1. Keep up with reading assignments.
2. You must attend lectures and take good notes regularly.
3. You must solve many problems, not by merely looking at the solution guide, but by truly working out the correct answers. If you needed the solution guide to solve the problem, you should do a similar problem until you can get the correct answer without a guide.
Do not think that by "putting in your time" in lecture or the workshop you are doing all that is necessary to learn the material.
If students do at least the three items listed above, and they attend the workshop regularly, actively trying to understand, on the average, students will do better than those who do not attend the workshop. The following data is the average of students who attended the workshop during one quarter. It does not guarantee that you will earn a better grade, but it suggests that it might be wise for you to try the workshops.
Final Grade versus Total Hours Attending Workshops
To read the full research article see General Chemistry Workshop Attendance and Improved Student Performance (J. Chem. Educ. 1993, 70, 1013 - 1015).