Student Tools
Up How to Study Motivation

 

Print Friendly and PDFTime use on an average weekday for full-time university and college students      Site Search and Site Map   

 

 

 

Table of Contents

Learning Skills

THEA Online Study Guide

Online Learning Skills

Navigating the Net

Textbook Resources

Tools for School

Research and Writing Resources

Academic Resources

Financial Aid

Career Resources

Personal Finances

How to Impress the Instructor

Learning Styles

Study Tips

Table of References

 

 

I have provided the links on these pages to help you not only in my courses

but also throughout your college career.
If you don't see what you need, ask. Chances are others are looking

for the same thing. If I can find it, I'll post it!

 

 

 

 

 

Downloads

How to Study for Tests

Building Your Note-Taking and Study Skills: A Guide for Students

Become a More Efficient and Effective Reader

Four Steps to Reading a Textbook Quickly and Effectively

Reading Myths and Skimming

The Reading Environment

What’s Your Reading Rate

How to Speed Read without Forgetting Everything

Critical Reading Strategies

The Cornell Method of Note-Taking

Becoming a Critical Thinker

How to Study film series (Samford University)

How to Get the Most Out of Studying: Part 5 of 5, I Blew the Exam, Now What? (7:28)

Assessment of Effective Study Time: Use the How to Study link at the top of this page.

Motivating Yourself to Do Well in College: Use the Motivation link at the top of this page.

 

 

 

 

 

Learning Skills ResourcesStudy Techniques [Infographic]

Learning to Learn

UT Austin Online Resources: Use the Study Strategies link.

Virginia Tech Study Skills

UNSW Learning Center

Brazosport Learning Assistance Center

IRIS Interactive Self-Paced Tutorials

 

Interactive Self-Paced Tutorials

Avoid Plagiarism

Evaluate Information: A.S.A.P.

Evaluate Websites: W5 for W3

Research Team

Subject Encyclopedias

Scholarly Journals

Sites to Promote Academic Success: a long, long list of tools, sites and all sorts of things

Academic & Study Skills

Tools for Improving Your Memory

Study Skills Guides for College Students

Education Corner's Study Skills for Students

ESL Resources

Note Taking Strategies

How to Manage Time With 10 Tips That Work, Entrepreneur

10 Ways to Improve Your Time Management Skills, Lifehack.org

Time management: Study Guides and Strategies

Managing a Busy Schedule for College Students

Study Guides and Strategies

HowToStudy.org

If you study best using flash cards, try any of the following.

Flash Card Machine

Study Blue

Study Stack

Brainscape Flashcards

Quizlet

Study Hacks:  Cal Newport’s site explains how to “do less, do better, and know why” ... more of a methodology or philosophy towards college than a collection of hacks

Secrets of the Most Successful College Students  How to Be a Successful College Student

Open Colleges

 

How to Increase Productivity

Career Centre

Study Skills to Learn Effectively

Top Tips for Study Success

Open Colleges Blog

InformED Newsletter

College Student Study Skills Guide

How-To-Study.com

Taking Notes from Lectures

Lecture Note Taking, College of St. Benedict / St. John's University (Some very good advice at this site.)

Taking Notes, Factmonster.com

Taking Lecture and Class Notes, Dartmouth College (Downloadable MS Word documents with detailed advice on methods of note taking.)

7 Note-Taking Skills Every College Student Should Have

Reading Improvement video (10:48)

Reading Improvement video with captions (10:48)

A Classic Method for Studying Texts: SQ3R, Dartmouth College

Active Reading Strategies, Princeton University

Rapid Reading, Cornell University

Concept Mapping, Cornell University

Guide to Reading Primary Sources, University of Pennsylvania

How to Take Study Notes: 5 Effective Note Taking Methods and Essential Tips

Final Exams 2018: 25 Essential Resources

10 Best Looking Class Notes of 2018

Coursera's Learning How to Learn: Powerful mental tools to help you master tough subjects

Intelligent.com has a number of useful resources.

Create a Study Plan

Study Smart before Exams

Take Effective Notes

Manage your Stress

Test Taking Strategies on Exam Day

Re-reading is inefficient. Here are 8 tips for studying smarter.

Use ‘distributed practice’ to better retain what you study.

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See also:

Your First College Year 2012 Infographic

Your First College Year 2014 Infographic

Your First College Year 2015 Infographic

 

Online Study Guides for the THEA (or ACCUPLACER) and TSI

Test Preparation Quick Reference

Practice Test

THEA Online Course

West Texas A&M THEA and ACCUPLACER (Math)

West Texas A&M Math Help for the THEA or ACCUPLACER Test

ACCUPLACER Practice

TSI Study Guide

TSI Sample Questions

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Online Learning Skills ResourcesStudent Demographics Infographic from ClassesAndCareers.com

Online Student Demographics

Anatomy of an Online Course

Writing Sensible Email Messages

Email Etiquette

What Are Your Expectations of Online Learning?

Top Five Online Learning Myths

Staying the (Online) Course

How to Succeed in Distance Learning Courses

The Distance Learner's GuideWCET LOGO

Online Reference For Test Preparation (From Brittany and her kids ... Thanks!)

