Using Education Technology to Track Academic Progress

As the middle of the semester approaches, it’s easy to let the raging candle of academic ambition from the first week fade into a gentle flicker. If you don’t have methods of tracking your progress and holding yourself accountable, then the semester can get away from you faster than you can say “midterm exams!”.

From organizational apps to shifting your goals, we’ve got the tips to keep you on your game.

There’s an app for that

Earlier we posted the 6 organizational apps we love to use, so this one is a no-brainer. Open the App Store and look out for tools like iStudiez Pro, which is more geared towards managing courses and grades at the college level but will serve the same purpose of tracking your grades. Seeing progress in a technological medium as opposed to a messy pile of papers from weeks ago gives you a better visual perspective on where to fix mistakes.

Maintain perspective

While juggling multiple classes, extracurriculars, a social life and just growing up, we tend to lose sight of the forest for the trees. For example, look at how your individual grades within one class are weighted. Usually, the daily tasks and homework comprise less of your grade than do the midterm and exams. The goal is clearly to maximize your points in each category, but don’t let a few nights of difficult math problems stretch you too thin before the big tests.

Make sure you understand the concepts at a broad level, be it algebra or English. If you’ve reached a point where you consistently end up with the wrong numbers, then make sure you understand the formulas. If you keep running into writer’s block, then revisit your notes on the major themes of the text and then move into the details.

Slow progress vs. Fast progress

In some cases, you may struggle for weeks on end and one day the lightbulb goes off. Suddenly a formula just clicks in your brain and you begin to recognize patterns. Now all the problems look the same. In this situation, your grades would rapidly reflect your shorter learning curve.

But other subjects may take longer to develop, and thus your progress will not be so instantaneous. As long as you’re making steady gains, don’t let testing discourage you from chipping away at the class concepts. If you maintain communication with your teacher, they will know that your effort and improvements are there and can keep guiding you toward a reasonable grade. Remember — your success is their success!

Re-adjust your goals

This one may be tough to swallow. Everyone wants to finish what they started, however if you are barely hitting half of the goals you set for yourself then it’s time to step back and evaluate what’s working vs. what isn’t. If you came out of the gate too hot and find yourself overwhelmed, set smaller goals that you can immediately hit. Making accomplishments, however minuscule, will restore your confidence to bounce back again to your old goals.

Seek homework help before you need it

If you’ve read this far and thought, I’m actually at a pretty good place in school right now, good for you! But a solid component of every academic plan makes room for hiccups along the road. In order to keep your progress going, it’s wise to stay after school for a study session, just to make sure you haven’t missed anything. Also find MathCrunch in your mobile app store so when you need a quick homework fix, you can get an answer with the snap of a picture.