Image © Tory Byrne

The new academic year is approaching, and so I thought I would write a back to school guide. However; a few weeks ago, I found a post that I don’t think I could beat for useful back to school advice. The post is “Back to School Advice You Won’t Find in Your Freshman Handbook” on Cal Newport’s “Study Hacks” blog. It offers a humorous, yet true look at freshers week and the first week back at school.

Here’s a quote from the article…

“Where social circles are vital and the party scene can be equal parts exhilarating and brutal. With this in mind, I want to present three pieces of gritty back to school study advice that are crucial, but that you probably won’t hear anywhere else” - Cal Newport

To read on, you will have to check out the article! As well as that, Cal has written another post similar to it this year, found here.

As for my own advice…

Don’t get behind with work already
The last thing you want to do, so early into the term, is get snowed under with work that is already well past its deadline. Ensure you can get your work done before you spend all of your time partying.

Make sure organization systems are set up
This gets you in the habit right from the start. Make sure you’ve got your folders labeled, in-boxes set up and everything is ready for the new term. Also saves a lot of head-aches later when you are trying to find that piece of paper you were given in your first week that turned out to be vital.

Ensure you have chosen the right courses
You might not like all of the courses that you have selected. Most educational institutions give you the chance to change if you want to. Take the time to really check that these are the right courses for you, and make the chance if you want to.

Don’t sign up for every extra-curricular under the sun
Yes, many of them sound appealing, however; you don’t know how much time you have available at the moment. Work loads at the start of term rarely stay the same throughout the term, some get heavier, others get lighter. Sign up for one activity now, and select some more if you have time later on in the term.

And finally…

Don’t forget the importance of meeting people
If you are new to wherever you are studying, this can be the most important aspect of the first few weeks. I won’t repeat it, but Cal Newport’s post offers some excellent advice on this tip. Now is the time friendships are forged, and you don’t want to miss out on that by being an obsessive studier already.

 

 

© Jose Fernando Carli

How many of you are just approaching the end of the academic year? I’ve finished a couple of weeks ago, and many students are starting to break up for summer in the coming weeks. You’re all imagining it already, the great (or not so great) weather, the BBQs, the parties and proms. With all these temptations, it’s easy to put off those essential tasks that make summer more relaxing and getting back to work next year a lot easier to stomach. Although it might seem like a pain now, you’ll be thankful for it later. The list below should cover the basics.

Things to Do

Return all textbooks borrowed from School

The last thing you want to deal with over summer is letters and invoices for textbooks that you’ve borrowed and should have returned. Do yourself a favor and return them to the right people after you’ve finished using them.

Cancel any subscriptions you’ll no longer need

Perhaps you’re dropping a subject next year and you’ve got a subscription to a journal related to it. Make sure you cancel these and save yourself a bit of cash!

Tidy your workspace

This exam period can be a stressful period and unfortunately, for many of us, with stress comes mess. Make sure your work area is tidy, filing systems sorted (see below) and that you could work at it if you needed to. The last thing you want is a messy workspace cluttering your home when it isn’t even being used.

Sort out filing systems

Get all of your notes organized now, making sure everything is ready for next year. This includes throwing out notes you really don’t need (remember, if re-sits are likely etc. – keep the notes) and making sure they are all in the correct places.

Sort out computer files

Almost the same as the above on sorting filing systems out; make sure your computer system is not neglected. Archive files that you aren’t going to need to refer to regularly and make sure you have a clear file structure in place. Now might also be time to do some computer maintenance you should have been doing.

And finally…

Enjoy summer

I’ve got 11 weeks off this summer, and I’m sure going to take a break after the stressful exam period has finished. For some tips on how to make summer worthwhile, see Maria’s post on “Summer Goals” and check out my post published next Tuesday entitled “Things to do during summer”.

Liked this post? Subscribe and keep updated when we publish more posts like this.

This list isn’t exhaustive, if you’ve got any other tips for things you do to wind down for summer, please share them in the comments section below.

——————————————————————————————

This is Carl Hickson’s regular “Tuesday Tips” column, writing on all aspects of student productivity to help you become a more effective and stress free student.

 

 

© Jamie Brelsford

Exercise

Exercise has been shown to reduce stress. From past experience, I’ve found that regular exercise doesn’t just beat stress, but has helped me to reduce stress. Things such as going to the gym, running or playing your favorite sport can get you moving and help relieve the stress.

Cut Back
This means, do less of things such as extra-curricular activities, even just short term. This allows you to focus on your school work and not be overwhelmed by other activities. If you don’t want to cut back completely, try just cutting down to one extra-curricular activity.

Meditation
Although not a method I’ve tried, meditation is often praised for its ability to reduce stress.

