Active learners accept much of the responsibility for learning.

Active learners understand that the responsibility for learning must come from within, while passive learners often want to blame others for their lack of motivation, poor performance, time-management problems, and other difficulties that thy might experience. When active learners don’t perform as well as they’d hoped, they evaluate why they didn’t do well, and change those studying behaviors the next time. Passive learners, on the other hand, often approach every course in the same manner and then get angry with professors when their performance is poor. It is only when students accept the responsibility for their own learning that they can truly be called active learners.

Active learners question information. 

Active learners question information that they read and hear, while passive learners accept both the printed page and the words of their professors as “truth”. Active learners don’t question everything, but they do evaluate what they read and hear. When new information fails to “fit in” with what they already know, they may differ in the conclusions they draw or in the inferences they make.

Excerpt from College Success Strategies by Sherrie L. Nist and Jodi Patrick Holschuh.

 

Active learners reflect on information and think critically.
 
Being reflective is an important part of active learning because it means that you are thinking about the information. In other words, you are processing the information. You may make connections between the new information and what you already know, identify concepts that you may not understand very well, or evaluate the importance of what you are reading. An active learner reflects constantly. In contrast, passive learners may read the text and listen to lectures, and even understand most of what is read and heard, but they do not take that crucial next step of actually thinking about it.

Active learners are engaged learners.

They listen actively to the professor for the entire class period and they write down as much information as possible. You must think about the information before you write.

Active learners know that learning involved more than simply putting in time.
 
Most students know about the importance of having good time-management skills and expect to invest time in studying in order to be successful. But just putting time into studying is not enough. It is the quality if that time- why you actually do with it- that makes the difference.

Active learners get assistance when they are experiencing problems.
Because active learners are constantly monitoring their understanding, they know when their comprehension breaks down, and they ask for help before they become lost. In addition, active learners often predict the courses that may give them trouble. They have a plan in mind for getting assistance should they need it. Active learners may hire individual tutors, take advantage of free peer tutoring, or seek assistance from their professors. Although passive learners may seek help at some point, it is often too little too late. In addition, because passive learners do not reflect and think critically, they often don’t even realize that they need help.

Excerpt from College Success Strategies by Sherrie L. Nist and Jodi Patrick Holschuh.

We’d bet that no one deliberately sits down to read with the purpose of not understanding the text. However, we’re certain that you have been in a situation, probably more than once, where you “read” an assignment, closed the text, and thought, “What in the world was that about?”  When you interact with a text in this manner you are reading passively. Active readers, on the other hand, set goals before they read an check their understanding as they read. When they finish, they can explain the main points and know that they have understood what they have read.

Excerpt from College Success Strategies by Sherrie L. Nist and Jodi Patrick Holschuh.

Ever heard “two roads diverged in a yellow wood”?  We have too.  Well schooling is like that, life in general is.  You have two choices when it comes to attitude.

It’s perhaps sad but true-there will be courses you don’t like, a professor with whom you fail to connect. Even if you have a wide range of interests and you can get along well with almost everyone, at some point you’ll have to make it through and rough class. You can take one of two routes when this happens.

Route A: you can think of every excuse imagine able not to do the work or go to class. You can blame your attitude on the professor or the ‘boring’ material that you are expected to learn.

Consequences of route A: a poor course grade, feeling bad about yourself, and having to work doubly hard in another course to bring up your overall grade point average.

Route B: acknowledge that you really don’t care much for the course or the professor. It’s one course, however, and you can make it through. Study with someone who seems to like the course. Try to motivate yourself with small rewards. Tell yourself that this is temporary and the course will soon be over.

Consequences of route B: perhaps you will not earn an A in the class but you will emerge with your ego and your grade point average intact.

Excerpt from College Success Strategies by Sherrie L. Nist and Jodi Patrick Holschuh.

Ever had to guess on a test?  Scary right? Of course you’ll find that you have to occasionally guess on tests.  But you should never just guess at random.  Narrowing down the answer choices first is imperative.  Otherwise, your odds of getting the right answer will be pretty slim.  Follow this plan when you guess: 1.       Eliminate answer choices you know are wrong.  Even if you don’t know the right answer, you can often tell that some of the answer choices are wrong.  For instance, on Date Sufficiency questions, you can eliminate at least two answer choices by determining the sufficiency of one statement, 2.       Avoid answer choices that make you suspicious.  These are the answer choices that just “look wrong” or conform to a common wrong-answer type.  For example, if only one of the answer choices in a Problem Solving question is negative, chances are that it will be incorrect. 3.       Choose one of the remaining answer choices.