Skills for Online Learning

How Students Develop Online Learning Skills

Tips for Developing Online Learning Skills

Top Tools for Online Learners

Online Time Management Training from MindTools.com

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Navigating the Internet

How to Use Google

How to Choose a Search Tool

Choose the Best Search for Your Information Need

Selecting a Search Tool

Internet Search Resources

Use the Best Tool for the Job

Web Search 101

The Animated Internet: Click on the Get Started link.

Short and Easy Search Engine Tutorial

From Google: Better Search Results

Learn How to Do Boolean Searches in One Minute Flat

Five-Step Search Strategy

Sharpen Your Search Skills

Search Engine Resources

Recommended Search Engines

What Makes a Search Engine Good?

Meta-Search Engines

Invisible or Deep Web: What It Is, How to Find It and Its Inherent Ambiguity

Recommended Subject Directories

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Textbook Resources

It's easy to find cheap used copies of textbooks online if you have ISBN numbers for the texts you need. It's almost impossible to find the correct texts if you don't have the ISBN numbers. (The ISBN is the 10-digit or 13-digit number listed above the bar code on the back of every book printed in the last couple of decades.) Since texts bought online have to be mailed, don't wait until classes start to order them. Most of your profs won't have the ISBNs handy anyway. Instead go to your college bookstore, find the text you need, write down the ISBN on the back of the text and leave the bookstore. You're not required to purchase a text just for going to the bookstore and you're not prohibited from writing down information.

Many publishers sell texts directly to students, including special online versions at greatly reduced prices. To see if that applies to a specific text, visit the publisher's website. The following sites have texts in varying conditions and at varying prices from multiple publishers. Always use the ISBN to make sure you're getting the text you want ... don't rely on descriptions or pictures. Too, always check a site's shipping policy for cost and speed before you buy. These sites are for your use at your own risk ... inclusion on the list is by no means an endorsement.

Get Textbooks: I recommend you always start with this site.

isbn.nu: Input a textbook author/title, or an ISBN # and it searches a dozen online bookstores for the lowest price.

Follett

Barnes and Noble

Amazon: Use the general site or find the New and Used Textbooks section.

Direct Textbook

Nebraska Book Company

EBooks

EBay

Chegg: textbook rentals

Course Smart: Mainly electronic versions of texts but you might like them if you try them.

BOOKSCOUTER LOGO If you sell your texts at the end of the semester, check this site for the current amount being offered by various book sites. You might find one or more that offer more than your local bookstore.

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Tools for SchoolAcademic Probation

Web Math: Solves most math problems. Type in your problem and you get not only an answer but also an explanation.

Martindale's Reference: Calculators On-line: Links to thousands of calculators for hundreds of purposes ... truly mindboggling

Had2Know: calculators for math, statistics, finance, home and garden remodeling, science, technology, health and much more

Keyboard Shortcuts

Wikibooks

Adobe Download Support

Net Tutor

Varsity Tutor: Free practice tests, flashcards and classroom management resources ... Visitors have the option of creating a free account that allows them to create practice questions/tests, save their results and keep track of progress over time.

Tutoring One: Tutoring One’s mathematics support services will customize an educational option for you at every level of math, with services starting @ $9.99/yr. They offer a menu of services to meet the needs of young adults and adults in colleges and universities, community colleges or GED programs. They are a 24/7 online tutoring service and can be accessed anywhere.

Viewers: Perhaps you're not a regular computer user. Or perhaps you use a different brand of software than Office. Or maybe you have certain Office programs, like Word or PowerPoint, but not some of the others such as Visio or Excel. Whatever the problem, if there are things on this site that you can't access, there is a solution. You can install a free program viewer so that you can look at the file in question. There are, however, some restrictions: You can view files in a viewer, but you can't edit them and you can't create new files. To download the viewer you need, click on the links below.

Word Viewer lets you open Word documents and documents created with all previous versions of Word for Windows and Word for Macintosh.

Excel Viewer allows you to open, view, and print Excel workbooks, even if you don't have Excel installed. You can also copy data from Excel Viewer to another program. However, you cannot edit data, save a workbook, or create a new workbook. This download is a replacement for all previous Excel Viewer versions.

PowerPoint Viewer lets you view full-featured presentations created in PowerPoint 97 and later versions. This viewer also supports opening password-protected PowerPoint presentations.

Downloading and Using Viewers for MS Office Documents

The Read-Write-Think Notetaker is a hierarchical outlining tool that allows students to organize up to five levels of information for reading and writing activities. During or after reading, the Notetaker can be used to compile and organize reading notes, and research related ideas. During the writing process, students can use the tool to organize their information, plan texts in the prewriting stage and review and structure their ideas during writing and revision. Students can choose the format that the outline will use (e.g., bullets, Roman numerals, letters, etc) as well as enter up to five levels of information. The Notetaker includes a tutorial, which demonstrates how to use the tool, as well as a Notes area where students can track information that does not fit into the outline. The Notetaker creates HTML files of students’ outlines, which can be printed or saved and edited later in any HTML editor.

Software Tutorials

BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper

Brunner Math

Easy Worksheet Math

Graphing Calculator Tutorials and Lessons

Professor Freedman's Math Help

Mathematics Tutorials and Problems

Go to https://www.tutoo.com/ to search for all the tutors within your local area.

