else’s fault. Another way to spot
a fixed-minded person is that they see their perceptions of things
as the criteria for excellence. Lots of people have opinions, which is
fine, but there is a difference between a person saying baseball is a
great sport (opinion) and a person vigorously positing that baseball
is the best game ever and certainly better than your favorite sport
(they set the criteria for best sport). When the fixed-minded person
defines themselves based on being very good at something, and they
are shown to be wrong, they see no way to reconcile the discrepancy,
so they may fight irrationally to prove they are right. They may also
quit something or not even start if there is the slightest chance that
they will fail. If you are playing a game of ping-pong against a fixed-
minded person, and you score the first five points, your opponent
may well find a very good reason to quit. Fixed-minded people avoid
the risk of finding out they are not excellent at something, because
they believe it’s impossible to change.
Mindsets Are Context Specific

Individuals don’t have an overall fixed or growth mindset for all things.
Individuals develop mindsets for each behavior or skill set. Several
years ago, I had a student, who I’ll call Sam, in my statistics class. Sam
explained to me that they “couldn’t do math.” A classic fixed mind-
set. We talked for a bit until Sam had to leave for basketball practice,
looking forward to the practice even though it was exhausting. Sam
was a lot better that year, because the coach had the team practicing
fundamentals and drills. Sam had a growth mindset for basketball and
a fixed mindset for math. If there is any area that you feel you are
“just not good at,” then you likely have heard or missed out on praise
for so-called natural ability, and as a result, developed a fixed mindset.
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Views of the World Based on Mindset

Individuals with a fixed mindset differ in many ways from those
with a growth mindset (Ackerman, 2022; Dweck & Master, 2009).
Growth-minded individuals believe that putting in effort improves
how well anything can be done. You are never too young to hold this
view. My friend’s daughter Tegan told her kindergarten gym teacher,
“You have to keep trying. It is important to have a growth mindset.”
Tegan knew that putting in effort helps one to succeed. In contrast,
those with fixed mindsets believe putting in a lot of effort means you
are not good at something; they view intelligence and natural abil-
ity as critical and limiting components of how well something can be
done. If you study algebra 2 hours every night, a fixed-minded per-
son would assume the work was needed because you are not good
at math. Those with a growth mindset believe that the more effort
you put in, the more you grow. Growth-minded individuals would
perceive someone doing 2 hours per night of algebra homework as
building a strong math foundation. Fixed-mindset individuals are also
wary of challenges, as failures define them. Their desire to win, and for
validation, means they are not as likely to push themselves for fear of
losing. Growth-minded individuals, on the other hand, seek challenges
as learning opportunities. Fixed-minded individuals see constructive
feedback as personal criticism that diminishes their intelligence or tal-
ent. Interestingly, most star athletes, the ones sportscasters rave about
as “natural talents,” practice all the time. Michael Jordan, Simone
Biles, and Steph Curry all have growth mindsets and talk about losing
as growing opportunities to get better. A growth-minded person seeks
out feedback and looks at criticism as a learning opportunity.
Becoming Growth-Minded
There are things you can do to shift to being more growth-minded.
First, change your self-talk. Instead of saying to yourself, “I can’t,” shift
to saying, “I can’t yet.” Second, try to work just a little, on something
small, in the area you have always felt you “couldn’t do.” As soon as
you are successful on the small task, set a goal for something else a bit
bigger. That is how growth works. It can be frustrating if you are way
behind others, but they also had to start small at first. The idea is to
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 93 30-05-2022 13:13:18

change your mindset to see that you can work and get better at just
about anything. Remember I mentioned earlier how I struggled with
writing. From middle school until I was a faculty member, I turned
down writing opportunities because I saw myself as someone who
couldn’t write. Laura, from the English Department, told me people
get better at writing by working at it. Susan, an editor at McGraw-Hill,
convinced me to write one chapter. When I submitted that chapter,
she told me it was one of the best she had seen in years. My immediate
response was, “That’s not possible; I’m not good at writing.” Several
months later, I finished that book, and thanks to Susan and Laura,
I started to see writing from a growth-minded perspective. Since that
first book, I have published many articles and individual chapters. As
for books, the one in your hands is my fifth book, and I already have
a contract for another book. It turns out I can write fairly well, and
I keep working to get better. Unfortunately, for many years I didn’t
think I could write, so I didn’t.
Third, in your head, change “failure” to “feedback.” Getting some-
thing wrong is a great part of learning. If you always get everything
right, then you are not testing your abilities. Feedback is a game plan
for getting better. Fourth, when you do fail at something, realize this
does not mean you are bad at it, just that you are getting better every
time you try. I used to play racquetball in college. I usually played
people at my level, but periodically I would play someone better who
I knew could kick my butt. It was embarrassing at times, but it made
me a much better player.
Last, as you work to be more growth-minded you will get better
at it. Yes, being growth-minded is something you also have to work at
to be better. Perhaps the best message to keep at heart is a quote attrib-
uted to Nelson Mandela, “I never lose. I either win or I learn” (Pelzer,
2020, para. 3).
It is important to note that working at growth-mindedness, although
important, will still have different results for different people. You
can always improve, but, as they say, “results may vary.” Remember
that your classmates have different backgrounds—maybe your room-
mate took AP Biology in high school, but your school didn’t offer
AP classes. If you are both in Biology 101, it’s likely that you’ll have
to work harder to make up ground. It doesn’t mean that you can’t or
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won’t do as well. It does mean you may have to study 3 hours whereas
your roommate only needs to study 1 hour because they already put
in that study time in high school. But as you move to more advanced
biology classes, you will get closer to the same skill level. Then one day
you may well pass your roommate! In my many years teaching many
students, there’s always been someone who looked like a “superstar” in
class. Every time, that person either already had a strong background
in area of the course, worked very hard to learn the concepts, or both.
The more growth-minded you are, both in developing new skills
and developing growth-mindedness itself, the better it will be for
your academics and your future. Realize that everyone can get better
at anything.
Study Tip 5.1: Be growth-minded, seek out feedback whenever you

can, and listen carefully to the feedback given.
Metacognition
“What are you thinking about?” I suspect you have heard that a few
times, from parents at the dinner table to professors in a discussion
about the assigned reading. As humans, we are thinking almost all the
time. In this section I will take it up a notch by asking you what you
are thinking about your thinking.
Metacognition is the process of thinking about one’s thinking
in relation to self, including the influence of culture and others (Jost
et al., 1998). When you think about why you did a particular thing,
you are engaged in the process of metacognition. For example, you
may have engaged in metacognition during a test when you thought to
yourself, “Okay, I know this one. I learned it while cooking dinner last
night.” Surprisingly, and unfortunately, people rarely engage in meta-
cognitive thinking in any kind of systematic way. This is because we do
many things with our brain on autopilot, made possible by automatic-
ity (chapter 4). The autopilot function works well in many situations,
but there are times when thinking of what is happening will allow you
to make corrections so you can improve. If you practice metacognitive
strategies, you will become a much stronger learner.
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Understanding Metacognition
Metacognition has been a part of psychology for fewer than 50 years
(Flavell, 1976), yet it is now one of the most studied areas in psychol-
ogy. This concept is fascinating and extremely helpful in moving us
from cognitively passive learners to cognitively active learners (Stanger-
Hall, 2012). Think about how you prepare for an exam. Looking over
notes or reading the textbook without a plan are cognitively passive
strategies, and I see this a lot in my students. You are cognitively active
in your exam preparation when you think about what specific areas
you need to study and for how long, when you turn headings of class
notes into questions, and when you think about how you’ll approach
answering questions on the test.
The reason this is all so important is that if learners are not cog-
nitively active in their processing, they tend to make the same errors
over and over. As an example, a student (let’s call them Jules) told me
they had started statistics three times but dropped the class each time
after failing the first exam. Jules said flat out that they were just “bad at
math and couldn’t pass this course” (which was required to get a degree
in psychology). If this sounds like a story that belongs in the mindset
material, because Jules obviously had a fixed mindset—great job! But
I tell this story here because I helped Jules become a metacognitive
learner. I told Jules I was totally confident that passing the class was not
going to be a problem at all, but two thoughts were not allowed during
this fourth attempt: First, no saying, “I can’t do math,” and second, no
saying, “Statistics is stupid.”
Jules expressed an inability to do “math.” Statistics is only one
area of math, so we dumped the pressure of “all math.” Jules didn’t
need to learn all of math. That is a lot. I told Jules to think only about
specific concepts, such as calculating the median, and to move from
“I can’t” to “I can’t yet.” Recognizing what you know and don’t know is
the primary component of metacognition and a prerequisite to doing
well in college. The word “yet” implied that the possibility for growth
was there. For the second thought, if you convey to your brain that
something is not valued, your brain won’t make room for it, and the
information is typically lost. Also, statistics is not stupid. I told Jules to
try a thought like “I don’t understand this yet, so I don’t yet know why
Dr. Z finds this stuff so exciting.”
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To get started with metacognition, Jules regularly thought about

what they were thinking regarding the material. I asked Jules to drop
by my office daily and share one current thought about the course.
Jules told me things such as, “When I was learning concepts, I was
thinking that it seems like stats people make up words to sound supe-
rior to others. Then I started to see that the terms were needed to
explain statistical measures of information.” This is a solid example
of active metacognitive thinking and consistent with researchers who
found that metacognition is most effective when it is used specifically
to make changes in a focused learning context (Zohar & David, 2009).
I will let you know what happened to Jules in a bit.
Metacognitive Regulation
Metacognition is thinking about thinking, but metacognitive regulation
is the way in which you direct your thinking. Three important skills
when it comes to metacognitive regulation are planning, monitoring,
and evaluating (Tanner, 2012). First is planning; don’t just grab a book
and head to the library. Use metacognitive strategies to set yourself up
for success. Start by thinking about what is expected for this assign-
ment or exam. What resources are preferred and which are most valu-
able? What food can I prepare ahead of time? Where will I study, for
how long, and how? Who should I study with, or should I study alone?
Plan what you need to be successful before you start.
The second skill is monitoring, done while you are studying.
Researchers at Hofstra University looked at student success in moving
from high school to college (Santangelo et al., 2021). In high school,
one can get by using surface reading techniques, but metacognitive
monitoring techniques are important in college. Santangelo and col-
leagues found that, three semesters into college, the students who
engaged in metacognitive monitoring were much more likely to have
persisted or graduated (81.4%) than those who did not (55%). One
way to monitor while reading (or other study techniques) is to do a
quick mental check-in after each section, every few pages, or every
15 minutes or so. The frequency depends on the intrinsic load of the
material. All you need to do is pause, look away from the book, and
explain to yourself the major concept just read. I do this while reading
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journal articles and books. If there is a quiz at the end of the chap-
ter, take the quiz just as you would a quiz in class (no peeking at the
answers!). The goal here is to use metacognitive skills to be sure your
study time is effective and to know how you’ve grasped the material.
The last metacognitive regulation skill is evaluating. This skill
refers to you thinking about the effectiveness of the learning strategies.
Is the level to which you know the material appropriate given the time
and energy spent studying? If not, then some adjustment is necessary.
This skill of evaluating also helps find gaps in your understanding of
the material. One strong technique to do this is called the muddiest
point (Angelo & Cross, 1993). At the end of study session, or class ses-
sion, write down what you understand least. Then, the next time you
study, start by looking that up and filling that learning gap. Evaluating
can even help you reallocate study times to the time in the day when
you are most effective (see p. 188 in chapter 10 for more).
Study Tip 5.2: When using metacognitive evaluation, don’t forget

to note what you are doing well.
Jules used metacognitive evaluation by predicting how they would

perform before starting the exam, based on the first question, and how
they felt after answering the last question. These forms of evaluation
are sometimes called metacognitive checks. As your skill improves, the
grade you estimate at the start of the exam should be more and more
similar to the grade you estimate after taking the exam. Keep a log
of before-the-exam and after-the-exam estimates in a notebook or on
your phone so you can track your progress. The goal is to get close esti-
mates and evaluate how well your metacognitive strategies are work-
ing. You’ll be able to determine how much study time you need and
also be able to see at a glance if your study strategies are still effective.
Jules ended up with a C in my class and was as happy as anyone
who’s taken any of my classes. As statistics was required in the psychol-
ogy department, the C in that class let them stay in the program. Two
years later, Jules told me at graduation that the metacognitive skills
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learned in statistics helped out in other classes as well. I am hoping the

same will be true for you. Whether your course is statistics, chemistry,
history, art, or anything else, metacognitive strategies can help you to
get in the right frame of mind, identify strategies, allocate resources,
and know when you are successful each step of the way. It won’t always
go your way and it takes a bit of work, but in the end, you will be a
stronger student with these strategies.
Attribution
In 1958, Fritz Heider, a social psychologist at the University of Kansas,
published a book about how people perceive causes of human behav-
ior. He called this perception an attribution (Heider, 1958). Imagine
that you see a middle-aged person on the subway give up his seat to an
elderly person who is having trouble standing. You might attribute his
gesture to being kind. But suppose you then notice a police officer near
that seat and a sign you didn’t see before: “These seats reserved for the
elderly. Improper use will result in a $200 fine.” If you look back at the
man, and he appears unhappy, you might revise your attribution a bit.
Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic

A lot is happening in the example in the last paragraph. If you went
from “He is a nice person” to “He didn’t want to get a ticket” as his
reason for giving up his seat, it is important to note that the middle-
aged man didn’t change, but our perception of why he did what he did
changed. According to attribution theory, we tend to make attribu-
tions that are external (about the environment) or internal (about the
person). Internal attributions are also sometimes called dispositional,
because they are based on the person’s disposition. In the example on
the subway, when the person first gave up the seat, you may have given
his behavior an internal attribution (he’s nice). However, once you saw
the sign and the police officer, your attribution of his behavior may
have switched to external (he didn’t want to get a ticket). For individu-
als you only encounter once, you have limited information, so you are
forced to make an attribution of either external or dispositional based
on little data.
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A Bit of Order, Please

The overall goal of attribution theory is to make sense of the world
(Kelly, 1967). If you are 5 minutes late to my office hours, I could
attribute your lateness to an external cause, such as finding a parking
spot, or to an internal cause, such as absentmindedness. My attribu-
tion is based on my social perception (that I like you) and is used to
resolve the issue of your tardiness (must have been a problem parking).
If a student of mine was lashing out in class because they didn’t like
the cafeteria food choices, I’d probably attribute their response to anger
issues (internal). Unless, of course, they said that for the 3rd day in a
row, all the halal options had already been eaten and they were hungry
(external). Attribution helps us make sense of the world.
Fundamental Attribution Error

One deviation on general rules for attribution is the fundamental attri-
bution error (Ross, 1977). It is called fundamental because it happens
a lot of the time. According to the fundamental attribution error, when
ascribing attribution to other people, we overemphasize internal fac-
tors. Because we know little about their circumstances, we assume the
behavior we see is their normal behavior. However, for ourselves, we
protect our ego by making attributions based on outcome. If it is a
positive outcome, then we attribute the behavior to our disposition
(e.g., I am so good at this game), but if it is negative, then we attribute
our behavior to the environment (e.g., There were gusts of winds that
made playing nearly impossible). If I am late to a meeting, it is because
parking is horrendous. If you are late to a meeting, it’s because you
didn’t plan ahead. If you don’t reply to a friend’s text for an hour, you
can now almost predict the attributions. You will say it is not your fault
you didn’t respond right away, because you were super busy (external
attribution), whereas your friend is going to think that you were rude
not to reply faster (internal attribution). Watch for this effect, as it is
something that most people do. When you know that it is happening
and why it happens, it makes it easier to address and easier to avoid
judgmental internal attributions.
The fundamental attribution error has many implications in our
society. It’s interesting to note that the effect happens much more
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frequently in individualistic cultures compared to collectivistic cul-

tures. Having a collaborative mindset makes a person less prone to
the fundamental attribution error, so don’t expect to see it from every-
one. That said, it is frequent and can have serious consequences. Flick
and Schweitzer (2021), professors at the University of Wyoming,
conducted a study looking at blame for traffic accidents. In mock
trials, when a participant in the study was to assume that they them-
selves caused an accident, the participant saw the accident as due to
poor visibility or bad windshield wipers (both external attributions).
When a participant in the study was to assume that the other driver
caused the accident, the participants said it was probably the driver’s
fault (internal attribution). This is a classic fundamental attribution
error. If you are on a jury, you might consider the person charged as
irresponsible, because you feel you could have figured out an alterna-
tive if you had been in that person’s situation. Similarly, if you see a
homeless person you may immediately think the person is lazy and
needs to get a job (internal). However, if the person lost their job due
to budget cuts and nobody will hire them (external) they are stuck.
This has implications for judgments of many kinds. If we see others
as more likely to be personally responsible for a negative outcome,
due to the fundamental attribution error, it means our bias is having
a negative effect.
Study Tip 5.3: If you don’t do well on an exam, do not assume it is

just a poorly written test or that the questions are unfair. Doing so
protects the ego but does not help you to get better.
Understanding attribution biases will have a significant impact

on how you interact with others. If someone is being “rude,” it
might be that they are a jerk. Their behavior might also be due to
an external cause. It’s likely that whenever you are “rude” to some-
one, you allow yourself an external attribution. It will also help with
your own behaviors in many aspects of life, including making you a
stronger learner. Each of us makes attributions about our behavior
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all the time, and, as with metacognition, if reflection and under-

standing are not actively used, we tend to make the same errors over
and over again.
Egocentric Bias
Anthony Greenwald (1980), a psychology professor at the University
of Washington-Seattle, appears to have been the first to publish the
term egocentric bias. This bias, similar to attribution, pertains to how
we see ourselves in relation to others. Most people see themselves in a
positive way, typically a bit more positively than reality. For example,
individuals typically remember themselves as having a larger part in
something positive or a smaller part in something negative than they
actually did. If you participated in a campus protest that led to change,
it is highly likely that you will remember doing more work than you
actually did. On the other hand, if the protest led to damage, you will
likely remember your role as being very small. Interestingly, Greenberg
(1983) found that this bias is reduced if a person is made self-aware.
It is important to know that this bias does not imply that anyone is
lying about their position. It is just how memories are stored. If I do
something, then the memory consolidation regarding my role is more
likely to be stored more deeply than other people’s roles.
One pervasive and unfortunate outcome of egocentric bias is that
individuals who aren’t self-aware tend to perceive their memories and
opinions as more accurate and therefore more “right” than others’,
which means they will feel that their position is more valuable than
others’ (Kassin et al., 2021). This can lead to a cultural bias, where
individuals feel their culture is right and other cultures are less valid or
even downright inferior. These individuals will tolerate diversity only
as long as the diversity meshes with their moral position. They also
tend to seek out others who are similar to themselves and as a result
experience positive feedback from their similar friends (Clark, 2009),
which only deepens their bias (see chapter 1).
This short section on egocentric bias is simply to illustrate how
and why biases form and the impact they can have. As you proceed
in your academic studies, understand that everyone has a somewhat
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biased perspective just because that is how human behavior, interac-

tion, and memory work. It is impossible to be totally objective and
unbiased, but just knowing that can help us to more carefully and
thoughtfully consider the perspectives of others.
Chapter Summary
Mindset is an explanatory model that identifies individuals’ perceptions
of behaviors. For a given area (e.g., math, giving presentations, taking
tests), Individuals are classified as fixed- or growth-minded. Fixed-
mindedness is generally the result of hearing and believing that ability
is innate. This may come about inadvertently, and often innocently,
from parents, teachers, or even personal beliefs. Individuals with fixed
mindsets tend not to take criticism well, have an inflated opinion of
their standards, and avoid risks in areas where they feel they natu-
rally excel. Overall, fixed-minded individuals see talent and intelli-
gence as personality-defining and unchangeable concepts, whereas
growth-minded individuals go through life looking for challenges and
opportunities to gain skills, abilities, and knowledge. Individuals can
learn to be more growth-minded. Two of the most useful strategies are
(a) to look at feedback as a helpful guide to improving instead of con-
firmation of failure, and (b) to say “I can’t yet,” instead of just “I can’t.”
Metacognition is knowing what you know or thinking about
thinking. Metacognitive regulation allows learners to think about the
material they are learning while learning it (plan, monitor, and evalu-
ate). Attribution helps bring order to the world by determining why
people do what they do. The primary attributions for behavior are
internal (dispositional) and external, and they depend on consistency
and consensus. People tend toward fundamental attribution error,
which is attributing behaviors of others to predominantly internal
causes and our behavior to internal or external causes, depending on
the situation. Most individuals also have an egocentric bias. This is
not malicious or intentional and is typically based on how informa-
tion is stored in our memories. However, with metacognition we can
perform more successfully and with more grace both in the classroom
and outside of it.
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1. Think of something you “can’t do, yet!” What strategy could you
use to shift that mindset? What would success look like if you
could do the thing that you “can’t do yet?”
2. Explain how you prepare for an exam, including where and how
you study. Include any aspects of metacognition that you may
already use. Explain one additional metacognitive thing you could
add.
3. Explain the strategy you currently use when reading. What aspect
of this strategy do you feel works best and what areas could be
improved upon?
4. Describe a situation in which a disagreement between two people
may well have been the result of the fundamental attribution error.
Include both what happened and how the fundamental attribu-
tion error contributed to the situation.
5. Explain your thoughts on the impact of egocentric bias on future
involvement with activities.
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6
FIN D IN G AN D USIN G
P AT T E R N S
In this chapter, we will look at how our brains use patterns to help
make sense of the astronomical amount of information hitting our
sensory systems all the time. I will also show you how to recognize
patterns in your coursework. The better you get at recognizing pat-
terns, the more you can learn and the faster you will learn it. As with
other topics in this book, most individuals do not know they can get
better at recognizing the patterns that are all around them, all the time.
Look around for just a few seconds. You should be able to find many
patterns right from where you are sitting. Floors, brick walls, photos
hung on the wall, sidewalks, even a pattern on the page you are reading
right now. There are patterns in your world that you haven’t needed to
notice. However, there are times when noting some patterns would be
a benefit to you.
Nearly everyone who works has figured out patterns, even if
they don’t realize it. Depending on the complexity of the job, they
move up in the organization by figuring out increasingly complex
patterns. Counselors recognize patterns in the way clients present
information, and gardeners figure out weather patterns and plant-
ing seasons. Professors identify patterns in their areas of expertise
107
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that allow them to acquire new information by quickly assimilat-

ing it into an existing framework or schema. As you learn in your
courses, finding patterns may make the difference between struggling
to understand a concept and grasping it easily. As you will see shortly,
recognizing some patterns will be particularly helpful to learning new
information. I have had as many as 600 students in my undergradu-
ate psychology courses in a single semester. In those classes, because
of the sheer number of students, I saw many patterns with respect
to student performance. I also saw how students responded to pat-
terns, some good, and some not. In several situations, students would
have learned more and scored higher on exams had they made a small
adjustment based on patterns. This chapter presents to you patterns
that you can use to support your learning.
Patterns Enhance Learning

Patterns are, at times, straightforward and obvious. At other times pat-
terns are stubbornly abstruse and hidden. When it comes to learn-
ing and memory, patterns often hold the key to success. This section
addresses how patterns impact learning, their formation, and their
relationship to other cognitive structures.
Chunking
Your brain is incredible beyond comprehension. Under most circum-
stances, your sensory system is able to process millions of pieces of
information each second. Your memory systems can store millions of
pieces of information for years, deep in long-term memory. If these
two systems worked unchecked, you could grab and put away massive
amounts of information every second. However, it would likely not
take long to overwhelm your cognitive processing system and probably
fill your memory to capacity. To ensure the information processed,
stored, and accessible upon demand has value, we have a gatekeep-
ing device in place. Imagine a library that receives large amounts of
books each day (sensory system) and just dumps them into a large
building (long-term store). The building would fill rather quickly, and
there would be no way to get the book you wanted. Now imagine a
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finding and using patterns 109
cataloging system that fits between the tons of books being dropped
off and the piles in the library. In the new system, books arrive, and
a selection system is put into place to decide which books to accept.
Once books with value are identified, they are cataloged, given a tag,
and then put on shelves so individuals can later find the books they
need at the time they need them. You have a memory system that
does the same thing. Tons of information is all around you; your brain
decides which pieces of information have value; and the brain pro-
cesses those, tags them, and enters them into your memory system.
There the information waits until you need it.
The gatekeeping system I just referred to is our working memory
(Baddeley & Hitch, 1974), so named because it is where work is done
encoding and processing information. It takes time to do this coding
work. So, even though the sensory system can handle an almost unlim-
ited amount of information, as can our long-term store, how much
do you suppose our working memory can hold at any given moment?
The answer is not even close to being in the millions. It is only four
to nine items (Miller, 1956; Paas & Ayers, 2014). Back in the 1950s,
experimental psychologists began looking at ways to increase working
memory limits, because if you can widen that restrictive path then
you can process more information. George Miller (1956, 1994), a
cognitive psychologist working at Harvard, found a way to hack this
memory gatekeeper. Miller found that although the average person
could hold an average of seven plus or minus two (or four to nine)
pieces of information, those pieces could be complex or simple. In the
studies he ran, the complexity didn’t seem to matter, only the number
of items. So, if you were going to remember unrelated digits, such as
2,8,5,1,0,1,2, you may be able to hold these digits in your memory
for a short time. The sequence 1,2,3,4,5,6,7 is also seven numbers,
but the numbers possess an important pattern. This is a series that
we know well, so a brain that knows this sequence would not count
this as seven items, but rather only one. It would be one chunk of
information with the label, “numbers up to 7.” You still have room
for six more pieces, or chunks, of information! One might ask, “If the
chunks were very elaborate, wouldn’t that let you process a lot more
information?” The answer is yes. The key to such an act would be to
know how to “chunk” efficiently.
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Schemas and Cognitive Load

As you may recall from chapter 4, cognitive load theory is often used to
explain the limitation on our information processing (Sweller, 1988).
Sweller notes that as you start to max out your cognitive load, you begin
to make errors, and if the cognitive demand continues, you either shut
down or shut out some source of information. This is that feeling you
get when two or three of your friends start to talk to you at the same
time. Unable to process all that information you tell them, “One at
a time,” because that is within your cognitive load. Cognitive load is
also based on short-term memory, but instead of the “chunks” Miller
(1956) talked about to increase information processing, Sweller (1988)
discusses this gatekeeper in terms of intrinsic, extraneous, and germane
load. Germane load contains the important concepts of automaticity
and activating schemas.
When it comes to processing material to put it into chunks or
manage the cognitive load, patterns can be very helpful (Sweller
et al., 1998). The easier it is to see information as a cluster, group-
ing, schema, or any other view that puts a group of information
under a single label, the easier it will be to process. With respect to
schemas, an added benefit is having good retrieval cues. That means
if you can call up a schema, it is easier to identify parts of it that are
of interest to you. For example, suppose you are going to the gro-
cery store to buy nine items: eggs, hamburger, potato chips, orange
juice, toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, bacon, hamburger buns.
Remembering nine individual items would be challenging, but if
you can call up appropriate schemas, you can chunk your list and
make it much easier to remember. For this example, you could use
three schemas that you know well: bathroom (toilet paper, shampoo,
toothpaste), breakfast (eggs, bacon, orange juice), and lunch (ham-
burger, hamburger buns, and potato chips). If you read the list twice
and then later recall the three schemas of bathroom, breakfast, and
lunch, those items will serve as cues and make it much easier to go
to the store and get all of the appropriate items. Chunking lets you
process much more material faster, and with less effort. The same
concept can be used in academia, which we’ll discuss in more detail
later on in this chapter.
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Pervasive Patterns
There are patterns everywhere, but you likely see only a tiny fraction
of the patterns that exist. The following are some of the most pervasive
patterns (Koffka, 1935) that launched the area of Gestalt psychology.
These patterns can help you to learn faster. The core insight of the
Gestalt approach is that we do not see individual elements, we see
wholes. The following are patterns that most people instinctually rec-
ognize. They are also called the Gestalt laws of perceptual organization.
They are natural patterns, meaning you don’t learn them. As such, they
have a positive impact on the speed in which information is processed
in working memory (e.g., Peterson & Berryhill, 2013).
Similarity
When items are presented in a cluster, similar items are automatically
grouped together in our minds. When you look at Figure 6.1, do you
see rows or columns? If individuals did not innately see this the same
way, we would expect about 50% to see rows, and 50% to see columns.
However, nearly everyone sees columns of Xs and columns of Os.
If you look at the material you are studying carefully, you can find
the similarity principle in your academic work. When you are asked
to name the similarities and differences, the instructor is using this
principle, whether they know it or not. When organizing information
Figure 6.1. Similarity example.

X O X O X
X O X O X
X O X O X
X O X O X
X O X O X
X O X O X
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 111 30-05-2022 13:13:19

to study, if you put similar items together, they will be easier to learn,
much like the grocery list presented earlier. Remember the items on
the list for breakfast? I used this principle a lot in college when I was a
student. It will be easier for your brain to make an information cluster
or schema, and the schema will serve as a memory clue for the individ-
ual items. It is helpful if you can name the schema or chunk, much like
the previous example had headings of bathroom, breakfast, and lunch.
Proximity
Items that are close together, in time or space, are perceived as being
together. When you look at Figure 6.2, what do you see this time?
Keep in mind these are just letters on a page; they could be per-
ceived in any way. Although these make good columns, most individu-
als see rows of letters because they are in closer proximity horizontally
to each other. Notice that proximity was more powerful than similar-
ity. There are still columns of Xs and Os, but proximity is how your
brain groups these items. This example is visual, but proximity works
for time as well. If two things happen close in time to one another,
people perceive the items as related. If you walk by a display case in a
store, and seconds after you walk by it falls, you know people are going
to think you knocked it over. When something like that happens, the
person near it quickly says, “I didn’t touch it.” That is the power of
proximity of time.
Proximity is used all the time in learning and memory. If your
chemistry instructor is teaching a concept at the end of class on Monday
and runs out of time and then finishes the concept on Wednesday,
Figure 6.2. Proximity example.