Renegotiate Deadlines
Where possible, speak to your tutors/teachers/lecturers and attempt to have deadlines moved. This helps reduce the stresses of one of our major problems as students – all the deadlines for things falling within about one week!

Take a Break
Even during the day, we can get stressed, do not just work through your breaks because you’ve got loads to do, truth is, you will become less effective the longer you work, it’s important to take short and regular breaks to keep your mind working best.

 

Of course, these suggestions are helpful when you are stressed, but the best method, would be to prevent stress altogether and take a long term approach to stress prevention.

I’d love to hear about how you all cope with stress, please leave a comment below.

——————————————————————————————

This is Carl Hickson’s regular “Tuesday Tips” column, writing on all aspects of student productivity to help you become a more effective and stress free student.

::Image Source::

My midterm report card will be shipped home this Thursday. But just so there are no nasty surprises in three days, all my teachers gave out our grades today. First period American History- 87%. That’s pretty good, but if I were diligent in my homework I’d be 3% better. A 90% in accounting. That’s really good actually considering I don’t even like the course. In fashion (my best subject!) I am breezing by with a 92%. The last key mark was my English mark. But I never worry about English. Proper grammar and impeccable spelling are my greatest joys. My ninth grade nickname was “Webster,” as in the dictionary. So when I turned over the piece of paper with my overall grade written in the corner, I had a grin on my face- a grin that was quickly replaced with a look of horror. It’s not so much that an 85% is a bad mark. But if you knew me better, you’d be shocked as well that I don’t have a higher mark. The Elements of Style is my Bible. I can dissert Shakespeare like multi-page essays are going out of style. If there’s one subject thing I can emerge from summa cum laude, it’d be English.

Admittedly, I asked to go to the “bathroom” after I saw my mark and proceeded to go cry in the arms of a friend I saw wandering the hallways. Did I overreact? Probably. Banshee-like wails seemed entirely appropriate at the time. So did banging my fists on the wall and calling my teacher various names that rhyme with, well…never mind. I’m sure you’ve been in a similar situation, regardless of your current academic level, be it the last legs of your M.D. or the first few weeks of gym class. Getting disappointing grades- for lack of a better word- sucks! So what’s one to do when faced with such an academic despondency? Well for starters, don’t lose your cool and disrespect your teacher the way I did. In hindsight, it was madly immature. As my loyal friend put it, “that’s not the kind of academic karma you want to be building up, yo.” The better thing to have done of course, would have been to take a few (or a lot of) deep breaths and asked the teacher after class what could have been done to improve the grades. And then sitting down and creating a set of goals and then an action plan for how I can improve.But as much as grades matter, I sometimes can’t help but wonder if in all of our desires for impeccable GPAs we lose huge amounts of perspective. What I mean is, if your house burned down tomorrow would you care about what grade you have in your economics course? What if you found out a family member had a fatal illness? Would you still care about your grades in biology class? I apologize for being morbid, but as I was walking home, staring at that big loopy eight standing to the left of the squiggly number five, I couldn’t help but wonder: Would I even remember this moment in ten years? Was anybody going to sue me because I have this grade? Am I putting anyone’s life in danger because of my grades? No. No. And most certainly no. If you can answer no to all three of those questions the next time you are faced with an academic disappointment, feel free to take a deep breath. Calm yourself down. Tell yourself that you’ll do better next time and then move on. (But then actually make the effort to do better next time, lest all your rational thinking be in vain.) There are worse things that could have happened to you. And at the very least, you’ll have an interesting story to blog about later!

I just spent the last two weeks in Nigeria (my birthplace) visiting family and eating. Except some days when we ate, then went to go see family. The first week of the vacation was my March Break, but the second week involved me missing those days of school. I am now back, it’s halfway through the week and I am quickly learning what not to do when you have a full week of school work, assignments and projects to catch up on in just 4 days, all while keeping up the the current school work. In case you ever take a leave from school, here’s what you need to know when you come back.

