How to be successful inAP Psychology
- Print the notes and bring them with you to class.
+ Wehave taken great measures in the last couple of years to make this class aslearner friendly as possible. We’vecreated thinking maps, graphic organizers, and other visuals to help you learnbetter. Also, there are times where wewill move at a relatively slow pace and times where we will move veryquickly. You will better be able to keepup if you already have in front of you the pieces of the puzzle that we provide. Please take advantage of the things that areavailable to you. With that said, wealso understand that not everyone can afford to print their own materials. If you are in this position please let usknow and we will find a way to confidentially provide them for you.
- Take notes in class and go over them a couple of times during the unit.
+Thereis a basic psychological principle at play here that we call the spacingeffect. The more you go over somethingover the course of days and weeks, the better you will be at remembering it(instead of cramming in one sitting).
- Read the textbook.
+APPsychology is an incredibly broad topic! The way the course is designed and tested by the College Board, we areexpected to cover more topics than you would ever cover in a normal collegeIntroduction to Psychology class. Wecover quite a lot in lectures and classroom activities but you are guaranteedto see at least 1 or 2 questions on the test from the chapter in the Meyerstextbook.
- Do any study guides that we post online.
+ TheMeyers textbook has a study guide that accompanies it. There are not enough copies for students tocheck out but we provide them online to help students prepare for thetest. It provides a good review but italso has practice questions that are extremely helpful in making sure you aresuccessful on the tests.
- Come to test reviews.
+ Ms.Carey and Ms. Batik share the burden in offering test reviews. Usually one of us will do one before schooland the other will do one after school. Thesereviews are “highlighting” sessions to narrow your focus on what to study forthe test. Please come to at least one ofthese reviews, they are very helpful.
- Do all of the extra credit.
+ Ourpolicy is that if you are doing everything that you possibly can in this class,we will do everything we possibly can to help you. It means a lot to us if you take all of theextra credit opportunities that we offer: vocab lists, extra credit projectsfor essay grades, etc. Please make surethat you take all of these opportunities to ensure your success in theclass. The extra credit is not designedto be “busy work” but rather to actually help you to learn or reviewmaterial.
- If all else fails… schedule a tutorial. We would love to help you!
+Thisis good advice for any class. Taking theinitiative to improve your learning is always a good thing. Sometimes it is a lot easier in a one-on-onesetting to be able to ask questions and try out examples of your own. You may also find that others are strugglingwith similar issues as yourself and be able to get a study group out ofit. It never hurts to try!