Interactive Mathematics

The Math Forum

GraphCalc Calculator Download: free advanced calculator

Evernote helps you remember everything. The web app, desktop apps for Windows and Mac OS, mobile apps for iPhone and iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, and even Web OS mean that Evernote can help you take notes, save them, tag them with a location, create and organize notebooks, and share them anywhere you are and on any device you happen to have on you. Evernote is great for taking notes and organizing them, but it’s just as good at letting you capture, scan, and save objects in real life, clip web pages you browse, and share them.

Simplenote is easy to use, free and has a robust user and developer community behind it creating apps and utilities that plug into the service to make it even easier to use. Simplenote lets you easily jot down your thoughts and organize them to find what you need again later, search through revision history for your notes, share them with others and access them on any web-enabled device. Simplenote does have premium accounts, but all of the service’s basic functions are free. There are Simplenote apps for the web and iOS, but developers have built dozens of note-taking apps that work in conjunction with Simplenote for Windows and Mac OS.

Zotero: a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite and share your research sources

Periodic Table And Chemical Solutions Calculator download

Homework Helper

MICROSOFT TEMPLATES:

APA styles

APA style paper

assignment planner

assignment schedule

homework schedule

student calendars

Memorization is only a small part of learning, but it in many circumstances it is unavoidable. There is an ideal moment to practice what you want to memorize. Practice too soon and you waste your time. Practice too late and you’ve forgotten the material and have to relearn it. The right time to practice is just at the moment you’re about to forget. If you are using a computer to practice, a spaced repetition program can predict when you are likely to forget an item and schedule it on the right day. (Gary Wolf) Two spaced repetition software tools:

Anki: Widely used and in active development. Open source. Desktop and Android versions are free.

Mnemosyne: Also open source; runs on Windows/Mac OS, with card review possible on Android and Blackberry mobiles. All versions are free.

 

Watch one. Do one. Teach one.

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Research and Writing Resources

Many college textbook publishers provide free online tutoring on their websites for students who have purchased one of their texts. Check your text or check with your professor to see if that applies to a specific textbook. Too, ALL institutions of higher education are required to offer to distance students services that are comparable to those offered to on campus students. Check with your college/university.

Internet Detective Tutorial: Using the Internet for ResearchDANCING STAR TO DENOTE GOOD SITE

The Elements of Style

Journal Citation Reports Tutorial

RapidCite.com: citations made simple

Harvard Writing Center

Writing Resources

Moving from Assignment to Topic

Outlining

Writing with Internet Sources

Making the Most of College Writing

Shaped by Writing video (14:40)

Across the Drafts: Students and Teachers Talk about Feedback video (18:51)

Internet TESL Journal

Capital Center Community College's Guide to Grammar and Writing

Dartmouth University's Writing Center

What is an Academic Paper?

Coming Up with Your Topic

Researching Your Topic

Developing Your Thesis

Considering Structure and Organization

Attending to Grammar

Revision: Cultivating a Critical Eye

Diana Hacker’s Research and Documentation Online

Trinity College's Cite Source

The Prentice Hall Writing Guide

UT's UWC Handouts

Writing

MLA Citation Basics

Samples

Plagiarism vs. Paraphrasing

UToronto Student Writing Resources: Choose from links on left.

UToronto Student Online Writing Seminars: Also look for links on the left to the Citation Guide and the Assignment Calculator.

Using and Citing Sources

ECC Writing Skills Handouts

Tips-O-Matic

Paradigm Online Writing Assistant

Rensselaer Online Resources

Writing Annotated Bibliographies

Constructing Your Research Paper

How to Distinguish Between Popular and Scholarly Periodicals

Guide to Grammar and Writing

Using Outlines

The OWL at Purdue

UW-Eau Claire's Research Guides

UW-Eau Claire's Getting Started with Research

How to Find...

Guide to Grammar and Writing

Grammar Bytes

36 Common Grammar Mistakes Everyone Makes

How to Spell.net

Writing Den

Resources for the Essay Writer

Paper StarterThe Best Free Resource for Outstanding Essay and

Paper Topics, Thesis Statements and Important Quotes

How Do You Learn to Edit?

Son of Citation Machine

Conjugate a Verb

105 Indispensable Resources for Online Academic Research

The Graphic Recorder

Database How To's: set up for this college but the information is applicable to other colleges

Mobile Apps and Sites: set up for this college but the information is applicable to other colleges

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Academic ResourcesFaculty Perception of Summer

FERPA Training

Discrimination / Harassment Prevention

Preventing Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Module and Quiz

Discrimination and Harassment Prevention Lesson

End Note Reference Organizer

Maintaining Your Academic Integrity in Online Learning

Academic Integrity 101 (2:49)

Plagiarism Rap (Cite Your Sources) (1:03)

The Ethical Researcher

WEB ACCESSIBILITY SYMBOL

 

Accessibility Resources

Free Text Reader for Disabled Students

Section 508 Checklist

Video: Keeping Web Accessibility in Mind (11.5 minutes)

Video: Experiences of Students with Disabilities (2 minutes)

Quick Reference: Web Accessibility Principles (for use with the above 2 videos)

Video: Do-It (5-35 minutes): a link to the Do-It series page with links and descriptions for 37 videos

Video: Listening to Learn (7 minutes)

Video: Introduction to the Screen Reader (6 minutes)

Video: Screen Magnification and the Web (10 minutes)

Video: Screen Readers and the Web (15 minutes)

Web Tutorial: Web Accessibility Design

Web Tutorial: Dare to Care: Requires you to log in but it's free.

