Students blog

Stress is a part of everyday life in college, whether it be from living on your own for the first time or trying to figure out these seemingly impossible college classes. Certain classes within your chosen major can make you rethink your decision, but with the right healthy habits in and outside of the classroom, it can make excelling in these classes all that much easier.

Correlation Of Various College Major and Stress Levels

I interviewed upperclassmen college students on my campus, all with varying majors, to see what they do to help with everyday college stress and what advice they would like to give future freshmen. I interviewed several upperclassmen with majors such as Biomedical Science, General Business, Kinesiology, and my own Animal Science. Overall, the majors that centered around teaching, kinesiology, and general business had a lower stress environment; while the majors centered around science or math, like animal science and biomedical science had a very high stress environment. No matter the specific major, stress can hit at any moment, and it can be pretty jarring.

Spending Time with Those That Make You Happy

There are many different ways to help deal with this or help prevent too much stress in the future. My friend majoring in kinesiology enjoys spending time outside playing sports with his friends. He also enjoys spending time with their family at church or meditating with friends.

Stay On Schedule with Your Studies

My friend majoring in biomedical science likes to help prevent future stress by paying special attention to her study schedule. In addition to in-class time, she schedules at least 2 hours of study time for each class each week, sometimes more. She says this keeps her up-to-date on all the new information making her more confident in her knowledge on the subject which makes her calmer and less stressed in the long run.

Enjoy and Perfect Your Talents

My friend majoring in general business has a different type of stress management technique; he loves to play the drums and perfect his skill with new songs. He also loves to hang out with his friends or play video games. Being around people you love like a close friend or family member is a wonderful way to destress. Just talking about how you feel and what you are worried over helps relieve pressure and can bring a clearer mindset to get back to work.

Get Outside

My personal way to help relieve prevalent stress in my major is to spend time outside. Taking a walk; being in fresh air, walking around watching nature, is very therapeutic and can also help you see different ways to solve problems. Another way that I have found to help is to take a break and focus on yourself. Making a meal, doing some skincare, or taking a shower are great ways to take your mind out of what you are stressed over and put it in a more relaxed state. You will feel more refreshed and will have a clean slate to start again.

It is safe to say it is easy for students new to living on their own to be drawn to the poorer choices in stress management on a whim because they weren’t expecting some resistance in their studies. Making good habits early and plans for when a certain class or just life is getting too hard is how you can build lifelong habits that are amazing for your health both physically and mentally. I hope you can find a stress management system that works for you and that you try some of the ideas to help these stressful school years.

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

When did the news become about ratings instead of reporting what is truly happening in the world, and how can we know what to believe? College students need to be aware of why news outlets are biased and learn how to differentiate fact from opinion in the jungle known as fake news.

Today, a person can name any news outlet and know what they stand for – what the outlet reports, whose side they support, and what “type” of person watches their channel. How did this happen? If it is the news’ job to report what is going on in the world, then a person should be able to watch any news station and hear the same information. Unfortunately, this ideal is not what occurs today.

What Is Fake News?

The news didn’t always operate like this. This phenomenon of reporting only one side of the story is called biased or opinionated reporting. It is also called Fake News. The media began to implement this type of reporting as people began to “[cancel their cable subscriptions] in favor of an Internet-based service” (Is Media Dividing America?), also known as cord-cutting. To convince people to keep their news subscriptions, news networks needed to keep people entertained. This doesn’t happen with facts; they needed to report opinions.

Ratings Reign Above All Else

News companies abandoned their integrity to keep their ratings high and keep people watching. They chose which side to support and kept their stories consistent with their side. This form of “news” “[appeals] to our emotions in many ways... It’s these emotions that keep us addicted to media,” (Is Media Dividing America?). If the news reported unbiased facts, then they couldn’t put their spin on the story to keep us coming back for more.

Differentiating Fact from Opinion

So, students know that news outlets are biased in their reporting and only support a certain side. How can they discern what is fact and what is opinion? There isn’t one right way to do it. It requires a lot of research on the topic, double checking claims from news outlets, and reviewing opinions from experts about the topic.

How can people stop news outlets from reporting biased opinions? The truth is, they can’t. However, students can educate themselves in order to recognize the difference between fact and opinion.

Source:

“Is Media Dividing America?” Paypervids, 24 Apr. 2021

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog?  If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started! 

Picture this: you are doing your homework and two answers seem like they are both right. You choose one, click the button, and up pops a huge red “X!” We have all been there, and it's even worse when it happens on an exam. That's why I love the Pearson dynamic study modules! Dynamic study modules are like a combination of personalized notecards and your eText. They allow you to review what you already know and focus on what you do not know. Even better, you can learn without the pressure of getting questions wrong. 

Studying with a twist

Dynamic study modules are a set of questions based on your textbook chapter readings. Each question is followed by five answer choices with large circles next to each one. The first four choices are based on the content of the question and the fifth choice is always “I Don’t Know.” You answer the questions by clicking on the circle next to your answer choice; however, there is a twist!

If you are certain of an answer, you can double click the circle next to your choice to fill it completely. This will help to filter the material you’ve mastered, allowing you to focus on what you do not know.

If you are unsure of your answer choice, you can click on the circle once to fill in the circle halfway and you won’t be penalized if you’re incorrect. Whether that choice was right or wrong, you will have the ability within the module to see the correct answer and read a small section straight from your textbook that explains why it's correct.

You can also click the “I Don’t Know” button for a no penalty response. Just like if you answered a question halfway, you would get to see the correct answer and an explanation. 

Questions you answered halfway or with “I Don’t Know” will come up again later in the module to make sure you fully understand the answers. The goal of these modules is to master the subject matter. With every correct answer you fulfill a green bar, meaning you are one step closer to mastery!

Better retention leads to better results

I took a course last semester that utilized Dynamic Study Modules and they helped me truly understand the content rather than just memorizing flashcards. I found that I had an easier time retaining the information that I learned because of this, and I enjoyed learning! I mean-- who likes being penalized when they get an answer wrong? No one!

These modules alleviated my stress that points were being chipped away at my grade with every wrong answer. Better yet, I could review the modules all semester in two different ways: Smart Refresh and Refresh, allowing me to go back and review chapters quickly or in depth. It was perfect for when I had to review for exams or needed a quick refresh on the material before class.

If you are currently enrolled in a course that utilizes Pearson Dynamic Study Modules, or if you take one in the future, I highly recommend taking full advantage of them to gain a deeper understanding of your course material!

Do you have a compelling story or student success tips you’d like to see published on the Pearson Students blog? If you are a college student and interested in writing for us – click here to pitch your idea and get started!