1. Prepare before hand.Go to all your teachers and ask for the specific things they’ll be assigning while you’re gone. And make sure you fully understand what you have to do. I made the mistake of only vaguely understanding the work for my American History course and therefore could not do it while I was away. I’m now back, the project is late and I’ll probably get a lower mark that I would have had I scheduled a meeting with my teacher to clear out the fog in my brain. Big mistake.
2. Take what you need beforehand. Make a checklist of the things you’ll need to take, such as your textbooks, handouts you’ll need, school supplies(!) and the like. Another thing that might pop up, especially if you’re in high school is movies or videos you’ll be watching. I ended up having to pay a silly amount of money for the 30th anniversary edition of Close Encounters of the Third Kind for an English project because I forgot to get it from a friend before we left. So I am now stuck with a collectors item I’ll never use again but am too cheap to get rid of.
3.  Ask for help. Take a lesson from Eckhart Tolle and set aside your ego to ask for help. Ask your classmates first, as they’ll give you the most easily digestible version of what’s been going on while you left, and your teachers second as you’ll need to know the technicals of what you’ve missed. If you still don’t get things after asking the first time, ask again. And you should without a doubt ask for extensions on your projects, assignments and tests.
4. Get enough sleep and take adequate breaks.Whether you missed one day of school, or one week, catching up on missed work is difficult. It is even more difficult if you just got back from vacation to a far away place and have yet to readjust to you home time zone. Getting enough sleep (and water actually) will the crucial for your health, and your student productivity. I am quite possibly the biggest proponent of adequate sleep, as well as it’s current biggest hypocrite. I’ve slept maybefour hours each night for the past few days and have been walking around with a perma-headache and a case of jet lag. Ergo, I’m the slightest bit sluggish and am getting much less work done than I would be able to if I would just give myself a break and take a nap. Take it from someone who’s making the mistake as they write this. You are a human being, and you must be gentle on yourself and easy with your personal expectations as you’re trying to catch up.
5. Take a walk each day.Okay, so the actual walking won’t directly help you finish all your work, but exercise is an effective and healthy mental stimulant. Three cups of coffee isn’t. Neither is several cans of Red Bull nor pop (or soda for you Americans). You’ll need to be nice and alert while you’re slugging through your work so you night as well do it the proper way. And now that exercise advice has arrive at Gearfire, and Daniel’s even written about how to Walk Yourself Fit, you’ve got the perfect place to start.

So there you go folks. The 5 step guide to catching up at school, chock full of good advice, personal anecdotes and a dash of common sense. The perfect recipe for staying on top of the school world. If you’ve even taken a significant leave from school, what did you do to catch back up?

Here is the story. Fresher student wants to write the single best essay they have ever attempted. Student searches keyword in Google. Student clicks on first entry on the page that will usually end with, for example …/wiki/French_Revolution. Student reads, believes, cites, and references Wikipedia. Student hand in essay, waits, and fails. Or maybe does not fail but is told in no uncertain terms NEVER to reference Wikipedia.

How many of you can relate to this story? Is that unnamed student you? It was me at some point I can promise you that, but, I quickly learned my lesson.

What are my research options?

The degree I read was BSc. Sport Sciences, a degree heavily rooted in biology, psychology, and biomechanics amongst a few other smaller disciplines. This made researching a particular topic a tiresome and endless process using multiple online databases that spewed out vast amounts of scientific literature in answer to a single keyword entry. For example, the definition of DNA, I’d enter “DNA” and hit “search” only to be confronted by thousands of articles, half of which were inaccessible, some written in Spanish, French or German, and others were published in the early 1900s long before sport science, as a discipline, existed. Alternatively, I type”DNA” into Google and I’m provided with …/wiki/DNA. what do I do? I need a simple definition DNA and I face the choice of sifting through tens of PDF documents or opening up a browser window that will display the definition of DNA according to someone that entered it into the wiki database. The answer is simply neither

Wikipedia has revolutionised the way that we can access information I agree, but these wonders have far too often been infiltrated by individuals seeking to destroy all that is great about the site using the “anybody can edit” feature. Examples of this have been highlighted in the press, for example, Wikipedia’s biography of John Seigenthaler Sr. where nearly the complete article was false and linked him with the assassination of JFK and was posted on the site for 132 days. Another example is that of Chris Benoit where a person wrote about the death of Nancy Benoit 12 hours before it actually happened. A coincidence or otherwise I am not sure but the whole situation infers that Wikipedia is an unstable, unreliable, and a limited resource.

What can I use instead?

Citizendium. A compendium initially set up to serve as mirror of Wikipedia where expert authors would edit the posts deemed inaccurate, this mission was recently altered and the site now contains its own original database of posts. Citizendium aims to stamp out the aforementioned accuracy, post hijacking, and general limitations of Wikipedia by implementing fundamental principles. These include:

• Open collaboration - anyone can participate, much like Wikipedia.
• Expert contribution - all posts can be edited by Citizens but certain decisions are placed in the hands of subject experts.
• Article approval - a post is approved once it is deemed true, unbiased, and accurate by a subject expert.
• Real names - all participants are required to provide their real name, unlike Wikipedia where false names are often used.

For a greater depth of information regarding the policies then click on http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Citizendium.

Why Citizendium?

I read the page Why Citizendium? because I do not completely understand why they are trying to out do Wikipedia. The page is written in a manner that initially compares the two sites and basically declares that Citizendium is better, however, towards the end of the article they set Citizendium apart from Wikipedia and discuss its merits independently. An interesting read to say the least.