LBCC also has some excellent Resources on this site.

Web Tutorial: Web Accessibility

Access E-Learning

Web Tutorial: Online Accessibility: sort of technical AND easy to understand ... unusual

Screen Reader Simulation

Low Vision Simulation

Dyslexia Simulation

Distractibility Simulation

The following have more technical content.

Web Tutorial: Section 508 Tutorial: The sections are listed in the column on the right.

Accessibility Techniques

Web Accessibility Center: A super collection of How To articles from Ohio State

Accessible Classroom Technologies Wiki

Guidelines for Creating Web Content Accessible to All

Bookshare: An initiative of the nonprofit organization Benetech, Bookshare is an online library of digital books for people with print disabilities. It operates under an exception to US copyright law that allows copyrighted digital books to be made available to people with disabilities. Bookshare members can download books, textbooks and newspapers in a compressed, encrypted file, then read the material using adaptive technology. Through an award from the federal Education Department, Bookshare offers free memberships to US schools and qualifying US students.THE FINANCIAL AID PROCESS

Web Site Accessibility Tools

Accessibility Checker: Toronto's newest version

Apple Accessibility

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Financial Aid Resources

Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA online)

Fastweb: Scholarship searching

College Board: Scholarship searchingCOLLEGE BOARD

College Scholarships.com: Includes comprehensive information on traditional and online colleges, post-secondary career schools, scholarships, financial aid, colleges for women, Christian colleges, scholarship matching data bases, colleges with programs for students with learning disabilities, historically black colleges, an easy GPA calculator and much more.

College Without Debt: tackles how to get a high-quality education without crippling student loans ... includes a primer to grants and scholarships as well as alternative forms of financial aid

Everything You Need To Know About Winning Scholarships: guide for college and high school students interested in finding scholarships to pay for college ... covers various aspects of scholarships, including different scholarship types, searching for scholarships, writing a scholarship essay, getting a letter of recommendation and avoiding scholarship scams

Best Private Student Loans Guide

College Without Debt

College affordability is especially challenging for students who are parents. Someone would need to work 52 hours a week, on average, to cover child-care costs and tuition at a four-year public college, according to a new analysis by the Education Trust.

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Career ResourcesGetting into the College of your Dreams

The Career Key: John Holland's Theory of Career Choice

Texas Workforce Commission

CareerBuilder.com

ACRN Career Services

Advisor Team

College Board Resources

Find A College

Major and Career Profiles

Academic Tracker

Apply to College

Pay for College

Step by Step Career Worksheet

Resume Writing 101

Getting Into College Series

How to Apply for College

Tips and Tricks for Applications

How to Earn Academic Scholarships

JIST Publishing

Career Assessment

What Can I Do with My Major?

Job Seeker's Bookmarks

Campus Monster

Employment / Career

Résumé Center

Top 10 Free Resume Builder Online Reviews 

Graduate School

College Entrance Exams

AAS Degree: A resource for students to find in-depth and unbiased information about an AAS degree. Lists many accredited AAS schools on the web.

Lavamind Study Center Download: Whether you're already taking a prep course for the SAT I, SAT II, PSAT, or ACT exams or studying on your own, this program will help you to improve your score and test-taking skills. The Study Center is packed with tutorials and test-taking advice.

A Student Site for ACT Test Takers. Sign up to receive the latest news about The ACT, including registration reminders and other helpful information to prepare students for college and career success.

Job-Applications.com

Ready Job

The aim of ReadyJob.org is to give

young people vital skills in the

complicated 21st-century job market.

 

What makes ZipRecruiter different from traditional job boards is advanced job search technology. It’s so effective that some of the top Job Boards in the US have started to use ZipRecruiter to power their Job Alert programs.

https://www.cleverism.com/jobs/

CareerTrends

Learning LinkedIn for Students

O*NET

Guide to Finding Accredited Online Degrees: for students who need flexibility and other benefits offered by e-learning ... an intro to the subject breadth of online education options today and how to find a good program

Find Online Degree Programs

Guide for Developing Healthy Habits for a Work-Life Balance

A Millennial Woman's Guide to Finding Work-Life Balance Zen

Going Back to School: Working Adults

Going Back to School: Military

Going Back to School: Moms

Online Degree Guide

Degrees at Work: Examining the Serendipitous Outcomes of Diverse Degrees

Highest-Paying Associate Degrees

Highest-Paying Bachelor’s Degrees

Highest-Paying Master’s Degrees

Find Online Degree Programs

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Personal Financial Resources

"No matter who you are, making informed decisions about what you do with your money will help build a more stable financial future for you and your family." ~Alan GreenspanThe Rising Cost of College in the US

Smart About Money

Building Wealth: A Beginner's Guide to Securing Your Financial Future

There's a Lot to Learn About Money

Safe Internet Banking

 Is Online Banking Safe?

