LAC Examples Academic Advising Center Eastern Illinois University

Learning Problem Cases

Martha's Puzzle
Martha is a first year student from Springfield. Playing sports is her passion. Her grades in high school were pretty good; she had a B+ average. She attributes her success in high school to listening carefully in class and taking good notes. Martha is concerned about her Psychology class. Although she attended every class and listened carefully to her professor, she did poorly on the first test. Her grade was a D-. Martha does not know what went wrong. Although she was a little nervous before the multiple-choice test, she thought she had done well. After all, she had crammed for three hours the night before the test, and she was the first student to finish the exam. Martha wonders if the problem is that the professor asks trick questions.

Questions
1. What questions would you ask Martha to obtain more information about her situation?
2. Does it sound like the problem is trick questions?
3. What would you suggest that Martha do to improve her test scores?

Steve's Difficulty
Even though Steve is a first year student, he is already a popular person on campus. He is smart and personable. His friends often stop by his room in Lincoln Hall to shoot the breeze. Steve likes to listen to music, watch television, and talk about the people he is dating. There is always something happening in his room. The problem Steve is having is that his grades last semester were awful. He talked to a pre-veterinary advisor who told him that students need a 3.5 GPA to get into veterinary school. Steve has always dreamed of working with animals, but if he doesn't improve his GPA, he will have to find a new career. In high school, he got Bs without really trying. In college, he has worked harder. He spends an hour each night studying in his room. However, his efforts have not paid off because his Spring Semester Algebra, Psychology, and Biology test scores have been low.

Questions
1. Should Steve give up his dream of being a vet?
2. Why do you think that a smart person like Steve is not performing up to his potential?
3. What recommendations would you give to Steve?

Nate's Predicament
Nate is a first year student from Arcola. He is interested in becoming a teacher because he loves to work with children. He has always done well in school. Nate is well organized. He turns in all of his homework, and he finds a way to get on each teacher's good side. Unlike some of his friends in college, Nate attends class regularly, takes good notes, and spends time working on his assignments. He has no problem keeping motivated except when it comes to reading the textbooks, which he says are boring. Nate is concerned about his test scores in Interpersonal Communication. He did poorly on the first test. There were many questions that surprised him. After thinking about his problem, Nate decided to ask his professor to pass out a review sheet before the next exam.

Questions
1. If you were Nate's professor, would you write a review sheet for him?
2. Why do you suspect that Nate did poorly on his Interpersonal Communication test?
3. What advice would you give to Nate?

Clarissa's Quandary
School has always been difficult for Clarissa. She took college prep classes and worked very hard to get a 2.3 GPA at her school. School has always been difficult for her. To help her remember, Clarissa reads her books over and over again. Clarissa is now a second semester sophomore and she is now taking 2000 and 3000 level courses in Political Science, her major. These courses are much more challenging. There is a good deal of reading, and the instructors cover the material very quickly. Clarissa spends every evening and most of the weekend reading her books and working on her assignments. She is starting to feel burned out. Although she loves politics and wanted get a job in Washington D.C. once she graduated, she is considering changing her major.

Questions
1. Should Clarissa change her major?
2. What do you think is at the heart of Clarissa problem?
3. What steps should she take in order to solve her problem?

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Revised January 24, 2000