Speakers urge use of campus resources
by Laura Vatalaro, reporter

    The Test Your Best Study Skills seminar on NE Campus focused on the importance of campus resources and effective study skills for students.

   Presenters David Brownlie, academic advisor, and Peggy Erving, instructional associate in the Skills Center, related personal stories to help students.

   “I feel I have a lot more confidence in my study abilities and will be a lot more confident in taking a test because of this seminar,” Daniel Amos, freshman, said after attending the seminar.

   “Instead of cramming for tests all the time, now I’ll break things up so I’ll be able to learn more easily than I have in the past,” he said.

   The presenters discussed reading comprehension, goal setting, time management, test anxiety and study habits.

   “The seminar makes students aware of the resources they can use to get help so they do not feel so overwhelmed and alone when they come onto problems,” Erving said.

   “The single most important thing a student can take from this seminar is being aware of where these resources are available,” she said.

   Resources available on NE Campus include the academic learning center, skills center, tutoring area, writing center and language acquisition center.

   The academic learning center offers videos and materials on how to improve study skills that are available for use in the center during office hours Monday-Thursday, 8 a.m.-9:30 p.m., and Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in ACB 109.

   The seminar also focused on how to become a master student by using campus resources and effectively using study time.

   Brownlie suggested the 30-2-2 approach to studying: Taking 30 minutes to study, 2 minutes for a break, and 2 minutes to review.

   Taking breaks can make study time more effective, Brownlie said.

   Study time is the most effective at the beginning and the end, Erving said. If breaks are taken, there is more time being spent studying at the beginning and end and less time being spent in between.

   “I would hope the students taking this seminar get some awareness of areas they would like to improve there study skills in as a student,” Brownlie said.

   “It is such an enormous task to be effective in so many areas of academic life. Hopefully, this seminar will give the students a stimulating start up and they will follow through on this idea of the master student,” he said.

   The counseling center can help in a student’s college career, Brownlie said. The center offers course advisement, degree planning, career counseling and personal counseling.

   Office hours are Monday-Thursday 8 a.m.-7 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in the Clocktower, Student Center 212.

   For more information on any of the upcoming seminars or on topics covered at the seminar, contact the counseling center at 817-515-6661 or the academic learning center at 817-515-6475.