1. Come to class. Don’t be fooled by the lecture notes and assume that access to those can substitute for class attendance. The lecture notes are Mr. Keel’s "shorthand" and they make a lot more sense if you’re actually in class to follow along with him.
2. Stay awake in class! We realize that many of you have jobs and other obligations that make it difficult for you to get enough sleep, but sleeping in class isn’t cool. It’s distracting to Mr. Keel, and unless you learn through osmosis, you’re not going to get anything out of the lecture. Either stay at home where you can get a more peaceful sleep, or come to class and do what I do—drink caffeine and eat snacks!
3. Don’t attempt to write down Mr. Keel’s lecture notes during class. This is a waste of your time, since you can print the notes out at one of the labs on campus. And if you’re trying to keep up with writing everything down from the lecture notes, it will distract you from paying attention to what Mr. Keel is saying.
4. Don’t wait until the night before the exam to read the assigned chapters. Do your best to follow along with the schedule.
5. Before you ask a question in class or on the listserv, check your syllabus to make sure the answer is not in there somewhere. This will prevent you from looking irresponsible and us from getting annoyed!
6. If you’re confused about the computer requirements, don’t be ashamed to ask for help! We were all beginners at one time. We are here to help you with this experience!
7. If you’re confused about the course content, don’t be afraid to ask for help. And don’t wait until it’s too late! If you don’t do well on an exam, come in and talk to us about it. We’ll go over your test with you. Just don’t wait until the week before the final exam!
8. Take advantage of review sessions, but don’t come to review sessions expecting us to tell you what’s going to be on the exams. Reviews only work if you come to them prepared and with questions.
9. Don’t miss an exam and come up with a poor excuse for why you missed it. We (especially me) can see right through illegitimate excuses. Even if you don’t feel prepared for the exam, just take it. Drawing out the inevitable isn’t going to help. It’s been our experience that students who do make-ups don’t do well on them anyway.
10. Bring a #2 pencil to the exams. Mr. Keel usually has some extras available, but if you don’t want to look irresponsible, bring your own.
11. Use Mr. Keel and the course TA's. You are encouraged to submit rough drafts of your papers for review and constructive criticism. For those students in Soc. 010, even though Critical Thinking Project 1 is optional, do it. It will give you a better idea of what we expect on Critical Thinking Project 2, AND the extra points can’t hurt. (We tend to grade pretty tough on the second project.)
12. Start on your Critical Thinking Projects early. They make not look hard, but they require a lot of time and effort. In the end it is easy for us to distinguish between a paper that was written the weekend before it was due and one that was thought through.
13. If you haven’t written a lot of papers in your academic career or if you already know that you have a difficult time with writing (i.e. spelling, grammar, or structure), seek assistance. The Writing Lab on campus exists to help students with papers. They are located in 409 SSB. Call ahead to schedule an appointment: 516-5950.
14. As noted in the syllabus, we do not want you to put your papers in fancy shmancy folders or binders. What it doesn’t say in the syllabus is that folders and binders will not be returned, because we either throw them away or keep them for ourselves if they’re particularly shmancy!
15. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn about human society! You can learn a lot from this class and from Mr. Keel if you come to class with an open mind. J

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/tips.htm
Owner: Robert O. Keel
Last Updated: Wednesday, January 19, 2000 09:48 AM

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