XOXOXOXOXO
XOXOXOXOXO
XOXOXOXOXO
XOXOXOXOXO
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because of the separation of time, your brain will see them as sepa-
rate items. When you study, try to study items that go together in the
same session. If you have 1 hour of sociology homework and 1 hour of
psychology homework, it is best if you can put a break between the
two study sessions so that terms studied do not become mistakenly
mixed. If the two courses are very different from each other, the break
is less necessary. The dissimilarity will keep the concepts separated.
This can also be helpful when you schedule courses. It is best if you do
not take courses back-to-back, but if you must, make the back-to-back
courses different from one another if you can (e.g., theater followed by
chemistry, or French followed by math).
Continuity
The principle of continuity is that you will see the straightest line or
the line that continues in the smoothest path. The continuity may be
visual, auditory, or conceptual. Consider Figure 6.3. Most individuals
see the lines as forming an X. It is just as easy to see this marking as two
Vs or even as four line segments, but few people report seeing anything
other than an X.
Continuity can also be auditory, which is how music works. We hear
a singing voice and a strumming guitar, and we maintain continuity for
each so they stay together, even if one sound is dominant. Conceptual
continuity occurs, for example, when a thought is continued. When
you buy a book from Amazon, you see other suggested titles. That is a
continuation of what you looked at.
Study Tip 6.1: Create a clean break where needed. A short 1–2-min-
ute walk stretches the legs and eliminates undesired continuity.
Figure 6.3. Example of continuity.
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For academics, continuity is extremely important in helping to

organize material. When you come back from a break, and your instruc-
tor says, “Now, where were we,” your brain puts the material after the
break with the material from before the break. You have continued the
concept. Most books, including this one, insert a blank page or some
other obvious break between chapters. That is designed to break the
continuity, so your brain knows it is a different section. When you
take notes or study, make sure there are clean breaks between sections
to signal discontinuity. If you want to signal continuity, make lists of
materials under a heading or use numbered lists.
Closure
The law of closure has important implications for education. Most
brains do not like unfinished things. If a figure is not quite closed,
your brain will go ahead and close it. For example, check out Figure
6.4. Your brain could see eight individual lines, but most people see
rectangles. Closure happens fairly frequently in our lives. If your friend
calls you just before your movie is over, you may well tell your friend
you will call them back in a few minutes when your movie ends.
Closure is also why merchants like to sell collector sets and use punch
cards. When you get close to the free item or completing a set, you
are more likely to make the purchase to close it out. If you study in a
group, I used to find it worked well for someone to select a number for
the next chunk of material and then have the group close out the list.
You might say, “The next topic is the economy. Let’s see if we can list
seven things that impact the economy.” If your group lists six, instead
of stopping, they will work hard to come up with the seventh. This is
an example of closure.
Figure 6.4. Example of closure.
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Figure-Ground
The way our vision works, we are able to focus on only one thing at
a time. For an example, look at the middle of the page you are read-
ing right now. Pick a word near the middle and keep your eyes locked
on that word. Then, out of the corner of your eye, look toward the
edge of the line of text. If you keep your eyes locked on the word, you
should be able to clearly tell there are words out to the edge of the
page, yet not be able to read the word out of the corner of your eye. If
you can, then it is because you moved your eyes, even if just a tiny bit
for a fraction of a second. If your eyes stay focused on the word at the
middle of the page, you can’t read the words out on the edge because
you don’t have enough receptors in that part of your eye to see enough
detail to pick out letters. That means all around you, all the time, you
are focused on one thing. That is your focal point and is the figure in
your visual field. Everything else is “ground.” You can select what you
want to be your figure, and your brain will automatically encode that
and essentially ignore the rest. For example, in Figure 6.5, you can
select any one of the statues, one of the trees, or even the small piece
of sky. Whatever you select will become the “figure” and your brain
will see that as important. Everything else becomes “ground.” You can
shift your gaze quickly, but you won’t be able to see two things that are
separated at the exact same time. Look carefully at anything around
you right now. Everything is figure and ground. If something is very
bright, moving, or loud, you will change your selection of figure to
that. It is a way for the brain to notice things in the environment that
are valuable. It could be valuable because it is helpful, such as a friend
waving to catch your attention in a crowd, or lifesaving, such as avoid-
ing a moving car while crossing the street.
Figure-ground works the same way for concepts. When you are
focused on one important thing you wish to learn, everything else
becomes ground. It is important to figure out what is figure and what
is ground. Keep looking for the focal point in what you are learn-
ing. Many students try to memorize everything. That is not a good
approach. Look for what your professor sees as the focal point of the
material. Sometimes your professor will even tell you. I often tell my
students, when presenting a concept, “This is the important part.”
If your professor does not point out the important part, you can learn
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Figure 6.5. Example of figure-ground.
Note. Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery; Sha Tin, Hong Kong. Photo by Todd Zakrajsek.
to find it as you listen in class. You may miss at times, but if you keep
looking you will get better and better. If you can figure out what your
professor feels is most important, you will be able to zero in on that
material. The same is true while reading. Always be looking for key
concepts and differentiate that from examples or other material.
Patterns in Academic Life

Let’s return to the concept of the limiting factor in processing infor-
mation, which is how many things can be held in working memory
(Cowan, 2015; Miller, 1956). Researchers at MIT have found that with
training working memory can be improved (Thompson et al., 2016).
This is exciting for learning material in your courses because it means
that with practice, you can open the bottleneck to learning. To do this
we, as learners, can look for patterns and practice putting items into
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chunks. For your classes, this could be information presented during

a lecture or while working in a group. Finding patterns can also help
you remember what you read. As you become more skilled in finding
patterns in your academic studies, you will find it much easier to learn
new information.
Content
It is possible to increase information held in short-term memory by
very large numbers (Miller, 1956). Let’s try an example to see how
much of a difference chunking, and practicing with chunking, can
make. Read through the following set of letters one time. Do not study
the list, just read through the letters slowly and then cover them and
see how many you can recall.
A V M U L H
That was a set of six letters. A lot of people can do six, although
there are several factors that can cause a person to struggle even with
six. First is the amount of extraneous load there is in the environment.
If there are people talking, a lot of movement, or anything else in the
area that is distracting, that lowers your ability to remember, even for
a few seconds. Second is whether you are tired. Fatigue has a very
large impact on learning, as will be discussed in chapter 10. Third,
fluid intake can have an impact. Lindseth and colleagues (2013) at the
University of North Dakota showed in a controlled experiment that
pilots who had lower fluid intake had significant decreases in cognitive
performance. Finally, your performance on short-store memory tasks
can be affected if you have a lot on your mind, such as a challenge at
work or a quiz over this chapter in a few minutes. Now let’s try another
set of letters. Same routine, read them slowly one time at a time, cover
them, and see how many you can remember.
I H F Q A M U Z F S
That should have been a bit more of a challenge. What is impor-

tant on this one is what happened if you hit a spot and realized
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you were not going to be able to remember the list. The most com-
mon response for individuals, and it happens with my students all
the time, is that when it becomes apparent that a list or topic can’t
be remembered, the individual just stops trying. As we discussed in
chapter 4, that is the feeling of maxing out cognitive load. You may
also have gotten to about the sixth or seventh letter and almost felt
one of the early letters slip away. You knew right away it was gone.
That is an interesting way to feel the capacity of working memory.
So, that should have shown what it is like to max out on a task. Let’s
try another one. Same procedure as last time.
C O G N I T I V E L O A D
This list of letters is 13 items long. My guess is that you didn’t

even need to read through the letters slowly. You likely glanced at this
and could cover the page and write out all 13 letters with no errors
and barely any cost of cognitive energy. That is the power of finding
a pattern. If you were to be quizzed over the last two sets, you would
spend much more time on the list of 10 that started with “I” than you
would for the list of 13 letters that started with “C.” The “C” list is
longer, but if you were quizzed a few days later you would likely score
better on that longer list. Okay, last one. Same process as the previous
letter sets. Read the letters, turn the book over, and see how many you
can remember.
IWILLACETHEQUIZOVERTHISCHAPTER
This set contains 30 items. It may take you a few seconds to be

sure you have the words memorized, but I suspect that within less than
a minute you would be ready for a quiz over the letters.
I wanted to give you these examples to circle back to the concept
of patterns in class and how to strengthen your pattern recognitions.
The cognitive psychologist George Miller (1956) was very interested
in what was possible in terms of hacking short-term memory. In your
classes, if you practice with chunking, you will likely become a much
stronger learner and may learn material faster than you have in the past.
Look for ways to chunk the information where possible, and put infor-
mation in schemas, similar to the grocery list example at the beginning
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of this chapter. Overall, for learning academic content, chunking and

schema activation can be very helpful. If you keep working on these
concepts you should see solid results.
For figure and ground keep looking for the “thing” that is essential
at any given point. The rest is the ground. You can shift quickly, and
experts do all the time. The important part is to be able to find the
important figure(s) and filter out the ground. When solving problems,
reading, or taking notes, keep in mind what the figure is and what the
ground is, shifting your attention at any given moment as needed. As
you do this, pull up the appropriate schemas, and the new information
will be tucked right into your growing knowledge system for that area.
As you practice, you will get better and better at doing this.
Reading
Readings assigned in college are often challenging. There can also be
many pages to get through each week. Although reading at this level
can be challenging, you can do it. There is a great deal of research
about reading and how we process text (Moje et al., 2020; Peng et al.,
2018). For your reading, you will find some very consistent patterns
based on the type of text you are reading.
Pattern for Reading a Textbook

For the most part, textbooks are written incorrectly. Let me give you
the textbook reading pattern. For most books, you start reading on
page one. When you read a novel, you likely do not want to see the last
few pages because you don’t want to ruin the story by finding out what
it was all about. When you read a textbook, you want the story spoiled
every time because you want to know what the chapter is all about.
There is a concept in psychology called priming, which means that
knowing a bit about a concept makes it easier to think of and remem-
ber related concepts. For reading, when you know what the chapter is
about, it’s easier to process the material in the chapter. So, you want
to find out as much as possible before you start reading. This strategy
takes a bit more time, but it will help your reading of most textbooks.
First, find the pages that were assigned or decide the number you wish
to read (10 pages is often plenty for one study session). Next, find the
chapter or section summary. It could be at the end or the beginning of
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the chapter or section. Read the chapter summary. This will tell you
quickly what this chapter or section is about.
Study Tip 6.2: Skim material quickly before you read it for learning
to activate prior knowledge you have in that area.
Next, see if there are questions at the end of the chapter. You
are not answering the questions; reading them gives you an idea of
what will be covered and what you will be able to do at the end of
the chapter. Then, go back to the first page of what you are going to
read and proceed, but only read chapter headings and subheadings.
Don’t just flip through them, look at them seriously. These will also
help prime you for the material. Now it is time to read. Your brain
has a sense of what is coming, so it shouldn’t be surprised, meaning
you can put up schemas as needed. Here you have two options. For
one option, you could read the section quickly, without interrup-
tion, no highlighting and no taking notes. Then read it again slowly,
taking notes as needed. If you have time, it is best to give it a quick
read, but if time is tight that might not be possible. In such a case
the second option is not to do the fast read and start in by taking
notes immediately. Whether you do a fast read or not, the research
says highlighting does not typically work (Dunlosky et al., 2013). If
you really like to highlight, please do it mindfully. Look carefully at
what you are highlighting and why. If you just color your pages as
you go, it will not likely help you to learn and may even make learn-
ing more challenging.
Pattern for Reading a Journal Article

There are many different types of journal articles, and they vary in
tone, depth, length, and type. In this section I am talking about
research articles, not summaries or articles written about research. If
the article talks about research that was done and does not specifically
cite the work, it is a popular press article, not a journal article. It
is still valuable, but reading one of those articles is relatively easy.
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Read popular press articles from start to end and take notes as needed.
A journal article specifically cites the work of others and has a fairly
consistent form. Journal articles can be extremely challenging. But
just break it into parts and keep focus. To get started, review the
assignment from your instructor. Why was this article assigned? What
are you specifically supposed to attend to for this assignment? What
kind of summary or report are you to give? If you don’t know, ask your
professor for guidance regarding key topics or methods you should
attend to while reading. If you don’t have clear guidance, check with
other students in the class and talk about the anticipated purpose.
It is often best to start by looking at the headings. They are typi-
cally consistent from article to article. Look at each of the headings
and think of them as questions. Then, as you read, your goal will be to
answer the questions. For example, the section labeled “Conclusion”
becomes, “What is the conclusion?” Do that for each section. I suggest
reading the abstract, then the introduction, then the conclusion and
discussion. After that, read the methods and results if assigned or if
you need to get that information. Methods and results are typically the
most challenging parts and will be easier after you better understand
what the article was all about.
The most important thing to keep in mind as you read the journal
article is that the content is dense. Every few paragraphs, jot down
in your own words what you have just read. Try not to highlight or
underline much. As noted previously, the research is consistent that
those strategies do not require thought and as a result are not helpful
(Dunlosky et al., 2013). Instead, once you have completed a meaning-
ful chunk, jot down a one-sentence summary or a question.
When you have finished reading the article, give a very brief
overview to someone, or a pet, or a sofa. Just say it out loud. It helps
a lot. Reread the article after a period of time, a day or so if you can.
Often, the second time through is when it really connects. As a final
note, professors and graduate students may tell you they read the
abstract, then the conclusion, and then the methods and results if
needed. Their final step may be to skim the introduction. This is a
great strategy—once you are an expert. Some professors forget that the
introduction is the foundation of the article and designed to inform
the reader, particularly if the reader is not well versed on the topic.
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Pattern for Reading a Novel

As with all kinds of reading, make sure your attention is on the mate-
rial as you read. If you lose focus, stop, figure out where you lost the
thread, and read from there. It doesn’t hurt to check every few pages to
be sure you are not daydreaming. Reading a novel for class is different
than pleasure reading. You are being assigned a novel for a reason, and
it is best if you can figure out what that is. There is not a set of steps as
there is for a textbook, because novels are meant to be read from front
to back. There are, however, several things to look for as you read.
You don’t necessarily have to take notes as you read (unless that’s
part of your assignment), but it’s helpful to have a sense of the follow-
ing key components as you read a novel, so you are ready for a good
discussion. It’s important to look for themes. There will be obvious
themes, but the real value of the material will typically be subthemes.
Be sure to watch for the standard literary elements, such as narrative
point of view, symbolism, characters, plot, imagery, foreshadowing, setting,
and so on. In terms of patterns, also watch for repetition: That’s always
important. The repetition may be a journey, moods, seasons, or any-
thing else. Keep in mind that with novels, authors research and write
carefully. It is never just a story.
Chapter Summary
Our brains make sense of the world by using patterns to help organ-
ize the massive amount of sensory information in our lives. The
amount of information humans can process is limited by the working
memory, or how sensory information of interest is coded and stored
as a long-term memory. Working memory capacity is impacted by
schemas, cognitive load, and “chunking.” Some patterns are seen
nearly universally the same (Gestalt psychology), and chunking is
a great way to lean on existing patterns. In this chapter, we specifi-
cally discuss the Gestalt p
atterns of similarity, proximity, continuity,
and closure. These patterns are frequently found in education, in all
courses and every discipline, and can be used to organize informa-
tion into chunks to learn new material faster. Another Gestalt concept
is figure-ground, an important principle to determine what is most
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 122 30-05-2022 13:13:19

relevant in our environment and in the content to be learned. This also

includes patterns in how different texts are written. Whenever these
Gestalt patterns can be found and maximized, learning is facilitated.
1. What kind of patterns have you used to help you learn or remem-
ber items in any class, going back to your 1st year of high school?
If you do not recall using any patterns, list three classes that likely
had strong patterns and briefly explain those patterns.
2. List and briefly describe five schemas the average first-year college
student brings with them to college/university. Explain how they
may be further developed in higher education.
3. Because of Miller’s (1956) work, it is frequently said that working
memory holds 7±2 pieces of information. But information that
can be related in some way can be gathered into and considered
as one chunk. Given this, how much information do you think
short-term memory can really hold? Explain your rationale.
4. Find something in your academic work this year that is an example
of one of the Gestalt laws of perceptual organization: similarity,
proximity, continuity, or closure. Explain the content and how
what you described is an example of one of these patterns.
5. Describe the process you typically use to read textbooks. Is that
different from the process you use to read novels? Explain the dif-
ference. Describe how your strategy for reading could change after
reading this chapter to increase the effectiveness of your reading.
References
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retrospect: Observations on the faltering progression of science. Psychologi-
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ogy. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4–58. https://doin
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limits on our capacity for processing information. Psychological Review,
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work published 1956)
Moje, E. B., Afflerback, P. P, Enciso, P., & Lesaux, N. K. (Eds.). (2020).
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P A RT T H R E E
S U P P O RT YO U R LE A R N I N G
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 126 30-05-2022 13:13:19
7
T H R I V I N G I N HI G H E R
E D U C AT I O N
Program and course curricula are essential, but they do not comprise
the totality of your college experience. There is so much more to
academics. Right now, pause your reading and think about the concept
of “a good college student.” What comes immediately to mind? Doing
homework, paying attention in class, turning work in on time, being
a solid group contributor, getting good grades? It turns out there is
a long list of things that make up an ideal student, because there are
different ways to think of what it means to be ideal, and ideal at what.
Regardless, the specifics of what is expected of students are rarely listed
in the course catalog or syllabi or mentioned in advisor meetings. The
expectations of behavior between professors and students are not clear
and they are not out in the open. Medical schools have long talked
about this concept. They call it the hidden curriculum. It is very real
and very important (Jackson, 1990; Kelly, 2009). In this chapter,
I will uncover a bit of the hidden curriculum in undergraduate studies.
Understanding more about these elements will help you to learn in
harmony with your brain.
127
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 127 30-05-2022 13:13:19

128 support your learning
Individual Versus Group Study

You will have to decide whether to study by yourself or find a study
group. Different strategies work better under different circumstances.
Uri Treisman (2013), a professor at the University of Texas-Austin,
noted that Black students in his courses received failing grades at twice
the rate of White students. It turned out there was an easy solution:
When students worked in small groups, that difference disappeared.
This demonstrates the value of working in small groups. Study groups
have many benefits: They reduce procrastination, provide an oppor-
tunity to ask questions, decrease stress, and foster diverse perspectives;
members also hold each other accountable. However, there are times it
is better to work alone. Working alone has several advantages: studying
at your own pace, fewer distractions, control over the environment,
and the ability to set your schedule. Studying alone is also very good
for establishing a foundation of knowledge. Another option is to study
in pairs. Researchers have found the best result with students working
in pairs versus students working alone or in groups of three or four
(Kim et al., 2020).
Study Tip 7.1: Study alone, practice in pairs, and review in a group.
Determining the best way for you to study in a given circum-

stance is crucial. Try different approaches, and note which method
works best under what circumstance using metacognitive strate-
gies. For example, you could set up a group of four and then study
in three “phases.” First, each group member studies alone to learn
foundational material. Second, pairs meet every few days to go over
the material and solidify what was learned. Finally, the full group
of four could get together to review and practice at retrieval once
per week and just before the exam. Actual timing might vary based
on the intrinsic load of the material and the overall difficulty of the
course. I have worked with many students over many years, and the
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 128 30-05-2022 13:13:20

thriving in higher education 129
f ollowing are a few strategies that proved most helpful when forming
study groups:
•• Identify group members based on what needs to be accomplished,

not because you like them or are friends. This is a work group, not
a social group.
•• Make sure everyone in the group knows the goal of the group
session. Identify content and process for each meeting.
•• Prepare ahead of time. Group time is not for learning foundational
material. It is for reviewing and expanding knowledge.
•• Charge one person each meeting with keeping the group on task.
•• Break up the material and take turns teaching in each group
session. Teaching is the best way to learn.
•• Find a comfortable, public space in which the group can meet,
such as a study room at the library. Private spaces like apartments
can be uncomfortable for some individuals.
As with every time you study, studying in a group is a perfect time to

try out your metacognitive strategies to monitor learning. Finally, be
proactive. Don’t wait for the professor to assign study groups. Also,
don’t wait to be invited. Talk to classmates, find individuals who are
serious about learning, and then develop an effective strategy.
Individual Versus Group Study

This entire book contains material to make your study effective:
attention (chapter 4), metacognition (chapter 5), growth m indset
(chapter 5), sleep (chapter 10), and Bloom’s taxonomy (directly
following this section). Using this information will greatly increase
the effectiveness of your academic work and make massive differences
in how much you learn. In this section, I’ve pulled together a few tips
to help you get started using your growth-minded framework and
metacognitive strategies to build a powerful study and review system
that works best for you.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 129 30-05-2022 13:13:20

Recall from chapter 4 that research on attention shows that if

you are not attending, you are not learning. Research on cognitive
load reveals you can only process so much new material before you
stop attending because your cognitive processing system is maxed
out (Sweller, 1988). You may need to study for 15 minutes, take a
5-minute break, and then review that material for 10 minutes. It is
important to keep separate the concepts of “study” (learning some-
thing new) and “review” (processing material previously learned). The
important part is to stop studying and switch to review when you max
out your cognitive load (stop paying attention). Just watch for that
feeling of, “Wait, what? What did I just read/see/listen to?” Remain
focused, monitor your cognitive load, and keep your growth-minded
attitude. If you struggle with the material, break it into even smaller
chunks and study and review each chunk. Once it’s solidified, you can
think about moving to group study to review. The strategies and study
tips located throughout this book are laid out for you to learn in har-
mony with your brain. If you use them to study, you will be surprised
at how much you can learn.
Make Good Use of Study Time

The college credit hour was established a long time ago (Heffernan,
1973; Shedd, 2003). Here’s a bit of detail that won’t appear in most
course catalogs. Credit hours in a course are assigned based both on
time you spend in class (an hour on the clock, minus 10 minutes for
a break) and how much you are expected to work outside of class on
average across the semester (standard of 2 hours out-of-class work for
every hour spent in class). In other words, each “credit hour” is 3 hours
of your week. A 3-credit hour course is designed to take 9 hours of
time per week. Here’s a sample breakdown:
PSYCH 101, SECTION A (3.0 credit hours): MWF, 9:00 a.m.–

9:50 a.m.
You will spend 3 hours in the classroom (there is an understood
10-minute break per hour; so, 50 minutes, three times a week).
You’ll spend 6 hours (2 hours outside work per 1 hour of in-class
time) working outside of class. That’s a total of 9 hours out of your
week.
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PSYCH 101, SECTION B (3.0 credit hours): MW, 10:00 a.m.–

11:15 a.m.
You will spend 3 hours in the classroom (75 minutes, twice a week).
You’ll spend 6 hours (2 hours outside work per 1 hour of in-class time)
working outside of class. That’s a total of 9 hours out of your week.
SPORT 101 (1.0 credit hours), MWF, 10:00 a.m.–10:50 a.m.

In this course, you spend 3 hours in class a week, but no outside
work is expected. As a result, the 1 credit hour of time is all in class,
which means 3 hours out of your week.
This is why 12 credit hours is considered a full-time load. That’s

36 hours of work, and the United States has a standard 40-hour
workweek.
I explain this to show you that college classes assume a fair amount
of work outside of the class period and to show why professors assign
the amount of work that they do. If you really want to ace your college
experience and do well on exams, papers, and other assignments, plan
your week out so that you study every day for every class. That will
give you spaced learning and practice at recall. Suppose you have four
courses (3 credit hours each, for a total of 12 credit hours). They meet
for an hour and 15 minutes twice a week for a total of 12 hours in class
every week and need 24 hours of prep time every week. Break those
24 hours of weekly prep time into just under 5 hours a day, 1 hour and
50 minutes for each course. If you block off study time each day for
each of your courses and study effectively (make practice questions,
review with your group, etc.) and do any other work (answer quiz
questions, journal, work on term paper), you will not only be ready
for each class, you will hand in assignments on time and never need to
cram for any test or stay up all night getting an assignment finished.
Additionally, if you keep up, there will be days when you don’t need
the full block of study and preparation time. If you know the material
well and are caught up on all assignments, you can certainly end that
study time at that point.
In that 1 hour and 50 minutes a day, you will learn the founda-
tional material that will allow you to be ready for any depth of conver-
sation the professor has planned for the day. You will be prepared for
the concepts and able to integrate the new material into the schemas
you are building and reinforcing during study time. It is entirely your
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choice to decide how much you want to get out of your college experi-
ence. There are courses that won’t require the full time you have allot-
ted for work outside of the course. Many students also do not study
this much. That is their choice. I suggest you make a schedule and try
this out. You will be amazed at how much you can learn from each
course and how well you will do on exams.
Memorize Bloom’s Taxonomy

Cognition is a single word that describes both learning something
and understanding what you are learning through thinking. Bloom
(1956) identified different levels of cognition and organized them
into a hierarchy where each level is dependent on the levels below.
This became known as Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy. This taxonomy
was later revised, although it stayed fundamentally very close to the
original framework (Anderson & Krathwohl, 2000; Armstrong, 2010;
Figure 7.1).
College faculty frequently use this taxonomy when setting class
outcomes and objectives, but it can also be a helpful learning tool. Take
a few minutes to study this taxonomy and then review it once per day
until the main headings become automatic: remember, understand,
apply, analyze, evaluate, and create. The levels should be relatively easy
to remember as they are quite intuitive. The definitions of each level
are also listed, but memorize just the names of each level. I suspect that
you will have this memorized within a day or two. Then review it once
per week (spaced practice) until you know it well.
Study Tip 7.2: Seriously, memorize the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.
Remember means you can call something to mind. That’s it.

Suppose you are asked to remember the word “chiliad” for a quiz.
The next day, you write it down for the quiz. At this point, you likely
don’t know what it means or how it might be used in a sentence. You
just remembered the word. Say you look up the word “chiliad” and
find out it means “a thousand of something.” Recalling the term and
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Figure 7.1. Bloom’s taxonomy.
Produce new or original work

create Design, assemble, construct, conjecture, develop, formulate, author, investigate
Justify a stand or decision

appraise, argue, defend, judge, select, support, value, critique, weigh
evaluate
Draw connections among ideas
differentiate, organize, relate, compare, contrast, distinguish, examine,
analyze experiment, question, test
Use information in new situations

execute, implement, solve, use, demonstrate, interpret, operate,
apply schedule, sketch
Explain ideas or concepts

understand classify, describe, discuss, explain, identify, locate, recognize,
report, select, translate
Recall facts and basic concepts

remember define, duplicate, list, memorize,repeat, state
Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching
Source. Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching.
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/.
explaining its meaning is at the understand level. If someone asks you

how to use the word, they are asking you to apply it. If you research
the word’s origin, you have moved to the analyze level. If you decide
that, “Chiliad is an interesting word and can refer to time, but I prefer
‘millennium,’” congratulations, you have hit the evaluate level. The
final level would be create, where you could identify a new way to use
the word or an adaptation that would add meaning to the word. You
could decide to use chiliad to mean, “What you just said is 1,000 times
better than anything else.” As in, “Let’s go hang at the park. It’s chiliad
this time of day.” New words appear all the time, so it is totally accept-
able for you to create in this arena.
Bloom’s taxonomy will help you with learning. As you study,
push concepts up the taxonomy. If you are given a new word to learn
in philosophy, learn the word (remember), find out what the word
means (understand), and then use it in a sentence or think about it in a
schema (application). You don’t need to go to the top of the taxonomy
for everything, but do hit apply as often as you can. When you take
exams, watch what kinds of questions your professor likes to ask and
see if there is a pattern to the types you are getting wrong. For example,
you might notice that you are getting all the understanding level and
most of the application questions correct. However, you realize that
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your answers to analysis-level questions are mostly wrong. By know-

ing Bloom’s taxonomy, you now understand how to study for the next
test. Without the taxonomy, if you got a D+ on a test you might then
simply decide to “study harder.” The problem with a general concept
of studying harder is that there is no way to know where you should
focus, and, as a result, you will likely end up wasting energy. If there
is one thing I have always emphasized with my students, it is to study
smarter, not harder.
Staying Productive in a Less Than Ideal Lecture

Sometimes we have to process material, even if we don’t enjoy it. This
isn’t exclusive to lecture. For other areas, like music (playing scales over
and over) and sports (drills and practices), it is accepted as a form
of solidifying foundational information or processes. Apply the same
mindset for your classes. Lectures sometimes emphasize learning and
practicing foundational material, and that may seem less than exciting
for you.
If you are having trouble concentrating and maintaining attention
during a lecture—maybe you are tired, maybe the material isn’t new
to you, or maybe you aren’t sure how it will relate to the overall course
goals—try forming questions about the material as it is presented.
For example, turn foundational material into application-level ques-
tions. This will help focus your attention and give you study prompts/
possible exam questions. I used to try and predict what was next in
the lecture. If I was wrong, I would try to figure out why the professor
went in that direction. If the lecturer is presenting information well
below your level of knowledge, you could take notes and push the
concepts up Bloom’s taxonomy or practice reinforcing automatic recall
of the information so you know it exceptionally well. This is an oppor-
tunity to do your preparation for exams during the class. If you do this
regularly, the spaced practice will be perfect for long-term retention.
Do make sure to do this only if you have the cognitive load to handle
this extra work. If the material is new to you and you are learning,
focus on the material.
Another consideration for lectures is that it’s increasingly likely
that some of your faculty will hail from all over the world. Interacting
with people from different cultures is a fantastic opportunity and
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provides different perspectives, which, as noted in chapter 1, is essen-

tial in becoming a well-rounded, critical thinker. It also helps in
understanding different cultures. Talk to this faculty member during
office hours and if they are comfortable with it, talk a bit about their
culture. That said, your faculty may be speaking English as a second,
third, or more language and you may need to accustom yourself to
their pronunciations. Sit toward the front of the room, focus on the
instructor’s vocal patterns, and before long you will understand the
faculty member better and appreciate the information they are shar-
ing. The office hour is also an opportunity to better adjust to their
accent. A plus is that individuals from a similar area will have similar
accents. Learning to hear the accent of one faculty may make several
courses easier in a future semester or help you listen critically when
you have a job or are traveling.
Learn Every Day and Avoid Procrastination

Studying (or working on a paper, writing a lab report, practicing the
French horn, etc.) a small amount every day is a powerful learning
strategy. As has been noted multiple times in this book, spacing study
time out is very helpful in learning material that stays in long-term
memory. As a powerful addition to spaced practice, teaching others has
been shown time and again to be very effective (e.g., Koh et al., 2018).
At the end of every learning session, explain the main findings to a
roommate, friend, parent, or someone on the subway. If no humans
are available, teach a cat, dog, or fish. If no pets are available, teach the
major concepts to a chair or sofa. The point is not what the person,
pet, or chair learns, but that you teach the newly learned material as
soon as possible.
Study Tip 7.3: The best way to learn anything is to teach it, regard-
less of student: a person, plant, dog, or wall.
You may fall behind in studying due to procrastination, even

though you know it is better not to delay the work. Research has found
that up to 90% of college students procrastinate, and 50% indicate
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that procrastination is a problem (Steel, 2007). I struggled with

procrastination while working on my master’s thesis, and my wife
knew it. We had one of the cleanest refrigerators in town for about
6 months. Many procrastinators find other tasks. Cleaning was mine.
A primary reason people procrastinate is fear that they cannot do
the task or fear it won’t go well. Another reason is frustration that the
work has to be done at all, particularly if it is seen as unfair. A third rea-
son pertains to lack of self-regulation (see chapter 2 to review material
on self-regulation, if needed). It is easy to put off an undesirable task
for something more exciting, if you have the option (Wypych et al.,
2018). Procrastination in college students is typically directed toward
writing papers and studying for exams, although bedtime procrastina-
tion can also create challenges (Kroese et al., 2014). The actual causes
of procrastination are complex, involving both behavioral and neu-
rological causes, and unfortunately they are still not well understood
(Steel, 2007).
Although we might not know exactly why we are procrastinating,
ending or avoiding procrastination is extremely important. Researchers
from Griffith University have had success with low-intensity, high-
frequency interventions in first-year college students (Wessel et al., 2020).
They found that it was valuable for students set small, frequent, low-stakes
goals and do their best to meet them. I have seen this supported in the
behavior modification courses I teach. Most individuals find it helpful
to have a small, initial goal with add-on goals. For example, if you would
like to read eight pages, but that is challenging to convince yourself to
do, set an initial goal to read three pages. If that goes well, read an
additional five pages. If you can avoid procrastination, your academic
life will be much easier. Oh, and I can tell you from my students’ and
my own experiences that if you think you do best under pressure, you
are wrong. If you are good under pressure, you will be phenomenal
given more time.
Solicit and Incorporate Feedback

