1. Attend class and participate. 

Attendance, per se, is not part of your grade, but attending class is essential for you to do well. You are responsible for getting the information you missed regardless of the reason.  

2. Read the text before coming to class. 

We'll be doing a lot of discussing in this class.  It's harder to discuss if you haven't read.

When I lecture, I assume that you’ve done the reading and have a basic understanding of the material. If you haven’t done the reading, you will probably be lost during the lecture. If you read the chapter first, you'll have a better understanding of what I'm talking about, and the questions that you ask will be more productive.  Why ask a question that the book answers?  And, after having read the chapter, if there is something in there that you don't understand, you'll be able to ask about it in class.  If you haven't read the chapter, how will you know to ask?

3. Put time and energy into the course.

For a 100 or 200 level course, it is expected that for every 1 hour you spend in class, you will spend a minimum of 2 hours outside of class in order to do okay in the course. For a class that meets about 5 hours a week, you need to spend an additional 10 hours on the course.

These sites contain information on test-taking, time management, note-taking (both in class and from the text), etc.

Study Strategies from Univ of Minnesota - Duluth
Academic Success Center from George Washington University
Establishing Good Study Habits from Edinboro University
How-to-Study.com
Study Skills from the Learning Network

5. Get with some other students and study together.

Helping someone else understand something is an excellent way to learn anything.  And if you get lost somewhere along the way, it's helpful to have some folks to go to who can help you out.

6. Like any class, the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.