Introduction
Independent Study: Keys to Success
If you have never taken an independent study course, you will find that this type of learning experience is quite different from what you have experienced in the classroom. In the traditional high school classroom, daily work, pop quizzes, special reports, and projects help you keep pace with the rest of the class and prepare you for the exams. Normally, these things are not part of independent study. Class discussion does not exist in independent study. You can’t count on the girl in the second row to answer the teacher’s question, and you can’t sleep behind the big tackle on the football team either. In independent study, you are, for the most part, on your own. The key to success in this course, or in any independent study course, is self‑discipline.
Make a schedule and stick to it! A classroom course usually takes fifteen to eighteen weeks to complete. In independent study, by and large, you determine how long the course will last. Although you are able to pursue the course pretty much at your own pace, you should keep in mind that it is designed to be a one-semester course. Be realistic. Don’t expect to finish the course in a couple of weeks! You can’t. Some students spend a year completing the work. Most students, however, take about fifteen to eighteen weeks—the time required to complete the class in a traditional semester. In doing so, they complete a lesson every week to ten days. Don’t let procrastination creep into your study habits. Consider your deadline, establish a workable calendar, and stick to it. Don’t leave things until the last minute. Your level of achievement or success is up to you.
