Success at ASU

1. Success at ASU Part II: Additional Tips and Strategies Presenter Name, Ph.D. Presenter Title, Arizona State University Last updated 08-20-07  

2. Success Tips • Find time for rest, exercise, and have some fun! Having a balanced life is essential to success. • Locate all useful campus resources early; take a campus tour and know where things are (e.g., library; your instructors and advisor’s offices; tutoring centers; career counseling; health center) • Don’t wait for things to become a crisis; address problems early • Find a study buddy • Create or join study/review teams; asking and answering questions and reviewing with others is a very effective way to learn

3. Success Tips • Buy and use your own books • Save everything on a disk • Always have a copy of your work on a disk or jump drive; professors do misplace work and mail and emails do get lost • Use a new disk every semester, and keep the old ones as reference of the work you did (e.g., you may need old papers for writing samples for internships or jobs) • Keep material from your classes from previous semesters; you may need them if you ever transfer to another school or if you take an incomplete

4. Studying Tips • Take a speed reading course (some are offered through ASU’s School of Extended Education - http://www.asu.edu/xed/reading/program7.html); it will help you become a more effective and efficient reader • Take advantage of “wasted” time to study (e.g., while waiting in line; before classes start if you are early) • Use post-its, and/or a highlighter, and write notes in your books to be able to review quickly so don’t have re-read unimportant stuff • Proof read your work carefully and read it out loud to yourself or someone else

5. What Can You Do? Which two of the tips and strategies you just learned about can you implement today or tomorrow? 1. 2. Which ones can you use by the end of this semester? 1. 2.

6. Learning Styles • People learn in different ways • Some learn through listening, some through reading, some through graphics and pictures • Knowing about your learning styles will allow you to study and learn using the most effective (the best way) and most efficient (the least amount of time) strategies for you

7. Determining your Learning Styles The following web sites have self-assessment tools to help you determine your learning style. You can complete all three or just stick with one • VARK guide to learning styles: http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire • http://www.learning-styles-online.com/ • Graphic learning styles: http://homeworktips.about.com/library/quizzes/bl_lstylequiz1.htm • What is your learning style: http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/ts/style.html

8. My Learning Style Based on the self-assessment you completed, what is your primary learning style? (you may have more than one) 1. 2. What are the key characteristics of those styles? 1. 2. 3. 4.

9. What Works Best for you? Based on what you have just learned about your learning styles, what are some new study strategies you can use to make your studying more effective? 1. 2. 3.

10. What Resources Do you Need? What resources (e.g., tutors, help from advisors, study team) do you need to implement your new study strategies? 1. 2. 3.

11. What is your Biggest Challenge? • Since starting college, what has been your biggest challenge? • What are some resources that are available to you to address that challenge? • When can you start working out a solution? • Who can help you?