The Life of a Check (Flash)

The Life of a Dollar Bill (Flash)

Tips for Safe Banking on the Internet (PDF)

Frauds and Scams: Protect Yourself and Your Money

Plastic Fraud: Getting a Handle on Debit and Credit Cards

Consumer Handbook to Adjustable Rate Mortgages

Shopping for A Mortgage

Interest Rates: An Introduction

Credit and Charge Cards -- What Consumers Should Know about the Cost and Terms of Credit

How to Establish, Use and Protect Your CreditCFPB LOGO

Credit Reports and Credit Scores

Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (EFFAK)

Fannie Mae

Financial Calculators

IRS: Higher Education Student Page18 Things Mentally Strong People Do

Fed Bank of Dallas: Consumer Information

Financial Security in Later Life

Practical Money Skills for Life

Introduction to Interest

Consumer's Guide to Mortgage Settlement Costs

What's My Score?

The Best Social Security Calculator There Is

Economic Education

Payment Calculators

Payment Calculator for Credit Cards and Other Revolving Credit Loans

Payment Calculator for Mortgages, Car Loans and Other Term Loans

Debt Free U

Personal Finance Worksheets

How Much of Your Income Should You Save?

Calculate Your Money Saving Goals: Compound Interest Savings Calculator

Simple Steps to Manage Your Money

How to Grow Your 401k at Any Age

5 Tax Reasons to Start a 401k

The Simple Dollar’s Debt Payoff Guide

Calculators

The Spending Challenge

Your financial future starts today. No matter where you’re headed, a little financial loving care can get you there. What you don’t know, you can learn at The Mint Grad.

What Kind of Spender are You? Quiz

I Paid How Much? Quiz

Debt Calculator

Credit Card IQ Quiz

Check Your Habits and Attitudes

Financial Future Challenge

Money Smart curriculum: The Money Smart Computer-Based Instruction (CBI): This website presents the computer-based Money Smart curriculum -- a comprehensive financial education curriculum designed to help individuals outside the financial mainstream develop financial skills and positive banking relationships. The Money Smart Computer-Based Instruction (CBI) is a friendly and easy to use learning tool that teaches the 10 modules of the Money Smart curriculum

Benefits.gov Website: The official benefits website of the U.S. government informs citizens of benefits they may be eligible for and provides information on how to apply for assistance. Find more than 1,000 Federal and state benefits including housing, food/nutrition, education, grants/loans, disaster relief and Medicare/Medicaid.

What Every ___ Should Know About Social Security

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How to Favorably Impress the Instructor (in F2F Courses)

JERRY CLAVNER

Be early.  Arrive at class, and find a seat from which you can see and be seen. Get your equipment (pens, pencils, notebook) out. Quickly review your notes from the last session and be ready to ask questions if you have any.

Greetings.  Smile at the instructor (it makes him/her feel wanted) and at your fellow students (you may need their brains).

Dress and Demeanor.  Research has demonstrated that neat attire and attitude go a long way.

Prepare.  Read the material before the lecture. You will find you will need to take fewer notes and be able to listen more carefully (see next). If a tape recording would help, ask permission. Continue to take notes and remember to listen to the recording as soon as possible after class; listen with your notes at hand. If there is work to be handed in, have it ready. Word processing allows you to have fewer errors. Name, class, assignment number or name, and date to go in the upper right-hand corner, with multiple pages numbered and stapled, unless instructed otherwise.

Read, Read and Read.  Bookstores and libraries are really lovely places. Find “quick guides,” and go through them within the first two weeks of a class. They will give you the context of the material (it all can’t be taught at once). Read purposely. Try and relate the material to both a personal and global context. Each field has its own dictionary and encyclopedia; find them and refer to them throughout the course. Read a daily and weekly newspaper and magazine. Ask the instructor (nicely) for the names of other texts, journals and reference books.

Write, Write and Write.  Rewrite your notes so you know what they mean. If there are gaps, ask someone who knows (see next). Make flash cards and create mnemonic devices for terms and concepts. Work on “hooks.” Draw relationship charts. Keep a journal.

Study with Someone Who Cares.  Find people in the class who are really interested in learning. Work with them before, after and between classes.

Coffee, Etc.  Many of us need a cup of coffee. Bring a covered mug that is less likely to spill. Be careful with your soda and always remember to recycle. Eating, cleaning out your purse, doing your nails and doing homework from this or other classes are real turnoffs.

Absences.  Avoid them at all costs. If you have been absent, go to the instructor’s office to explain; do not make your explanation in or before class. If there is work or material you missed, try to get it from a classmate. If you cannot, explain that to the instructor.

Appear Teachable.  It is amazing how much nicer a teacher can be when you look like and act the role of a student. This does not mean asking any and all questions to get attention. In fact, if you formulate the question and write it down, sometimes it will answer itself or the teacher will get to it. If not, you can ask it at an appropriate time. You can and should write out the answer you receive.

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What's Your Learning Style?

If only for the fun of it, why don't you take a couple of online tests and identify your personal learning style? While learning style theory is not universally accepted -- nor are the tests that "diagnose" an individual's learning style -- you'll be surprised at how much you learn about yourself! If you take the tests and the analyses seriously, you can greatly improve your ability to succeed in your courses. Try any or all of the following links. (A couple of them charge a dollar or two but most are free. I put in the former since they are fun to take despite the aggravation of paying!)WHAT TYPE OF LEARNER ARE YOU?

