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Juggling a career and family while attending college, is difficult to say the least. Thankfully, Axia College and its Instructors have provided a plethora of information and tools designed to help their students succeed.
This guide is designed to educate and assist the busy student by compiling essential methods and resources. Using Axia’s Educational Resources Axia’s has many online resources available on the student website. Students can access resources by clicking the My Learning Resources tab from the home page of the student website then clicking the Tools and Tutorials tab. Resources available are listed below: Center for Writing Excellence – Equips students with essential tools and skills required for successful papers.
Writepoint is an automated review system for grammar and punctuation mistakes. The Plagiarism Checker reviews written work to ensure authenticity of information. Tutorials and Guides provides lessons to improve grammar skills as well as samples of documents, reference citations, and thesis statements. University Library – provides a plethora of online articles, books, dissertations and thesis databases used to cite or research information needed for academic studies. The Library features an online ncyclopedia, dictionary and statistical data available for review. The Library’s search feature can be used to locate specific articles and topics of interest. Downloads – Available to students not currently meeting software requirements needed for available resources or are looking to upgrade. Downloads include: Internet Explorer, Outlook Express, Adobe Reader 6. 0, Macromedia Flash and Shockwave Players, Microsoft Office Online File Converters and Viewers, Netscape, and the University of Phoenix custom screensaver.
Center for Mathematical Excellence – Students review their current math knowledge, brush up on skills needed for college learning, and utilize the online tutoring tool. Study aids and coping skills for anxiety relief are also available. OLS Tutorial for Students – Tutorial designed to familiarize students with distant learning at Axia. Complete the online tour to review types of forums, class discussions, locating course materials and essential resources. Upholding Academic Honesty Comply with Axia College’s Academic Honesty Policy at all times.
The policy is posted within the Plagiarism checker. Examples of academic dishonesty: Plagiarism; presenting another’s work as one’s own, failing to cite resources properly, double dipping or using work previously completed by student without proper citations, fabrications, misrepresentations, copyright infringement and collusion are not tolerated at Axia College. Utilize the Plagiarism Checker resource prior to submitting each assignment to ensure originality. Should plagiarism be found, the checker will provide references to be cited.
Consequences for violating academic rules and guidelines may vary per incident, to the schools discretion but should not be taken lightly. Students considering academic dishonesty should expect this behavior to lead to a failing grade, expulsion from school, and loss of financial aid funds. Setting and Achieving Goals Setting and achieving goals are essential to success. Students are urged to set long-term and short-term personal and educational goals and consider how they relate to an Axia degree. Goals should be documented in a spot that is reviewed on a regular basis (planner, calendar, etc. Break goals into manageable “chunks” that can be completed in a relatively short time frame. Create timelines and specific deadlines to be met and prioritize steps in the order of importance. Make staying on target easier by setting goals that are reasonable, attainable and flexible. Students should self-motivate by rewarding themselves as each step is completed. Managing Time Wisely Staying organized, prioritizing responsibilities, being prepared and making good use of time prevents stress and performance issues associated with poor time-management.
Determining the most productive time of day and scheduling study time during periods in which students will be uninterrupted helps to get the most out of study time. Use calendars or planners to create a schedule, leave time to relax, take breaks and be flexible. Refer to the class syllabus early in the week to review upcoming assignments. Read required chapters or articles early. Print and carry required reading to work, appointments, baseball games, etc. Read during down time throughout the day. Avoid time wasters by turning off cell phones and avoid internet surfing during study time. Fostering Reading Retention and Comprehension
Increasing reading speed without compromising comprehension and maximizing retention is vital to keeping up with college-level reading requirements. Work with a study partner to increase speed. Practice scanning articles, take turns timing words read per minute and quiz each other for comprehension and retention. The SQ3R method is a time – saving tool used to aid in comprehension and retention of main ideas. SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review) can be broken into the follow steps: Survey each chapter, reviewing titles, subtitles, emphasized words and visual aids (charts, graphs, captions, pictures, etc).
Read intros and summaries of each chapter. Question the message of each section. Create questions using section titles, for example: heading: Organizing ideas, question: “What are methods used to organize ideas? ” Read each section of the chapter, scanning and skimming for the answers, paying attention to emphasized text and visual aids. Recite answers using the Axia resource, Appendix G (found in course materials, week 7). Complete the Appendix by documenting questions and answers. Review findings and summarize. The summary will serve as a study tool.
Highlight to emphasize points of interest on academic papers. Thoroughly read the material and pin-point the key topics and terms before highlighting to avoid over-marking. Use page margins (marginal notes) to define unfamiliar text or to jot down main ideas. Abbreviate to save space. Summarize data using full text notes, by condensing text to key topics helps to comprehend and retain main ideas. Students should be careful to not include additional thoughts or ideas. Notes should be clear, easy to read and brief. Applying Personality and Learning Styles
Discover one’s own style of learning and develop study skills based on strengths. The Multiple Intelligences theory and assessments studied in Gen 105, week 8, reveal each student’s strongest intelligences. Use strengths to develop strategies that increase learning and efficiency. Examples of learning techniques by Intelligence: Verbal Linguistic Intelligence; learns through written and verbal communication. Logical-Mathematical; learns by problem-solving and reasoning. Bodily Kinesthetic; learns primarily by hands-on.
Visual-Spatial; perceives and creates visual art. Interpersonal; understands and works well with others. Intrapersonal; Independent and works best alone. Musical; learns by relating to music, rhythm and patterns. Naturalistic; connects to nature and environment. Everyone possesses traits of each; however, students learn more rapidly and effectively using techniques that align with their strongest intelligences. By taking the personality assessment given in week 8, students learned about different personalities and how they relate to learning.
Knowing one’s personality traits and understanding differences in others, helps develop study methods, assign tasks, identify passions, and build effective learning strategies suited to individual learning styles. Avoid learning strategies that do not work. By studying and becoming familiar with different techniques; we develop skills and create a more well-rounded approach to learning. Summary The techniques above are designed to help students at Axia College achieve their educational goals. With a positive attitude, an open mind, along with the methods taught here at Axia, there is no goal one cannot accomplish.