THE CASE OF . . .

TIME CRUNCHED
Ed Goddard couldnt believe it. He was working overtime at his delivery job because one of his
coworkers was taking vacation. During a break from his shift, he got a text message from a
college classmate asking if he wanted to study the next day for the exam they had to take the
following Monday. Ed had forgotten all about the exam.
Even worse, Ed couldn't study with his classmate the next day because he'd promised his wife he
would join her on her weekly visit to her mother. Although he wasn't looking forward to the twohour drive, he knew his wife would be furious if he broke his promise. And on top of all that, he
also had to find time in the next few days to work on a term paper due in one of his other classes.
As he was driving home thinking about all this, his car started to sputter and then stalled. He was
unable to get it started. That was it. He sat there on the side of the road, feeling like his life had
completely fallen apart and wondering how hed ever get it back together again.
1. What might you tell Ed that could help solve his predicament?

2. Is there anything Will could have done to prevent the situation he now faces
from occurring in the first place?

3. What specific time management techniques might Will have employed in the
past to avoid these problems?

4. What strategies might Will use now to take control over his limited time during
the coming days?
5. What advice could you give Will to try to prevent problems in time management
for his next term?

THE CASE OF . . . THE FIVE-HUNDRED-POUND READING PACKET

The instructor dropped the thick packet of course readings on Delila Meade's desk. It landed with
a loud thunk.
"We'll be reading this packet over the next four weeks," the instructor announced. But staring at
the packet, all Delila could think was, I don't think I could even lift that, let alone read it in just a
month!
Sure, Delila thought, she was interested in the topics of the readings. They all dealt with the
history of computer programming, and Delila was in college to get her degree in that same field.
She told herself a lot of the information in the readings would probably be very useful, both in
college and throughout her programming career.
But stillall Delila could focus on as she started at the packet were nagging questions. How
could she possibly read all of it in four weeks? How would she remember all that material for
tests or on the job? And perhaps most urgently of all, how would she even get the massive packet
home?
1. How would you advise Delila to prepare for her course reading?

2. How would you suggest Delila organize her time so she could finish the readings
in the allotted four weeks?

3. How might Delila stay focused on her reading? How might she most effectively
use writing as a way to accomplish her task?

4. What techniques might Delila use to memorize long lists or other key material
from her reading?

5. In what ways can Delila use rethinking techniques to improve her understanding
of the readings in the packet?

THE CASE OF . . . NOT MISSING A THING

Some people write down a few things in class. Others write down most things. Jennifer Beck
wrote down everything.
The woman was virtually a human dictation machine. She spent her time in class in a whirlwind
of notetaking, writing down seemingly every word her instructor uttered in a clear, meticulous
script. By the end of a term, her notebooks were so lengthy that they approached the size of
telephone books from a small city.
Yet despite her thorough notes, Jennifer was only a mediocre student. She was a hard worker,
and studied her many notes thoroughly before tests. But she never managed to get grades higher
than a C+. It seemed incredible to her. She worked incredibly hard in class taking good notes.
Why wasn't it paying off?

1. How do you think Jennifer defines "good notetaking"?

2. Why does Jennifer's method of notetaking produce such poor results? What is
she missing?

3. If you asked Jennifer to summarize the instructor's main ideas after a class
lecture, how successful do you think she would be? Why?

4. Do you think it would be easy or hard to study for a final exam using Jennifer's
notes? Why?

5. Do you think Jennifer evaluates her notes during or after class? Do you think she
ever rethinks them? What questions would you ask to help her perform these
steps?