Maintaining a growth mindset is an integral part of becoming a
stronger student and setting up good habits that will assist you
throughout college and your entire work career. For a growth-minded
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person, feedback is like a road map for improving. Look for feedback
anywhere you can get it. The primary source will be your profes-
sor. If you have an opportunity to look over your exams, see what
kinds of multiple-choice questions you answered incorrectly (Bloom’s
taxonomy) and review any comments on short-answer and essay ques-
tions. The grade you receive on a test is helpful to see how you did
overall, but it offers little guidance as to what specifically to change
for the next test. Over the years, many of my students have looked at
their overall test grades on their tests and never looked at what they
missed or why. Amazingly, some of those students scored within three
points across all five exams across the entire semester. However, the
students who studied their exams and found patterns in what they
missed (mostly analysis questions, or mostly creation questions,
or mostly multiple-choice questions) and sought feedback on how to
make adjustments often got higher scores on each subsequent exam.
Watching students’ responses to term papers was one of the biggest
frustrations I faced as a faculty member. Early in my career, I would
write extensive comments on 12–15-page term papers and then leave
the papers with comments in a sealed envelope outside my office door
for students to pick up. Typically, about 10% of students would pick
up their comments. The rest were never claimed. There is no way the
other 90% got any better at writing papers, given they didn’t know
what areas of their writing needed attention. Please look over whatever
feedback you get from your professor.
The writing center will also typically read papers and give you
feedback. Many students use their services, so it’s rarely possible to get
the paper back the next day. Be sure to plan for this in advance. If you
are not procrastinating, you should be able to give them the first draft
several weeks before the paper is due. If you can go through two or
three drafts, your papers will be much better. If you have a roommate,
friend, or parent who is good at writing, they are another excellent
source of feedback.
Cheating and Plagiarism

You know what kind of person you are, so this won’t be a lecture on the
importance of integrity. What I can do here is help you avoid situations
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that can lead to the desperation that causes cheating and help keep you
from unknowingly cheating.
Cheating
I openly acknowledge that there are many ways to get yourself into
a jam where you might be more likely to consider cheating on an
exam, homework, or assignment. The following are frequent causes of
student cheating (Eberly Center, n.d.):
•• being unprepared
•• fearing failure
•• poor study skills
•• fierce competition to earn and maintain a high GPA
•• feeling that the professor is unfair or the assignment is unreasonable
•• a social obligation to help others to cheat
•• a perceived lack of consequences for cheating
•• a feeling of anonymity in class
Note that these are reported causes, not acceptable justifications for
cheating on an assignment, quiz, or exam. In my experience, being
unprepared, whether because students simply didn’t study or they
didn’t know how to study effectively, is the biggest cause of cheating.
Use the strategies in this book and in this chapter to avoid being unpre-
pared to start with. Even if it happens that you don’t prepare as well
as you could have, it’s better to figure out how to recover from a bad
grade than to be caught cheating or caught letting other people cheat.
Even if the cheating happens before the class’s drop period, you likely
won’t be able to just drop the class and move on. Colleges typically have
provisions to ensure that those students still receive an F as punishment
for cheating.
Plagiarism
Faculty have different definitions of plagiarism, particularly concerning
paraphrasing (Blum, 2009; Lang, 2015). The most common definition
of plagiarism boils down to using anyone’s work without giving them
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 138 30-05-2022 13:13:20

proper credit. It is a best practice to give credit to any work you use
and cite the work in the style being used in your class: Chicago, MLA,
APA, AMA, or something else. These systems can be very different
from one another.
Direct quotes are the easiest to know they must be cited. It is gen-
erally a good idea to find out from your professor whether there is a
preference for a substantial number of direct quotes or very few quota-
tions. Most faculty prefer very few, if any, direct quotes, although some
don’t mind more. Regardless, direct quotes must be cited. If it is a direct
quote, put the words in quote marks. If you are using an idea from
an article, but not using the author’s exact words, put the information
in your words, then cite. If you are uncertain about what or how to
cite, talk to your professor or the writing center. The writing center will
always help with advice on best practice. Faculty members might say
you should know better, but you can tell them delicately that you read in
a really good book that it is important to always double-check to avoid
plagiarism. You’ll notice that I have citations throughout this book.
One writing strategy that I always give students to help them avoid
even accidental plagiarism (yes, accidental plagiarism can happen and,
yes, you will be punished, even if you didn’t mean to plagiarize): Jot
down the gist of the information you want to use and the citation from
where it came. Then, when you write your paper, expand on what you
already put down in your words and be sure to include the citation.
This will make sure it is in your words and that the inspiration for the
idea is recorded. Most professionals agree that it is a terrible idea to be
looking at the actual source while writing or to cut-and-paste the part
you intend to use with the idea of putting it into your own words later.
In both cases, it is too easy to write too closely to the original source
and accidentally plagiarize. I have seen high-level college administra-
tors, including college presidents, lose their jobs because they copied
text into a document, intended to paraphrase later, and then forget to
do so. This is serious, so please take it seriously.
It is obviously cheating and a form of plagiarism to buy a paper
or use someone else’s paper and turn it in as your own. What you may
not know is that handing in one of your own papers from a different
course for a current course is also considered by many faculty to be
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a form of plagiarism (self-plagiarism). Ask your professor if you are

unsure at all. It is better to ask than to be wrong.
Academic misconduct is a very serious and very complex concept.
If you have any uncertainty about what is okay and what is not, go to
the academic success or writing center. They can answer any questions
you might have about academic (mis)conduct.
Office of Student Success/Student Disability Services

Just over 9% (about 1 million) of students at 4-year institutions report
having one disability or more. About 12% (about 700,000) of students
at 2-year institutions report having disabilities (NCES, 2017). Every
institution in higher education has an office to assist students with dis-
abilities, whether online or onsite, 2-year or 4-year, public or private,
at no charge to their students. These offices might be called Disability
Resources, Accessibility Resources, Student Accessibility Services, or
another name, but a quick search on your campus website should
bring up the center where you are.
Faculty attitudes regarding accommodations for both physical
and mental disabilities tend to be favorable to neutral (Banks, 2019),
meaning that faculty are not frustrated or angry when providing
accommodations. However, some research indicates that although
students tend to perceive accommodations for physical challenges
as acceptable, they sometimes see accommodations for psychiatric
limitations as less appropriate (Deckoff-Jones & Duell, 2018). In
my experience, students sometimes feel that others are being given
an unfair advantage by receiving accommodations for conditions like
clinical depression. That said, if you have an accommodation, you are
entitled to that accommodation, regardless of the perceptions of others.
Unfortunately, we have an educational system built on equality,
where everyone is treated the same regardless of where they start, rather
than equity, where everyone is given what they need (note, not neces-
sarily what they want) to move forward. Treating everyone the same
only works when everyone arrives with the same resources. For exam-
ple, a person with clinical depression may be allowed more excused
absences, because there will be times when that person will not be
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physically able to get to campus. Everyone getting the same number

of excused days is equal, but not equitable, because some people need
more, through no fault of their own.
Higher education is built for healthy, risk-taking, fast-talking
extroverts. Those individuals have a considerable advantage. Students
who do not fit that description, such as those who are deaf, on the
autism spectrum, have a brain injury, psychiatric disorder, learning
disability, chronic health issue(s), or attention deficit disorder, or any
one of many limitations, may find it nearly impossible to get a degree
without accommodations. The general rules of the educational game
are stacked against them. If you had accommodations in high school,
if you think you might have a disability, or if you study very hard and
still can’t seem to “get” the material, visit your campus’s disability stu-
dent services. There is a process to ensure you get the accommodations
you need, although you may not get all that you want. The reason for
accommodations is to provide individuals with a fighting chance to
get a degree. Be mindful that all accommodations must come from the
office of disability student services. Faculty members are never allowed
to give accommodations without the proper documentation.
Know Your Campus Resources

It may not feel like it all the time, but once you are enrolled, colleges
are set up to do everything they can to help you be successful. They
do care about you, and they also keep statistics on graduations. So, in
addition to caring about you as a person, they care about you graduat-
ing, which is good for everyone. As a result, there are many resources
on college campuses available to you, and they are already typically
already paid for by your tuition.
How can you find out what’s available? There are high school
programs, college student orientation sessions, web resources, faculty
advisors, dorm advisors, peer networks in living/learning communi-
ties (LCs), and more (Grim et al., 2021). Grim and colleagues at the
University of Michigan found that peers, LCs, and faculty advisors
were particularly good sources of information. There may even be a
group chat or GroupMe you can join.
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Study Tip 7.4: It doesn’t matter how well you are doing, find
resources to make your learning even better.
Two points are critically important when it comes to campus

resources. First, these resources are there to help you. Never worry
about “bothering” anyone by availing yourself of those resources. You
may ask someone who just doesn’t know the answer to something,
or perhaps they are busy because their office is understaffed (unfor-
tunately this is common in higher education). If that happens, don’t
give up. Ask someone else. It is easy to forget that many campuses
are the size of a small to medium-sized town. You would not expect
to roll into a town, ask someone a question, and have them know
everything going on in that town. The same is true of the campus.
Second, there are likely many more resources on campus than you
realize. Most students need assistance at some point, and it is a safe
assumption that if you need assistance with something, there is likely
a place on campus that offers it. If you find yourself feeling unwell,
there is a health center or counseling center; if you are struggling
academically, there are writing centers and tutor centers (tutors in
nearly every discipline). Some campuses even have programs designed
specifically for students on academic probation. See Table 7.1 for the
names of resource centers and offices that are found on college cam-
puses. Not every campus will have all of the centers and offices on this
list, and the names of the centers may certainly be different. I offer
this list only to get you thinking about possibilities.
If you are curious about whether a resource is available on your
campus, start by checking your college’s website. If you don’t see what
you are after, ask your dorm advisor or LC leader. If you are not com-
fortable asking them, check with your academic advisor. If you still
can’t seem to find what you are after, and it seems reasonable that there
must be such a resource, stop by the vice president (VP) for student
affair’s office and ask an administrative assistant for assistance. Just to
be clear, you are not there to see the VP for student affairs. Talk to the
person who answers many of the calls about resources across campus:
the administrative assistant. When I am in a jam, that is what I do.
The administrative assistant to the VP for student affairs knows a lot
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TABLE 7.1
Examples of Resource Centers and Offices
Advising Bookstore Career Center
Childcare Center Computer Lab Counseling Center
Crisis Centers Cultural Studies Disability Student
Services
Diversity and Financial Aid/Short- Fitness/Athletic
Intercultural Life Term Loan Center
Food Bank/Pantry Health Services Information
Technology
International Students Internships Legal Services
LGBTQIA+ Office Library Math Help Center
Multicultural Center Pre-Graduate School Printing Centers
Advising
Public Safety Road to Resilience Safe Space
Spiritual Life Office Student Services Transfer Center
Tutoring Undergraduate Veteran’s Resources
Research
Writing Center
about the college. Let them know you have tried other resources and
just need to be pointed in a direction. Overall, when in doubt, ask.
The college is there for you.
Chapter Summary
Many aspects of being a successful student aren’t covered in the col-
lege catalog. These “hidden” components are essential and will impact
your experience in college and perhaps even determine whether you
will be successful. Prepare for class by identifying the best way to study
and review. Group review has several benefits, and selecting groups
should be done carefully. Similarly, studying alone for foundational
knowledge is valuable when done with growth-mindedness and meta-
cognitive skills. Keeping up with course material by regularly studying
is an effective learning strategy. Courses are built with the expectation
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 143 30-05-2022 13:13:20

that you will study for 2 hours outside of class for each hour in class,
providing ample time to learn the material and be prepared for class.
As you study, keep Bloom’s taxonomy in mind. It is a helpful way to
determine how deeply you are learning inside and outside the class-
room. Inside the classroom, not all lectures will be exciting for you.
That said, there are specific strategies you can use to make good use of
the time in class, even if the lecture is not ideally suited for you. Part
of keeping up with coursework and finishing papers on time is to keep
doing some work every day. However, procrastination impacts learning
for many students, and if you tend to procrastinate, it will be essential
to identify strategies to keep procrastination to a minimum. Another
aspect of college life that is rarely discussed is making good use of feed-
back. Feedback can be a road map to doing better in the future. Being
a strong student will also help keep you out of a situation where you
might feel the need to cheat or plagiarize. There are many resources on
campus for those in need of accommodations for disabilities, as well as
services such as counseling, tutoring, and writing centers.
1. Do you tend to prefer to study alone or in groups? Based on how
you study, what would be a good way for you to balance individual
and group studying?
2. Identify something you have recently learned that you can explain
at each level of Bloom’s taxonomy. Explain it as though you were
teaching someone to use the pyramid of cognitive levels.
3. Do you tend to procrastinate? Select either 3a or 3b, based on your
situation.
3a. If so, explain why you think you typically procrastinate. What
are some strategies you might try to reduce the amount of
time you procrastinate?
3b. If you don’t procrastinate, what are strategies you use to keep
from procrastinating? Do you schedule time, turn your phone
off, and so on? Explain as though you are helping a procrasti-
nator get started.
4. How do you feel about accommodations for success being given to
students with documented challenges? There are two definitions
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of fair, one based on equality and one based on equity. Which do

you feel is more appropriate for college and potential disability
services: equity or equality? Explain your choice.
5. Do some research and find three campus resources that the average
student may not know about. Explain briefly what each resource
does. List one resource you feel your campus should offer but does
not currently offer. Explain the need it would serve.
References
Anderson, L. W., & Krathwohl, D. R. (2000). A taxonomy for learning, teach-
ing, and assessing—A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives.
Allyn & Bacon.
Armstrong, P. (2010). Bloom’s taxonomy. Vanderbilt University Center for
Teaching. https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages/blooms-taxonomy/
Banks, J. (2019). Are we ready: Faculty perceptions of postsecondary stu-
dents with learning disabilities at a historically Black university. Journal of
Diversity in Higher Education, 12(4), 297–306. https://doi.org/10.1037/
dhe0000100
Bloom, B. S. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives, Handbook 1: Cognitive
domain. Addison-Wesley.
Blum, S. D. (2009, February 2020). Academic integrity and student
plagiarism: A question of education, not ethics. The Chronicle
of Higher Education: Commentary. http://www.chronicle.com/article/
academic-integritystudent/32323
Deckoff-Jones, A., & Duell, M. N. (2018). Perceptions of appropriateness
of accommodations for university students: Does disability type mat-
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Eberly Center. (n.d.). Students cheat on assignments and exams. Carnegie
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cheating/index.html
Grim, J. K., Bausch, E., Hussain, A., & Lonn, S. (2021). Is it what you know
or who you know? An information typology of how first-generation col-
lege students access campus resources. Journal of College Student Retention:
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Heffernan, J. M. (1973). The credibility of the credit hour: The history, use,
and shortcomings of the credit system. The Journal of Higher Education,
44(1), 61–72. https://doi.org/10.2307/1980626
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Jackson, P. W. (1990). Life in classrooms. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Kelly, A. V. (2009). The curriculum: Theory and practice (6th ed.). SAGE.
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(2020). Computer-based scaffolding targeting individual versus groups in
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s10648-019-09502-3
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of teaching: A retrieval practice hypothesis. Applied Cognitive Psychology,
32(3), 401–410. https://doi.org/10.1002/acp.3410
Kroese, F. M., DeRidder, D. T. D., Evers, C., & Aiaanse, M. A. (2014). Bed-
time procrastination: Introducing a new area of procrastination. Frontiers
in Psychology, 5, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00611
Lang, J. M. (2015, May 4). Cheating inadvertently. The Chronicle of
Higher Education: Advice. http://www.chronicle.com/article/Cheating-
Inadvertently/229883/
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of undergraduates with disabilities. U.S. Department of Education. https://
nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018432.pdf
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T. Erlich (Eds.), How the student credit hour shapes higher education: The
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8
D E M O N S TR AT I N G
YO U R LE A R N I N G
We’ve all experienced not being able to recall something that we know
we know. What was the last movie you saw in the theater? The name
of that person you know from high school you’ve just run into in the
supermarket, or the three types of Roman columns? (The Roman
columns got me on a quiz in a humanities course I took as an under-
graduate. I haven’t forgotten them since.) The real value of learning,
encoding, and consolidating information is the ability to access and
use that information when you need it. The chapters in the book to
this point have shown you how to learn in harmony with your brain.
This chapter is designed to help you select and adopt behaviors that
reinforce learning inside and outside the classroom to apply what you
have learned in the classroom setting. The topics selected represent
the majority of ways in which professors assign grades: class partici-
pation, homework, extra credit, writing papers, giving presentations,
and taking tests.
147
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Participation
Many professors use participation grades, including attending class,
answering questions, and contributing to discussions. Class discus-
sion is at the heart of active and engaged learning (e.g., Freeman
et al., 2014) and narrows achievement gaps that underrepresented
students often face (Theobald et al., 2020). Professors use many dif-
ferent strategies to document participation. Be sure that you under-
stand what they are assessing and what counts. There should be some
guidance on this in the syllabus. A discussion post simply stating,
“I agree with that,” probably won’t count. How often you choose to
speak or post, assuming the syllabus doesn’t dictate the frequency,
will depend on the class, your interest in the topic, the number of
questions asked, and how much of the time is set aside for discus-
sion. In a typical class of 10–30 students, it is reasonable to speak a
few times each class session. Do watch to see if you are replying or
participating substantially more or less than others in the class. Some
students feel the need to talk to impress the professor or prove how
much they know about the topic. Shoot for quality of responses as
participation, not quantity.
There are many reasons you might choose to not talk in class.
Introverts and shy individuals are less likely to volunteer a response
or participate in a class discussion, as are individuals who are self-
conscious about their speaking, such as English-as-second-language
speakers. Others are nervous about being wrong, have been embar-
rassed previously, face peer pressure, or are from a culture where inter-
rupting and nonverbal differences make it uncomfortable to speak out
in class (Zakrajsek, 2017). I mention this to let you know that if you
are hesitant to speak, you are not alone. If you find it very challenging
to participate, consider talking to the instructor during an office hour
or sending an email about your concerns. The two of you will likely
identify strategies to make it more comfortable for you to participate.
If you are comfortable speaking in class, consider the many reasons
others may not be participating that have nothing to do with how well
they know the material.
Gender bias also plays a significant role in who speaks during
class. A team of researchers from Egypt, Norway, and the United
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demonstrating your learning 149
States (specifically, Minnesota, New York, and Washington) looked at

5,300 student–instructor interactions across 2 years to identify gender
biases in STEM classes (Ballen et al., 2019). The researchers noted,
reinforcing earlier research, that women ask fewer questions than men
in large classes, conference talks, and academic seminars. In smaller
classes, women respond to professors’ questions more than men, but
as class size approaches 150 students, female participation decreases
by 50%. However, if small groups are used for discussion in larger
classes, women participate at a rate closer to that of men. The propor-
tion of women in the course, instructor gender, and whether it was
an upper or lower division course had no impact on different rates of
participation.
This discriminatory gender divide in the classroom has been
described as the “chilly climate” and has been present for a very long
time (Hall & Sandler, 1982). Researchers noted that instructors called
on men more frequently than women, gave men more time to respond,
and provided more prompts to men who struggled to find the correct
answer. Lee (Indiana University) and Mccabe (Dartmouth) teamed up
in 2020 and found that gender differences in the classroom still persist.
They observed nine courses over a 5-week period and found that men
spoke proportionally more than women in all nine courses and they
noted three patterns of speaking. Men were nine times more likely
than women to be the dominant speaker in the course, (b) more than
nine times more likely than women to deliver prolonged responses,
and (c) fifteen times more likely than women to interrupt and speak
without raising their hands (Lee & Mccabe, 2020). Men also tended
to use more assertive and firmer language whereas women were more
likely to start responses with hedging verbiage such as, “I don’t know if
this is what you are looking for, but . . .” or, “I guess one way to think
about this might be . . . .” This creates the illusion that men know the
topic better than women, when it is really a difference in the pattern
of speaking. It is important to note that when professors were aware
of the gender inequity, they typically worked to give other students
more opportunities to participate, sometimes interrupting men who
were speaking for a long period of time. I bring up the chilly climate in
hopes that both men and women will watch for such behavior to help
mitigate the inequity.
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Some instructors use written, 1-minute takeaways to assess class

participation as a more equitable manner. It encourages students
who don’t often speak out in class to be attentive, as they will have
an opportunity to participate without having to speak in front of the
group (Levin-Banchik, 2022). If this activity is offered in your course,
be sure to pay attention and clearly summarize what you learned or
still feel uncertain about. It not only ensures participation credit, it is
also good practice for the exams and will help you better understand
the material.
One last tip: In psychology there are two concepts relevant to
speaking in class, primacy and recency. These have been heavily studied
since the 1960s, and they are still applicable for your participation
today (Glanzer & Cunitz, 1966). In a given period of time, we tend to
remember events from the beginning (primacy) and the end (recency).
If you are allowed to participate only a limited number of times in class
or you prefer to talk as little as possible in class, it is best to talk toward
the end or the beginning of the discussion. This will help you stand
out in the crowd.
Study Tip 8.1: When participating during class, listen well and talk
to advance the discussion.
Homework and Reflection Journals

Many courses include categories of work that do not appear to amount
to a large proportion of the course grade. These categories together
often make up only 10% to 15% of the course, and each assignment or
journal entry may be worth only a few points. At times, you may feel
like it is not worth doing the work. I assure you that it is. Something
worth 10% of the overall grade can be the difference between a B and
an A or even the difference between passing the course with a C versus
not by earning a D. My general suggestion is to earn every point you
can, because you don’t know when those points might be needed. This
is why a good basketball coach is concerned when a player misses a free
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throw at the beginning of a game. Fans are typically less interested in

missed shots at the beginning of a game, and tense about free throws at
the end of a close game. The coach has been in enough games to realize
that a point is a point, and it is best to get them as soon as you can and
whenever you can. You never know when you might end the semester
only a point or two short of a higher grade.
Another important aspect of doing homework is that it helps you
to learn the material. The best way to learn is to practice. That is noted
in several places in this book, most notably in the chapter on learning
how to learn. Homework assignments are an ideal way to practice for
exams. It does not matter if the homework is graded, worth a small
number of points, or even optional: Doing the homework is valuable
and a great metacognitive opportunity. Reflection journals (a typi-
cal homework assignment or in-class activity) also allow you to think
about the material, identify applications for the information learned,
and offer deeper learning opportunities.
Extra Credit
Professors are deeply divided on the topic of extra credit. Some profes-
sors are happy to provide extra credit, arguing that it helps students
(Cohan, 2018), whereas others think it hurts students more than it
helps because it shifts focus away from course content (Stauffer, 2019).
Read the syllabus carefully to find out where your professor falls in
this debate. Professors do not like it if you ask whether they offer extra
credit and their syllabus clearly states they do not. If you checked the
syllabus and you can get extra credit, the next question is whether and
when extra credit is worth pursuing.
Learning Value
Ideally, extra credit helps reinforce course material that you are already
learning or strategies you are already successfully using. For example,
you might get extra credit points if you create additional notes over
the course material, write sample exam questions, and correct exam
items that were incorrect. Please get those points! These are things you
should do anyway, so it’s not really extra work.
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In some courses, you can get extra credit for activities that are
related to the course but do not cover the exact material you are learn-
ing. Examples are summarizing a journal article, attending a com-
munity event related to the course content, or reading popular press
articles about course material. For these types of options, look closely
at the point value and determine if you can spare the time. Your top
priority is to learn the material in the course, but expanding your
scope a bit and earning a few additional points is reasonable as long
as you still have ample time to study, prepare for exams, and complete
writing assignments.
Finally, some courses offer extra credit that has nothing to do with
the course, although there may be some effort to tie in course con-
tent. These are options like donating time or resources to a food bank,
working on a Habitat for Humanity house, or tutoring children at
the local library. These options are typically prosocial opportunities
that benefit the community. If you have time and the opportunity is
something you would enjoy or could learn from, then these options are
viable. That said, be careful that you do not spend hours chasing a few
points when that same amount of time spent studying would likely get
you more points on the next exam.
Additional Considerations
Be sure that you are aware of timing for earning extra credit. Many stu-
dents wait until the end of the semester to see if their professor offers
extra credit, if the points are needed, or how late professors accept extra
credit assignments (Elbeck & DeLong, 2015). Semesters almost always
start out easier than they end. Get the extra credit done as fast as pos-
sible so that you are doing the extra credit work while your coursework
is the least demanding. Then spend the semester learning the material,
perhaps using extra credit opportunities to help reinforce things as you
go, and focus on acing the exam at the end.
Writing Papers
College is an excellent time to develop writing skills, which will benefit
you the rest of your life. Use your campus resources and give yourself
enough time to write the best papers you can. Also, remember Bloom’s
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taxonomy from chapter 7? In college, your papers will be toward the

top levels of Bloom’s (analyzing/evaluating/creating), rather than the
bottom levels (understanding/applying). Given that your professors
expect these higher levels and better arguments (Dimmock, 2013),
you can meet their expectation because you will use writing resources
on campus and you know Bloom’s taxonomy. Start these practices
as a first-year student, and watch your skills increase every year. It is
important to note that most people struggle with writing, at least at
first. Professor Dubicki (2015), a reference librarian at Monmouth
University in New Jersey, studied how students explain their writing
process. Common responses to writing a 10-page paper were that it
was “a daunting task,” “overwhelming,” “[an] arduous process,” and
“incredibly intimidating” (Dubicki, 2015, p. 677). This is not listed to
make you nervous. Just the opposite; I mention this because if you find
writing challenging, and at times painful, you are not alone. I struggle
at times as well, but the end product can be satisfying and rewarding.
Plus, you can earn a good grade.
Study Tip 8.2: If you have trouble getting started when writing a
paper, make an outline, then annotate the outline. At that point
your paper is underway. You can add more information for each
level of the outline, and keep going.
It is also important to be aware that the resource material, course

textbook, and any journal articles you read have been profession-
ally edited. Students often forget that and compare their writing
with the published work they read. That is a totally unfair compari-
son. Take the book you are reading right now as an example. The
manuscript went through several drafts. I then got feedback from a
knowledgeable person. After I incorporated that first round of feed-
back, the manuscript went to a professional editor. She moved some
parts around, cut stories that ran too long, and suggested changes
when I got too “science-y.” The manuscript went through multiple
additional steps with another editor from the publisher before it was
ready for you to read. You are not expected to write at the level of the
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resources you read. That said, write well, and your work will be better
with help. I get help whenever I can. There are excellent resources on
every campus, online and in person. Your tuition pays for them, and
they are there for you. Use them!
Your Instructor and the Syllabus

Your instructor (and their syllabus) is your first and best resource. If
your writing assignment is unclear at all, ask your professor. Writing is
hard enough without completing the assignment and discovering that
you didn’t actually do what was expected. It is usually best to see your
professor during their office hours to give you time to talk. Double-
check the syllabus to see if there is a rubric that will be used to score
your paper. If there is, follow it closely. This is a perfect way to demon-
strate your learning and earn a good grade.
The Writing Center

There is a misperception that writing centers are for students who are
struggling with papers or who received a bad grade on a writing assign-
ment. The writing center is intended for any student on campus who
wishes to write better. Some writing centers even have writing coaches
who will work with you so you can not only demonstrate your learning
on the paper but also learn good habits for the future.
Reference Librarians
I constantly refer to librarians as “sneaky smart.” Although everyone
knows that librarians know “a lot,” the truth is that they know even
more. Reference librarians can be particularly helpful to your writing
process. The next time you have a paper to write, go to the library and
ask for a reference librarian. Just ask them if you can run your idea by
them—they will ask you questions and talk to you. In no time, you
will have some really solid ideas.
Writing Tips in This Book

Besides campus resources, you’re also holding a great writing resource.
I have a lot of writing experience (and remember, I didn’t think I was
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any good at writing until I changed to a growth mindset). Here are

some of my lessons learned from writing:
1. Start early: Even if you “thrive” on deadlines, you’ll write better

than you think with less pressure and time to revise.
2. Avoid the blank screen phenomenon: Set a timer for 10 minutes
and fill up your screen or paper with a mind-dump of everything
you’ve read so far on your topic. You may end up editing out every
word as you finish your paper. But you finished your paper.
3. Build an outline.
4. Get help from (campus) resources.
5. Review your sleep log, created in chapter 10 (p. 188, this volume)
to find your productive time. Write during that window.
6. Let your writing sit for a bit, then proofread.
7. Try writing in short, focused bursts. I like to write 30 minutes a
day.
8. Write. Writing should be interesting at times, but sometimes it is
just work. When I don’t feel like writing, I have a secret strategy
that helps me move the paper forward anyway. I set a timer and
write for 30 minutes.
Writing can be a chore, but you can create some amazing work. Good
writing is highly valued in college and after graduation. Seek out and
value peer and professor feedback on drafts and final papers. Have a
growth mindset and continue to work at getting better. Writing well
has done more for me late in my career than anything else. Learn to
write well, and then write whenever you have time.
Giving Presentations
You will also demonstrate your learning through giving presentations.
Being only mildly nervous or even comfortable speaking in front of
people will serve you well in class discussions; speaking out, particu-
larly in large enrollment courses; and in your career (Marcel, 2015).
Public speaking skills are important but can be scary. I have had
advisees who feared public speaking so much that they dropped classes
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where a presentation was required. Dwyer and Davidson (2021),

professors at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, found that before
taking a public speaking course, students rated fear of death and fear
of public speaking at the same level. The good news is that after the
course, the fear of public speaking dropped significantly. If you find it
difficult to give presentations or to speak in front of others, consider
taking a public speaking course. If it is required in your general edu-
cation program or major, then take it as soon as possible. Putting off
an undesirable thing only makes it worse, plus the skills you’ll learn
in your speech course will help you work through your nerves for all
later presentations.
Taking a public speaking course does not mean that you will
be totally rid of stress when speaking in public, but your stress will
be manageable. In fact, at times a bit of stress is a good thing. The
Yerkes-Dodson Law states that we perform very poorly when there is
no stress (no motivation) or a lot of stress (too much pressure; Faller
et al., 2019). A bit of manageable stress is the sweet spot and will
keep you motivated without paralyzing you. At the writing of this
book, I have given invited presentations in 49 U.S. states (all but
North Dakota) and 12 countries across four continents, and I still
get nervous every time I speak before a group. To see a presentation
I gave in which I was stressed enough to forget an opening statement
I had practiced for days, check out the following YouTube record-
ing (Figure 8.1): “Improve Thinking by Thinking About Thinking”
(Zakrajsek, 2015). If you don’t think I looked stressed, that is my
point. You might feel like you are the only one who is nervous when
you give a presentation. I assure you that what you are feeling is quite
normal.
Over the years, I’ve compiled a list of the following public-
speaking tips:
•• Use a hook, something in the first 30 to 60 seconds, to get people’s

attention.
•• Imagine your presentation as a story with a beginning, middle,
and end. This will help you feel more comfortable talking
through it and keep your audience engaged with a familiar
structure.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 156 30-05-2022 13:13:21

