The Teaching Professor. Successful students exhibit a combination of successful attitudes and behaviors as well as intellectual capacity. Successful students . 1. . . . are responsible and active.
Responsibility means control.
It's the difference between leading and being led. Your own efforts control your grade, you earn the glory or deserve the blame, you make the choice. Active classroom participation improves grades without increasing study time. You can sit there, act bored, daydream, or sleep. Or, you can actively listen, think, question, and take notes like someone in charge of their learning experience.