In 2001, a local high school implemented a new program designed to reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy.  The program, however, failed to produce the desired result.  It the program had been successful, the dropout rate for female students would not have increased substantially in 2001.

The argument in the passage depends on which of the following assumptions?

A.       The number of teen pregnancies nationwide increased in 2001.

B.      The number of teen pregnancies in 2001 was greater than the number of teen pregnancies in 1991.

C.      Teenage pregnancy is a leading reason that female students leave school.

D.      The program was mandatory of all female students.

E.       Most 2001 female dropouts were not pregnant at any time during the year.

Think you know the answer?

The correct answer is C.

This stimulus bins with the conclusion that a 2001 school program to reduce teenage pregnancy was a failure.  The evidence is that the female dropout rate increased during 2001.  The assumption must be that pregnancy is an important reason for a female to drop out of school.   (C) says this correctly.

A is out of scope, B is irrelevant, D is out of scope, and E provides a reason to doubt the conclusion.

According to a recent study, a diet that is free of meat and dairy products greatly reduces the risk of suffering a heart attack.  The study cites the fact that only 10% of those who consume such a diet suffer a heart attack at some point in their lives.

Which of the following would  most seriously weaken the argument above?

A.       Diets free of meat and dairy are low in calcium, which can lead to bone density decreases.

B.        Those who consume only dairy but not meat are twice as likely to suffer a heart attack as those who consume neither meat nor dairy.

C.      Some people who consume neither dairy nor meat suffer two or more heart attacks over the course of a lifetime.

D.      Meat and dairy products are high in low-density cholesterol, which is known to harden arteries and cause other heart problems.

E.       7% of those who consume dairy and meat regularly suffer heart attacks over the course of their lifetime.

Think you know the answer?

The correct answer is E.

The conclusion here is that a diet free of meat and dairy products greatly reduces the risk of heart attack, based on the evidence that only 10% of those who omit meat and dairy from their diets suffer heart attacks.  The assumption is that more than ten percent of those who do eat dairy and meat suffer from heart attacks.  If we knew that those who eat meant and dairy are less likely to suffer heart attacks, the assumption would be contradicted and the argument weakened.

(A)   is out of scope.  (B) nearly strengthens the argument.  (C) does little to affect the argument in either direction.  (D) strengthens the argument and (E) matches our prediction exactly.

Smith Products fabricates machine tools that are essentially identical to those produced by Jackson Manufacturing.  For both companies, raw materials represent about two-thirds of the cost of manufacturing the machine tools.  To gain an edge over Jackson Manufacturing, Smith Products should purchase its raw materials from a new supplier advertising much lower prices.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the argument above?

A.      Smith Products spends more on employees’ wages than Jackson Manufacturing does.

B.      Smith’s current supplier provides raw materials of exceeding high quality.

C.      The market for machine tools has been declining for several years.

D.      The new supplier’s materials are of low quality and would reduce the lifespan of Smith machine tools by half, causing sales to decline.

E.       The plant manager for Smith Products is planning to increase the plant’s efficiency.

Think you know the answer?

 

The correct answer is D.

The conclusion that Smith Products could gain an advantage by purchasing lower-cost raw materials is based on the evidence that raw materials represent the largest proportion of costs for both Smith and Jackson.  For the conclusion to hold, Smith must assume the new raw materials will not have any other negative effects on its business.  So, to weaken the argument, look for a choice that casts doubt on this assumption.  (D) does so by stating that the low quality of the new materials will cause a drop in sales.  If that occurs, using the new supplier will not create an advantage for Smith Products, and so (D) is the answer.  (A) and (E) indicate other ways that Smith might gain an advantage, but they don’t have any bearing on whether changing suppliers would create an advantage.  (B) is similarly irrelevant; even if true, it doesn’t provide any reason Smith should not use the new supplier.  (C) is out of the scope of the argument.

Essential SAT word:

Actuality; n.  The state of being actual or real; truly existing.

On Halloween the children were so taken by the costumes that they had a difficult time distinguishing between actuality and pretend.