•• Memorize anchor points (the big picture), not every single word.
Anchor points occur about every 30 to 60 seconds to keep you on
track.
•• Use humor if it fits, but don’t if it doesn’t. Not all topics or presenters
are right for humor. There are also some amazing speeches with no
humor at all.
•• Write out and practice your presentation until you know it well.
Don’t wing it if you have time to prepare! I did that once in middle
school and still recall that day. It was awful.
•• Believe in your content.
•• Finish strong, with a call to action.
•• Be yourself.
I’d like to share one final piece of advice about a heavily studied
concept in psychology called pluralistic ignorance (Prentice & Miller,
1996). This how people in a group can misinterpret an event, like
when a class of students are all giving presentations. As an example,
imagine you are in a class of 20 students, and everyone is going to
give a short presentation on the same day. You arrive, and you are quite
nervous. You look around the room and everyone else looks so calm.
This makes you even more nervous. However, you don’t want to show
everyone how nervous you are, so you look as calm as possible on the
outside. The interesting part is that almost everyone in the room is
doing the same thing, and you are one of the people they are look-
ing at. They are getting nervous because of how calm and confident
they think you are. Essentially, because everyone else looks calm, each
Figure 8.1. QR code for “Improve Thinking by Thinking About Thinking.”
Note. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYg3sLcyLB8
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 157 30-05-2022 13:13:21

person in the group misinterprets the situation and thinks they are the
only one struggling with anxiety. It is pluralistic (the entire group) and
ignorance (not knowledgeable of the actual situation). I mention this
because when you give a presentation, you are not the only one feeling
as you do. Most of the people in the group, whether they look like it
or not, are also nervous.
Test-Taking Strategies
One of the most frequent ways you will be able to demonstrate learn-
ing is on exams. It is important to keep working at being a better test
taker. Yes, this, too, is a skill you can develop. Getting better at taking
tests, preparing for tests, and learning from tests you have taken draws
heavily on information from chapter 5 (metacognition and growth
mindset).
Test Anxiety Versus Test Nervousness

It is perfectly normal to feel nervous when you take a test, particu-
larly when the outcome of the test has a large impact on your overall
grade in the course. There are, however, individuals who have anxi-
ety that is off the charts and disproportionate for something like an
exam. Test anxiety looks very different for each individual, but possible
symptoms include lightheadedness, faintness, headaches, nausea, fear,
severe negative thoughts, an inability to concentrate, or even sensa-
tions like a panic attack. Test anxiety is often triggered by tests, even
early in the educational system. Donolato, at the University of Oslo,
and colleagues studied test anxiety for students as young as 8 years old
(Donolato et al., 2020).
Knowing how to interpret the anxious feelings associated with
testing can be helpful in managing the anxiety. Brady and colleagues
(2018) at Stanford University conducted a study involving cognitive
reappraisal. Half of students in a large, fall introductory course received
text messages that recognized that taking exams can be stressful and
provided details about taking the test. The other half received a text
message that acknowledged exams can be stressful and shared research
supporting that some anxiety could actually be helpful and lead to bet-
ter scores. Students who received the reframing texts that anxiety could
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be helpful scored significantly higher. This supported their hypothesis

that it is the worry that comes with feeling anxious that causes poor
performance, not the physiological component of anxiety itself. This is
a very important consideration for you when you take exams. As with
presentations, a moderate amount of stress is an appropriate and even
positive part of taking exams.
Study Strategies
Many other sections of this book specifically discuss how to study for
exams. I will review just a few here. Some of the best things you can
do to prepare for an exam, supported by lots of research, are found in
chapter 4 on learning. In that chapter, you will find information on
practicing retrieval. Anything you can do to practice pulling key mate-
rial from your memory is an effective study technique. Interleaving is
another effective cognitive approach from chapter 4. Interleave mate-
rial together as you study. This will also be very helpful when tak-
ing the final exam, as you’ll keep reviewing older material along with
the new material. Spaced practice, another winner from that chapter,
helps solidify information in your long-term memory store. Ideally,
briefly review material once per day, say by learning new information
and then quickly reviewing previously learned material from that same
section. Spacing out practice helps with consolidation and will keep
information available for longer periods of time. One piece of advice
that is repeated more than anything else in this entire book is do not
cram the night before the test. I mention it multiple times, because it is
one of the most important things you should avoid—and based on
past statistics of many students, it is something I am fearful you may
do anyway.
Study Tip 8.3: Set a timer once per week for 10 minutes and search
the Web to find new study tips.
Scullin (2019), the director of the Sleep Neuroscience and

Cognition Laboratory at Baylor University, noted that fewer than 10%
of students in college get a full 8 hours of sleep the night before an
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 159 30-05-2022 13:13:21

exam. Professor Scullin tested the effect of sleep on exam performance.

Students who agreed to be in the study wore a sleep monitor. Those
who slept 8 hours or more scored higher on the exam than those who
stayed up to study and got less than 7 hours of sleep. Sleeping often
results in better performance and long-term retention of material than
does staying up very late to study.
One last tip that may sound counterintuitive is to not study in
groups. The best strategy I have seen through the years is for students
to study individually and then review in groups. Study groups too
frequently devolve into conversations about campus life and other life
events. If you do join a group, leave yourself a way out if the group is
ineffective and does not stay on track.
Finally, here are a handful of additional tips you might consider
for test-taking strategies:
•• Your learning success center (which may also be called the student
success center) likely offers fantastic test-taking strategies, and even
coaches. Centers such as this often have a great deal of information
on strategies for taking tests. Check these out several weeks before
your first exam to see what’s available.
•• Go to exam review sessions, if offered. Turn off your phone and
take good notes.
•• Make an appointment to speak with your professor about test-
taking strategies. Bonus: You will very much impress faculty
members if you set up those conversations about 2 weeks before
the exam.
As the semester progresses, keep checking out strategies and keep

track of how your test-taking is improving (or not) and change your
direction accordingly. As with learning how to learn in harmony
with your brain, you can also learn how to take tests in harmony
with your brain.
Chapter Summary
Learning itself cannot be measured. The only way to get an approx-
imation of what was learned is to assess what you can apply from
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what you have learned. This chapter provides suggestions to help

you to better demonstrate your learning in several ways (participa-
tion, homework, presentations, tests) that are typically used in college
classrooms. Class discussion is an important part of many courses,
allowing you to bring together ideas and share your thoughts with
others in the course. There are a variety of factors that impact par-
ticipation rates, including personality, cultural, and gender differ-
ences. Homework and reflection journals represent an ideal way to
demonstrate learning on a day-to-day basis. Extra credit is offered
in many classes. Check the syllabus to determine if extra credit is
offered in your course, the type of work that counts, and when it can
be handed in. Many students pass on extra credit when they should
not. Writing is a challenging process, but a rewarding one that will
serve you well down the road. There are many resources on campus
that can assist with writing assignments. Check with your professor,
the writing center, and a reference librarian. Presentations are another
way to demonstrate what you have learned. Most students are at least
somewhat nervous when giving a presentation, which is good because
it keeps you sharp. Public speaking courses can be very helpful in
developing speaking skills, and public speaking (like most assess-
ments in this chapter) is something you can get better at, so take a
growth-minded approach. There are many test-taking strategies based
on material found throughout this book. Look for a metacognitive
approach to getting better and better at taking tests and maintain a
growth mindset so that even if you don’t do well, you are still learning.
1. Think about your participation in class discussions or answering
questions in lecture. How do the length and frequency of your
responses compare to the class? What most influences the extent
to which you talk in a class? Do (or would) participation points
impact the extent to which you participate?
2. If you were to teach an introductory course, would you offer extra
credit? Explain why or why not. Write out what your policy would
look like in your syllabus. (You can find examples on the Web, but
use them only as guides.)
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3. How do you feel about writing? Do you enjoy writing assign-

ments? Describe the aspect of writing that you like the best and
the aspect you like the least. If you were able to attend a workshop
on any aspect of writing, what workshop would you find helpful
or enjoyable?
4. Many people are very nervous about speaking in public. Where
would you fall on a scale from 1 (not nervous at all) to 10 (extremely
nervous)? Why did you select this number? If you were to put
together a “Top Five Tips for Being a Better Presenter,” which five
items would you select? Explain why you chose the top two items
you have on your list.
5. Explain your study routine to prepare for a large unit exam.
Describe a metacognitive approach you have, or could create, to
get even better at taking exams.
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 164 30-05-2022 13:13:21

9
AVOID I N G LE A R N I N G
P I T F A L LS
Higher education is challenging to navigate. Fortunately, many of

the learning challenges to address and decisions to make about the
coursework you do are relatively innocuous. Also, mistakes like not
studying as much as you should for a test or turning a paper in late are
errors from which you can recover. There are also pitfalls, “a hidden or
not easily recognized danger or difficulty” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.).
When the danger or difficulty has the potential to seriously impact a
student’s educational progress, I call those learning pitfalls. This chap-
ter is comprised of six learning pitfalls and ways to circumvent them,
based on what I have seen with my students and what I experienced
as an undergraduate. I hope the information in this chapter gives you
ideas for navigating or avoiding these learning pitfalls, should you
encounter them.
Learning Pitfall #1:

Rereading and Highlighting
When I ask students to name study strategies that don’t work, they
always put highlighting and rereading at the top of the list. That is
165
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good news, because these two strategies have been empirically shown
to not be particularly effective study techniques (Dunlosky et al., 2013;
Fowler & Barker, 1974). Next, I ask the same students what strategies
they use, and unfortunately, highlighting and rereading are right at the
top of the list. I think students run into this pitfall for two reasons:
tradition and a false sense of knowledge acquisition. Tradition is appar-
ent any time you flip through used textbooks with bands of fluorescent
colors or see a student in the library, armed with a handful of colored
highlighters (Blasiman et al., 2016). Highlighting and underlining as
you cruise through a dense chapter make you feel like you are learning.
Unfortunately, that isn’t how learning actually works. Highlighting is a
little like walking through a museum, looking at piece of art (without
stopping) and thinking to yourself “I like that statue,” and walking
right by as you glance over your shoulder for one last look. In a matter
of seconds, the statue comes into view, is noted, and then you move
on to the next room. You feel like you have seen the statue, but if you
were later asked to describe your favorite works of art from this visit,
it would be challenging to say much about that statue, along with any
of the other pieces you glanced at as you walked along. Highlighting
is a lot like that.
Rereading is reportedly the most frequently used study strategy
(Morehead et al., 2015) and also brings about a false feeling of learning
(Weinstein et al., 2010). I have had hundreds of students through the
years, disappointed with an exam grade, explain to me that they read
the chapters multiple times. I always explain back that reading with
focus and keeping your mind from wandering is challenging for any
material and even more difficult when reading the same material for a
second, third, or fourth time.
Study Tip 9.1: Always read with a purpose and check for focus as
you read. If you are rereading material, it is even more important to
read with purpose and a goal.
Obviously, the interesting part is why so many students recognize

these strategies as ineffective and yet still use them. When I ask,
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avoiding learning pitfalls 167
I typically get blank stares, and then one student in the group will say,
“It is just what we do.” With a bit of modification, these strategies can
“work.” Dunlosky and colleagues at Kent State University—the team
who noted highlighting and rereading are not effective—also observed
that strategies that involve encoding and elaboration are effective
(Dunlosky et al., 2013). So, make sure you are encoding and elaborating
the information when you highlight and reread. When reading, don’t
passively highlight what you think is important as you read the first time.
That kind of highlighting is fleeting and will be out of your brain in
minutes. Instead, identify a section of material that will take you about
5 minutes to read. Read the passage quickly to get a sense of what it is
about. Then, immediately reread more purposefully to check that you
really understood the concept, and highlight what you feel is important.
The essential step is to mentally process the highlighted text in some way.
Write a note about why it’s important, or, better yet, turn the highlighted
text into a short question. Then, to study you can go to a highlighted
spot, attempt to answer the question, and check your answer.
Pitfall #1 Avoidance: Build cognitively engaging strategies into reread-

ing and highlighting. Do a quick first read to get the overall sense, then
read methodically and highlight with a purpose. Finally, create your
own questions based on the highlighted material.

Cramming for Exams
If you’ve been reading this book straight through, you’ll notice this
is the third time we’ve addressed cramming by studying late into the
night just before an exam. If you’ve been skipping around, spoiler alert:
This is important enough that you will find it two more times. You
simply cannot call cramming, in any way, learning in harmony with
your brain. We know cramming goes against everything the science of
learning says is effective when it comes to both learning and retaining
information. We’re going to look at effective learning and memory
components together and summarize strategies on how to avoid this
tragic pitfall.
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Intuitively, students know that spaced studying is more effective

than cramming, but they often end up cramming anyway (Blasiman
et al., 2016). Neuroscience tells us that at the cellular level (neu-
rons) spaced practice is better than cramming (Feng et al., 2019). We
know that students’ minds wander during cramming sessions more
than during spaced out practice sessions (Metcalfe & Xu, 2016).
Sleep research tells us that the sleep loss the night before a test due
to staying up the night prior disrupts long-term memory formation
in big ways (Mander et al., 2011). For more than 100 years, mem-
ory research has consistently shown that forgetting happens quite
rapidly after something is first learned (De Soto & Roediger, 2019;
Ebbinghaus, 1913). We also know that if a person reviews the mate-
rial 1 day apart across multiple days, the memory is much more sta-
ble and lasts for a long period of time. This doesn’t even get into the
physiological impact of sleep deprivation.
Despite all this knowledge, cramming is still an easy pitfall to get
caught in, because many students have fair short-term success with
cramming. Cramming does tend to work in the short-term, provided
the exam is shortly after the cramming session. But, then you know
what comes next—the feeling of material slipping away even as the
instructor is handing out the exams. If you feel knowledge dissipating
in those few minutes, what shot does it have to be around in a year, a
month, a week, or even a day?
If you are in a class with four exams and a comprehensive final,
you can cram for each exam and get a decent score. A comprehensive
final in such a situation is a different story. When you cram, the recall
of material over the next 24 hours is not bad. However, 1 week later
there is a huge difference between recall for students who space out
multiday study sessions and students who cram. After a month, the
difference can easily be more than two letter grades. If you cram for a
unit exam, you’ll probably need to relearn the entire semester’s mate-
rial for the final. As an added loss, if you cram for a final, when you
walk into your next course, you probably won’t remember much of the
previous course’s material.
Pitfall Avoidance #2: You will make a huge difference in your academic
career if you can establish a pattern of studying a bit each day. You will
do well on unit exams, and you won’t have to relearn everything for the
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 168 30-05-2022 13:13:22

final. You will retain your learning for your next courses and eventually
for jobs. Building this habit takes a bit of planning and commitment,
but it can be done.

Following Your Learning Style
Wouldn’t it be great to answer 16 questions and immediately find
out how you can best process information for the rest of your life?
Then, once you know how you learn, perhaps you find teachers who
set up their instruction to match the way you learn. Learning styles
inventory materials promise that with minimal effort, your learning
will get faster and your grades will go higher. This all sounds awe-
some, right? Two researchers from a medical school in the United
Kingdom reviewed 37 studies involving more than 15,000 teachers
from 18 countries and found that nearly 90% of teachers believe
in matching instruction to learning styles (Newton & Salvi, 2020).
Unfortunately, this is a huge learning pitfall. People love the idea of
discovering something new about themselves that can be used for
good. Teachers love the idea of teaching the best way possible to
meet the needs of each individual student. Who wouldn’t want that?
It turns out that no data actually support the existence of learning
styles (Dekker et al., 2020).
This pitfall is based on a huge misunderstanding that most peo-
ple miss, and it is right out in the open. Hopeful parents, teach-
ers, and students mistakenly hear that they can find out how they
learn, even though most learning style promoters are careful to say
that they’ll reveal how you prefer to learn. There is a huge differ-
ence between these, particularly if you believe that “find out how
you learn” means it is hard to learn any other way. Research is very
clear and very consistent that how information is presented really
doesn’t affect how well an individual can learn it, and yet the myth
of learning styles continues to be prevalent (Nancekivell et al., 2021;
Papadatou-Tastou et al., 2021).
An added problem is that learning style advocates love boxing you
into being a visual learner, an auditory learner, or a kinesthetic learner.
When a person takes a learning styles inventory, nobody is 100% in
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 169 30-05-2022 13:13:22

any one area. You may be 45% visual, 30% auditory, and 25% kines-
thetic, in which case you would be considered a visual learner, as that’s
your largest percentage. But really, you are a multimodal learner, in that
you have some of each and a fairly even distribution at that.
Study Tip 9.2: Don’t always learn the way that you think you pre-
fer. Experiment with other ways to see what else works well for you.
A final pitfall to watch for when reading about learning styles is

meshing, which is when a learning style (e.g., “visual” learning prefer-
ence) and a teaching style (teacher uses a lot of visuals) match. Same
finding. The overwhelming evidence is that meshing does not improve
learning (Pashler et al., 2008). Imagine that you want to learn to play
the clarinet, and you are a visual learner (according to a learning styles
inventory test). Would the best way to learn clarinet be to look at
pictures of clarinets and clarinet players? What if you are a kinesthetic
learner, and you need to learn the three types of Roman columns? Do
you really need to mix plaster and create models, or would you do just
fine with a picture of the columns? If you would like confirmation of
what I am telling you, run an internet search under “learning style
myth.” There is an impressive amount of information under that head-
ing that supports what I am presenting in this section.
Don’t fall into the learning styles preferences pitfall. You don’t
need a quiz to tell you that you prefer to read a book rather than look
at images, or that you would rather work with your hands rather than
look at graphs. These preferences don’t determine how you learn,
they explain how you have enjoyed learning the most when given
the opportunity.
You can supplement courses to fit your preferred style of learn-
ing. If your biology teacher does not show as many visuals as you like,
search the internet for image-based examples as needed and at the same
time, work at improving your reading. Build your skills in all areas.
Remember that we don’t process information if we don’t attend to it
and that we often fall into self-fulfilling prophecies. If you think that
you can’t learn from your biology teacher because they are not using
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 170 30-05-2022 13:13:22

visual examples, and you took a quiz on the internet that said you
“need” visuals, then you won’t learn. Don’t tell yourself that you can’t
do well on an exam because it’s not kinesthetic. Don’t put yourself in
a box. Instead, use metacognition, Bloom’s taxonomy, and recall prac-
tice, and ace your courses despite, not because of, a particular format.
Pitfall Avoidance #3: If you fail at something, it is an opportunity to

learn, but not if you blame the failure on something that has no sci-
entific basis. Don’t let pseudoscience lead you away from strategies to
improve your learning. If your professor does not teach in a way you
prefer to learn (note: prefer not can learn), you can build the skills you
need to process what is given and search out resources that will help
you succeed.

Task Shifting
Task shifting is when we direct our attention away from one task and
shift to another. This can happen without our realizing it, and for
that reason, among others, task shifting can be a dangerous pitfall.
We fall into this pitfall because we don’t really understand how the
brain decides what to pay attention to at any given second, and what
it ignores.
To really understand this topic, we must first separate out three
concepts: multitasking, task shifting, and managing multiple tasks.
Multitasking is doing two things simultaneously, like walking and talk-
ing. Task shifting is stopping one task and shifting to another task, like
texting your friend while watching a movie. Managing multiple tasks
is essentially task management. If you have a job, four classes, and
exercise regularly, you are managing multiple tasks.
It is not commonly understood that everyone can multitask. It
would be absolutely awful if we could not. We can walk and carry
on a conversation, drive while listening to music, and eat while read-
ing the latest news on our phones. There is no debate that we can
multitask. The multitasking that people think they can do, and they
cannot, are things like texting (or shopping on laptops) and listening
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 171 30-05-2022 13:13:22

to a lecture at the same time. In such situations we task shift, which

means we text a little (while not listening to the lecture) then shift
to listening to the lecture (while not texting) and then back again.
In doing this, it is easy to miss quick, but critical, pieces of informa-
tion said during the lecture. This is the issue of concern for faculty
(Aagaard, 2018).
Task shifting is a cognitive load issue. There is a great deal of
research on the cost of task shifting, although most of it incorrectly
uses the term multitasking (Gartrell, 2020). We stop multitasking
when we max out cognitive load, at which point something has to
go, so we change to task shifting. If I try to text and listen to you at
the same time, I max out cognitive load. My brain quickly begins to
take turns attending to the two tasks. I can miss parts of what you say
(focus on texting), or I can mess up my text (focus on listening). I can’t
attend to both at exactly the same time, so I shift very quickly between
the two. I can listen for a few seconds, then text a few words, then
listen again. This works often enough for people to do it frequently,
but this comes with two dangers. One is cognitive cost. The process of
shifting takes a bit of energy every time you shift, because you have to
figure out quickly what was missed (Strayer et al., 2022). The second
is deciding which task gets your attention and when. When you task
shift between two stimuli, it is possible to forget about one of the two
tasks for longer than you expected. This happens in car accidents all
too frequently. If you are fast, you may be able to send a text in about
5 seconds. It takes about 3 to 5 seconds to read a text. Five seconds
might not seem long, but with all the stuff going on around you when
you are driving, it is a long time. Time for an experiment. Set your
phone timer for 5 seconds. Close your eyes as you hit “Start.” Driving
while texting or is the same as having your eyes closed. If you were in
a vehicle going 60 miles per hour, in 5 seconds you would have just
driven the distance of a football field, with your eyes closed.
This concept is the same in the classroom or while studying. If you
are texting during a lecture, it is impossible to pay attention to both,
so you task shift, lose focus, and suddenly realize you missed several
minutes of class. What if your professor said, “This next part is criti-
cal and will be on the exam”? Your brain just missed that! A month or
so into the semester, those 5 minutes here and there have added up,
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and entire class periods are lost. If you text periodically while studying
or reading, it disrupts your flow and greatly decreases your learning.
When studying, block off a time, say 30 minutes, set your phone on
airplane mode or mute, and study with focus. If you are on your laptop
and getting distracted, turn the Wi-Fi off. Then take a few minutes to
stretch, check your phone or your email, and after a few minutes get
back to studying.
Pitfall Avoidance #4: In class and while studying, it is so important

to put the phone away. I know it is challenging, but 50 minutes off
your phone and concentrating on the course or studying will be very
valuable for your learning. Researchers at Michigan State University
found that task shifting is highly dependent on habits, so it is impor-
tant to create good habits (Kononova & Yuan, 2017). Subpitfall:
If 50 minutes without your cellphone sounds ridiculous, do a quick
Web search for “cell phone addiction centers” or “symptoms of
phone addiction.” It is important for people to spend a bit of time
away from their phones now and then. If you can’t, that may be
a concern.

Listening to Negativity
Being a college student is certainly stressful, and at times things will
not go well with classes. Exam grades may be unexpectedly low, or
harsh comments on papers can be challenging to accept. This can
lead to negativity and frustration. It can be helpful to have someone
to complain to when things do not go well. The person with whom
you are speaking will probably agree with you, thereby acknowledging
or even reinforcing the negative tone. They might also have negative
things they are dealing with, and that may result in you commiserating
with them. Be wary: This is also a pitfall.
In psychology, we often speak of priming and cuing. Cues serve
as a guide to retrieve paired information from long-term memory. In
priming, a recent experience or some kind of stimulus will facilitate
the recall of similar items. Our memories are not stored as isolated
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 173 30-05-2022 13:13:22

numbers. As you may recall from the learning chapter, information is

stored in schemas, so thinking of, say, the word “night” brings up sche-
mas you have associated with that word. It may even bring up vivid
memories of taking an evening walk with a grandparent years before.
That is the power of priming.
Given the mechanisms of priming and cuing, we need to be con-
scientious and guard against allowing our negativity to activate other
schemas associated with negativity. In psychology this is called “mood
congruent memory facilitation.” The negative mood facilitates memo-
ries of things associated with bad moods (Lewis et al., 2005). It is also
important to be cautious of thinking errors that can create negativity
and cloud your judgement, such as all-or-none thinking. Maybe you
have felt that the course was lost because you scored less than a C
on a single test, ignoring the fact that there are other exams, rewrite
options, or even the possibility of gaining back points if you reviewed
your wrong answers. Even without those options, don’t assume all-or-
nothing events will occur. I have had students who seem to assume
negative outcomes all the time. They say, “I am going to flunk this test,
I just know I am.” To these students, I point out that the human brain
is an amazing thing. If you keep saying you expect to see something
negative, your brain is more likely to oblige you.
Instead, prepare yourself as best you can, tell yourself you feel
you will do well, and surround yourself with positive people and
events, if possible. Just as with negative thoughts having undesirable
consequences, positive thoughts have many beneficial outcomes in
mood, health, and learning. Sarah Whitely and her colleagues at the
University of Georgia found that individuals in a positive mood were
even more likely to recycle, meaning mood can even have environmen-
tal consequences (Whitely et al., 2020).
Pitfall Avoidance #5: Given the pressure at college, it is easy to take

on an overall negative affect. Although it is certainly understandable to
be upset at things that don’t go your way and sad over a bad grade, my
advice overall is do your best to keep a positive outlook.
Please note that if you feel sadness, hopelessness, or a general loss
of energy for more than 2 weeks, it may be a good idea to visit campus
health services or your primary care provider.
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Study Tip 9.3: If you study with others, study with positive people.
Positivity increases motivation and builds self-efficacy.

Hanging in There Too Long
This final pitfall pertains to trying save a course that can’t be saved.
There are times when things just won’t go in your favor and, what-
ever the cause, a class is simply not going to end well. Despite
this, some students grimly hang on and finish out a course with a
grade that tanks their GPA because they put time into studying for
the course that can’t be saved instead of shifting focus to the courses
still in play. One reason students fall into this pitfall is because of sunk
cost, a term often used in psychology and economics. Once you have
committed resources (sunk cost), all decisions after that point should
be based on the upcoming circumstances, not what you’ve already put
in. You’re not going to get those resources (time, money, sleep) back,
whatever you do. However, humans don’t tend to do that, resulting in
the sunk cost fallacy (or sunk cost effect), which happens when sunk cost
expenses drive future actions.
Here is an example in my life where I used this information to
avoid a sunk cost fallacy. My wife, daughter, and I went to a sym-
phony concert. We paid $50 each for the three tickets. We were caught
in a sudden downpour walking from the parking garage across the
street to the music hall, and the three of arrived at the building abso-
lutely soaked, dripping puddles, and freezing in the air-conditioned
hall. I know of people who would say, “I spent $150 for these tickets,
so we are staying.” However, I understood sunk cost. The $150 was
gone (sunk cost), so the question was really: Would we sit for free in
drenched clothes, freezing? The answer was no, so we quietly got up
and left. The sunk cost fallacy has been shown across a number of areas,
such as sports teams keeping poor performers because of large financial
investments (Farah & Baker, 2021), people staying in bad long-term
relationships, and people continuing questionable economic practices
(Meyers et al., 2019). I even know a person who once ate terrible food
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for dinner because they spent hours making it. I say, the time spent
cooking is gone, order a pizza.
There are occasions when the sunk cost fallacy is helpful. If
you have completed 3 years of college and in the 4th year, find
yourself frustrated and tired of school you might think about quit-
ting. However, if you have 3 years invested then it seems wise to fin-
ish. That is a good use of sunk cost. Sunk cost can help when waiting
for 30 minutes to get served at a restaurant and have the waiter show
up with food about 2 minutes after you start to seriously consider
leaving. If there is a course of action into which you have put signifi-
cant time and money, you are more likely to stick with it if some-
thing tempts you to change directions. This can be a good thing.
So, sunk cost can be beneficial at times. The important thing is
to recognize when and then do your best to make the appropriate
decision. Occasionally there have been students in my classes who
needed to drop the course but would not do so. They would often
say that they already had so much energy invested in the course that
they just wanted to make it to the end (a bit of closure there from
chapter 6). Even after I explained to them that there was no way
that they could pass, sometimes they would say they just wanted to
finish. As a result, they spent time studying for a class they couldn’t
pass instead of reallocating that valuable time for other courses.
Unfortunately, they got caught by the “hanging in there too long”
pitfall because of sunk cost.
Pitfall Avoidance #6: I am hopeful everything goes great for every

class you have, but if it doesn’t, be careful to not fall into the sunk
cost pitfall. I don’t want you to give up just because a course is chal-
lenging; this situation applies only when it is mathematically impos-
sible to pass the course. It will be fine; the professor will understand
if you drop the course, and most importantly, you can use the extra
time from the dropped course to focus on doing as well as possible
in your other courses. Of course, always confer with your faculty and
your academic advisor before making any changes to your schedule.
For example, if dropping a course puts you at less than full-time,
you could lose scholarships contingent on maintaining full-time
student status.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 176 30-05-2022 13:13:22

Chapter Summary
In this chapter, I presented six learning pitfalls that I believe can have
the biggest negative impact on student success along with suggestions
for dealing with them. I have seen students get into trouble with every
one of these pitfalls, every semester. These dangers are not easily rec-
ognized. Students have been reading and highlighting for a very long
time. The problem is when their use provides a false sense of learn-
ing. One can read a chapter four times, highlight it, and still not have
attended to anything in the chapter. If you are going to reread and
highlight, do it with purpose. Similarly, cramming is a behavior seen
frequently on campus. I hear many students joking about it, but it
really does too much damage to joke about. It is not easy, but if you
can avoid cramming and study a bit every day, learning is much easier
and more permanent.
Learning style is a myth that continues to be perpetuated (although
it’s less prevalent than in the past). We do have learning preferences,
but we don’t require a specific way to learn. Task shifting, like learn-
ing styles, is poorly understood, but this does have a large impact on
learning. Understanding when cognitive load is maxed out and the
implications for task shifting can keep you on more solid ground. The
final two learning pitfalls feel a bit more morose. Negativity can have
such an overall detrimental impact. Doing your best to avoid negative
people and negative thoughts has many benefits. Finally, a topic not
typically covered is centered around knowing when to hold on and
knowing when to fold. Unfortunately, some situations are just not
going to work out. It is important to carefully assess your situation
and determine if there is still a positive way forward at all. Sometimes,
the best way to handle something is to walk away and avoid the sunk
cost fallacy.
1. Explain how bringing elaboration into the highlighting process
would increase the effectiveness of this strategy. Describe a way
(other than the example used in this chapter) that highlighting or
rereading could be made more effective.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 177 30-05-2022 13:13:22

