INSIDE DOUGLAS COLLEGE / OCTOBER 2, 1990

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greatest relief of all) that making good grades is
something that anyone can learn how to do.

A college degree is a measure of motivation and
endurance/persistence; and grades measure an expen-
diture of time and energy. This is the foundation for a
belief system that will allow a student to acquire what
most of them say they want—a college education.
Going to college is not a way of putting off growing up
or taking on responsibility. Going to college is not a
way of getting out of work. On the contrary, going to
college is taking on a full-time job.

Learning requires energy. Learning cannot be pas-
sive—it must be active. Most students intend to do
well in college. They do not know, however, that they
will have to do something in order to succeed.

As an introduction to the discussion about how
much energy it takes to learn, I write on the board:
“Everything has a price tag.” “You can’t get something
for nothing.” “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
We spend classtime talking about how much energy it
takes to learn new things. For many students, this is an
entirely new concept.

Not only does learning something new require an
expenditure of energy, but it requires a focus of that
energy. Learning will use so much energy a student
may not have a lot left over to “party.” This surprises
many. They didn’t know that the energy was finite—
or—they knew at some intuitive level because they
saved what they had and used it for something besides
studying /learning.

Quite simply, learning has a price tag. It is that
focus and expenditure of concentrated energy. Learn-
ing can be hard work. Difficulties in college are more
than a time-management problem. They are, instead,
results of a belief system that says: “College shouldn't
take much time or energy. It is only a matter of sitting
in class and reading a few books.” Again, how hard
could it actually be? You’re “sitting,” not working.

The real message—the one to be emphasized over
and over again—is that different amounts of time will
be needed for practicing/learning/ using or perfecting
a skill for different people. Not everything comes
eesily to everyone. On the other hand, not everything
is difficult for everyone. Some subjects (and unfortu-
nately—it is that subject that I hate the most) are
absolutely going to require more time to learn than
others. And “time in” is the key—not IQ.

A Strategy

{ have my students bring three tennis balls to the
classroom each day. The course objectives include
“some degree of skill in juggling.” I start class with
music and five to ten minutes of juggling practice.

Some students “forget” to bring their tennis balls to
class; and some students do bring the tennis balls and
practice during the time I provide in class but never a
practice at home. Some students stand and hold the
tennis balls and talk to one another. They tell me they
will juggle in front of everyone else after they have
learned how to do so in the privacy of their own home.
Some folks acquire the skill of juggling fairly quickly.
However, the majority realize quickly that this skill is
going to take some hours of practice and is definitely
an expenditure of energy and effort (you have to bend
over a lot and pick things up). It becomes apparent
that learning something new requires time, energy,
effort, and a willingness to appear unskilled, inade-
quate, silly, or foolish; and that learning is a lot more
fun if you approach it in a joyful manner.

And, of course, there are always some students who
just get better and better. Each class day, they area
little more skilled than they were the time before.
When asked, they tell of how many hours they stood
and practiced, and how they got into a competition
with their kids, and how they thought they could never
do it, and how delighted they are with themselves that
they actually learned how. And I (of course) get a
chance to talk about studying and how some subjects
seem to take forever to learn; but—it really is like
magic—if you put in the time and the effort and the
energy, “all of a sudden,” one day, you can do it. The
amount of time spent in learning to juggle provides a
concrete example of the kind of energy it takes to learn
something new. Juggling also provides a welcome
“right-brain” relief to the intensity of studying for
hours at a time. It becomes a skill that is relaxing,
enjoyed, and enjoyable.

We must work to create a classroom environment
where students can experience a world in which
learning is a joyful process. Hospitals are full of people
who expended time, energy, and effort but who did
not feel joyful while doing so or feel pleasure with the
results.

Teaching our “study skills/student success” course
has become an enjoyable experience for the instructors
and has provided useful tools for our students, and a
can of tennis balls has become a trademark on our
campus.

Naas

Linda Hartmann, Counseling Associate

For further information, contact the author at Richland
College, 12800 Abrams Road, Dallas, TX 75243-2199.

 

Suanne D. Roueche, Editor
September 7, 1990, Vol. XII, No. 18

© the University of Texas at Austin, 1990
Further duplication is permitted by MEMBER
institutions for their own personnel.

 

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