Identifying clear learning outcomes for your course will offer your students a better idea of the knowledge and skills they are expected to acquire.

• Provide outlines for each class that indicate main ideas and key takeaways. Encourage students to take notes using these outlines and refer back to them as they study.
• Ensure that your assessments align with course outcomes and learning objectives. Learning activities should be directly tied to these goals.
• Include a short review at the beginning of each class period in which students recap what was learned in the previous class. Support students’ long-term retention of information by connecting new concepts to their pre-existing knowledge.

Students often struggle with managing their study time, so providing them with methods and tools to keep themselves organized will improve their learning experience and productivity. Even though many students carve out time in their schedules to study before exams, they might not think about how to utilize this time most effectively. For instance, it is common for students to use much of their time re-reading sections of the textbook and going through previous class notes, which are both passive forms of studying. When students use active strategies, they are more likely to retain information long-term.

• Help your students create to-do lists that clearly outline their weekly tasks.
• Provide opportunities for students to apply retrieval practice, spaced practice, and interleaving during class. Incorporate these techniques into your instruction: give informal quizzes, review topics from previous class meetings, and mix topics. Discuss how these learning strategies can benefit them while studying.
• Engage in a full-class discussion with students about how they are studying and have them share ideas with their peers. This can happen in class or through a discussion board in Blackboard.
• Consider incorporating informal journal assignments in which students reflect on study habits that are and are not working for them.
• Use pre-tests to assess students’ background knowledge. Analyze the results and provide resources to students who need to develop surface knowledge of a topic before engaging in deeper learning.

Providing students with a clear understanding of the relationships between ideas is a key aspect of the learning process. Students can create a visual representation of these connections by developing concept maps.

• Regularly discuss how ideas are interconnected and have students link pre-existing knowledge to new information.
• Develop activities in which students create graphic organizers, such as tables, flowcharts, and Venn diagrams (which are all forms of concept maps). See what they can recall from memory and give them opportunities to discuss their ideas and thought processes with peers.