2. Why do you think so many students procrastinate with respect to

studying? Why not spread out study time? Just to make this fun,
you can’t use “being too busy” as a reason. Students procrastinated
when I was a student, and we didn’t even have the internet.
3. To take a kind, but informed, position, what would you tell a
friend who says the study group needs to start drawing out repre-
sentations of the answers because they are a visual learner? Be sure
to defend your response.
4. Do you ever tuck your phone away to study? If so, explain the pro-
cess to keep yourself from checking your phone frequently. If you
don’t put your phone away when you study, what could you do to
ignore your device long enough to study for 1 hour?
5. The sunk cost fallacy might help you but it might also cause you
to waste time or money. Explain how you could improve your
chances of making the right call as to whether to quit or keep
going after you have already committed resources to the course of
action.
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P A RT FO U R
K E E P IT G OI N G
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 182 30-05-2022 13:13:22
10
S L E E P I N G TO
E N HA N C E LE A R N I N G
How did you feel yesterday? How about today? Are you currently
energized, lethargic, sanguine, irritated, or even indifferent? One of
the biggest factors determining how you feel each day is the amount
of sleep you get the night before. Think for a minute about how you
feel after a really good sleep. Your mood is excellent, and the day may
seem full of possibilities. What about days when you did not sleep well
at all? Perhaps something was bothering you so you couldn’t fall asleep,
or maybe you stayed up most of the night studying for a test or writing
a paper. How did you feel after that terrible night of sleep? If you are
similar to most people, you know that it will be a tough day as soon
as you get out of bed. No one ever looks in the mirror after a terrible
night of sleep and says, “Wow, today is going to be great.”
Sleep has an enormous impact on just about every aspect of your
life. It impacts outlook, mood, weight, health, relationships, and aca-
demic performance. Humans do not do well when sleep deprived, and
it doesn’t take long for deprivation to start messing with our physiolog-
ical systems. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC,
2016) reported that individuals getting fewer than 7 hours per night
over an extended period are much more at risk for developing health
183
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 183 30-05-2022 13:13:22

184 keep it going
challenges such as “obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease,

stroke, and frequent mental distress” (para. 2).
Given the extent to which a lack of sleep impacts our lives, it is a
good thing that we have some control over how much we sleep. If you
are not already actively working on getting optimal sleep each day, this
is a great time to start. Due to life circumstances, you may not sleep
as much as you would like. I had to work three jobs when I was an
undergrad student, so I couldn’t sleep as much as I would have liked.
If your situation does not allow you to sleep when you want, and for
as long as you want, the key is to do the best you can with what you
have. Maximize opportunities and make good use of time. The follow-
ing pages can serve as a guide to make you healthier and, as a result, a
stronger learner.
What Researchers Say About Sleep

Researchers started studying sleep about 300 years ago. You would
think they would have figured out everything by now, but we still can’t
tell you what’s happening when we sleep. That said, we are learning
more every day and beginning to understand the importance of get-
ting good quality sleep. Unfortunately, a vast number of people in
the United States are sleep deprived and it is no different for college
students. The University of Georgia (UGA) collects health data and
found that most UGA students report getting between 6 and 6.9 hours
of sleep each night (UGA, 2021). The National Center for Health
Statistics (2017) noted that nearly 73% of high school students got
fewer than 8 hours of sleep per night.
Circadian Rhythms
Certain structures in your brain work with specific hormones to make
you tired at night and wake you up in the morning, your circadian
rhythm. The hypothalamus, a relatively small structure in the middle
of your brain, is the primary controller of the sleep and wake cycle,
along with many other things. One of the things your hypothalamus
controls is the pineal gland, a tiny gland about the size of a pea. The
pineal gland uses light to convert serotonin (a neurotransmitter that
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sleeping to enhance learning 185
stabilizes our mood, feelings, and happiness) into melatonin. When

the pineal gland receives signals that you are experiencing light, it stops
making melatonin. When the sun goes down, the pineal gland starts
to produce melatonin, which makes you sleepy. The melatonin created
in the evening will stay in your system long enough for you to go to
sleep, usually about 4 to 8 hours. While you are sleeping, the mela-
tonin breaks down, the sun coming up keeps more melatonin from
being produced, and you wake up. Unless artificial light messes with
your circadian rhythm and melatonin production, it all works well.
Stages of Sleep
Researchers have also found that sleep is not as simple as it appears.
When we sleep, we proceed through a predictable pattern of stages.
While we sleep, there are two different states: rapid eye movement
(REM) sleep and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Upon
entering REM, muscles become atonic, which means you can’t use your
arms and legs, and your eyes begin to move back and forth, although
eyes remain closed. One hypothesis is that loss of muscle movement
keeps humans from acting out their dreams. REM sleep is sometimes
called paradoxical sleep because the brain is very active, almost the
same as when awake. It can be challenging to wake someone in this
state, and if awakened, they may be confused if they were dreaming.
NREM state is divided into four stages. Stage 1 shows electrical
brain wave activity consisting of very shallow waves called alpha waves.
This stage typically lasts less than 7 minutes. It is easy to wake up
while in this stage and can be difficult to tell if someone is asleep, just
relaxed, or distracted. A person engaged in a simple activity during
Stage 1 may keep doing the movement as the individual drifts in and
out of sleep. The ability to persist at simple behaviors while going in
and out of sleep explains why a person driving a car can continue to
drive even as they drift into Stage 1 of sleep and then back out to be
awake and relaxed (Carskadon & Dement, 2011). This also explains
why it is so dangerous to drive while tired. If you drift through Stage
1 to Stage 2, driving ability stops—but the car keeps going. In 2017,
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said drowsy driv-
ing caused 91,000 police-reported crashes. When you feel tired while
driving, it is crucial to take a break or let someone else drive. During
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186 keep it going
Stage 1, you may experience a myoclonic jerk, otherwise called a nap

jerk. People in Stage 1 often report feeling like they are floating or
falling, and as a result, their whole body jerks very suddenly (Bhat &
Lysenko, 2018).
Study Tip 10.1: A good night of sleep will make your study time
much more efficient. We learn faster and store memories more effi-
ciently when rested, even if it doesn’t feel like it.
From Stage 1, individuals proceed to Stage 2, a deeper sleep

stage, but they can still wake up easily. This stage typically lasts 10 to
25 minutes. As the brain waves slow down through this stage, indi-
viduals move into Stage 3, an even deeper sleep. This short stage is a
transition to Stage 4. Stage 4 is the deepest NREM stage where slow
delta waves appear. This stage is often called deep sleep, and in the first
sleep cycle of the night, it will last about 30 minutes. If someone wakes
you up or an alarm clock goes off while in Stage 4, you will find it dif-
ficult to wake up. Most individuals are right in the middle of Stage 4
deep sleep 1 hour after falling asleep.
From here, you move back to Stage 3 for a few minutes and then
back up to Stage 2 for about 10 minutes and then typically to REM
state. From this REM phase, we move again to Stage 1. Individuals
often wake up for a few minutes at this time, although it is common
for a person not to remember. If your roommate sits up for just a
second and then lays back down, they likely just hit Stage 1 and then
started into the next sleep cycle.
Sleep cycles take about 90 minutes to complete. Under normal cir-
cumstances, most individuals go through five cycles, which is typically
about 7.5 hours. Stage 4 deep sleep gets shorter as the night progresses,
and REM gets longer. For the first sleep cycle of the night, REM may
last only a few minutes (Carskadon & Dement, 2011).
The cycles look very different if you are sleep deprived, have con-
sumed alcohol, or some other factor interferes with normal sleep. If
exhausted, you may move through Stages 1 and 2 rapidly and get to
Stage 4 within just a few minutes.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 186 30-05-2022 13:13:22

However, if your sleep cycles are interrupted later in the night, you
may not be able to get enough REM sleep. If that happens, you will
experience REM rebound the next time you sleep, which means you
will go into REM much more quickly and stay in REM stages longer.
This is why, at times, you may fall asleep for just a few minutes and
have a vivid dream right away. All sleep is important, but REM and
Stage 4 deep sleep are critical for learning and memory, so it is best not
to disturb these stages of sleep.
Sleep Patterns: Larks and Night Owls

Another emerging area of study is chronotypes, or individual sleep
patterns of when you go to bed, wake up, and have the most men-
tal power. Much has been written about people who tend to get up
early, called larks, and those who like to stay up at night, called owls.
It turns out most of us are a mix of the two (Jarrett, 2021). Research
in this area has been controversial for many years. The primary
challenge is that research in the past has been based on self-report
data, which is notoriously inaccurate in social science research.
Recently, researchers have begun to use smartphone data to track
sleep–wake patterns (Lin et al., 2019; Schoedel et al., 2020). This
research confirms that 15% to 20% are definitively larks or owls, and
a full 60% to 70% have overlapping sleep patterns, meaning they
have tendencies of both larks and owls.
Although small differences do exist between the chronotypes, we
don’t know what causes these differences, and they tend to be correla-
tional, which means we don’t know what is causing what. For example,
Lipnevich et al. (2017) found that larks are slightly more conscientious
than are owls. The correlation may mean that being a lark causes or
influences those individuals to be more conscientious. However, the
correlation may be that less conscientious people tend to stay up later,
or it might be that individuals who have sleeping disorders are both
less conscientious and stay up later. If this area interests you, and I do
think there are some interesting findings emerging by using smart-
phones, keep reading research-based journals for information and read
the popular press articles to point you to research and also for a bit of
fun. Just remember to follow the science.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 187 30-05-2022 13:13:22

188 keep it going
Instead of trying to figure out whether you are a lark or an owl

by filling out a survey, it is much more accurate to simply determine
when you tend to be most effective. If you figure out your peak cogni-
tive time, you can schedule study time at that time of day. You can also
schedule noncognitive tasks, such as cleaning or going for a walk, at
your less cognitively sharp times. That will lead to good information
that will help you academically.
Keep a log for a week of how you slept the previous night, then
rate how effective you feel while doing various activities throughout
the day (e.g., reading, listening to lectures, doing homework prob-
lems). A pattern will likely emerge that shows when you do your best
thinking and how your sleep affects your day, and it might surprise
you! I kept a log like this when I was a second-year undergraduate.
I thought it was a waste of time because I was sure I knew my peak
performing times. I was wrong. I like to stay up late, but it turns out
I am the sharpest academically early in the morning. I also found out
that I am not mentally alert at all between 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. To
this very day, I schedule my writing and research in the early morning
and meetings in the afternoon.
Sleep, Learning, and Memory

Seventy percent of college students report that they don’t get enough
sleep, resulting in lower GPAs and an increased risk of flunking out of
school (Hershner & Chervin, 2014; Okano et al., 2019). Remember
the students at UGA who were not sleeping as much as recommended?
That same study reported that those who average fewer than 6 hours
of sleep per night have lower overall GPAs than those sleeping an aver-
age of 8 hours or more (UGA, 2021). This isn’t confined to UGA.
Researchers have found that poor sleep habits impact academic
performance for students all over the world, such as China (Wong
et al., 2013), Ethiopia (Lemma et al., 2014), and the United States
(Gilbert & Weaver, 2010). Anyone who has been exhausted when
taking a test knows that being tired makes remembering harder, think-
ing more clouded, and creative problem-solving more challenging.
Every sleep research article I have read has shown that a lack of sleep
hurts learning and memory.
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Importance of Sleep for Learning and Memory

Sleep is necessary for the brain to function well, particularly for learn-
ing and memory. Recall from chapter 4 that consolidation must take
place to remember something long term. It turns out that sleep is nec-
essary to consolidate memories and information. If you do not sleep
relatively soon after learning something new, consolidation doesn’t
happen, and you likely won’t remember what you learned, even if you
catch up on sleep later. Pulling an all-nighter and then going to classes
the next day hurts on both sides of the night. Any information learned
the day before the all-nighter is not consolidated, so it is lost. Research
also shows that when an exhausted brain encounters new information,
it is challenging to form a memory trace, so additional information
experienced the day after an all-nighter is more challenging to learn.
Even if you feel fine after an all-nighter, you may find your ability
to learn in the neighborhood of 20% lower than if you were rested
(Mander et al., 2011).
Memory consolidation works best when sleep happens relatively
soon after learning the new material (Gais et al., 2006). Provided you
are not tired while studying, information learned closer to the time you
go to bed will be consolidated better than information learned earlier
in the day. This is an important consideration for your study allocation.
If you have 2 hours set aside to study, one from 10:00 a.m.–11:00 a.m.
and another from 9:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m., it would be best to study
the easier material in the morning and the more challenging material
closer to when you intend to go to bed.
When we learn new information, it is temporarily stored in the
hippocampus. While you are sleeping, your hippocampus reactivates
the memory trace and then transfers it to the appropriate cortex area
of the brain for more permanent storage. Declarative memories (facts
and information, like your friend’s birthday and what you gave her
as a present) are stored differently than procedural memories (how to
do something, like walking through the party room or wrapping her
gift). Reactivating these memory traces to consolidate information is
why sleeping after studying is essential. After learning new material,
the information will likely not be processed before the memory trace
fades if you stay up too long. Born and colleagues at the University
of Fribourg found that the deep, slow waves in Stages 3 and 4 are
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190 keep it going
particularly important for consolidating declarative memories (Born et

al., 2006). During these stages, the hippocampus reactivates facts and
information you learned and transfers that information to the cortex,
primarily the temporal lobe. Procedural memories, such as learning a
new dance move or kicking a soccer ball, are primarily strengthened
during REM sleep, which occurs mainly in later sleep cycles. An
exception is that the REM stage also appears to consolidate emotional
declarative memories better.
Remembering What Is Important During Sleep

You process a lot of information during the day. You see cars drive by,
you talk to friends, you text, and you go to classes. You are exposed to
millions of pieces of information every minute, all day long. Some of
the information you process is important, but other information is not
needed, so it should be forgotten to free up space for future informa-
tion. There is no reason to remember the color of a car parked next
to yours at the grocery store. Although researchers don’t know exactly
how it works, they do have evidence that much of the sorting of what
to remember and what to forget happens while you sleep. Wilhelm and
colleagues at the University of Lübeck asked participants to learn word
pairs (declarative memory) while tapping a specific sequence with
their finger (procedural memory) (Wilhelm et al., 2011). Some par-
ticipants were instructed to sleep after learning tasks, and others were
not. Participants who slept and were told the information was needed
later performed better on the declarative and procedural memory tests.
Surprisingly, participants who didn’t sleep scored the same whether
they felt the information was important or not. One other interesting
finding was that those who learned information was important and
then slept demonstrated different deep sleep patterns than those who
did not expect to use the information in the future.
For long-term learning, an expectation that information will be
needed in the future is helpful. An exam is undoubtedly one way to
signal importance, but there are better ways. As you study, think about
how this information might be used in other classes, at a job, or even
to help people. Learning to calculate the strength of different types
of steel may seem unimportant in life, but it is significant for those
driving on bridges.
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Power of Naps and Restful Breaks

Naps have been studied for decades across various circumstances, and
the findings are consistent: Daytime naps, in some cases as short as
6 minutes, significantly improve learning (Farhadian et al., 2021).
What you have learned in this chapter about sleep stages can help
you select the proper amount of time to nap. Many people choose
to take a nap for an hour, which is typically a poor idea. At 1 hour
after going to sleep, you know what stage the sleeper is in, right? Yes,
Stage 4, the hardest part of the sleep cycle to wake up. Have you ever
laid down, feeling good, only to wake to an alarm 1 hour later feeling
sluggish and irritated? Or perhaps you didn’t get up after the 1 hour
and ended up sleeping much longer than you had anticipated? That is
the challenge with waking up in Stage 4.
It is best to nap less than 20 minutes or around 90 minutes.
A short nap will put you in Stage 2 when it is time to wake up, which
is easy. If you have more time, it is best to nap for about 90 minutes, as
that will let you sleep one complete cycle and put you back near Stage
1. As a result, it will be much easier for you to wake up quickly and
feel refreshed.
Research on naps has been done all over the world. In Singapore, a
group that napped after learning word pairs outperformed a group that
watched a video (Ong et al., 2020). Research also shows that you don’t
have to take a nap to get refreshed. If you don’t have time to nap, you
can still take a restful break by closing your eyes and relaxing. Research
shows these short breaks are helpful in keeping the new information
intact. Children given a restful break recalled one-third more words
on a vocabulary list than children who watched a video (Martini et al.,
2019).
The research is clear that naps and restful breaks are effective
methods to retain information as they allow time to process informa-
tion before it either fades away or is replaced by something else. This
means that back-to-back classes are not a good idea. Any newly learned
information is in a relatively fragile state in the h ippocampus, and
without a nap or restful break, that information is easily d isplaced.
I know full well it is attractive to stack classes so that you have days
off, but do be careful of the fatigue factor and the resulting impact
on your learning.
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192 keep it going
Cramming Versus Resting

I have asked college students all over the country if cramming is an
effective study strategy. Know what they say? You are correct. Most say
that it is not effective. Then I ask how many students cram for exams
the night before the test. This response will not surprise you either:
About 90% of the same students who just said it was not a good idea
say they cram for exams. As noted in chapter 4 on learning and chapter
9 on learning pitfalls cramming comes with very high costs. There is
typically a fair amount of stress, and information is learned, forgotten,
and must then be relearned later.
Study Tip 10.2: Regularly spaced-out study sessions are much bet-
ter than cramming. As a bonus, there will be less stress the night
before the test and less cognitive fuzziness during the test.
The good news is that you are in a very select group of individu-
als who know why cramming does not work. You also know a bit of
research from this chapter on naps and rests, so you know how to study
smarter in harmony with your brain. Study after study shows that naps
and restful breaks improve learning.
Ultimately, try to avoid a situation where you have to learn 2 weeks
of content in a single night. If you can do that you will have time
to set up the best sequence of steps on the evening before the exam.
Set up the necessary study periods to go over material, taking breaks
periodically to let some of the material process. Then review the most
challenging of your material just before going to sleep. This may be
challenging at first, but you can get there with practice.
Managing Your Sleep

As humans, we sleep roughly one-third of our lives. With just a bit
of work, you can be in the exclusive club of people who manage their
sleep, and the payoffs can be huge.
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Those who don’t manage their sleep well often fall behind on sleep.
This is called sleep debt. Everyone has an ideal amount of sleep, with
most people right around 7.5 hours. If your ideal sleep is 7.5 hours and
you sleep 7 hours, then you have a sleep debt of 0.5 hours. You could
make that up with a 30-minute nap in the afternoon or even two quick
15-minute naps. The exact amount of sleep is not important, but the
concept is. Note that sleep debt is relative to the amount of sleep that
is ideal for you. This is why two people can sleep the same number of
hours with one feeling refreshed and the other person feeling sluggish.
Because of the importance of sleep, whenever you are behind on
sleep, your body will spend more time in deep, slow-wave sleep and
REM than usual. The result is that you can make up sleep debt with
just a bit of extra sleep. But don’t make a habit of it. Many people rack
up sleep debt every week and then sleep a bit longer on the weekends
to get out of debt. Research suggests this is not a great idea. Smith and
a team of colleagues from University of Pennsylvania, Virginia Tech,
and The John Space Center conducted a study on sleep debt at the
NASA Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) at the Johnson
Space Center in Houston (Smith et al., 2021). The researchers kept
participants in a simulated spacecraft for 45 days. During this time,
the participants slept in a pattern of 5 weekday nights (accumulating
debt) followed by 2 weekend nights (making up for the debt). Results
showed that individuals in the experimental group had significantly
lower performance on cognitive tests and attention tasks. This dem-
onstrates that recovery sleep may work periodically, but it should not
be used as a rationale to maintain a schedule with long stretches of
sleep deprivation.
As the best-case scenario is to not get into sleep debt to begin
with, let’s look at five common causes that result in people being sleep
deprived. We will then look at five strategies that help people get qual-
ity sleep. There are undoubtedly additional items for each of these lists,
but this is enough to get started.
Factors That Disrupt Sleep

The following five areas are the most common causes of sleep dis-
ruption for college students. As always, there are variations between
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194 keep it going
people, and there can even be variations within people. That means
that some of the following items can affect you differently at different
times. All that said, there are certainly some similarities.
Alcohol Consumption
Consuming alcohol impacts the human body, sleep, and performance
the following day. It is a good idea to be mindful of the consequences
before you have that first drink. If you choose to drink, it is also cru-
cial to be safe, have a plan for the evening, and be careful that you do
not engage in any behaviors that will result in long-term harm to you
or others.
Because people get excited, yell, and are animated while drinking,
many think alcohol is a stimulant. Actually, alcohol is a central nervous
system depressant and has a negative impact on several aspects of sleep,
depending on age, physical shape, biological sex, food consumption,
and other factors. As alcohol is a depressant, it will make a person fall
asleep quickly and typically move swiftly to deep sleep. Deep sleep
can trigger sleep apnea, which causes a person to stop breathing. If
the brain can catch what is going on, it will startle the person into
taking a breath. In some cases, however, if the person has consumed
large amounts of alcohol, the brain may not respond, and breathing
could fail to resume. An extended discussion about all the ways alco-
hol impacts sleep is beyond the scope of this book. Suffice it to say, it
severely disrupts sleep, learning, and memory formation at any and all
levels of consumption (Pietilä et al., 2018).
Because alcohol impacts the quality of sleep, it affects learning.
Depending on the amount of alcohol, REM sleep may not happen
for the entire night. Given REM’s part in memory consolidation, lack
of REM sleep may make it difficult to recall what was done the even-
ing prior. Because learning likely won’t end up being consolidated
well, things learned earlier on the day of drinking may or may not
be recalled.
Many studies have shown that alcohol consumption negatively
impacts alertness the following day. This will not come as a surprise
to anyone who has had a hangover. As a general rule, when we feel
that bad, nothing good can be happening on the inside. Being sleep
deprived, having a hangover, and feeling sluggish will certainly impact
learning new information. Frequent binge drinking may also affect
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learning for years to come. It is important to note that those who fre-
quently drink alcohol develop chronic sleep problems, particularly
insomnia. Overall, alcohol significantly impacts learning and sleep
in multiple ways. That should be kept in mind whenever going out
to drink.
Caffeine
Caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug globally, and
many people depend on it to get them going in the morning (Mosley,
2020). Caffeine is a plant product found in about 60 different spe-
cies, including cacao beans, kola nuts, tea leaves, coffee berries, and
other forms. Yes, coffee berries, as the coffee bean is a cherry pit. Most
individuals ingest caffeine through coffee, energy drinks, soda, tea,
and chocolate. Caffeine pills are also available over the counter and
as prescriptions.
Approximately 85% of adults in the United States consume caf-
feine. Users of caffeine ingest an average of 180 mg per day, or about
the amount of caffeine in two cups of coffee or about one 2-liter bottle
of soda (Temple et al., 2017). The recommended maximum dose of
caffeine is 200 mg per dose and 400 mg per day. The FDA has noted
that consuming 1,200 mg in a day may induce seizures. I know of
two individuals with no history of seizures who suddenly had seizures
following a large caffeine intake. In the first instance, a conference
attendee was fatigued. She had two cups of coffee with breakfast, an
energy shot about 30 minutes later, and then one cup of coffee at the
morning break. That gave her approximately 700 mg of caffeine within
a few hours. She had nearly twice the recommended maximum for an
entire day. She seized on the conference floor for close to an hour and
was fine after a brief stay in the hospital. The other person had a sei-
zure after two energy shots and then two cups of coffee, following an
extended shift at work. If you are one of the 85% that ingests caffeine,
just be careful.
Caffeine is typically ingested specifically to feel more energetic,
reduce headaches, boost metabolism, increase the ability to focus and
pay attention, and potentially even improve memory a bit. However,
more is not better when it comes to caffeine. In one study, participants
studied images and then ingested 0 mg, 100 mg, 200 mg, or 300 mg
of caffeine (Borota et al., 2014). When tested 24 hours later, the
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196 keep it going
participants in the caffeine group did significantly better than the con-
trol group, but those who took 200 mg of caffeine did the best. This
makes sense as too much caffeine results in many harmful effects such
as irritability, anxiety, headaches, rapid heart rate, and extra fatigue
when the caffeine wears off.
One concern regarding caffeine is the extent to which it can disrupt
your sleep. It does not help to study hard in the evening with a coffee or
energy drink if that caffeine keeps you up most of the night. Caffeine
has a half-life that averages about 5 hours (Temple et al., 2017). That
means if you have a cup of coffee with breakfast, that caffeine will
be added to the remains of the energy drink you had at 11:00 p.m.
the night before. Be careful with caffeine consumption because it can
last in your system for some time.
Overall, you will be the best judge for what level of caffeine you
can have in your system and still get quality sleep. The vital thing to
note is that caffeine does last in your system for an extended time and
can interfere with sleep. If you are in it for the taste, there are alterna-
tives. The USDA notes that a typical 8-ounce cup of decaffeinated
coffee has about 2 mg of caffeine, but check the label, as some brands
can have as much as 15 mg per cup.
Diet
Individuals often don’t realize that what they eat will impact their
sleep. Sodas and foods with a high fat content (e.g., fast food) have
been shown repeatedly to affect sleep. Holmes and colleagues from the
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, found that children who con-
sumed fast food tended to sleep less across 24 hours (nighttime sleep
and naps) (Holmes et al., 2021). Children who drank soda had a simi-
lar pattern of less sleep, and it also took longer for them to fall asleep.
There is a solid and consistent relationship between weight and
sleeping time. Studies have shown a relationship between a short
amount of sleep time and obesity in children as young as preschool age
(Miller et al., 2021). It isn’t just children; those studies are listed here to
show you it starts early. Sleep and weight are closely related throughout
life. There are many factors involved. Low levels of sleep can change
metabolism, which is the pace at which your body burns fat. Lack of
sleep can also impact a body’s response to glucose in a way that can
even increase the possibility of getting diabetes.
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In addition to the direct impact of lack of sleep on the way the

body and brain process food, being awake more hours gives individu-
als more time to eat, specifically of high-fat food, which can disrupt
sleep. It can be a vicious cycle. In addition to weight gain, this type of
food increases restless sleep and trips to the bathroom. This means that
sleep cycles are disrupted, with implications for deep sleep and REM.
Overall, high-fat food diets have very little positive nutritional value
for individuals and several negative consequences, including a negative
impact on learning.
Technology
Technology has many benefits, such as connecting with friends and
family at any time of day or night, looking up things you are think-
ing about, or just watching mindless videos to relax or pass the time.
The technology you hold in your hand is an amazing device. That
same device can also seriously interfere with your sleep. If you leave
your phone on while you sleep, sound or light from your phone can
disrupt your sleep cycles and perhaps even keep you awake. If an alert
comes at just the right (actually, wrong) time, you might wake up,
and depending on your stage of sleep at that moment, you may have
a tough time falling back to sleep. Setting your phone to “do not dis-
turb” will allow you to sleep without interruption but still allow you
to get information from your very closest friends and family members
if there is an emergency.
In addition to sleep disruptions from late-night messages, technol-
ogy can wind you up just before you go to sleep. Snyder and Chang
(2019) report that 90% of Americans use technology within the
hour before going to bed, and Harris and colleagues at Texas A&M
University noted that 75% of college students in their study reported
sleeping with their cellphone lying beside them (Harris et al., 2020).
Your reaction to a post on politics or from a friend on social media
might keep you up for hours, or you might decide to play just one
more game or watch just one more inning. Regardless of what you are
using your device for, having it on just before you go to sleep carries
a high risk of keeping you awake for a long time and losing valuable
sleep. Consider putting your phone or laptop away 1 hour before you
go to bed. You can experiment with different lengths of time and find
what works best for you.
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198 keep it going
The light on your laptop, phone, and television can also cause dif-
ficulty sleeping. Technology typically uses blue-spectrum light, which
allows for crisp viewing, but also disrupts sleep. Researchers have
found that the blue light emitted from phones and laptops interferes
with normal melatonin production, making it harder to fall and stay
asleep (Snyder & Chang, 2019). Perhaps even worse, blue light in the
evening can shift your circadian rhythm to a later phase, meaning you
fall asleep later and get up later. The best solution to combat all of this
is to simply put electronic devices away before bed, or at least change
the light from blue spectrum to red spectrum by switching to evening
mode or downloading an app that will change the light.
Factors That Promote Sleep

Good sleep hygiene is a pattern of behaviors individuals carry out as
a routine to prepare for sleep. The following considerations show up
repeatedly among those providing tips on sleeping well. As with every-
thing, there are variations between people, and there can even be varia-
tions within people from one night to the next. That means sometimes
you will need one or more of the following suggestions, and at other
times you will not. The most important thing is that you do your best
to create a situation that helps you sleep best.
Bedroom Environment
You cannot simply will yourself to sleep, as brains don’t work like that.
You develop good sleep patterns by listening to your body’s cues that
you are getting tired and by establishing routine actions that cue your
body that rest is coming. Creating an environment conducive to sleep
will help you fall asleep and stay asleep through sleep cycles. It is essen-
tial to individualize the approach to your preference; however, there are
few common themes for all sleeping environments:
•• Comfort: Fresh, clean sheets are a treat. You studied hard and
deserve it!
•• Light: Blackout curtains or a sleep mask help ensure you aren’t
woken at dawn if you plan to sleep late. Conversely, sheer curtains
let the light come in to help morning risers.
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•• Noise: Consider earplugs or a white noise machine to block

unwanted sounds.
•• Temperature: The ideal range is 66 °F to 71 °F. Get lots of blankets
and get cozy.
Bedtime Routine
Adopting a consistent routine provides your mind and body with
reassurances and subliminal cues that sleep is natural, welcomed, and
anticipated. Initiate a series of quiet activities that allow you to decom-
press, quiet your thoughts, and relax in your environment. For some
individuals, the steps include hitting the remote key lock for your car
(again), locking your doors, opening/closing windows, dimming lights,
reading a book, stretching, doing yoga, or meditating. For others, it’s
a light snack and that last sip of water before brushing their teeth and
washing their face. Your bedtime routine may include a shower or a
specific pair of pajamas. Research shows that even 10 minutes in a hot
shower or soaking in a warm bath 1–2 hours before bedtime prepares
your body for feeling relaxation that comes with the early stages of
sleep (Haghayegh et al., 2019). It is advantageous to avoid screen time
an hour before bedtime as part of your bedtime routine.
Study Tip 10.3: A good bedtime routine shortens time to fall

asleep. Better sleep means better learning.
The practice of consistently performing the same activities in the

same order develops positive habits that cue your brain that it is time
to sleep. Once you have completed the steps, lying down in a cool
room with adequate coverings and regular breathing provides a still-
ness that allows the body to begin the cycle of rest and initiate sleep.
Physical Activity and Being Outside

