Student Survival Guide

First, print the Course Syllabus and Calendar to review before class begins. On your computer, create a folder for each class under My Documents. Create sub-folders by weeks, or one sub-folder for materials and one for assignments you completed for the class. Under the Classroom tab, find Materials for each week of class. Each week, download all files on your computer under the folders created. Backup your files in a portable device to avoid losing work you’ve already completed. In the Library tab, you can access the University Library as well as the Center for Writing Excellence. The University Library conducts your search from multiple databases and you may narrow down a search by database or more search options. Information for article search to keep in mind is the use of key words, publication date, title of the article, which database it was found in, the author and whether the article has been peer-reviewed. In the Library, you can also View the Research Tutorials, Read the Library Handbook or Ask a Librarian for more information. The Center for Writing Excellence provides essential tools. WritePoint is a system to which you may submit a paper to be reviewed for grammar that spell-check on a computer may miss. Plagiarism Checker is a system in which you can submit a paper to be reviewed for plagiarism. Tutorials and Guides offer a variety of tools. Aside from tutorials, you can view samples, information, and handbooks. Whether you need to learn on a topic or simply brush up on your knowledge. Upholding Academic Honesty Review the Student Code of Academic Integrity from CWE in the University Library. Using someone else’s work in your own, whether intentionally or not without giving the original author proper credit, is plagiarism. This is considered to be academic dishonesty and can result in expulsion from the University, failing grade for the assignment or class, or suspension from the University. Self-plagiarism, fabrication, unauthorized assistance, copyright infringement, misrepresentation and collusion are also forms of academic dishonesty and can also result in corrective action. Always list your references and submit your papers to Plagiarism Checker before submitting the assignment. Setting and Achieving Goals It is important for every student to set long and short-term educational goals, as well as career goals. List what those goals are for you using the SMART technique. Each goal must be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and timely. By setting specific steps to achieve your goals, you can make it easier to tackle obstacles as they may come. It is important to map out your goal in a way that you can see is attainable and realistic, so that you can measure your accomplishments every step of the way to reach your goal in the time you placed. When obstacles arise, re-evaluate your goal and adjust it where necessary. An Axia degree may be your goal, or a step-stone to your goal. Think of two long-term and short-term goals that will help you in your path to earning your degree. Then, think of one long-term goal in which your Axia college degree will benefit you. Managing Time Wisely Taking a look at your Course Syllabus ahead of time will help you map out how much time you will need to set aside for your courses during the week and when you can fit it into your schedule. Ensuring that you have time to complete assignments, submit them for review and submit them by the deadline. While taking two courses at Axia, weeks alternate between assignments and discussion questions. Each class is opposite to the other. Meaning that: while you have assignments due for one class; the other class is focusing on participation and vice versa. This makes your time between courses manageable. To juggle school, work and family responsibilities successfully, refer back to long-term and short-term goals. Prioritize your goals wisely. Utilize a planner to allocate your time realistically and efficiently. Make a time log of a typical day in your life. Identify activities that do not make good use of your time and think what you could have placed that time towards regarding your goals and priorities. This will avoid time-wasters and drive you towards your goals. Fostering Reading Comprehension and Retention Read in a distraction-free environment. Identify your reading purpose (pleasure, understanding, critically evaluation and/or practical application). Know your reading words per minute. Apply the SQ3R strategy to your reading routine will help to ensure you learn what you read. Surveying is your overview of what you are about to read. Look through the table of contents, titles and sub-titles of an article, read the preface of a book, and identify highlighted content such as words in italics or bold. At the end of the reading, look for a summary, bibliography and index. This will give you an idea of the reading’s content. Questioning is to ask yourself what you expect from the reading and what you wish to learn from it. Break it down into questions by chapter or section and look for your answers as you read. As you read, remember the titles and highlights from surveying. Look out for the key points and answers to your questions. Identify the main idea in each paragraph by highlighting, circling or taking notes. After each section, recite the answers to your questions and other key points you found by reading them over to yourself or out loud or re-writing them. This will help to review that all your questions were answered and help you retain the information. Review shortly after reading as well as every so often in the days to follow. Try summarizing the information by recalling the key points. Refer back to your notes or marked pages. Talking to someone about what you have learned or asking someone to quiz you is also an effective way to review. Applying Personality and Learning Styles It is important to continuously identify your learning style, strengths and weaknesses throughout your education as these may change circumstantially. This will help you make the most of your strengths and rise above your weaknesses. The Personality Spectrum based on Myer-Briggs Type Inventory by Katharine and Isabel Briggs names four personality types; Thinker, Organizer, Giver and Adventurer. Each personality type exhibits different characteristics such as the ability to solve problems, neatness, honesty and flexibility. Based on your personality type, certain study techniques will be more useful than others in your distance learning success. According to the Multiple Intelligences Theory by Professor Howard Gardner there are eight intelligences people have. Some are more developed than others in each individual. These are; verbal-linguistic, musical-rhythmic, logical-mathematical, visual-spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalistic. Depending on which intelligence you have developed more than others, you possess certain skills and abilities. Based on those, you can identify which study techniques work best for you. Once you recognize your less-developed intelligences, you can partake in activities to develop in that area. For example, if your naturalistic intelligence is under-developed, you could find out-door activities you might enjoy or learn more about nature. Understanding personality types and intelligences will help you to relate to people who have different degrees of development in intelligences and different personality types than yours. While working in groups, it may help to delegate who would do best in each area of the assignment. It may also help to understand others on a personal level realizing that we all have different thought processes and characteristics.