Index of Learning Styles Questionnaires

Learning Styles Test

Learning-Styles-Online.Com

Applying What We Know: Student Learning Styles

The DVC Learning Style Survey for College

The Jung Typology Test

The Risk Attitudes Profiler

The Role Model Profiler

Personality Type.Com

Gardiner's Multiple Intelligences

MI Test

VARKVARK Questionnaire

Hemispheric Dominance Inventory

Keirsey Temperament Sorter II

DISC Profiles

Discover Your Learning Style

The Myth of 'Learning Styles

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Dushkin Study Tips

Basic Library Research
Here is a quick four-step process for doing library research, taken from the text by Clabaugh and Rozycki, Analyzing Controversy: An Introductory Guide (McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 1997).

Critical Thinking Tools
Critical thinking skills are some of the most important skills you can develop during your college career. The links offered here connect you to tips on how to improve your critical thinking acumen with logic puzzles, online articles, flow charts and tutorials.

How to Best Use the Web
The World Wide Web is growing at a tremendous pace. Navigating the Web and getting the most from your surfing can be a daunting task to say the least. Follow this link to a six step method to learning which sites are the best or worst for which tasks, what search engines do and which ones to use, and how to interpret the vast array of Web pages available.

How to Learn in Class
De Sellers, Southwest Texas State University, gives you some straightforward counsel on how to best utilize class time.

How to Manage Your Time
Why should you learn to manage your time? And how can you do it? Here are some succinct answers.What professors wish were acceptable responses to ridiculous student requests

How to Perform Better on Tests
Tests are the bane of a student's life. Here is some good advice for making them, if not downright enjoyable, at least much less threatening.

How to Study
Here, De Sellers answers one of the questions most frequently raised by freshmen: "What is the best way to go about studying?"

How to Write Term Papers
John T. Rourke, University of Connecticut, provides tips on writing term papers that should meet most instructors' expectations.

Problem Solving Techniques
Bill W. Tillery, Arizona State University, The activity we call "problem solving" is an attempt to find a solution to an uncertain or difficult situation.

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Table of References

Apps

TBR Mobile App Rubric

Join Me: A free screen sharing tool for sharing your computer desktop with others. The free version of the app accommodates up to 10 meeting participants and includes screen sharing, Internet calling, chat and other features.

Find My Phone is one app you’ll definitely appreciate if you’re unfortunate enough to need it. Using your smart phone’s locator services, this app can locate your phone if it’s ever lost or stolen, ping a sound to help you find it, and allow you to remotely wipe data from a connected device. Give yourself some peace of mind (and save on the replacement phone fees) by syncing this app to your other devices. For iOS and Android, respectively.

Outlines Outloud converts study outlines to spoken audio. Flexible playback controls let you vary speech rate; jump forward and backward, skip rows or whole sections, loop—and more. Save the finished outline into your Dropbox folder. Using Dropbox means new outlines and subsequent edits sync instantly to your iPhone. Launch Outlines Outloud on your iPhone. New files from your Dropbox folder will sync automatically. Set any outline-specific preferences. In the Settings pane, select the speech rate, text colors for display, and whether you’d like to hear prefixes before all, some, or none of the rows.

Mobile Banking apps, available from most major banks (including Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo), let you access your accounts, transfer funds, and pay bills with the swipe of a finger. You can even snap a photo of a check on your smart phone and virtually deposit it into your account. So there’s no more worrying about making it to the bank before it closes to deposit that check your grandparents mailed you last week. For iOS and Android. Check with your local bank.

iStart Spanish! is one in a series that also includes iStart Japanese! and iStart Chinese! The apps feature quizzes, flashcards, and rewards for beginners. Lessons include alphabets, pronunciation, and syllables, as well as a tutor that uses text message-like prompts to ask users to translate phrases.

iTranslate is a free tool for Apple products in a wide variety of languages, including English, Arabic, French, German, Korean, Spanish, and more. Users can translate written languages, and some languages offer text-to-speech abilities. The app features purchase options such as voice recognition.

Studious, beyond simply allowing for better planning around homework and exam schedules, also lets students automatically silence their phones while in class. Students can load campus maps into their Studious apps for quick perusing while becoming familiar with the school’s layout. For Android.

My Homework Student Planner seamlessly tracks your homework and class schedules. Its calendar feature supports time, block and period-based schedules, while the homework setting lets you schedule a due date and reminders under a particular class. If your professor uses teachers.io, you can even sync your syllabus and resource materials with the app. For iOS and Android respectively.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary is a mobile dictionary that’s as good as its Web counterpart. It lets you save favorites, track your look-up history, and refer to an integrated thesaurus. Brush up on your vocabulary skills by using this app’s Word of the Day feature. On those days when your brain is a little foggy, you can simply pronounce a word to look it up without having to spell it. For iOS and Android.

Dictionary.com has stepped into the social media age by adding a trends list. You can see what words are trending, including those in your neck of the woods. This could come in handy to help you learn the local lingo if you’re attending college in a different state. It also has a Word of the Day feature and thesaurus tool. For iOS and Android respectively.