Being in nature—sitting in an open window, reading materials under
the shade of a tree, walking through dedicated green space, and soak-
ing up some sun—helps promote sleep at bedtime. Interacting with
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200 keep it going
nature supports mental well-being, elevates mood, and fosters a sense

of belonging and confidence. Likewise, being in nature routinely
leads to measurable reduction in the stress hormone cortisol, lowers
reported anxiety, and provides a greater sense of calm. The sun helps to
keep circadian rhythms aligned and heavily influences the production
of melatonin. Just a bit of sunlight each day has an impact on mood,
mental health, and ability to sleep well (Nagare et al., 2021). Have you
noticed that when you spend the day in the sun, you often feel extra
tired that evening? That is the power of the sun on setting up mela-
tonin production.
Physical activity is also helpful in promoting efficient sleep with
few disruptions. It is best to do more strenuous workouts, particularly
intense cardio workouts, in the morning. Some researchers have found
that moderate physical activity is more effective for sleep promotion
than intense exercise (Wang & Boros, 2019).
Insomnia
It’s common to have episodic bouts of insomnia. Insomnia is the dif-
ficulty of falling asleep or staying asleep. Medical institutions note that
it is common for anywhere from 33% to 50% of adults to have occa-
sional insomnia. Everyone has nights of tossing and turning, particu-
larly when there is a lot on your mind. The stress and strain of juggling
schoolwork, employment, and social demands along with personal
goals and self-imposed expectations can negatively affect your sleep
pattern. If you find you cannot get to sleep, or if you wake up in the
night and can’t get back to sleep, get out of bed and develop a “sleepy
routine.” When I can’t sleep, I get up, get a warm beverage, listen to a
podcast, or read a book. If you stay in bed tossing and turning for long
periods, it can bring about chronic insomnia. Find something that is
not overly exciting, and then when you start to feel tired, head back
to bed.
There is a difference between chronic insomnia (having trouble
either falling or staying asleep for a minimum of 3 nights per week
for a minimum of 3 months) and occasional insomnia. If you have
chronic insomnia, see your health-care professional. In addition, being
fatigued during the day when you feel you are sleeping well at night
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could be a sign of conditions that require professional attention. It is

a good idea to seek appropriate treatment through health services or
your primary care provider to rule out any underlying disorders such as
sleep apnea or narcolepsy and to receive expert advice on a behavioral
approach to promote adequate sleep.
Long-Term Brain Health and Sleep

If there is one consistency across all researchers, it’s that sleep dis-
ruptions have many negative health consequences. At the University
Gronigen, Medic and colleagues looked at nearly 100 different
research papers on this topic (Medic et al., 2017). They found a
long list of factors that can contribute to sleep disruptions, many of
which are in this chapter. They also found many short-term conse-
quences, such as anxiety, mood disorders, thinking and memory defi-
cits, emotional distress, increased risk-taking behaviors, mental health
challenges, and lower school performance. Long-term consequences
included hypertension, weight-related challenges, type 2 diabetes,
and even some forms of cancer.
Given the wide range of cognitive, behavioral, and general health
consequences for poor sleep, getting an adequate amount of good
sleep is really important. You can take control of that part of your
life. Behaviors you establish right now will follow you for years. If you
identify and follow good sleep practices while you are relatively young, it
will not only stave off illness, cognitive issues, and health challenges, it
will help you increase your health throughout your life.
Chapter Summary
Researchers have been studying sleep for a very long time. Although
we don’t know why humans sleep, we know sleep is essential. That
said, many college students are sleep deprived, impacting many
aspects of life, including GPAs. Nearly everyone goes through
90-minute sleep cycles every evening, with REM and deep sleep
impacting learning. Our brains are wired to remember information
that is deemed n ecessary. Naps and restful breaks are helpful to get
out of sleep debt, provided they are either approximately 20 or 90
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202 keep it going
minutes in length. Studying all night puts you in a bad learning

situation because it is much harder to consolidate memories, and
information learned is quickly lost without sleep. Studying all night
also immediately puts you into sleep debt, which has additional
implications for learning. Several factors can create or add to sleep
debt, such as alcohol and caffeine consumption, technology, and
ingestion of certain foods before going to bed. Sodas and high-fat
foods tend to negatively impact sleep, disrupting the consolidation
of information, leading to memory loss of items the day prior. Factors
noted in this chapter that promote sleep include the bedroom
environment, a bedtime routine, physical activity, being outside, and
having a nighttime waking routine. There is a long list of negative
consequences of sleep deprivation. It is vital to stay out of sleep debt
to the greatest extent possible. Sleep is something most people do
approximately one-third of their lives. Given that time expense, it is
worth the energy to manage it the best you can.
1. Describe how a poor night of sleep impacts you the following day.
2. Do you have a time of the day when you are more cognitively
sharp than other times of the day? How might you (re)schedule
some of your responsibilities to take into account your sleep pat-
terns and cognitive peak time(s)?
3. What is your ideal amount of sleep each night? Do you hit your
ideal sleep duration on a typical weeknight? How do your sleep
patterns change on the weekend?
4. Time for a WebQuest. Go online and find a chart of typical caf-
feine amounts and see how much beverage caffeine (not counting
chocolate and foods with caffeine this time) you consume on an
average day. Mayo Clinic has a good site, and you can search under
“Caffeine content for coffee, tea, soda, and more.” What typically
makes your caffeine intake fluctuate?
5. What options exist for you to be outside during the day? If you live
in a cold climate, what options could replace being outside during
winter and help promote sleep?
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6. Do you occasionally have nights where you wake up and have

trouble falling back to sleep? If so, what routines do you have, or
could you have, to help you get back to sleep? If you do not have
difficulty falling back to sleep, what advice would you provide to
a friend who is having trouble waking and not being able to fall
back to sleep? Note: You cannot use the example from the book.
References
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11
E X E R C IS I N G TO
E N HA N C E LE A R N I N G
The benefit of exercise and the dangers of inactivity were first described
around 2,500 years ago by Hippocrates, a well-respected physician in
Ancient Greece. Many studies and articles about exercise all reach the
same overarching conclusions: Exercising is very good for you, and
inactivity is very bad for you (Ruegsegger & Booth, 2018). Human
bodies are built to move. Mark Tarnopolsky, a genetic metabolic
neurologist at McMaster University, stated that “if there were a drug
that could do for human health everything that exercise can, it would
likely be the most valuable pharmaceutical ever developed” (Oaklander,
2016, para. 7). Unfortunately, many people don’t appreciate the impact
of regular physical activity, including how critical it is for learning and
memory. According to the CDC (2021), three out of every four adults
in the United States do not reach the minimum guidelines for aerobic
and muscle-strengthening exercises. The good news is that you can
adopt a lifelong pattern right now. Researchers have noted that 80% to
85% of adults maintain the physical activity patterns they established
as a student in their senior year of college (Sparling, 2003). That means
college is the perfect time to establish a solid exercise routine.
207
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208 keep it going
General Health Benefits of Physical Activity

Engaging in regular exercise can help maintain a healthy weight;
enhance your mood; lower your cholesterol; strengthen bones and
improve balance; and lower the risk of some types of cancer, arthritis,
and type 2 diabetes (CDC, 2021)! It will even help you sleep better,
give you glowing skin, and spark your sex life. This is not a sales pitch
or “too good to be true”: It’s the way the human body is designed. You
just need to get into the habit of a regular exercise program.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS,
2018) recommends at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic activ-
ity or 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity each week, or some
combination of the two. This could be a 30-minute brisk walk every
morning or evening. If you have been living a sedentary life and have
not been exercising, you may not be able to do a 30-minute brisk
walk right away. That’s okay—start with 5 or 10 minutes and work
your way up. If that is your situation, you are not alone. The CDC
notes that just a bit over 22% of Americans are inactive (no exercise
other than their job for the past 30 days). The really unfortunate news
is that we are instilling very bad habits in our children. In 2016 Health
News reported that for children and activity levels, the United States
ranked 47th out of 50 countries studied (Feller, 2016). It is easy to
fall into a sedentary life; unfortunately, a sedentary life is a worst-case
health scenario. Physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for
death worldwide (NCC, 2016). The good news is that just 1 hour of
moderate-intensity physical activity per week lowers this risk (DHHS,
2018). Just 1 hour per week!
Along with aerobic exercise, it is also recommended that you do
strength training for all major muscle groups at least two times per
week. If you have not been exercising or are thinking about increasing
your exercise routine, it is always a good idea to check with your pri-
mary care provider. There are many options when it comes to aerobic
activity. Anything that raises your heart rate and keeps it in a training
zone will work, whether that is a very brisk walk, mowing your yard,
or joining friends for a pickup game of basketball, volleyball, or soc-
cer. For more information about appropriate target heart rates, see the
CDC’s guide on target heart rates (CDCP, 2020).
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exercising to enhance learning 209
Not being able to find time to exercise is a primary reason for

not being physically active. It can happen to any of us. Not long ago,
I was living a sedentary life. Then I decided I wanted to be part of
the 78% of the people exercising and not in the group of 22% lying
about feeling sluggish. I know you may be saying you have no time
to exercise. There are so many things that just need to be done. That
was me as well. Then I did something that helped me get started in a
regular physical activity schedule. I set a goal of walking 30 minutes
three times a week. To find time to walk, I collected some data. Across
3 days, I wrote down what I spent my time doing each day, all day. I
then looked at the list carefully for things I was doing that were more
important than living a healthy life, or even living. That made it rela-
tively easy to choose something I could reduce or even stop to carve
out the 30 minutes for walking three times a week. Seriously, once you
have a list that shows what you are doing, most people can find 30
minutes. If you struggle because you are tired, a 30-minute walk may
well energize you. So I carved out the time and committed to walking,
which led to feeling better, which led to more exercise time.
Multiple studies indicate that regular physical activity makes
physiological changes in your body that will help you learn faster and
remember longer and that students who exercise do better academi-
cally (Prina, 2014). This is one of the best ways to learn in harmony
with your brain.
Basic Brain Structures and Processes

When you engage in activity that raises your heart rate, a host of
things happen in your brain. Oxygen levels increase, blood flow
increases, hormones are released, and even new connections between
cells are stimulated. How all this happens is a complex interplay of
structures and processes that are studied in neuroscience and well
beyond the scope of this book. In this section we will simplify, with
minimal neuroscience jargon, six items you will repeatedly see in any
discussion about the impact of exercise on learning and memory: the
prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, brain-derived neurotrophic factor
(BDNF), neurotransmitters, synapses, and neurons.
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210 keep it going
Prefrontal Cortex
Remember in chapter 4 when you put your two fists together to get
a sense of the size of your brain? There is a wrinkly outside layer of
the brain. Those wrinkles provide extra surface area. If you spread
out the cortex, each hemisphere would be about the size of a medium
pizza and the thickness of about two stacked dimes, on average. Your
cortex contains about 15 billion of the 86 billion neurons in your
brain and is responsible for important areas related to learning, such
as attention, thinking, and memory. The prefrontal cortex is the
front of your brain, right at your forehead. This part of your cortex
is p
rimarily responsible for complex thinking, decision-making, and
social behavior.
Hippocampus
The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, which regulates
emotional state and is the organ directly responsible for learning. Its
performance can improve or decline over time. Your hippocampus
(or more appropriately hippocampi, because you have two of them)
is located deep in your brain. The word hippocampus is derived from
the Greek word that means “sea horse” because the hippocampus is
shaped almost exactly like a sea horse. The hippocampus coordinates
with multiple areas of the brain and is critical in forming long-term
memories, consolidating memories, creating long-term potentia-
tion (automaticity), and retrieving memories (Tyng et al., 2017). If
one hippocampus is damaged, the other can usually still manage.
However, if both are damaged (e.g., by injury, alcoholism, a stroke,
or a degenerative genetic disease), it may not be possible to form any
new memories. This is also one of the first places in the brain that
is damaged by the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of
dementia, which is why short-term memory loss is one of the first
symptoms noticed in those conditions.
Anything that positively impacts the hippocampus, such as exercise,
will directly and positively impact learning and memory. Brain scans
show that when individuals exercise, their hippocampus is very active.
Conversely, a sedentary lifestyle negatively impacts the hippocampus
and, therefore, makes learning and memory more difficult.
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Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is a molecule in the family
of neurotrophins. These molecules are located throughout the brain,
primarily in the hippocampus, but also to some extent in other organs
(even the liver). BDNF is critical in forming consolidated memories
to be stored for long periods. It provides the tools needed for synapses
to collect information, process information, match it to an appropri-
ate schema, and store it in a way that can be recalled later (Miranda
et al., 2019). BDNF is impacted by environmental actions, mean-
ing you can take action to directly alter the levels of BDNF in your
brain. Increased levels of BDNF translate directly to better learning. As
BDNF is critical in learning and memory, you must have as much as
possible. Reduced levels of BDNF actually impair learning (Erickson
et al., 2013). With increased physical activity, you increase levels of
BDNF, which makes learning easier. It’s like fertilizing a plant. Sure,
the plant will grow with decent soil and water (not actively generating
BDNF through exercise), but with the proper fertilizer (exercising to
increase levels of BDNF), the plant thrives, and flowers bloom. Most
people don’t understand the importance of exercise on learning, but
you do now, and you want to cultivate and create the best conditions
to support and enhance learning.
Study Tip 11.1: Aerobic exercise like fast walking or running is consist-
ently associated with enhanced learning; just increase your heart rate.
Neurons, Synapses, and Neurotransmitters

Neurons are specialized cells that transmit information throughout the
body. They range from a tiny fraction of an inch to about three feet
long and comprise your nervous system. They are found throughout
the body, but the bulk of them are in your brain. Neurons have a par-
ticular way to send information to quickly manage whatever response
is needed. Each neuron has up to 10 thousand synapses, a tiny gap of
about 1 millionth of an inch between neurons that allows neurons to
send signals when needed.
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212 keep it going
Information is received at one end of the neuron from sensory

information, such as touch, smell, or light. When there is enough
information, the neuron “fires,” meaning it sends a signal down to the
other end. A neurotransmitter is released when the signal gets to the
end of the neuron, floats across the synapse, and then plugs into special
slots on the next neuron when the neurotransmitter is released. When
enough neurotransmitters are received, the receiving neuron fires. This
process of neurons and synapses allows for adaptions between connec-
tions and whole new connections between neurons, creating new path-
ways for learning. It allows our brains to adapt continually depending
on our needs. Whether you read a lot, use your hands a lot, think a lot,
or play a sport a lot, new neurons and connections can be created to
facilitate your specific needs.
There are about 100 different neurotransmitters in your brain.
Each is somewhat specialized but can have several functions. Some
regulate mood, others stimulate appetite, and others reduce activity to
keep you from getting jittery. The primary neurotransmitters for learn-
ing (Sheffler et al., 2021) include the following:
•• acetylcholine, promotes the formation and consolidation of

memories
•• glutamate, helps modify synapses as the memory-storage elements
of the brain
•• dopamine, reinforces learning
•• norepinephrine, vital for focus and attention
•• histamine, mediates wakefulness and motivation
Effects of Long-Term Exercise on Learning

Published work regarding the importance of exercise in memory dates
back well over 100 years (The Washington Post, 1903). Many stud-
ies show the positive impact of regular physical activity on learning,
memory, and cognition. For example, the American Psychological
Association (APA) published an article on exercise and fitness, point-
ing out many positive aspects of exercise on the human body, including
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increased blood flow to the brain, which in turn increases thinking and
energy levels. Studies in the APA review also show that brains of regu-
lar exercisers have more blood at rest than non-exercisers. Regular exer-
cisers also have better episodic memory, the memory system that relates
to “episodes” in our lives of people, places, and events. Last but not
least, studies show that as people age, active people maintain cognitive
functioning more than sedentary people (APA, 2020).
Wendy Suzuki, a professor of neuroscience at New York University,
was so intrigued by the power of exercise that she changed her line
of research to focus on the impact of exercise on mood, learning,
memory, and cognition. Suzuki has a TED Talk (see Figure 11.1),
The Brain-Changing Benefits of Exercise, with 7.7 million views where
she explains that as she started to exercise, she realized her long-term
memory was getting better, her attention was getting better, and her
mood was improving (TED, 2018). Suzuki notes that when you exer-
cise regularly, you grow new brain cells in the hippocampus and pre-
frontal cortex. She explains that you can even increase the size of the
hippocampus through regular exercise. In addition to the hippocam-
pus, the prefrontal cortex also benefits from regular physical activity.
Unfortunately, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s attack these
areas specifically, and the damage is permanent. However, with regular
exercise, the changes that happen in your brain can protect you from
these and other incurable diseases. In other words, you can’t fix the
damage to your brain once it happens, but exercise will decrease the
probability that the damage will occur to start with (Suzuki, 2018).
Figure 11.1. QR code for “Wendy Suzuki: The Brain-Changing Benefits of
Exercise.”
Note. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHY0 FxzoKZE
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214 keep it going
Another area of significant research in many countries is school-

based physical activity. For just one example, Mura and colleagues
(2015) at the University of Cagliari looked at 28 school-based physical
Study Tip 11.2: Schedule your exercise and most challenging learn-
ing together. Exercise and then study within 2 hours to maximize
learning.
activity interventions in Italy with students aged 3 to 18 years old.

Every study found that positive cognitive and academic outcomes
increased significantly as a result of physical activity. Programs that
took time away from physical education and recess and spent more
time studying for state assessment tests typically found that scores
decreased. The individuals responsible for those decisions failed to
realize that exercise and movement have a strong positive impact on
learning and memory, plus healthy outcomes and instilling a pattern
of physical activity that may last a lifetime. For an extreme example of
positive outcomes from a schoolwide physical activity program, see the
case study from Naperville, Illinois, in Box 11.1.
Sustained exercise programs do all kinds of great things for your
brain. BDNF (the molecule in the brain [neurotransmitter] that is
directly responsible for learning) is stimulated in the hippocampus
BOX 11.1
Naperville High School Case Study
Administrators at Naperville High school implemented a vigor-
ous program designed to get students physically active. Instead
of increasing seat time and having students study more, they real-
ized that fitness and classroom learning were interdependent and
believed that exercise would lead to short- and long-term academic
benefits. Students took a physical activity class just before their
first period (the “zero-hour”), a reading literacy class. The positive
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effects of the physical exercise program on the reading literacy class

were so profound that they renamed the physical education time to
“Learning Readiness P.E.” Some questioned whether the physical
education class immediately before the literacy course was benefi-
cial or whether the exercise program was just beneficial in general.
It turns out that some of the students had to take reading literacy
later in the day, and students who had reading literacy just after
exercise demonstrated about twice the improvement as those with a
several-hour gap between exercise and the reading class. The school
instituted a Learning Readiness P.E. class just before the afternoon
reading literacy course, and the scores in those classes went up as
well. By the end of the year, the students in the afternoon literacy
course had the same reading level as the morning literacy course.
The results were not due to exercise alone, but rather exercise before
learning (Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, 2007).
John Ratey (2013), a doctor working at the Harvard Medical
School, turned the Naperville experiment into a case study for his
book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain.
The Naperville students did not just raise their reading scores fol-
lowing the introduction of the zero-hour exercise class. The students
also significantly increased their scores on the Trends in Interna-
tional Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test. This is a test
for which average U.S. schools struggle to get into the top 10 coun-
tries. In 1999, eighth graders from Naperville finished first in the
world in science and sixth in the world in math (Ratey, 2013). Ratey
also noted a 66% decline in behavioral problems, which is consistent
with every study involving exercise in that it helps with focus, mood,
and attention. For the students at Naperville High School, having a
class right after exercise caused all sorts of learning gains.
and other areas, enhancing the learning process. The more BDNF a
brain has, the more learning can occur. Additional neurotransmitters
(acetylcholine, glutamate, dopamine, and norepinephrine) are also
produced. Overall, thinking and memory are positively impacted to
the point that sustained exercise is one of the best things you can do
to help you think more clearly, learn faster, and remember longer. The
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216 keep it going
next time someone asks you what you are working on at the fitness
center, instead of “leg day,” tell them you are working on your prefrontal
cortex and hippocampus.
Effects of Short-Term Exercise on Learning

You don’t have to exercise for hours on end to see results. Studies
have consistently shown increases in attention, working memory,
and problem-solving after single, light to vigorous, 1-hour exercise
session (Chang et al., 2012). In another study, participants who ran
learned a vocabulary task 20% faster than a control group that did
not exercise. The participants in the high-impact running condition
also showed increased production of BDNF, which is always a good
thing. Remember, the more BDNF in the brain, the more you can
learn. In a systematic review of 28 studies investigating the impact
of exercise on learning, Garcia-Suárez and colleagues from Mexico,
Costa Rica, and Alabama noted that averaged across studies, a signifi-
cant amount of BDNF was produced in the hippocampus after just
one session of moderate and high-intensity exercise (Garcia-Suárez
et al., 2021).
Basso and Suzuki (2017), researchers at the Center for Neural
Science at New York University, found that aerobic activity increases
levels of neurotransmitters, particularly dopamine, and growth factors
in the hippocampus. The change suggests an improvement in long-
term memories, recall of information, and reward-based learning (like
hitting a new exercise goal). A single workout will improve the ability
to shift and focus attention for at least 2 hours (Basso & Suzuki, 2017).
Ideally, you will be studying no more than 2 hours after exercise to take
advantage of these benefits.
In another study, Li, a researcher at the Ministry of Education
in Shanghai, China, and colleagues studied exercise among college-
aged women (Li et al., 2014). The researchers reported that a single
20-minute workout significantly impacted brain activity associated
with working memory. Although the best health outcomes result from
sustained exercise over a long time, many studies, like the ones in
this section, show that a single exercise session benefits learning and
memory areas in the human brain. In other words, there are specific
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benefits from each exercise session in addition to the long-term cumu-

lative effect of exercise.
Timing of Exercise and Learning

Multiple researchers have shown a temporal effect of physical activity.
In other words, when you exercise has an impact on how well you learn.
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University found
that BDNF levels increased during a cognitive task only when the task
was preceded by physical activity (Nilsson et al., 2016). There is value
in exercising right before learning. Conversely, there is no—or at least,
less—value in exercising right after learning. A team of researchers in
the Netherlands tested participants’ recall of images if they exercised
immediately after seeing the images or waited 4 hours to exercise after
seeing the images (van Dongen et al., 2014). Compared to a control
group, there was no increase in recall for those who exercised immedi-
ately after seeing the photos, but there was a considerable increase in
recall for those who waited 4 hours to exercise. The researchers sug-
gested that this finding is a result of the consolidation factors dopa-
mine, noradrenaline, and BDNF as well as increased hippocampus
activity. Overall, research indicates it is best to exercise no more than
2 hours before learning or, if the exercise is after learning, it is best to
wait about 4 hours after studying.
Therapeutic Exercises
Benefits aren’t limited to aerobic exercise. Several physical activities
have demonstrated benefits to the learning process. Whether you
prefer a less vigorous exercise or you are differently abled, and find
vigorous exercise a challenge, therapeutic exercises are a great alterna-
tive. Therapeutic exercises are those that help the individual focus, use
core muscles, develop strength, or quiet the mind. They can include
resistance bands, balance ball chairs, pedal exercisers, meditation,
walking, yoga, tai chi, and a host of other potential activities. Walking
and yoga/tai chi are discussed more in depth in the following sections.
Keep your primary learning goals in mind and identify whether you
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218 keep it going
notice a difference after engaging in these activities. For example, you

may find that a stability ball chair helps you focus, or perhaps a medi-
tation session quiets your mind to allow you to process course content
more readily. If you realize a benefit and there are no ill effects, then to
me, it seems worth a try.
Walking
Walking has many positive outcomes, including increasing fitness and
enhancing mood, creativity, and cognitive functioning while lower-
ing risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes (DHHS, 2018). Erickson
(2013) noted that walking at least 1 mile per day at an increased heart
rate changes the brain and has also been associated with an increased
hippocampus and prefrontal cortex size. In one study, all participants
who walked outside could generate high-quality, creative answers to
a test question, versus half of those who remained seated inside, and
those who walked indoors on a treadmill scored 60% higher on a test
than those who remained seated (Wong, 2014). Walking is also an
excellent way to get started moving if you have not exercised in a long
time. The CDC also notes that there are many significant health ben-
efits for individuals who are overweight, independent of any weight
loss (DHHS, 2018).
Low-Impact, Nonaerobic Therapeutic Exercise

Rogge and colleagues from the University of Hamburg and Friedrich
Schiller University collaborated to study the impact of systematic
balance training on memory in adult participants (Rogge et al.,
2017). They found that after 3 months of training, both memory
and spatial cognition of participants improved. Researchers at the
University of South Florida collaborated with Fudan University in
Shanghai to study the impact of tai chi, walking, and social inter-
action on the brain (Mortimer, 2012). One hundred and twenty
seniors were randomly assigned to a regular tai chi class, a walk-
ing group, a social group, or a control group (no interventions) for
40 weeks. MRI scans showed brain volume increases in the tai chi
and social groups, and the individuals who participated in tai chi
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outperformed all other groups on memory tests. Finally, Brunner

and colleagues at Texas State University, San Marcos, studied the
impact of weekly hourlong yoga sessions on cognition (Brunner
et al., 2017). University students participated in the sessions for
6 weeks, along with a 10-minute guided meditation each session,
and the researchers reported improvement in working memory func-
tioning and attentive mindfulness as a result. Harvard Health (2021)
confirms this finding, reporting that yoga improved cognitive skills
associated with learning and memory and that those who practice
yoga and meditation may enhance mental acuity.
Chapter Summary
Exercise impacts many aspects of the learning process. These include
attention, encoding, consolidation, and automaticity. Although there
are many health-related benefits to exercising, nearly three out of four
adults in the United States do not engage in regular physical activity.
As we have seen, exercise physically impacts the brain, including the
prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, BDNF, neurotransmitters, and syn-
apses. When these structures are changed, they directly impact learn-
ing, as demonstrated by a wide variety of studies looking at the impact
of long-term exercise patterns. One-shot exercise programs can also
bring about physiological changes in the brain that support learn-
ing, memory, or cognition. All exercise is beneficial, but researchers
find that exercising directly before a learning episode or 4 hours after
the learning seems ideal. Therapeutic exercises tend not to have an
impact on neurotransmitters, the hippocampus, and the frontal lobe,
but learners benefit from enhanced mood, creativity, and attention.
There are many benefits to being physically active, and the patterns
you set now will likely determine the rest of your life. By adhering
to exercise, you are changing your life and making learning easier.
Consider timing and intensity as possible options for even greater
gains. If you are not physically active, there is no better time to start
than now. Not only will exercise make it easier for you to learn, it will
improve your quality of life.
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220 keep it going
1. If you engage in regular physical exercise, briefly describe the exer-
cise, why you prefer this exercise, and what you see as the primary
outcome of exercising regularly. If you do not engage in physical
activity regularly, what are your primary reasons for not doing so?
Explain what would motivate you to get started and maintain an
exercise routine.
2. Watch Dr. Suzuki’s TED talk. Describe the major points you
learned from this talk. What information surprised you the most?
3. Why is it important to study one-shot or very brief exercise pro-
grams? Explain what you believe is gained by studying these brief
exercise findings.
4. Beyond what you’ve learned in this chapter, what do you think
might contribute to learning when you attend a course or informa
tion is presented relatively soon after exercise? Think about the
case at Naperville. Why would students who struggle in reading
end up doing so well in those courses right after exercising?
5. Suppose you were required to take one course that emphasizes a
therapeutic exercise. Which of the following would you choose
as the focus for the course: Brisk Walking, Yoga, Tai Chi, Balance
Training, or Pilates? Explain your choice and what learning ben-
efits you might expect to see.
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12
B E I N G A N E F F E C T IV E
G R O U P LE AD E R /ME MB E R
Most books written for students that discuss groups talk about being
an effective group leader. I thought about that for a long time. In the
end, I decided we need both effective leaders and members in order
to have effective groups. As a result, this chapter is for those who
desire a better experience working in semester-long intact groups.
That said, there are many suggestions for those who desire to lead.
Many of the suggestions are also suitable for short-term projects. This
is all-important, because being an effective group member is critical
in today’s world. As a result, most students are assigned group projects
throughout their entire educational experience. Unfortunately, doing
a task the same way repeatedly does not broaden skills; it just solidifies
the repeated routine action.
Without guidance or preparation, group work is often an
unsatisfying and negative experience, as you have already experienced.
Researchers from the University of Central Oklahoma and Angelo State
University surveyed students and found that although students had an
overall negative view of group projects, they saw value in learning to
work in groups and indicated that professors should teach students
to work well in groups (Ludlum et al., 2021). Others have reached
224
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 224 30-05-2022 13:13:24

being an effective group leader/member 225
these same findings (e.g., Hillyard et al., 2010). It is important to

note that, done well, group work can be pleasant and is undeni-
ably a valuable educational experience, particularly for marginalized
groups. For example, Linda Hodges (2018) at the University of
Maryland, Baltimore County, found that structured groups helped
all students, particularly first-generation college students, Black
students, economically disadvantaged students, and educationally
disadvantaged students.
Interestingly, students are taught things like the scientific method,
how to write research papers, and how to use the library. It would be
helpful if faculty added effective group work skills to this list. Some
faculty do teach this skill, but, unfortunately, most do not—prob-
ably because they assume that by now you have learned how to work
in groups. I hope this chapter provides foundational information to
establish or expand on your group work skills.
Benefits of Group Work

Teamwork is a critical soft skill to develop during college. Eighty-one
percent of job recruiters cite working in a team as a top-of-the-list
attribute in job applicants, whereas less than 60% screen college grads
based on GPA (Koncz & Gray, 2021). Think for a moment about why
employers want employees with good skills with respect to working in
teams. A well-organized team can accomplish amazing outcomes by
bringing together individuals with different perspectives. Therefore,
recruiters are always looking for people with those skills.
Develop Soft Skills

Soft skills are essential for thriving professionals. What is the difference
between hard skills and soft skills? Hard skills are the specific behaviors
needed to do a job (e.g., bookkeeping, sales, surgical proficiency, com-
puter programming, and analytical skills). They are also often referred
to as job-dependent skills. These skills constitute the content of job
training programs.
Soft skills, unlike specific psychomotor or cognitive tasks, refer to
areas such as creativity, adaptability, collaboration, communication,
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226 keep it going
interpersonal communication, and persuasion. Employers now know

that although hard skills are needed to get a job done, soft skills are
needed to advance an organization. Working effectively in teams is an
excellent way to build your soft skills.
Incorporate Diverse Perspectives

Let’s face it: Sometimes, it is just easier to do a task alone rather than
having a group of people come together to complete it. Unfortunately,
when we do a task alone, only one perspective is represented. I have
no idea how often I have come up with a brilliant idea, only to have
a teammate point out a flaw that I should have caught but didn’t.
Incorporating diverse perspectives is one of my top reasons group pro-
jects are so important. As discussed in chapter 1, diverse perspectives
create more substantial outcomes. Admittedly, it has to be a good team
that works well together. That is the point of this chapter, how to build
good teams and be successful in groups.
Complete Large or Complex Projects

Individuals working well together as a group complete more extensive
and complex projects than individuals can working independently.
Teams create a synergy that generates more ideas than each individual
could alone. There are also typical ebbs and flows in an individual’s
contributions. When a team works together, if one person slows for a
bit or gets ill for a few days, the team can continue to make progress.
Group cohesiveness is based on coordination, interdependency, and
striving for team goals over individual agendas. When those factors are
present, it is incredible what a team can accomplish.
If your group is allowed to select the topic, make it as applied
as possible, and something that, if done successfully, could be noted
on the résumés of each group or team member. Your group will put
a lot of work into the project, and your role within the group and
the importance of a team working well together is something that
you will be able to refer to in future interviews. For example, sup-
pose you are taking a course that includes a section on community
health. Your project could be to work with a homeless shelter regard-
ing better food security or processes to make shelters safer for women.
After graduation, when an interviewer asks you to “talk about a time
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that you led a group to a positive outcome,” there is an answer right

there. If you participate in applied and relevant group projects in your
undergraduate experience, you can list them on a résumé. Some of
those 81% of job recruiters who have team work on the top of their
list of desirable qualities will be interested in such experiences.
Inventory Your Strengths and Challenges

Before working in a group, it is good to get a sense of your strengths
and challenges. What do you bring to the group? What are areas in
which you struggle? When the group first forms, you can select tasks
and roles congruent with your skills or alternatively decide to take on
a role where you can enhance less established skills or develop entirely
new skills. For example, if you enjoy and want to strengthen your writ-
ten communication, volunteer to be the notetaker for the meetings
and work on new ways to make notes more effective.
Study Tip 12.1: Use your strength as a base and build out into
other areas. Growing requires strong footing.
Similarly, if you struggle with research and finding information,

you could agree to be one of the subgroup members who looks for
information about the group topic. For online, asynchronous courses
it is particularly important to identify the group members with project
tracking skills, as online courses take a great deal of planning, and it is
easy for tasks to drop off the radar.
Get to Know Group Members

As you will be working together for an extended time, it is helpful
to learn some things about one another that can benefit the team.
Groups who know and trust each other often become powerful
collaborators.
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228 keep it going
Introductions and Icebreakers

At the group’s first meeting, suggest that individuals take a few min-
utes and introduce themselves. This can be relatively fast and may
include sharing something to see yourselves as a team. Your name,
major, favorite academic area (may hint at who will be helpful at
what!), and a hobby are good prompts. If you are in an asynchronous
course, it is beneficial to set up a time to meet virtually to get to know
one another. Try to avoid collaborating only through a discussion
board or email chain, at least for the first meeting. Human connec-
tion is critical.
If you feel an icebreaker (or warm-up) would be helpful, search the
Web for a good option. There are many from which to choose. Good
icebreakers pertain to the group or the activity. If your group is doing a
project on the natural wonders of the world, you could ask individuals
to share their favorite trip and why. Do keep in mind that not everyone
likes icebreakers (Mather, 2020) and that the icebreakers are better
when they have a purpose (Dixon, 2016). Take time to explain why
you are using the icebreaker you chose. A final consideration: Avoid
getting too personal. “What is something you have never told anyone?”
is a poor choice. If someone has a secret they have never told anyone, a
group of strangers is not a healthy place to do that. Remember that the
individuals have just met, and trust has not yet been built. Trust isn’t
gained from sharing personal information; you share personal infor-
mation once trust is established.
Commitment to the Project

This may feel a bit awkward, but it is important to get a sense of the
commitment of each group member. Everyone should be honest with
the group about what they need or want from this project. Just want-
ing a C to pass the course is different than wanting an A for graduate
school, but both positions may well be appropriate for each of those
two students. This is a good discussion to have right away. It can get
tricky if you wait until the team is working on the final report.
Competing Demands
It is essential to get a sense of who has competing responsibilities
inside and outside of academics. Information about responsibilities
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such as a small child, a job, or volunteer obligations will help as you

schedule meeting times and task due dates. In addition, for online
students, a group member may have caretaking responsibilities or live
in an environment where the noise level fluctuates. Understanding
these limitations allows your group to select a time that works best
for each student.
Clarify Intended Project Goal

Once group members have gotten to know each other a bit, it is time
to shift to the work at hand. Pull up the assignment and talk it through
as a group:
•• How will the work be graded?

