An action plan is essentially a plan to ensure that you will pass the course and complete all of your work. While changing your feelings about the subject may take time, you need to continue to follow the class syllabus and to complete your assigned work. Work with your instructor to create a schedule that you will follow to make up any missed work and to complete future assignments. Set a study schedule that uses incentives to positively reinforce your studying habits. Follow this study schedule and ask the instructor for outside sources to enhance your understanding of the topic, like online lectures or interesting articles.
Economists argue that higher incentives lead to more effort and higher performance levels. Incentives do not need to be material or monetary. Intrinsic incentives, or incentives that come from within the student, are also motivating. An example of an intrinsic incentive would be a positive feeling you get when you receive a good grade on a paper that encourages you to work as hard on the next assignment.
A positive mood can help your brain to think more creatively and helps with your ability to recall facts. [3] X Trustworthy Source Association for Psychological Science Nonprofit organization devoted promoting trustworthy research and education in the psychological sciences Go to source When you consistently incentivize yourself and motivate yourself to learn a subject you dislike, you begin to associate studying the subject with positive things you do like. For example, if you treat yourself to your favorite snack after you study your disliked subject, eventually you may associate studying with the happy feelings you get when you have your favorite food. [4] X Trustworthy Source American Psychological Association Leading scientific and professional organization of licensed psychologists Go to source
If your school offers tutoring services or if there is a Teaching Assistant (TA) for the course, take advantage of these resources. A tutor can help to explain complicated concepts if you’re having trouble grasping them and can help you work through your homework. Teaching Assistants are usually found in advanced college courses. They often hold office hours where students are able to come by and ask them questions about the course material. Take advantage of this resource if it is available to you. Professors may also hold office hours for their students.
There are a number of different learning styles, and people can have different learning styles for different subjects. Work with an instructor or a school counselor to identify your learning style, if you do not know what your learning style already is. [7] X Research source If you find that you are struggling to learn the subject the way that the instructor teaches it, your learning style may be different than the way the instructor teaches. It may be difficult to completely change your learning style to adapt to the instructor’s style. However, you can work around this issue by using different learning styles to approach a subject outside of the classroom. For example, if you are a verbal learner, and you learn best by listening to lectures, you can use the Internet to find recorded lectures on a subject that you are struggling to learn. If you are a social learner, and you learn best in groups and working with others, form a study group with other social learners to study for a particular subject.
If you’re more motivated by long-term successes, remember that your grade in this course has an impact on your overall GPA. Your GPA will influence the higher education programs you’re accepted to, internship opportunities, job opportunities, and your graduation. If you’re more motivated by immediate, or short-term, gratification use small items to reward yourself. For example, if you spend one hour studying the subject you dislike you can reward yourself with fifteen minutes of Internet browsing. When you begin to feel frustrated with the subject, it is helpful to remind yourself that your success in this course will have positive consequences later on.
Always complete your homework. Homework is a great way to test your knowledge on a topic and to gauge your ability to use certain concepts. Participate in the class discussions and during lessons. Actively engaging with the subject can help you confront your dislike and to understand what concepts you are having trouble with.
Ask yourself why you’re having trouble with this subject or class. Is it because you don’t understand a particular concept? Do you dislike the instructor or your classmates? Are you bored? If you dislike the instructor or your classmates, understand that classes do have time limits. Even if you dislike the class now, you may have a different instructor or classmates next semester or year.
Your teacher may even be able to demonstrate how the subject applies to real-world situations, which can help you see the value in the class.
If you are bored in class because you already understand the material, inquire with your teacher about moving to a more advanced course on the subject. Try studying with a friend who is interested in the subject and enjoys learning about the concepts that you may struggle with.
When we identify the importance of a subject, we are more likely to devote time to learning the subject and its concepts. Look for key concepts that are important to the course to understand why it is important. For example, if you dislike English as a subject, understanding that English classes are a great way to learn communication skills and to relate to others.
Identifying translatable skills helps you to understand how the subject fits in with the big picture. While you may not need to know the noble gases outside of chemistry class, studying chemistry will teach you how to identify reactions and to understand how substances interact with each other. This is important when you’re cooking or mixing cleaning products. [10] X Research source Translatable skills that you learn in one subject can help you to succeed in other subjects or in your everyday life.
For example, if you are struggling with English, look for books and papers to read and write reports on that are dedicated to subjects that you do enjoy, like history or art.