The founders of Citizendium strongly believe that they can catch up with the millions of articles contained within Wikipedia. Why? The Citizendium added five million words in its first year - more than Wikipedia achieved. The authors do not believe that Wikipedia is simply “good enough”, they state that it is full of inaccuracies that blemish the massive database, editors “squat” on posts ensuring that they are never edited in a way that does not suit their personal opinion, textual vandalism is rife due to the anonymous author feature. The Citizendium authors believe that real names will stamp out hijacking of posts because people are considerate when a name is on the line, expert approval will ensure that nobodies will not be able to approve an article as fact, and sensible governance is better. New participants, called Citizens, are required to agree to the Statement of Fundamental Policies, and are reined in upon by Constables when/if they behave irresponsibly.

The Citizendium also offers supplementary reference material or sub pages.

The Citizendium has “subpages.” These are pages, such as Bibliography or Related Articles, attached to a main (encyclopedia) page via a standard table. A main article together with its subpages is called a “cluster.” You might look at the Biology article and its subpages–our “biology cluster”–as an example.

The purpose of subpages is to provide supplementary and background information to allow people to find all different types of information about a topic.

This in my opinion is a superb addition to the wiki model, subpages offered to you on a plate by experts in the field. The numerous hours that I used to spend looking for a decent video clip of a sporting action will never be returned to me but for you this should not be an issue.

Another useful addition is Signed Articles.

Signed articles are introductory, overview, general review, and perspectival articles attributed to one person or a small group of people. Such articles have two fundamental requirements: first, they must be characterizable as reference material, and neither brand new research nor mere polemics; second, they must be crafted by people who are unquestionably experts on the topic in question.

Basically, academic experts can post their personal opinion about a post contained in Citizendium. This to me in genius. In science, as with many subjects I suppose, there are differing views on almost all topics. In psychology there are; Cognitive, Behavioural, Psychoanalytic, Humanistic, Biological, among other paradigms, prominent psychologists from each of these will undoubtedly have fairly opposing views on the formation of personality, who is to say which views are correct and which are not. With Signed Articles you can follow the arguments from different perspectives and devise a theory or belief of your own.

The final word from the founder of Wikipedia himself

Jimmy Wales, the site’s founder, has acknowledged Wikipedia’s limitations. “If what you are after is ‘Who won the World Cup in 1984′, Wikipedia is going to be fine,” he said. “If you want to know something more esoteric, or something controversial, you should probably use a second reference – at least.”

Source: Wikipedia amateurs face backlash from the experts

Whether you need glasses to see far away or close up, almost everyone needs glasses at some point. Even if you only wear yours on days when you can’t get going early enough to put in your contacts, glasses can be stylish. They can reflect your style, your mood, and what makes you unique.

Eyeglass stores have huge markups however, making a simple pair of glasses suddenly cost hundreds of dollars. You don’t have to pay that. There are a number of excellent sites online where, with your prescription and a measurement called pupillary distance (PD), you can order a new pair of glasses and have them delivered for $20-$100. And there are FAR more frame choices available online than you will find at your local store.

The process is simple:

1. Get your eyes checked; you should do this every year regardless. Your Doctor will give you a prescription. Ask them to measure your pupillary distance or follow these instructions to do it yourself.
2. Try on frames to get a feel for the shapes that look good on you. For example I look dorky with frames that go up at the outer corners, but great in very rectangular frames. Get to now what looks good but you DON’T have to buy them yet. If you find a pair you absolutely love, write down any brand or model numbers and take a picture of yourself so that you can remember the details. If you have a pair you love now, then take detailed measurements (in millimeters) to use when selecting other frames.
3. SHOP! Top sites include:
   • 39 dollar glasses
   • Goggles 4U
   • Optical 4 Less
   • EyeBuyDirect
4. The site will walk you through entering your prescription, faxing it to them and choosing options. Personally, I always go for anti-reflective coating (better for looking at a computer), anti-scratch (since I’m rough on them) and UV protection.

At the prices you will find on these sites you can buy a different pair for every day and every mood. Not to mention prescription sunglasses and sport glasses.

Want more information on buying glasses online (and coupon codes for some of the sites above)? See the glassyeyes blog.

Sometimes I get so caught up in writing a paper that I lose sight of the overall structure, particularly if it’s a long one! When I am trying to evaluate the logical sequence and coherence of the arguments in a rough draft, I make an outline of what I have written. I usually include all of the main sections of my paper and the specific arguments under each, but it can be as skeletal or as detailed as you need. This can be helpful even if you already made an outline before you started drafting because the process of recreating your outline from the draft will enable you to a) focus on the overall picture and b) compare what you produced with what you intended to see what works best. I’d love to hear how this method works (or doesn’t) for you!