•• What options are there for the final project (e.g., paper,
presentation)?
•• When is the project due?
•• How must information be submitted (e.g., there may be a
presentation, but also a summary paper)?
•• To what extent is it acceptable to ask the faculty member questions
or for input during the semester?
•• Can you submit draft material for a cursory read with no grade to
ensure the group is going in the right direction?
Once the scope of the project is determined, develop an outline and

establish some SMART goals to help keep to the plan (see pp. 47–50
in this book for a refresher). The outline can change, but it’s impor-
tant to start with a shared vision. SMART subgoals will minimize
misunderstandings. These are important because individuals can per-
ceive “soon” to mean the next day or within a month.
Facilitate Group Processes

Tuckman (1965), a psychologist at Ohio State University, created a
model of five stages that nearly all groups go through: forming, storming,
norming, performing, and adjourning. These stages are also a pplicable
to small-group, semester-long projects (Cresswell-Yeager, 2020). In the
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230 keep it going
forming stage, the group members get to know each other, learning
boundaries and expectations. A good leader in this phase makes sure
task expectations are clearly laid out, and, most importantly, checks in
with and listens to each group member. In the storming stage, conflicts
appear, and there may be a leadership challenge. This is natural and, if
appropriately managed, can be navigated. During this step, focus on
support, respect, and communication. Encourage group members to
focus on the progress being made and to let go of minor problems. The
next stage is norming, during which conflicts generally resolve, and
members feel that their work is respected and contributing to progress.
The next stage is performing, where the group gets productive. Each
team member should be recognized for their contribution, and note
how their work moves the group ahead. Tuckman and Jensen (1977)
later added the adjourning stage, providing guidance for bringing a
sense of closure to the group. The adjourning stage is a time for group
members to celebrate the work done, recognize each member’s contri-
butions, and reflect on what was learned along the way.
Keep in mind that not all groups go through all stages, but behav-
iors associated with the stages are helpful to anticipate if you are lead-
ing a group, so you can recognize them as they emerge. If you are a
group member with someone else as a leader, knowing these stages is
helpful for you to assist the leader.
How the Group Will Be Led

After the introductions, confirmation of the task at hand, and the
other steps to set the group up to work, the next task is to decide how
the group will be led. Different situations call for different structures
and arrangements. A leader may be the way to go, or the group mem-
bers may divide up the activities and get to work without a specific
leadership role. The important thing here is to have a conversation to
determine what is best for the group.
How Decisions Will Be Made

As you decide how the group will be led, consider how the group will
make decisions. The two most common decision-making strategies are
voting and consensus. For either approach, agree as soon as possible
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regarding how decisions will be finalized. If voting, many groups use

a simple majority, but you could also require a higher percentage to
“pass” a proposal (e.g., four out of five members must agree).
Another approach commonly used is consensus, which is reaching
a conclusion through a discussion process and a general agreement of
all members. Consensus involves discussing and modifying what is at
issue until everyone in the group agrees to a given action plan to reach
specific outcomes. The advantage of this process is that everyone’s ideas
are considered, and each member agrees with the action plan. The dis-
advantage is that it can take extra time, and goals and desired outcomes
can become muddled as the proposed course of action is reworked to
get everyone’s agreement.
Brainstorm Ideas for Consideration

Brainstorming is a great way to get started on the project. The first
step is to review the overall goal or what the faculty member for the
course expects from your group. Once you have the problem or goal
laid out, the next step is to generate possible ways to approach the
task. It is helpful to allow a bit of time for individuals to write down
ideas independently. Next, share ideas with the group and generate
as many additional options as possible. Remember that this is not a
competition. There are many different lived experiences, and although
some may know more than others at the start, it may well be that a
person who knew the least had a new and valuable perspective on the
situation. Remember that the idea is to generate ideas for the group
to consider. One of the most common errors during brainstorming is
to rule out ideas as they are presented. This is not the time to evalu-
ate ideas. Once the group has listed all items they can think of, then
narrow the list of ideas. Discuss which look most promising, which
might be modified, and which should be discarded. From here, make
an action plan.
Proceed With Work

Once you have a plan, it is time to consider implementing it. Some
groups divide tasks, head out to do their individual pieces, and then
assemble the final product as a group. That is certainly a process, but
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232 keep it going
it is not the only option, nor is it considered a cohesive group strategy.

Effective group work is about working together and learning from the
experience. A better strategy is to identify subgroups to work on differ-
ent project parts and report back to the overall team. If possible, shift
team members or tasks to understand what is going on in other project
parts. It is also helpful to have review teams quickly look over a com-
pleted task. For example, when the review of the research is completed,
a review pair could look at what was found and review the literature
quickly to see if anything new emerges.
Review teams can identify what might have been overlooked (e.g.,
a mistake in a literature review or a missed follow-up in community
outreach) as well as celebrate other teams’ accomplishments (e.g.,
developed working tracking system, made a community connection).
Keep everyone up to date and keep a backup of all your action
items by posting work in a shared location. This allows for team mem-
bers to rotate tasks, provides coverage if a member has an emergency,
and addresses other unanticipated problems.
Finding the Time to Meet

Scheduling meetings is a challenge. Everyone juggles responsibilities
inside and outside academia (e.g., jobs, caretaking, other courses,
volunteering). Scheduling meetings well in advance, on a regular
basis (e.g., every other Tuesday), and scheduling more meetings than
you think you’ll need are two strategies used by successful leaders.
Emphasize individuals doing their work, showing up to meetings
online or in person, and being productive. Suggest you will cancel
unnecessary meetings as the group accomplishes specific tasks. If you
do need the time, particularly just before the project is due, you’ve
already got it blocked off in your members’ calendars.
Group Updates and Check-Ins

At each meeting, check on progress and your timeline. It is also valu-
able for the group leader to check in on group members between
meetings to see how work is progressing and whether roadblocks or
barriers have arisen. If there is a challenge, it may be possible to
immediately bring it up to the group and work toward a solution
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 232 30-05-2022 13:13:24

rather than wait for the next meeting. If there is no single group
leader, then pairs can be formed to check in on one another. This is
particularly important for online courses, as it is easy for time to slip
between meetings.
Set Ground Rules for the Group

I believe the best way to approach any group project is to assume that
everyone wants to be effective collaborative colleagues. Talk briefly
about past group experiences, what has worked well for each person,
and what has not. Life sometimes gets in the way of meetings or com-
pleting tasks; do your best to show grace toward that person because
we all have issues and challenges we are facing on any given day. If a
team member needs support, provide it. That said, it is always a good
idea to set ground rules for any class or group.
Online courses typically focus on netiquette and proper ways to
post items in a discussion thread. Synchronous courses have ground
rules for whether cameras need to be on, taking turns speaking, and
what is appropriate to post in the chat. On-site courses may focus on
being on time, being respectful to colleagues who do not agree with
your views, and the policy on makeup exams. The following are a few
more general areas in which you might consider having ground rules
for your group.
What If Someone Doesn’t Do Their Work?

This is a crucial group discussion as it’s common for people to fall
behind for any number of reasons. Start with a quick conversation
between the leader and the group member who isn’t completing the
work and find the root cause of the behavior (O’Hara, 2017). They
may have a sick child, their car may not run, they might not under-
stand how to do the work, or they might simply not want to do the
work. You won’t know unless you talk to the person.
Other group members can often help pick up a bit of work for
a person with an issue, but the person missing the work will need to
make up for what was missed, not simply continue with others doing
the work for them. Before there is an issue, identify a group policy
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 233 30-05-2022 13:13:24

234 keep it going
on handling a situation should a person not complete the work they

agreed to do. One of the most important things I have figured out in
my leadership roles is that it is always better to develop a rule or policy
before you need it. If you come up with a policy or rule because of a
group member, it will become personal.
What If Someone Misses a Meeting?

There are valid reasons to miss meetings, but members are still respon-
sible for the work they promised to do or are assigned to do. Shared
project management trackers or calendars are beneficial in this situa-
tion. The person who missed the meeting can send a status report of
their work to the group, read notes from the meeting, and do whatever
action items were assigned. Set reminders for group meetings, share a
work calendar within the LMS, and message an absent member dur-
ing or immediately after the meeting to ensure their well-being and
clarify how the missed work will be shared. Recurrent absences must
be addressed; the group leader can privately and constructively address
the behavior. It may be necessary to revisit meeting times to accommo-
date new demands. Being a functional team means joint responsibility
and holding each other accountable. Practicing and developing asser-
tive, open communication is as valuable as completing the content of
the project.
Your instructor may have a policy in place for how to handle a
group member who stops communicating with the group, stops com-
ing to meetings, or continuously shows up with no work completed. If
there is no such policy, it may work well to ask your professor to come
up with such a policy to assist group accountability.
How to Ensure All Voices Are Heard

Another ground rule for the group may be to affirm that all voices
matter and everyone will be heard. Build opportunities for everyone
to speak and consider all ideas. Too much of higher education is built
for fast-talking, risk-taking, loud extroverts. There is nothing wrong
with being any one—or all—of these things. But others should also
be given an opportunity to speak and be heard. It is well worth your
time to research reflective and active listening. It will help you be an
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 234 30-05-2022 13:13:24

Figure 12.1. QR code for “Celeste Headlee: 10 Ways to Have a Better

Conversation.”
Note. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1vskiVDwl4
excellent group leader or group member and help you throughout life.
Osten (2016) notes that only about 10% of people listen effectively;
most are looking for an opportunity to jump in and offer advice or
turn the conversation to themselves. Celeste Headlee has an excellent
TED Talk (see Figure 12.1) on listening (TED, 2016). It is possible
to learn how to be a better listener. By practicing the art of listening,
you’ll stand out among a sea of poor listeners.
Addressing Group Conflicts

Some amount of disharmony is almost inevitable. However, if the group
openly discusses issues with one another and uses reflective listening,
conflicts should be minimal. Expressing differences need not be divi-
sive; there is nothing wrong with disagreements. After all, our goal as
educated people is to talk about different perspectives and learn from
one another. Group work is about building social skills, understanding
each other, and making a great product, so there can be a healthy dis-
cussion when members disagree. When disagreement escalates to con-
flict, personal jabs can occur, and conversation breaks down. Once two
parties dig in and emotion escalates, they feel alienated, and dialogue is
typically over. Understand early in the project that escalated conflicts
are counterproductive. In addition, snide comments and microaggres-
sions must be addressed immediately, as it only emboldens a person
who gets away with it. I have at times said to colleagues, “Hey, that
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 235 30-05-2022 13:13:24

236 keep it going
comment’s not okay. What’s up with that?” I said it in a way that cer-
tainly was not joking but was also not overly harsh. Whenever there is
a chance for a discussion to escalate, rely on assertive communication
without blaming when expressing your point of view. When your team
member is talking respectfully, listen without interrupting or planning
how to respond—listen to hear and learn about their position (revisit
your reflective listening resources, chapter 3). Discussions that aim to
share and understand differing viewpoints can often curb or prevent
conflict. Of course, if there is a severe conflict, it is appropriate to talk
to the course instructor about the situation, particularly if any group
member feels unsafe.
Effective Group Meetings

There are many resources in business literature related to running
effective meetings. Unfortunately, many people in higher education
seem not to know this. When I ask groups of faculty and students to
raise their hands if they have been at a poorly run meeting within the
past 2 weeks, most hands go up. Running effective meetings does not
need to be an impossible goal. Spend a modicum of time learning how
to run an effective meeting, and you will be respected by your peers at
college and years later at your work.
Agenda
It is an excellent idea to have an agenda and post it ahead of time in
your shared meeting notes space. Start with announcements but keep
them short. Announcements should take less than a minute or so; a
lot can be covered in that time. Post them on the shared space, and let
the group know they are there for anyone desiring more information.
Next, list the action items with short reports from the members who
agreed to complete them. Finally, list what needs to be done next.
Study Tip 12.2: Use an agenda for your study group. List what you
will do and note times on the agenda to keep the group on track.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 236 30-05-2022 13:13:24

Add a line at the bottom of the agenda that says, “Please list here
any items you would like to discuss if there is time.” Those who have
things they want to talk about can add their items to the bottom of
the agenda to discuss if there is time. If a person has something they
want to bring up at the meeting, their concern goes to the bottom
of the list, unless the group agrees that their item is critical and time
sensitive.
Start and End on Time

I can confidently state that if you start the first meeting of any group 5
minutes late to allow for people to get to the meeting, you will need to
give them 5 or more minutes at the next meeting. You can combat this
by starting every meeting right on time. People tend to come to meet-
ings on time that start on time. If a person is even 2 minutes late, they
may miss the first agenda item. Don’t revisit it. Engage in the behavior
you would like to see. If you always start on time, people will come to
the meeting on time. Also, be efficient and end as quickly as is reason-
able. An hour is “what is done,” but probably much more than you
need. Try to complete the meeting in 25 minutes—you will probably
surprise yourself with the response (Bryant, 2017).
Assign Group Roles

Whether you are having a formal, scheduled meeting, or just a quick
chat among members, it’s helpful to have some roles in place to get the
most out of your time and keep track of what was done this time and
decided for next time. Some of the most common roles are:
•• Notetaker – They record what was discussed and summarize each

part of the meeting, any action items, and who will do each item
and by when.
•• Monitor – They keep the group on time and make sure everyone
has a chance to speak.
•• Moderator – If two people are having difficulty understanding each
other and seem to be moving toward conflict, the moderator can
summarize their statements and explain in different words.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 237 30-05-2022 13:13:24

238 keep it going
•• Counterpointer – They provide a position opposite of what is being

seriously considered to avoid groupthink. This is more commonly
called “devil’s advocate,” but who wants to advocate for the devil?
•• Supporter – This could be a specific role for a group member,
or everyone could agree to support one another when ideas are
voiced, goals are met, or someone is struggling.
Brief Well-Check of Group Members

It is good practice to watch out for each other. Consider asking about
members’ well-being at the start of every meeting. If someone shares
information that sounds distressing, ask if they want to talk after
the meeting. If they minimize the need to chat, check in again with
them just as the meeting ends. You are there to support them, but you
shouldn’t take time during the meeting to talk about the issue unless
it appears that they really need to or if the entire group wishes to help
the person by talking.
End Meeting With Next Steps

At the end of every meeting, reserve about 5 minutes to review the
action items to be done before the next meeting. If someone is working
on a large task, break it down so that they can report out on the part
that they are to have done at the next meeting. In a New York Times
article, Adam Bryant (2017) notes that meetings should end with a fast
summary recapping who is going to do which tasks by what date, and
when to reported back to the group.
Cancel the Meeting if Possible

I worded this in a provocative way on purpose. Few people like to go to
a meeting and be read a list that could have been emailed. Items on the
agenda should be things for which the group needs to come together
for synergy. It is also a time to support one another. If those things hap-
pen, a meeting is a valuable use of time. If synergy and discussions are
needed, hold the meeting. If not, then cancel the meeting. Never have
a meeting just to see if anyone needs anything. Your members’ time is
worth much more than that (McGeorge, 2019).
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 238 30-05-2022 13:13:24

Common Group Challenges

After being in countless academic groups and assigning many group
projects, the following issues have popped up frequently enough
to merit discussion in this book. It is better to be ready rather than
be surprised.
Hogs and Logs

There is often someone in the group who wants to take over (a hog)—
and just as often someone who doesn’t want to do anything (a log).
If they are in the same group, the situation resolves itself, although
not positively. If either of these two personalities arises, it needs to be
addressed or it is almost guaranteed to get worse (O’Hara, 2017). The
first step is to talk to the person away from the group. Alternatively,
you could add two questions to your meeting check-in: “Do you feel
you have been able to contribute as much as you would like? If not,
what is an area in which you would like to contribute more or differ-
ently?” If the focus is on giving everyone a chance, a hog will have to
give up some space. If a log has not been doing expected work, during
check-in the group can say, “Quinn, this is the second time you have
not done any of the tasks you agreed to do. What is making this chal-
lenging for you, and how can we help?” Note that help is not doing
the work for Quinn, it is how you help Quinn accomplish the work.
Losing the Way

A group may struggle to make progress because they start over multi-
ple times or second-guess their approach. It might also be that group
members are not meeting deadlines and just stop doing their work.
The best-case scenario is that the group recognizes the issue, and indi-
viduals briefly state what they feel should be done next. Either the
leader chooses what direction to take, or the group members come to
a consensus on what should be done next. The point is to address the
issue and keep trying to find a way forward. The worst-case scenario
is that the group is stuck and just keeps spinning, not realizing they
need a course of action to get out. Due to the individual nature of
asynchronous classes, be sure to stay on top of the schedule and check
in with the group.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 239 30-05-2022 13:13:24

240 keep it going
Rushing to Wrap
Sometimes a group member just wants the talk to stop and action to
start. Moving forward is good; moving too swiftly can cause problems
later. Ask the group what needs to be done and how it can be done
well but swiftly.
Drama
I have seen more than one group meltdown because of drama. By drama,
I do not mean disagreements because of differing perspectives but rather
unprofessional behavior. Unprofessional behaviors are nonproductive
and can be harmful. They may include gossiping, blaming, negativity,
harassment, undermining, or sabotage. Address these behaviors when
setting the group ground rules. There are times that individuals do not
get along, but they can still work together. If a conflict breaks out dur-
ing a meeting, summarize the two positions and ask how it relates to
the group task. Another option is to point out that individuals won’t
have to be together as long as everyone does their assigned work quickly.
Arguing and nitpicking result in more time together.
These are just a few examples of what can go wrong. Keep in mind
that most groups are functional; they perform well and demonstrate
professional dynamics. Yet, it must be noted that occasionally groups
struggle to function. There are two ways to minimize the issues that
derail group work noted in this section. The first way is to handle things
proactively. If there are group policies, norms, discussions, check-ins,
and processes for group members to vent, problems are much less likely
to appear. The second way is to immediately address any dynamic that
looks like it could become an issue. It can be uncomfortable to have
questions about someone doing their part, but I don’t recall a time that
ignoring a problem didn’t end up being a bigger problem.
Chapter Summary
Group work is an important skill rarely explicitly taught in higher
education. Effective groups have several benefits, including developing
soft skills, incorporating diverse perspectives, and completing complex
projects. When groups begin to work together it is important to first
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 240 30-05-2022 13:13:24

know your strengths and weaknesses and then work with the group to
build community through short discussions related to group member-
ship. As you begin working on the project, clarify the assignment so
everyone understands the identified successful outcome.
Once a decision has been made regarding how best to work
together, the group will get rolling but should be mindful of the
common group formation stages of forming, storming, norming,
and performing. To help navigate how the group will be led, out-
line expectations of group members, and determine consequences
for breaking group policies. To ensure an effective meeting, set an
agenda, start and end on time, assign roles to group members, check
in on the well-being of members, and cancel the meeting if it is not
needed. Finally, note that common group challenges require atten-
tion, or they will get worse. It is important to balance the final out-
put of the assigned group work with the development of professional
behaviors within the group
1. What has been your overall experience working in groups? Think
of a time when a group you were in worked well and a time when
a group did not work well. List factors that have been present in
good and bad experiences. To what extent do you feel you are, or
would be, a good group leader? Explain your position.
2. Suppose, as part of an Introduction to Sociology course, you
are in a group with four students for an entire semester with an
assignment of researching natural disasters with the end product
of a 15-page paper and a 10-minute presentation. Describe your
strengths and challenges (what might you excel at, and what might
you struggle with) for this project.
3. What do you think is important for group members to know
about one another when building community and trust? What is
your perspective on icebreakers? If you like them, explain briefly
one you like. If you do not like them, explain what could be done
instead to build community and trust in the group.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 241 30-05-2022 13:13:24

242 keep it going
4. Explain three ground rules you feel are essential for any group.
Explain with enough detail that someone reading them would
understand your position only from what is written. You may
identify three from this chapter or another source.
References
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Times: Business. https://www.nytimes.com/guides/business/how-to-run-
an-effective-meeting
Cresswell-Yeager, T. (2020). Forming, storming, norming, and performing:
Using a semester-long problem-based learning project to apply small-group
communication principles. Communication Teacher, 35(2), 155–165,
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Dixon, N. (2016, October 5). Please! No more icebreakers: 5 ways to get a
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get-a-group-connected-without-icebreakers.html
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Hillyard, C., Gillespie, D., & Littig, P. (2010). University students’
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 243 30-05-2022 13:13:25

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 244 30-05-2022 13:13:25
A P P E N D IX A
O N LI N E L E A R N I N G
The number of students taking online courses has increased steadily

over the years but shot up after the COVID-19 pandemic forced all
of education online for a few semesters. In 2019, before COVID-19,
approximately 37% of college learners took at least one class
online. That number is now at 52% (Smalley, 2021). There are, of
course, many other reasons that students are taking online courses in
increasing numbers, including convenience, getting into on-campus
classes that are full and closed, and because some students perform
better in an online environment. One of the most valuable benefits for
both students and institutions is that students who take online courses
are more likely to graduate and even graduate sooner (Fischer et al.,
2021). To help with your success, we’ve gathered some tips on online/
asynchronous courses here.
First and foremost, check with your academic advisor before
enrolling in any online courses. Colleges have a wide range of rules
and regulations regarding which courses may be taken, how many
courses in a major may be taken online, and when they may be taken.
Advisors will assist you with this information to ensure that you receive
academic credit for any online courses taken.
245
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246 appendix a
Synchronous Online Courses

Taking online, synchronous courses is relatively similar to onsite
courses once you have a device with audio and video capabilities and
any software required by the course, a decent internet connection, and
a place from which you will join the class with as few distractions as
possible. Whether to have the camera on or off has been an extensive
discussion recently (Terda, 2021). If you are comfortable having your
camera on, definitely keep it on. I have taught classes where all the
cameras are off. It is challenging when you lose subtle nonverbal feed-
back. From my perspective, I teach better and engage the class more
when looking at faces rather than photos of students and black boxes.
Terda (2021) also noted that when cameras are on, students in the class
build more trust and rapport with one another.
You may also have an opportunity to participate in the synchro-
nous class by typing in the chat, participating in a poll, collaborating
with other students on a project, or volunteering to speak up during
the class. If these engaged learning strategies are offered, I urge you
to participate. Anything you can do to participate in the course will
help you pay attention, learn, and retain information. See chapter 4
for more information about how participating and paying attention
greatly improves learning and memory.
Asynchronous Online Courses

Taking an online, asynchronous course, in contrast, is very different
from onsite and synchronous classes. For one thing, onsite courses have
specific meeting times. If your onsite class in the spring semester meets
Monday and Wednesday from 10:00 a.m.–11:15 a.m., you know
where you need to be, when you need to be there, and what work needs
to be done to prepare for class. For an asynchronous, online course you
may well be on your own right from the beginning. Deadlines will be
posted in the syllabus instructing you what to do and by what day you
will need to complete the work. In some courses, you will receive email
reminders, but in other courses, you are entirely on your own to get
into the course shell and do the work. There are windows of time in
online courses, and you must do what is needed as early as possible in
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 246 30-05-2022 13:13:25

appendix a 247
those windows. Windows of time may well exist for posting on discus-
sion boards and responding to posts, accessing particular resources,
turning in work, and exams. Using the exam as an example, an exam
that will take an hour may be open for 2 or 3 days. However, if you try
to log in to take an exam 15 minutes after the window is set to close,
you will not be able to access the exam. Online asynchronous courses
require a lot of independence and self-efficacy (see chapter 2 for more
on self-efficacy). Some students find this format very effective, whereas
others struggle with the isolation and independence of online learn-
ing. It depends heavily on the extent to which you enjoy the classroom
experience and your perspectives on learning.
The New England Board of Higher Education surveyed more than
25,000 students enrolled at 2-year and 4-year institutions and identi-
fied the following four critical elements for success in online learning
(O’Hara, 2020):
1. Set a schedule. This was overwhelmingly the prime piece of advice,

particularly for asynchronous courses. Students suggested setting a
regular schedule and sticking to it, recording due dates in advance,
working ahead where possible, and regularly checking emails and
the course website. Many students shared that it wasn’t that hard
to keep up with assignments by applying a little discipline and
completing projects as soon as they were posted.
2. Create a comfortable study space (but not in bed). An excellent gen-
eral rule is to never study in bed (see chapter 10 on sleep). Having
a dedicated place that you use as your study space signals to you
and anyone living with you that if you are in that space, you are
studying.
3. Ask for help. Ensure that you know how to contact your professor
before you may need to contact them, and, if possible, set up a
GroupMe or some form of a chat with classmates. If you get stuck,
ask for help right away. The longer you put off asking for help, the
more challenging your issue will become.
4. Be accountable. If you are going to take an online asynchronous
class, you will need to set schedules, build a plan, stick to your
plan, and hold yourself accountable. The students in O’Hara’s
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 247 30-05-2022 13:13:25

248 appendix a
(2020) study noted that if you can succeed in an onsite course,

you can succeed in an online course. The only difference is that
instead of an instructor two or three times a week telling you what
to do, you have to be able to get the work done on your own. This
will be highly challenging for some individuals, but it is possible if
you build good habits (see chapter 2 on self-regulation).
Tips for Setting and Sticking to Your Schedule