If This Then That (IFTTT): A student can tell this app to send her a text message if it’s raining the following morning, reminding her to leave early for class. The IFTTT app syncs with 69 mobile apps, meaning a student can tell the program to send a text when they’re tagged in a Facebook photo or mentioned in a tweet. For iOS and Android.

Any.Do dutifully reminds you to take a moment to plan your day, every morning. For every task, you can share it with a contact, add sub-notes, or set a reminder. Sync it to your computer for greater control. Keep a lookout for Mail and Memo (Any.Do’s version of e-mail and notes apps), all slated to be available for download “soon,” according to its website. For iOS and Android.

Quick Voice Recorder is the app you’ll need when you have trouble paying attention during a long lecture. When you’re finished recording, you can e-mail the recording to yourself, set a voice reminder that will play at a selected time and date, or even save it as a ringtone. The best part is you can even multitask (check email or browse Facebook) while Quick Voice Recorder is recording in the background. For iOS.

Smart voice recorder: For the college student who loathes taking notes with pen and paper, or even their laptop, this app automatically pauses during extended silences. That means a student won’t have to skip through their lecture recording to skip lulls in a professor’s daily lesson. For Android.

Study Blue is the app that’ll help you ace your next multiple-choice test. You can create digital flashcards and upload study materials to review on the computer or your smart phone. This app can even filter out the flashcards you know by heart to ensure you learn the hard ones as well. Import your notes from Evernote for a stronger study session. For iOS and Android respectively.

Google Translate can help translate that passage from your Spanish textbook, your handwritten Chinese characters, or that Italian phrase the waiter said Saturday night. So you can quickly type, write, say or photograph whatever you need translated between over 70 languages. For iOS and Android respectively.

Evernote is the app that saves everything you need—literally. You can type a note, take a photo, record audio or attach a file in this app that syncs to all your connected devices. The more you use it, the more uses you’ll find for it. (For starters, it’s great for group projects and term paper research.) For iOS and Android respectively.

Pocket: Stop stuffing your e-mail inbox with articles or videos you want to read or view later. Instead, save, sync and view them here with any connected device. So that series of news articles you need to read before your political science class can be right at your fingertips. For iOS and Android respectively.

WebMD has a Symptom Checker that can help you determine if you have the flu or simply had too much fun Friday night. It also has local health listings to help you find a nearby physician, hospital, or pharmacy. For iOS and Android.

Lose It! is the app you need to help keep the Freshman 15 at bay. You can easily track your meals and calories burned with this app. Even the calorie total for that bag of chips you devoured last night is in here: Just scan the barcode or search for the item and it’s automatically added to your daily food log. And that hour of pool you played last night? It counts as exercise! Just select “billiards” and you’ve already burned 107 calories. For iOS and Android.

Reminders is the default productivity app for Apple iOS. A great feature is the ability to set task reminders not only on a particular day and time, but even at a particular location. So if you need to remember to drop off the rent check when you get home, this app can connect to your location services so it can remind you as soon as you pull into the driveway. For iOS.

Busuu offers free and paid iPhone and Android versions of its language learning app, which can be synched with busuu.com, an online language learning community. Features include key words and phrases, different topics that use day-to-day situations, and full language learning units.

TripIt Travel Organizer is the go-to app for organizing your holiday travel plans. When you book a flight online and get an e-mail confirmation, it automatically scans your e-mail and imports all of the information into the app. It can even give you directions from the airport to the hotel and sync your flight schedule to your smart phone’s calendar. You can also share your itinerary with a friend. For iOS and Android.

Find my car! Free and My Car Locator Free are helpful for those who attend big universities with parking lots the size of football stadiums. They detect when and where you've parked and give you walking directions to find your vehicle again (aided by Google Maps). Find my car! Free also has a timer to remind you when your metered parking is going to expire. For iOS and Android, respectively.

Test Precision is an eLearning platform for college admission test (SAT and ACT) preparation. Rather than spitting out a series of questions, the technology platform assesses the student’s individual strengths and weaknesses to create highly personalized curriculum that actually focuses on improving their scores.

Where’s My Droid: Help locating your android and protection from theft

iFormulas (Free): A quick and easy way to access often-used mathematical formulas

Mathemagics: Easy Algebra Fast ($1.99) helps students learn to think differently about algebraic equations. It offers an animated step-by-step look in each lesson.

Card Star eliminates wallet and keychain overload by consolidating your membership and rewards cards with a single free app. For iOS and Android.

Waze is the world's largest community-based traffic and navigation app. For iOS and Android.

Slice: Know what you bought, where you bought it and when it will arrive without ever having to check your email. For iOS and Android.

Dashlane: password manager and digital wallet. For iOS and Android.

Wallet makes it easy to pay -- in stores, online or to anyone in the US with a GMail address. It works with any debit or credit card, on every mobile carrier. For iOS and Android.

Duolingo, Free: Students can use this app to learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian or English. For Android.

RedLaser: Easily access current deals at local stores or scan to discover if a better price is close by. Keeps your loyalty cards in one convenient place. For iOS and Android.

Gas Buddy: Find the cheapest gas on the go. Locate gas stations near you and see their current gas prices. For iOS and Android.

