Everyone that’s been in school has faced this problem. We sometimes just don’t understand how to complete a school assignment. Even if you’re paying attention in class and never skip school, you will still face this problem. So what do you do?
To start, here are three questions you need to ask yourself:
- Did you miss something you were supposed to know? Did you happen to miss class? Or did you not pay attention and missed out on something important? Look around and see if your classmates are able to work on the assignment. If they are, there’s a good chance you missed something important. Talk to your professor for clarification. You can also ask your peers, but try to not ask too many questions as they are trying to complete the assignment themselves.
- Is the assignment in the scope of what you’ve learned? It’s obvious that school is meant to challenge students, however, it is unfair to give them work that is too far out of scope. They shouldn’t be given assignments that they have either a low chance or no way of figuring them out. You can tell this is the case if almost every one of your peers is unable to complete the assignment. As a group, you should let the professor know right away.
- Can you re-word what you don’t understand? Sometimes, questions are worded in a way that just doesn’t make sense to you. Try to reword the question in as many ways as you can, just until you can make sense of it. If nothing is coming together, ask your professor to reword the question for you. I’ll do this even if I’m writing an exam. Remember that you’re not asking for a question, you’re simply asking them to reword the question(s).
Dissect previous assignments and questions
If you’ve attempted what I recommended above and you still don’t understand the assignment, try this:
Look back at a similar question and follow the same steps. It’s a lot easier to answer questions if you can follow a series of steps to get to the answer.
For every question you’re given, you should be able to break it down into steps one, two, and three (maybe even more).
When you’ve listed out the steps, complete each question on your assignment while looking back to your list of steps.
If you actually use this approach to a question, you’ll be able to get a good understanding of how to complete the questions.
Use the resources you have
You should have plenty of resources available to you in college, including:
- Your professor(s)
- Your peers
- In-class and online notes
- Textbook notes
- Library resources
- On-campus study groups
- On-campus tutoring
Utilize all of the necessary resources available to you. Always try to do your own independent research before you reach out to others for help.
What I always do
For all of my courses, I will always create a Facebook group and invite all of my peers. Here, everyone can ask questions, get clarification on something they don’t understand, and ultimately just help each other out. This is the ultimate resource, a large group of students in the same class.
Steps for the future
To help avoid getting stuck in this situation in the future, consider the following steps:
- Whenever you’re taking notes in class, be detailed enough so that you can look back at them and understand exactly how to answer a question. Writing effective notes is one of the most important things to do in class.
- Don’t rely on your memorization skills as it is a far less effective approach to doing well in school.
- If you don’t understand something, raise your hand and ask for clarification! The longer you don’t ask questions, the more confused you’ll be.
- Make sure you understand every step on how to answer a question before your professor moves on.
- Complete the homework you’re assigned. I understand how annoying it can to complete homework, but the truth is, it helps you understand the course material. Stop procrastinating!
As obvious as this may sound, the more you stay on top of your schoolwork, the greater your learning outcome will be. Remember, this isn’t high school anymore. You are responsible for the work you complete and submit. Don’t be that student that blames their failures on others.
Conclusion
We’re all faced with assignments that we don’t understand. We may even be faced with many, and this can really make us feel like dropping out of college.
With the right preparations and utilization of your resources, you’ll be able to complete any school assignment.
If my recommendations helped you complete an assignment, let me know by leaving a comment down below. Or, comment if you have additional recommendations that you think would help students out.
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