Although creating and sticking to a schedule is important, you also
have to be realistic and have contingency “if-then” plans if, or rather
when, you hit bumps in the scheduling road. First, set goals for where
and when you will do your work for the day. Make these specific, such
as “I will review for the quiz at noon over lunch.” Next, set up the
“if-then” plan, such as “If I don’t get a chance to review over lunch,
then I will review during my 3 p.m. break.” Having an if-then plan
helps to keep you on track when your original study plan breaks down.
A strategy of, “I missed my planned review over lunch. I will just do
the review later,” isn’t really a strategy and will likely turn stressful
relatively soon.
Procrastination is a challenge for many students, but it’s even more
important not to procrastinate with online classes. If you are the type
of person who procrastinates frequently, it is probably not a good idea
for you to take an online course. If you take an asynchronous course,
you need to find and use a study strategy/strategies that work for you.
One popular technique that makes studying a bit less arduous is
the Pomodoro Technique, developed by Francesco Cirillo (n.d.) in the
late 1980s. It is straightforward and works well for many students.
Find a place to study, put your phone in airplane mode (or, better yet,
turn it off and put it away; see the section on cognitive load in chapter
4 for reasons why), and set a timer for 25 minutes. When the timer
goes off, give yourself a 5-minute break. Next, do another 25 minutes
of study and a 5-minute break. You will have a solid 50 minutes of
focused study time in 1 hour. This technique is noted frequently in
association with online courses.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 248 30-05-2022 13:13:25

appendix a 249
Online and asynchronous courses provide an excellent oppor-

tunity for students to take classes in a nontraditional format. These
courses are not more demanding in terms of content, but they are
challenging in terms of the self-resiliency needed to complete them
successfully. If you take an online course, particularly an asynchronous
course, build out a learning schedule and stick to it.
References
Cirillo, F. (n.d.). The Pomodoro Technique. Cirillo Consulting GmbH. https://
francescocirillo.com/products/the-pomodoro-technique
Fischer, C., Baker, R., Li, Q., Orona, G. A., & Warschauer, M. (2021).
Increasing success in higher education: The relationships of online course
taking with college completion and time-to-degree. Educational Evalua-
tion and Policy Analysis. https://doi.org/10.3102/01623737211055768
O’Hara, R. E. (2020, November 9). Hearing what students have to say about
success in online learning. New England Board of Higher Education. https://
nebhe.org/journal/hearing-what-students-have-to-say-about-success-in-
online-learning/
Smalley, S. (2021, October 13). Half of all college students take online courses.
Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2021/10/13/new-
us-data-show-jump-college-students-learning-online#:~:text=The%20
number%20of%20students%20enrolled,to%2022.7%20percent%20
of%20them
Terda, Y. (2021, February 5). The camera-on/camera-off dilemma. Edutopia.
https://www.edutopia.org/article/camera-oncamera-dilemma
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 249 30-05-2022 13:13:25

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 250 30-05-2022 13:13:25
A ME S S A G E F R O M D R . Z
Welcome to the end of this book! If it is the end of the semester for
you, I hope that things went well, that the experiences you had over
the past few months brought added richness to your perspective. If you
received this book as a high school graduation gift and are heading off
to college soon, I hope you spend your first semester building a better
understanding of the individuals you are fortunate enough to meet.
Now for the rest of my story. In the introduction of this book,
I noted that if Dr. Sawyer had signed my drop slip, I would have
dropped out of Lake Superior State College and returned to my small
hometown of Cadillac, Michigan. I would have gotten a job at one of
the factories there and made a life. However, Dr. Sawyer didn’t sign the
paper, so I continued my studies. My family didn’t have the means to
provide financial support, so I worked, a lot. I understand what it is
to work to exhaustion and then some to pay for college. It is so hard.
If that is you, keep your head up and keep moving ever forward.
I got married just before the start of my junior year. We found
strength in each other and continue that bond today. My wife was
also a first-generation college student who ended up with a master’s
degree in nursing. Because of my rough first year, I needed extra time
to graduate. If it takes you an additional year or two or three to gradu-
ate, persevere and keep moving forward.
I completed my psychology degree and ended up being the
student speaker at graduation. There I was, on a stage in front of
thousands of people, and just a few years prior I was terrified to give
a presentation in a speech class of 15 students. Fear will give way if
251
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 251 30-05-2022 13:13:25

252 a message from dr. z
you push at it long enough, gentle pressure relentlessly applied. Stay

brave and always move forward.
I went to graduate school at Ohio University. As an undergradu-
ate, I didn’t have great grades, but I had relevant experiences and a
passion for what I wanted to pursue and was admitted to a graduate
program. If your grades are not great, don’t give up. There will come a
day when the degree is essential, but the grades are irrelevant. Do the
best you can and keep moving forward.
My wife and I had our first child while I was in graduate school,
so I understand balancing academic and family demands. It was chal-
lenging to find a full-time teaching job following graduate school, but
I knew what I wanted to do. You may have trouble finding your first
professional job; hang in there and keep pushing forward.
I finally got a teaching job at Southern Oregon State College,
7 years later I moved to Central Michigan University, then 7 years
later I moved to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and
then to their medical school. In 2019 I returned to Lake Superior
State University as the commencement speaker, where I received an
honorary doctorate. On that stage, looking at the same size audience
that I had stood before many years prior, the numbers seemed smaller,
because my world had gotten larger. I told the graduates and their par-
ents about my F minus minus, the withdrawal slip almost signed, and
that I am now a first-generation college student teaching teachers how
to teach at a school I could never have gotten into as a student. In the
graduation speech, I talked about possibilities, drive, and, of course,
always moving forward.
You will not have the same battles I did, but you will have bat-
tles. Fight through your challenges and celebrate your wins. Keep a
growth mindset and you will have many victories. I can say w ithout
reservation that the world needs the person you can become. You
are a steward of our future. I wrote chapter 1 about perspectives,
acceptance, and enriching who you are because I believe that above
all else. Surround yourself with bright, positive, and accepting indi-
viduals, and you will achieve great things. Regardless of how busy you
are, take time to explore as you move forward.
I leave you with the following to consider in the months ahead.
Be mindful of your past but look to the future. Listen carefully to the
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 252 30-05-2022 13:13:25

a message from dr. z 253
voices of others and find respectful ways for your voice to be heard.
Find ways to get what you work so hard for without taking anything
away from others. Most importantly, always strive for more so that you
have more you can share. Ever forward.
If you find this book of value, or if you see something in need
of correction, send me an email: toddzakrajsek@gmail.com
Respectfully,
Dr. Z
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 253 30-05-2022 13:13:25

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 254 30-05-2022 13:13:25
AB O UT T HE A UT HO R
Todd D. Zakrajsek, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of

Family Medicine at UNC–Chapel Hill and president of the International
Teaching Learning Cooperative (ITLC). He currently directs five
ITLC-Lilly conferences on evidence-based teaching and learning.
Todd was a tenured associate professor of psychology and built faculty
development efforts at three universities before joining the University
of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine. At UNC, he provides
resources for faculty on various topics related to teaching/learning,
leadership, and scholarly activity. Todd has served on many education-
ally related boards and work groups, including The Journal of Excellence
in College Teaching, International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching
and Learning, College Teaching, and Education in the Health Professions.
He has consulted with o rganizations such as The American Council
on Education (ACE), Lenovo Computer, Microsoft, and the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation. He has delivered keynote addresses and
campus workshops at over 300 conferences and university campuses
in 49 states, 12 countries, and 4 continents. Todd’s recently coau-
thored books include Dynamic Lecturing (2017, Stylus); Teaching for
Learning, Second Edition (2021, Routledge); and Advancing Online
Teaching (2021, Stylus). Follow and connect with Todd on Twitter@
toddzakrajsek and LinkedIn.
255
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Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 256 30-05-2022 13:13:25
I N D EX
ABC technique, 40–41 beauty is good stereotype, 21

abuse, learned helplessness within, bias, 18–19, 101–103, 148–149
39 Black students, 18, 128
academics, patterns and resources Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy,
within, 116–122, 141–143. See 132–134, 144, 152–153
also higher education bodily feedback, 35
accommodations, 21–22, 140–143 brain. See also memory
acetylcholine, 212 brain-derived neutrotrophic factor
active listening, 54–55 (BDNF), 211, 215, 216,
adjourning stage, of group work, 230 217
aerobic exercise, 211. See also capabilities of, 66
exercise encoding of, 79–80
agenda, for meetings, 236–237 exercise and, 209–212, 219
alcohol, sleep and, 194–195 food processing and, 197
analyze (Bloom’s taxonomy), 133 hippocampus, 210
anxiety, test, 158–159 neurons, 211–212
apply (Bloom’s taxonomy), 133 neurotransmitters, 211–212
artificial light, sleep and, 185, 198 prefontal cortex, 210
asynchronous online courses, sleep and, 184–185, 201
246–248 structures and processes of,
attention, 31, 76–77 209–212
attractiveness, benefits regarding, 21 synapses, 211–212
attribution, 99–102, 103 brain-derived neutrotrophic factor
augmented notes, 82–83 (BDNF), 211, 215, 216, 217
automaticity, 30, 74–75 brainstorming, within group work,
automatic processing, 74 231
autopilot, 65 breaks, restful, 191
257
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 257 30-05-2022 13:13:25

258 index
caffeine, sleep and, 195–196 consolidation, 80–81

cheating, 138 content, patterns and, 117–119
children, diet of, 196 contingent faculty, 56
chilly climate, of classrooms, 149 continuity, 113–114
chornic insomnia, 200–201 controlled processes, 74
chunking, 108–109, 110, 118–119, counterpointer, within meetings,
122 238
circadian rhythms, 184–185 courses
classical conditioning, 67–68 discussion within, 161
classrooms, participation within, expectation within, 143–144
148–150. See also courses extra credit wtihin, 151–152
classroom schema, 75 gender bias within, 148–149
closure, 114 hanging too long within,
cognition, 132 175–176
cognitive load homework within, 150–151
automaticity, 74–75 participation within, 148–150
defined, 30 presentations within, 155–158
extraneous, 72–73 reflection journals within,
germane, 73–74 150–151
intrinsic, 72 study time for, 130–131
management of, 71–76 syllabus for, 154
overview of, 110 task shifting within, 172–173
schema activation, 75–76 test-taking within, 158–160
task shifting and, 172 writing papers within, 152–155
cognitive load theory, 71–72 COVID-19 pandemic, 245
commitment, within group work, cramming, 167–169, 192
228 create (Bloom’s taxonomy), 133
communication critical thinking, 12
active listening within, 54–55 criticism, 92
addressing faculty, 55–56 cuing, 173–174
emailing, 57–58 cultural bias, 102
with faculty, 55–59
follow-up, 58 decision-making, within group
within group work, 234–235 work, 230–231
within office hours, 56–57 declarative memories, 189
overview of, 60 deep learning, 76–78
patterns within, 54–59 deep sleep, 186
requests within, 58–59 deflector, 17
community, importance of, 11 dichotomous thinking, 12
consensus, within group work, 231 dichotomy, 12
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 258 30-05-2022 13:13:25

index 259
diet, sleep and, 196–197 experience, 13, 15, 34, 67

direct quotes, 139 extra credit, 151–152, 161
disability services, 140–141 extraneous cognitive load, 72–73
dispositional attribution, 99 extrinsic attribution, 99
disruption, 80
dopamine, 212 faculty
drama, within group work, 240 accommodations and, 140–141
driving, distractions regarding, 172, addressing, 55–56
185–186 Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy and,
132
egocentric bias, 102–103 communication with, 55–59, 60
elaboration, 82–83 contingent, 56
elaborative encoding, 79 emailing, 57–58
emails, to faculty, 57–58 extra credit viewpoints of, 151
emotions, management of, 31–33 follow up with, 58
encoding, 79–80 lecture process of, 134–135
engaged learning, 22–23 office hours of, 56–57
episodic memory, 213 requests to, 58–59
equality, 20–22 respect of, 59
equity, 20–22 task shifting and, 172
evaluate (Bloom’s taxonomy), 133 writing resources from, 154
evaluating, within metacognition, failure, 93, 94
98 feedback, 35–36, 38, 94, 136–137,
exams, 158–160, 161, 167–169, 144
188, 192 figure-ground, 115–116
exercise first-generation college students, 14
brain and, 209–212, 219 first-year college students, 29–30, 47
health benefits of, 208–209 fixed-mindedness, 90–92, 93
learning and, 212–216, 216–217 focal point, 115
long-term, 212–216 follow-up, with faculty, 58
low-impact, nonaerobic forgetting curve, 81–82
therapeutic, 218–219 forming stage, of group work,
memory and, 213–214 229–230
overview of, 207, 219–220 fundamental attribution error,
response modulation through, 32 100–102
school-based, 214–215
short-term, 216–217 gender bias, 148–149
sleep and, 199–200 germane congitive load, 73–74
therapeutic, 217–219 Gestalt psychology approach, 111,
walking as, 218 122
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 259 30-05-2022 13:13:25

260 index
glutamate, 212 overview of, 240–241

goal creep, 48 performing stage of, 230
goals, 46–51, 60 process facilitation within,
grade point average (GPA), 188 229–233
group study/work project goal clarification within,
adjourning stage of, 230 229
agenda for, 236–237 roles within, 237–238
avoidance of, 160 scheduling of, 232
benefits of, 225–227 SMART goals within, 229
brainstorming within, 231 soft skill development within,
challenges of, 239–240 225–226
check-ins for, 232–233 speaking and listening within,
commitment within, 228 234–235
competing demands within, storming stage of, 230
228–229 strengths/challenge inventory
conflicts within, 235–236 within, 227
decision-making within, 230–231 updates regarding, 232–233
diverse perspective incorporation viewpoints regarding, 224–225
within, 226 growth-mindedness, 93–95,
drama within, 240 136–137
forming stage of, 229–230
ground rules for, 233–236 hard skills, 225
group member learning within, helplessness, learned, 39–40
227–229 hidden curriculum, 127, 143–144
hogs within, 239 higher education
icebreakers within, 228 accommodations within,
implementation within, 231–232 140–141
individual study versus, 128–130 benefits of, 11
introductions within, 228 misconduct within, 138–140
lack of completion of, 233–234 online learning within,
large/complex problems within, 245–249
226–227 patterns within, 116–122
leadership within, 230 resources within, 141–143
logs within, 239 highlighting, as learning pitfall,
losing the way within, 239 165–167
meetings within, 234, 236–238 hippocampus, 210
microaggressions within, histamine, 212
235–236 hogs, within group work, 239
missed meetings regarding, 234 homework, 150–151, 161
norming stage of, 230 hypothalamus, 184–185
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 260 30-05-2022 13:13:25

index 261
icebreakers, within group work, 228 learning pitfalls

implicit bias, 18–19 cramming for exams, 167–169
imposter syndrome, 36–38, 41 defined, 165
individuality, 14–15 following learning style, 169–171
individual study, group study versus, hanging too long, 175–176
128–130 highlighting, 165–167
insomnia, 200–201 listening to negativity, 173–175
interference, 80 overview of, 177
interleaving, 84 rereading, 165–167
intrinsic attribution, 99 task shifting, 171–173
intrinsic cognitive load, 72 learning style, 169–171, 177
introductions, within group work, lecture, productivity during,
228 134–135, 144
librarians, reference, 154
journal articles, patterns for reading, limbic system, 32
120–121 listening, 54–55, 76, 173–175,
journals, reflection, 150–151, 161 234–235
logs, within group work, 239
larks, 187–188 long-term goals, 49–50
leadership, within group work, low-impact, nonaerobic therapeutic
230 exercise, 218–219
learning
anticipating success within, 78 Mandela, Nelson, 94
attention within, 76–77 marginalized groups, imposter
brain capabilities regarding, 66 syndrome of, 37–38
classical conditioning, 67–68 McLaren, Ian, 13
cognitive load theory, 71–76 meetings
daily, 135–136 agenda for, 236–237
deep, 76–78 cancelling, 238
defined, 67, 71 for group work, 234, 236–238
engaged, 22–23 next steps following, 238
of helplessness, 39–40 roles within, 237–238
models of, 66–71 starting/ending time for, 237
observational, 70 summary within, 238
operant conditioning, 68–69 well-check within, 238
of optimism, 39–41 melatonin, 185
social learning theory, 69–71 memory
theories of, 66–71 chunking, 110, 118–119, 122
understanding within, 77–78 chunking within, 108–109
value within, 77 closure and, 114
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 261 30-05-2022 13:13:25

262 index
cognitive load and, 110 music, 73, 113

consolidation, 80–81 myoclonic jerk, 186
content within, 117–119
continuity and, 113–114 Naperville High School, 214–215
declarative, 189 nap jerk, 186
defined, 79 naps, 191
elaboration, 82–83 Native American students,
encoding, 79–80 stereotype threat regarding, 18
enhancements to, 81–85 nature, sleep and, 199–200
episodic, 213 negativity, 173–175, 177
exercise and, 213–214, 216–217 nervousness, 158–159
figure-ground and, 115–116 neurons, 211–212
improvement of, 78–81 neurotransmitters, 211–212
interleaving, 84 night owls, 187–188
overview of, 122 non-rapid eye movement (NREM)
procedural, 190 sleep, 185–186
processes of, 79 norepinephrine, 212
proximity within, 112–113 norming stage, of group work, 230
repetition, 83–84 notetaker, within meetings, 237
retrieval, 81 novels, patterns for reading, 122
schemas within, 110, 119
short-term, 118–119 observational learning, 70
similiarity and, 111–112 office hours, 56–57
sleep and, 188–192 Office of Student Disability Services,
spaced recall practice, 85 140–141
working, 109 Office of Student Success, 140–141
metabolism, 196 online courses, 23, 245–249
metacognition, 30, 95–99, 103 operant conditioning, 68–69
metacognitive regulation, 97–99 optimism, learned, 39–41
microaggressions, 15–17, 23, 235–236 organization, 53–54
mindset, 90–95, 103 outcomes, 34, 46–51
mission creep, 48 overparenting, learned helplessness
moderator, within meetings, 237 within, 39
monitor, within meetings, 237
monitoring, within metacognition, participation, within learning,
97–98 148–150
mood congruent memory patterns
facilitation, 174 in academic life, 116–122
multimodal learner, 170 chunking, 108–109, 110,
multitasking, 55, 171, 172 118–119, 122
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 262 30-05-2022 13:13:25

index 263
closure, 114 following learning style, 169–171

cognitive load, 110 hanging too long, 175–176
content, 117–119 highlighting, 165–167
continuity, 113–114 listening to negativity, 173–175
examples of, 107–108 overview of, 177
figure-ground, 115–116 rereading, 165–167
learning enhancement and, task shifting, 171–173
108–110 plagiarism, 138–140
overview of, 122–123 planning, within metacognition, 97
pervasive, 111–116 pluralistic ignorance, 157–158
proximity, 112–113 Pomodoro Technique, 248
schemas, 110, 119 prefontal cortex, 210
similiarity, 111–112 presentations, 155–158, 161
of sleep, 187–188 primacy, 150
performance outcomes, 34 priming, 119, 173–174
performing stage, of group work, 230 procedural memories, 190
permanence, 40 procrastination, 30, 135–136, 144,
personalization, 40 248
perspective, 11, 12–13, 14–15, 23, productivity, during lecture,
226 134–135
persuasion, verbal, 35 proximity, 112–113
pervasiveness, 40, 41 public speaking, 155–158, 161
physical activity
brain and, 209–212 rapid eye movement (REM) sleep,
health benefits of, 208–209 185–187, 193
learning and, 212–216, 216–217 reaction time tests, 18
long-term, 212–216 reading, automaticity and patterns
low-impact, nonaerobic within, 74–75, 119–122
therapeutic, 218–219 reappraisal, 32
overview of, 207, 219–220 recall practice, 85
school-based, 214–215 recency, 150
short-term, 216–217 reconsolidation, 81
sleep and, 199–200 reflection journals, 150–151, 161
therapeutic, 217–219 remember (Bloom’s taxonomy),
walking as, 218 132–133
physiological feedback, 35–36 repetition, 83–84
pineal gland, 184–185 rereading, as learning pitfall,
pitfalls, learning 165–167
cramming for exams, 167–169 respect, to faculty, 59
defined, 165 response modulation, 32
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 263 30-05-2022 13:13:25

264 index
restful breaks, 191 memory and, 188–192

retrieval memory process, 81 naps, 191
overview of, 201–202
schedule patterns of, 187–188
building of, 51–52 physical activity and, 199–200
for group work, 232 research regarding, 184–188
management of, 52 restful breaks, 191
for online courses, 247–249 routine for, 199
organization within, 53–54 stages of, 185–187
to-do lists, 52–53 technology and, 197–198
schemas, 75–76, 110, 112, 119 test-taking and, 159–160, 168,
self-correction, 17 188
self-efficacy, 30, 33–36, 41 SMART goals, 47–51, 229
self-plagiarism, 139–140 smartphones, 73, 187
self-regulation, 28–33, 41 social cognition, 89
semantic encoding, 79–80 social learning theory, 69–71
sensory system, 67 socioeconomic status (SES),
serotonin, 184–185 stereotype threat and, 17–18
short-term goals, 49–50 soft skills, 225–226
short-term memory, 118–119 spaced recall practice, 85
similiarity, 111–112 stereotype threat, 17–18
situation modification, 31–32 storming stage, of group work, 230
situations, emotion within, 31 strengths, inventory of, 227
sleep strength training, 208. See also
alcohol and, 194–195 exercise
bedroom environment for, stretch goals, 50
198–199 struggle, 13–19
brain and - MATCH, 201 study
caffeine and, 195–196 individual versus group, 128–130
circadian rhythms, 184–185 process of, 168–169
debt, 193 spaced, 168
deprivation of, 183–184 strategies for, 159
diet and, 196–197 time use within, 130–132
disruption factors regarding, tips regarding, 129, 130
193–194 style, learning, 169–171, 177
hygiene, 198 substance abuse/misuse, 32
impact of, 183–184 success, 29–30, 39, 78
insomnia, 200–201 sunk cost, 175–176, 177
learning and, 188–192 sunlight, sleep and, 200
management of, 192–201 supporter, within meetings, 238
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 264 30-05-2022 13:13:25

index 265
syllabus, 154 understanding, within deep

synapses, 211–212 learning, 77–78
synchronous online courses, 246
value, within deep learning, 77
tai chi, 218–219 verbal persuasion, 35
task management, 51–54 vicarious experience, 34
task shifting, 171–173, 177 vision, 115
technology, sleep and, 197–198 visual encoding, 79
temperment, self-regulation and, 31 voting, within group work, 231
tests, 158–160, 161, 167–169, 188,
192 walking, as exercise, 218
textbooks, patterns for reading, women, 19, 36, 37–38, 148–149
119–120 working memory, 109
texting, 172 writing, 152–155, 161
themes, within reading, 122 writing center, 154
therapeutic exercise, 217–219. See
also exercise yoga, 219
to-do lists, 52–53
zone of proximal development
understand (Bloom’s taxonomy), 133 (ZPD), 78
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The Student Companion to
Community-Engaged Learning
What You Need to Know for
Transformative Learning and Real
Social Change
David M. Donahue and Star
Plaxton-Moore
Foreword by Tania D. Mitchell
Afterword Chris Nayve
“This book is a powerful tool for the field
and for inviting students to be community
engaged learners. We’ve been waiting for a tool like this to use with students.
This book is a guide, a companion, and a way to prepare students to be engaged
in the community in critical ways that address the macro and micro issues that
we confront in community engaged learning and social change.”—Marisol
Morales, Vice-President for Network Leadership, Campus Compact
“The authors face head on the most urgent issues that affect communities, and
encourage us to embrace the notion that it is through reciprocal relationships that
one earns the privilege of working alongside leaders in the community not as saviors
but as partners. As you begin your journey in the community, this book will serve
as a meditative companion and roadmap. When used as a guide, this book will
help you develop a daily practice of discovering assets in yourself and your com-
munity, and lead you to a destination that experiences community engagement
as ‘desire-centered’ work.”—Chris Nayve, Associate Vice President for Community
Engagement and Anchor Initiatives. Mulvaney Center, University of San Diego
This text is a guide to what’s involved in community-engaged learning, from
understanding the pervasiveness of social, economic, and environmental
problems, to learning about how individuals and organizations in communi-
ties work to overcome them. You will discover through a process of reflec-
tion how service connects to personal development and the content of your
courses, build your ability to engage with people different from yourself, and
develop new life skills, all in the context of working with communities to
overcome systemic injustice.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 269 30-05-2022 13:13:25

Demystifying Dissertation Writing
A Streamlined Process from Choice of
Topic to Final Text
Peg Boyle Single
Foreword by Richard M. Reis
“Whether you’re inching toward a dissertation
topic, choosing an advisor, or already coping
with the last stage of doctoral work, this book
will be a life-saver. Demystifying Dissertation
Writing is for anyone who wants to increase
their writing productivity and especially for
those who experience anxiety, blocking, impa-
tience, perfectionism, or procrastination when they write. Through easy-to-
follow steps, Single helps you rise above all these barriers and become a fluent
writer. She has managed to package into this book her expertise as a writing
seminar organizer and a writing coach and it is just what academe needs.”
—Moody, Faculty Development and Diversity Specialist
This book is for anyone who needs help in preparing for, organizing, plan-
ning, scheduling, and writing the longest sustained writing project they have
encountered, particularly if he or she is not receiving sufficient guidance about
the process, but also for anyone looking to boost his or her writing productivity.
The author uncovers much tacit knowledge, provides advice on working with
dissertation advisors and committee members, presents proven techniques for
the prewriting and writing stages of the dissertation, sets out a system for
keeping on schedule, and advocates enlisting peer support.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 270 30-05-2022 13:13:25

Authoring Your Life
Developing Your INTERNAL VOICE
to Navigate Life’s Challenges
Marcia B. Baxter Magolda
Foreword by Sharon Daloz Parks
“Geared for a popular rather than an academic
audience, this book is designed to assist
young adults in moving from dependence on
external authorities to taking charge of their
own life decisions.”—Journal of College
Student Development
“Authoring Your Life provides a fine guide to
addressing life’s challenges and demands, but goes beyond most self-help guides
to offer the stories of over 30 adults whom she has followed and interviewed for
over 20 years. Their life stories are meant to reflect parallels in reader experiences;
offering keys to individual values, identity, and how self-reliance may be devel-
oped.”—Midwest Book Review
“No one has carried the concept of ‘self-authorship’ forward more richly, or with
greater use for the reader, than Marcia Baxter Magolda. Anyone interested in
supporting their own, or others’, adult development will benefit enormously
from this book.”—Robert Kegan, Meehan Professor of Adult Learning, Harvard
University, and Coauthor of Immunity to Change
Who am I? What do I want in relationships? How do I know what to believe?
How do I manage the stresses of living?
This is a guide to addressing life’s challenges and competing demands. It will
help you to reflect on the problems and setbacks you encounter to discover
your own voice, uncover your authentic sense of values, build your confi-
dence, and find meaning in your life.
Because everyone’s circumstances differ, and life is unpredictable, this book
does not offer simplistic solutions and steps to follow. Instead, Marcia Baxter
Magolda immerses you in the stories of 35 adults whom she has followed
and interviewed for over 20 years. With her guidance, and using the self-
authorship framework she has developed, you will recognize in yourself many
patterns and parallels from the protagonists’ stories of emotional and intel-
lectual growth. By reflecting on these life stories, you will gain insights about
your individual values and identity, and strengthen your sense of self-reliance
to handle significant transitions and unexpected circumstances.
Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 271 30-05-2022 13:13:26

Also available from Stylus
Teach Yourself How to Learn
Strategies You Can Use to Ace Any
Course at Any Level
Saundra Yancy McGuire
With Stephanie McGuire
Foreword by Mark McDaniel
“Saundra McGuire has extended her exper-
tise directly to students in this companion to
Teach Students How to Learn. After impact-
ing faculty and academic support profession-
als’ approach to helping students learn best,
she now introduces and guides students to deeper understanding of con-
cepts at different levels. By reframing their approach to studying in college
using her methods, they can become better motivated, manage their study
time effectively, earn higher grades, and develop successful college careers.”
—Johanna Dvorak, Director Emerita, Educational Support Services, University
of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Saundra McGuire’s message is that “Any student can use simple, straight-
forward strategies to start making A’s in their courses and enjoy a lifetime of
deep, effective learning.”
Beginning with explaining how expectations about learning, and the study
efforts required, differ between college and secondary school, the author
introduces her readers, through the concept of metacognition, to the
importance and powerful consequences of understanding themselves as
learners. This framework and the recommended strategies that support it
are useful for anyone moving on to a more advanced stage of education, so
this book also has an intended audience of students preparing to go to high
school, graduate school, or professional school.
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Advance Praise for

The New Science of Learning, Third Edition

“This book masterfully weaves together leading brain research and

“Zakrajsek’s systematic, approachable, and humorous discussion of

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 1 30-05-2022 13:13:14

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 2 30-05-2022 13:13:14

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 1 30-05-2022 13:13:14

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Published by Stylus Publishing, LLC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-64267-500-9 (cloth)

Printed in the United States of America

All first editions printed on acid-free paper

Quantity discounts are available for use in workshops and

Third Edition, 2022

The content of this book is based on the author’s teaching

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 4 30-05-2022 13:13:14

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For a description, see https://styluspub.presswarehouse.com/landing/instructors-manual/

To request your copy, click on https://styluspub.presswarehouse.com/request-instructors-

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 6 30-05-2022 13:13:14

PART ONE: SET UP FOR SUCCESS

1 LEARNING FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES 11

2 DISCOVERING YOURSELF AS A LEARNER  28

3 DEVELOPING YOUR LEARNING STRATEGY 46

PART TWO: BUILD THE FOUNDATION

4 IMPROVING THE LEARNING PROCESS 65

5 EXPLORING SOCIAL INFLUENCES 89

6 FINDING AND USING PATTERNS 107

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PART THREE: SUPPORT YOUR LEARNING

7 THRIVING IN HIGHER EDUCATION  127

8 DEMONSTRATING YOUR LEARNING  147

9 AVOIDING LEARNING PITFALLS  165

PART FOUR: KEEP IT GOING

10 SLEEPING TO ENHANCE LEARNING 183

11 EXERCISING TO ENHANCE LEARNING  207

12 BEING AN EFFECTIVE GROUP LEADER/MEMBER 224

APPENDIX A: ONLINE LEARNING 245

A MESSAGE FROM DR. Z 251

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 255

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substance. And his advice is so clearly understandable and applicable

Suggestions for Getting the Most Out of This Book

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5. Work on one chapter at a time. This book is highly readable and

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 11 30-05-2022 13:13:14

Regardless of the name on the cover, books are never the

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 13 30-05-2022 13:13:14

Welcome to the third edition of The New Science of Learning: How to

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 1 30-05-2022 13:13:15

have those) on a chemistry test, an F plus (yes, those as well) on a

Zakrajsek_9781642675016.indb 2 30-05-2022 13:13:15

about how to learn, many students waste hundreds of hours of study

Where This Book Came From

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at getting better at some aspect of it (e.g., trying new study strate-

The Structure of This Third Edition

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Note: I use the word “college” in place of “college and university”

1 LEARNING FROM MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES 11

2 DISCOVERING YOURSELF AS A LEARNER 28

3 DEVELOPING YOUR LEARNING STRATEGY 46

4 IMPROVING THE LEARNING PROCESS 65

5 EXPLORING SOCIAL INFLUENCES 89

6 FINDING AND USING PATTERNS 107

7 THRIVING IN HIGHER EDUCATION 127

8 DEMONSTRATING YOUR LEARNING 147

9 AVOIDING LEARNING PITFALLS 165

10 SLEEPING TO ENHANCE LEARNING 183

11 EXERCISING TO ENHANCE LEARNING 207

12 BEING AN EFFECTIVE GROUP LEADER/MEMBER 224

APPENDIX A: ONLINE LEARNING 245

A MESSAGE FROM DR. Z 251

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 255

One of the most valuable aspects of attending college is the o pportunity