Although an “A” is a wondrous thing, all marks (from an F to an A+) give you feedback about your performance that is intended to be useful. My own first university essay, full of red pen marks and comments in the margin, told me I was no longer in high school and had a ways to go before I achieved similar evaluations on my performance (I kept that essay for a long time as a measure of my progress).

One of the appealing things at MRU are the smaller class sizes, so that students have more access to their professors. This bonus is very relevant to strategies for improving your performance over time.

1. Many professors provide commentary on your work (rather than just a check mark or an X). Read their comments over when you get back an exam or assignment. Review the remarks again when editing the next assignment…are you making the same mistakes? This is the time to catch them!
2. Some instructors have office hours and some invite you to email requests for an appointment. Meet with them if you want more feedback. They might also have tips and tricks they recommend for learning the specific material they teach.
3. Take your marked assignment or essay to a learning strategist at Student Learning Services. They may be able to see where your mistakes are and recommend new strategies for writing and studying or recommend specific workshops that address the gaps in your skills that lead you to lose marks.
4. Remember that you are going to school because you don’t know stuff (wait, what?) and that a university education is also for learning how to learn and think and not just for learning subject content. Reviewing assignments is a powerful strategy for expanding your capacity for learning and thinking.