Retail Me Not gives you easy access to your favorite coupons anytime, anywhere. Just show the coupon on your phone when you check out. For iOS and Android.

Key Ring puts all your loyalty cards on your phone, so they’re there when you need them. Scan and store grocery cards, gym cards, library cards, gift cards... you name it. Loyalty cards scan straight from your phone at the checkout counter, saving you money instantly. For iOS and Android.

Google Keep makes it easy to capture a thought or list for yourself and share it. Quickly capture what’s on your mind and get a reminder later at the right place or time. Speak a voice memo on the go and have it automatically transcribed. Grab a photo of a poster, receipt or document and easily find it later in search. For Android.

Grocery IQ is an intuitive shopping list that allows you to build new lists quickly with features like predictive search and barcode scanning. Customize the arrangement of categories within your list so you can check off items in an orderly fashion as you navigate the store. For iOS and Android.

iMovie enables users to browse and share videos and clips they have created.

Clear: A gesture-based organization app

 

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WEBSITES

Ask Numbers Logo

 

Measurement Conversion

Calculators and Charts

 

A Million Lives

Answers.com

Atomic Learning
[username: amyglenn, password: support]

Awesome Library

Best Of History Web Sites

Big Think

Biography.com

BJ Pinchbeck’s Homework Helper site connects students with online resources for many school subjects, including foreign languages, current events, science, math, and computer science and programming.

BYU's E-Journals

BYU's E-References

Calendars

Center for Media Literacy

Center for Strategic and International Studies

CIA World Factbook

CNET.com

Conversion Factors

Conversion of Units

Cosmeo: This $9.95-a-month homework help service, which offers a free trial, includes educational videos, tutorials, biographies, and reference materials. also have access to multimedia, such as games.

Critical Surfing

CSM Special Projects

CyberSavvy.org

Jerusalem-based DEBKA file

Diffen

 

Compare Anything

Digital Librarian

Digital Public Library of America Digital Public Library of America

Dyslexie font is a typeface designed to make reading easier for people with dyslexia and reading problems. Download it for free.

EHow

Encyclopedia.com

Essential Links

FactCheck.org

Fact Monster: A number of academic topics are covered on this help site, including a homework center, an almanac, a collection of facts, and games and quizzes. The site also features polls, daily history facts, birthday, and analogies, and more.

The Financial Aid Toolkit, available at FinancialAidToolkit.ed.gov, is intended to be a “one-stop shop” that consolidates financial aid resources into a searchable online database.

Fix Ya

Flags

Freedom of Information Act

A web service called The Full Wiki seeks to make Wikipedia more useful for students.

Funk and Wagnall

GAP MINDER a fact-based world view

 

Goddard's Global Change Data

Harvard Writing Center

Hippo Campus: Looking for help on a variety of subjects? This free site organizes homework help by subject, and then breaks those subjects into narrower fields. Students can create free accounts to access help and resources.

The History Net

How Stuff Works

Infographic List

InfoPlease.com

Instructables

Librarian's Internet Index

Library of Congress

Library Spot

Literary Resources on the Net

Marketplace is public radio's economic news program.

Martindale's Reference Desk

Math Forum at Drexel University offers college-level resources for math students.

My Virtual Reference Desk

National Science Foundation

Newsweek

New York Times

NY Times Learning Network

Microsoft announced that its web-based Office 365 for Education now is available free of charge to college faculty and students. The cloud-based software suite includes Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, as well as Exchange Online for email, SharePoint Online for collaborating, and Lync Online for audio, video and web conferencing.

Pentagon Official News

Philosophers

Political Compass

Poll Results

Privacy Rights

PROJECT GUTENBERGBooks that are required reading are not always available or students may misplace their copy. Project Gutenberg offers over 42,000 free ebooks. Choose among free epub books or kindle books, Download them or read them online. No fee or registration is required. You can search by title and author or browse the collection of classic works, many of which are available in audio editions as well.

PsychNet

Quoteland.com

Readfa.st (via HackCollege), a web-based service designed to train you to read faster

Scientific American

Shmoop: Seeking help on literature, civics, economics, digital literacy, math, poetry, or more? Shmoop gives students help and explanations. Access to some materials is fee-based, but much of the site is free.

Slug Books, launched in 2008 at the University of California (UC) Santa Cruz has helped even the textbook playing field in recent years. A quick Slug Books search will show a student where they can get the best price, even if it’s at their campus bookstore. 

SocialFolders.me: Calling itself a “dropbox for social,” this free tool helps students manage their content across various social networks. The app connects to the user’s favorite social sites and allows him or her to manage, back-up and sync photos, videos, docs and other items in a centralized place.

Social Psychology Network

The Stimson Center

Strategic Forecasting

Study Boost offers a quick review in the form of flashcards, or quick quizzes via text message.

Survey Research Aids

11 must-see TED Talks

The 30 Second Candidate

Time

Truth or Fiction

Understanding Foreign Policy Debates

US News and World Report

Virtual Library

Visual Thesaurus

World Lingo Translations

Free Online Calculators & Scientific Calculator

Desmos: a free online tools that replaces the graphing calculator

 

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Copyright © 1996 Amy S Glenn
Last updated:   01/05/2024 2000

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