How To Have Good Time Mangement In College(For Students With Jobs)
Purpose: I hope to help college students have better time management when studying their school work, doing projects, writing papers, and reading books for classes. I hope to give students a sense of ease and a less-stressed working environment so that they are able to retain the information they read instead of simply getting the work down and just “getting by” with their grades. I have 5 classes this semester, all with their own readings and papers and homework, plus a part time job. I never feel like I have enough time. I asked a grad student friend of mine how she does it all and she gave me a few tips to go on, the rest I’ve learned over time. Best possible outcome is that other students, like myself, learn how to manage their time efficiently and get better grades because they’re not pushed to the point of breaking with the stress of too much to do and no time to do it in. The worst possible outcome is that my tips do not help anyone and I’ve wasted my time.
Audience: College students ages 18-30 with jobs. They would encounter my instruction set on campus or maybe at their jobs if it is a place that a lot of people work and go to school. The biggest characteristic with this group is that they have jobs. Jobs, no matter how many hours you work, will take up a lot of your time and take a lot of time away from doing your school work.
Context: The communication between my audience and me will be on campus somewhere that they grab my instructions. They may pick it up in the library, one of the study halls, perhaps on a bulletin board between classes. I will not be there to explain anything, so I need to be very understandable when giving these. If my audience grabs one of my manuals in the library, it needs to be ready to use right then. More than likely they will begin using it at that moment. However, it needs to be something they can take with them because if they are at work, they will not be doing their school work then and will need the instructions later.
Strategies: I will use bullet point format on paper printed out so that the students are able to take it with them when they begin studying. It needs to be on a pamphlet printed out already for them so that it is small enough for their book bag or folder and they are able to carry it with them to work to refer to it for use at a later date, possibly get their minds ready before they get off as to what needs to be done later.
Medium: I will use the pamphlet idea to print out these instructions. It will be professional, but have a few pictures and illustrations to lighten the mood of the student when looking at it. This will help incorporate my idea of less stress.
Arrangement: I will have different categories for the different type of studying and places to do it. The categories will be; Where, When At Work, When Reading Books, When Doing Projects, When Writing Papers, When You Have Too Much Homework, and Stress Free Tips.
Testing: I would test this out on my coworkers that are in school.
How To Have Good Time Management In College(For Students Without Jobs)
Purpose: I hope to help college students have better time management when studying their school work, doing projects, writing papers, and reading books for classes. I hope to give students a sense of ease and a less-stressed working environment so that they are able to retain the information they read instead of simply getting the work down and just “getting by” with their grades. I have 5 classes this semester, all with their own readings and papers and homework, plus a part time job. I never feel like I have enough time. I asked a grad student friend of mine how she does it all and she gave me a few tips to go on, the rest I’ve learned over time. Best possible outcome is that other students, like myself, learn how to manage their time efficiently and get better grades because they’re not pushed to the point of breaking with the stress of too much to do and no time to do it in. The worst possible outcome is that my tips do not help anyone and I’ve wasted my time.
Audience: College students ages 18-30 without jobs. They would encounter my instruction set on campus. The biggest aspect about this group is that they do not have a job. I have to remember this because it means they have more time than the other group to work on their homework and more time to play, which I hope they will see is not the most important part of college.
Context: The communication between my audience and me will be on campus somewhere that they grab my instructions. They may pick it up in the library, one of the study halls, perhaps on a bulletin board between classes. I will not be there to explain anything, so I need to be very understandable when giving these. If my audience grabs one of my manuals in the library, it needs to be ready to use right then. More than likely they will begin using it at that moment.
Strategies: I will use bullet point format on paper printed out so that the students are able to take it with them when they begin studying. It needs to be on a piece of paper printed out already double-sided so that the students can put it in one of their folders to take with them to classes and the library.
Medium: I will use one paper and have it double sided. It will be professional to the eye with an easy to read font. Possibly add a few graphics that are funny and lighthearted so that it will reinforce my idea of less stress.
Arrangement: I will list the instructions in categories with bullet points so that it is easy to read and follow. The categories will be; Where, When Reading Books, When Writing Papers, When You Have a Full Load, and Stress Free Tips.
Testing: I will test this out on students in my classes that do not have jobs but do have a full time schedule at school.
About Students with Jobs
1. You have developed your purpose and context very well. I can tell that this is an important issue to you.
2. I would like to see more about the medium. What kind of pamphlet do you plan to make? A tri-fold brochure? A booklet? Clarify this a little more.
3. This project is similar to mine in that its geared towards college students.
4. What if your information was designed as a chapter in a book on adjusting to college life? (like the Freshman Seminar books.) You would have more space to explain your ideas and their benefits.
What if you designed the instructions to fit inside a planner or 3 ring binder? Then it would be very portable.
About students with no jobs
1. I like that this one is more lighthearted and that the medium will fit inside binders and things.
2. I would think of a slightly different purpose for this one. for example: encouraging students to focus on school. the two sets will be too similar if the purpose for both are exactly the same, only one group has more time.
3. Again, we share similar audiences.
4. What if you put it online? Easy access, professors could link to it on their homepage... etc.
Feedback
Design 1
1. The rhetorical element that is covered most thoroughly is the purpose. The purpose is well detailed and describes what the point of communication is. I found it interesting that the writer is using past experience to write the information. It is beneficial to have have experienced it yourself.
2. The rhetorical element that is least covered thoroughly is arrangement. Some more clairifcation on what some details will be for each category.
3. The proposed instruction set connects with what I am doing because both sets will have to be very clear and easy for the audience to carry with them. We both will not be present to explain the directions so pictures used in the medium will be helpful.
4. If the medium was changed to a video then the students would have to take notes and use their own interpretation. It would be harder for them to remember key points for them video.
Design 2
1. The rhetorical element that is covered thoroughly is the audience. It is helpful that you have to keep in mind this group has more free time than the other one, so that is how the instructions will be different.
2. The rhetorical element that is leased covered is arrangement. It would help to add a few detailed bullet points about each category.
3. This set of instructions connects with mine because we are both using a sheet of paper as a reference guide.
4. If the writer is to use a bound packet it would change the context in that the student might not throw away a packet as easily as a piece of paper. There is more room for pictures.