6. In general, what advice would you give Jennifer on notetaking?

THE CASE OF . . . THAT SINKING FEELING

This was going to be easy, Debbie Mallery said to herself as she sat down to take her test, a midterm exam covering the basics of restaurant management. She had spent a few hours the previous
night and an hour right before class studying key terms and concepts. She felt she knew the
material. She felt ready.
Debbie was surprised to see, though, that the exam had two parts: a multiple-choice section and
an essay section. Debbie hadn't really thought about what she might say in an essay. But she
figured working on the multiple-choice questions might help give her some ideas.
The first two multiple choice questions Debbie answered easily, but she got stuck on the third
one. She went back and forth over two possible answers, and finally decided just to leave that
question blank. The pattern was the same for the rest of the multiple choice questions. A few
questions Debbie would answer easily, then she'd get stuck on a hard one.
Finally, Debbie finished the multiple choice questions, and came to the essay. Only then did she
notice the instructions that indicated the essay was worth 50 points, and the multiple choice
questions 25 points. Then Debbie got another shock: she realized she had only ten minutes left to
write her essay! Her mind frozeand Debbie had the horrible feeling that she didn't have
enough time to complete the test. Even though she studied, Debbie now felt certain she would
fail.

1. What mistakes did Debbie make in her test preparation that probably harmed her
performance?

2. What mistakes did Debbie make during the test that hurt her?

3. What was right about Debbie's initial approach to the test?

4. What should Debbie have done differently in calculating the amount of time to
devote to each portion of the test? Why?

5. What specific strategies would have helped Debbie with the multiple-choice
questions? What strategies could she have used on the essay?

6. If you were in Debbie's shoes, what would you do with only 10 minutes left in
the test?

THE CASE OF . . . THE MISSING TENANT

Chloe had a problem.
She and her husband owned their own house, and to help with the mortgage they rented out the
extra room over their garage. For three years they'd been renting it to one of Chloe's cousins, but
a few months earlier Chloe's cousin had gotten married and moved in with her new husband.
That wasn't the problem, though. Chloe had known for months that her cousin would be leaving,
so she'd had time to find someone new to rent the garage room: a local nursing student. The
nursing student had signed a six-month lease and scheduled a day to move in. The problem was
that on the day she was meant to arrive the nursing student didn't show up.

Concerned, Chloe called herand the nursing student brusquely told her she'd found a better
place and wouldnt be renting from Chloe. Then she hung up. Suddenly Chloe was left without a
tenant, with an empty roomand without money she'd been counting on to pay the mortgage.
1. Of the problem solving strategies outlined in this chapter, which would you use to
approach this problem?

2. What alternatives does Chloe have for dealing with the situation?

3. How should Chloe go about evaluating the outcomes for each alternative?

4. Based on your analysis of the problem, what advice would you give Chloe for dealing
with the situation?

5. Is there anything Chloe could have done to avoid this problem in the first place?
(Hint: If you've signed a lease in the past, did you have to pay any money up-front?)

THE CASE OF . . . KEEPING YOUR MOUTH SHUT

Jorge Azar had immigrated with his parents to the United States from the Dominican
Republic when he was eleven years old. Although Jorge had become fluent in
English, he still spoke with an accent. Jorge had never felt self-conscious about it
before. He'd lived most of his life in America in New York City, surrounded by
dozens of different accents.

Now, though, Jorge had relocated with his wife out of New York. He'd enrolled in
college to earn his degree in software engineering, and sitting in a classroom in which
he was the only Hispanic, Jorge suddenly felt nervous to open his mouth. He was sure
that no matter what he said, his fellow classmates would disregard it because of his
accent. Despite graduating high school in the top of his class, Jorge was struck dumb
at the idea of answering the questions his instructors asked.
One day, Jorge couldn't avoid the problem any more. In one of his programming
classes, his instructor called on him by name to explain a technical term. Jorge knew
what the term meant and how to explain it but he was afraid that as soon as he
spoke, he'd be laughed at. As the moments ticked by and the class waited for Jorge's
response, he started to wonder why he'd enrolled in college in the first place.

1.

Can you identify with Jorge's situation? Are there aspects of yourself that you
feel self-conscious about?

2.

What assumptions does Jorge fear his classmates will make?

3.

What assumptions about his classmates is Jorge making?

4.

What advice would you give Jorge to help him feel more comfortable not just
speaking in class, but also in college in general?

5.

Have you ever judged someone based not on what they say, but how they say
it? What did you learn from this incident, and how could you avoid it in the
future?