Essential SAT word:

Applicable; adj.  Readily usable; practical.

Lorena was not sure that her ideas were applicable to the problem, but she offered them, nevertheless.

Essential SAT word:

Authenticity; n.  The quality or condition of being authentic, trustworthy or genuine.

Before paying the high price for the painting, the art dealer had to check the authenticity of the work.

Essential SAT word:

Bona fide; adj.  Authentic and genuine.

Among all the knockoffs in the shoe store, I found an inexpensive pair of bona fide Steve Madens.

Bona fide; adj.  Made and carried out in good faith.

The offer on the farmhouse was a bona fide agreement; the seller and buyer shook hands to secure the deal.

Essential SAT word:

Categorical; adj.  Without exception; absolute and explicit.

Nobody in the room doubted that Samuel was the categorical winner of the Lincoln-Douglas debate.

Categorical; adj.  Of or relating to categories or arrangement or order.

Sammy was so left-brained, logical, and sequential that no one was surprised when she put all her information in precise, categorical order.

Essential SAT word:

Defensible; adj.  Justifiable for accuracy.

Maria had a defensible position: There was no doubt that she would win the debate.

 

Essential SAT word:

Factual; adj.  Of the nature of fact; real.

Even though the book was a work of fiction, it was full of factual information about that historical era.

Essential SAT word:

Genuine; adj.  Not counterfeit, but authentic; honest and real; free from hypocrisy or dishonesty; sincere.

My uncle gave me  genuine two-dollar bill for my birthday.

Essential SAT word:

Invulnerable; adj.  Impossible to damage or enter; not able to alter the reality.

The front door seemed invulnerable; it was made of steel, and it sported seven strong locks as well.

Essential SAT word:

Legitimacy; n.  The quality of being legitimate-authentic, genuine, and according to the law.

The painting was suspect, so the legitimacy of its authenticity was questionable.

SAT Essential word:
unassailable; adj.  Undeniable, actual, and authentic.
The unassailable truth came out when Marla’s little brother realized that their parents were really the tooth fairy.

SAT Essential word:
valid; adj.  Real, authentic, correct; sound and well-grounded.
Benny Lee was able to draw a valid conclusion only after he had discovered allt he facts.

SAT Essential word:
veracity; n.  Adherence to truth, reality, accuracy, and precision.
The teacher confirmed the veracity of the student’s late pass by checking with the teacher who supposedly wrote the pass.

SAT Essential word:
veritable; adj.  Being truly so-called; real or genuine.
A veritable stranger was kind enough to give Suzanne enough money to use the phone so she could call home.

SAT Essential word:
aberration; n.  A defect of departure from the normal; deviation or imperfection.
My mother was not sure whether her occasionally seeing her dead great grandmother was real or an aberration.

SAT Essential word:
artifice; n.  Pretense, deception, or ruse.
The young woman was about 90 percent artifice and only 10 percent authentic.

Essential SAT word:

invulnerable; adj.  Impossible to damage or enter; not able to alter the reality.
The front door seemed invulnerable; it was made of steel, and it sported seven strong locks as well.

Essential SAT word:

legitimacy; n.  The quality of being legitimate-authentic, genuine, and according to the law.
The painting was suspect, so the legitimacy of its authenticity was questionable.

Essential SAT word:

materiality; n.  The state of being material.
Esther was so intent upon possessing things that her friends started questioning her focus on materiality.

Essential SAT word: materiality; n.  Being of real or substantive quality.
In Macbeth, Banquo’s ghost appears to Macbeth with such materiality that he is overwhelmed by guilt over Banquo’s murder.

Essential SAT word:

pragmatic; adj.  Dealing with facts, reality, and actual occurrences.
Aaron’s insubstantial reasons were not pragmatic, so consequently non one believed him.

Essential SAT word:
tangible; adj.  Possible to touch; possible to be treated as fact; real or concrete.
Carlos’s fantasy became tangible when Angie, the girl of his dreams, agreed to go out with him.

Essential SAT word:
tenable; adj.  Capable of being maintained; able to be maintained because of genuineness.
The team’s successful season was barely tenable because of the girls’ growing apathy toward attending practice.

Essential SAT word:
truism; n.  Self-evident truth, actuality, and reality.
The rumor about a possible scandal became a truism once the facts were released to the public.