Student Survival Guide

Student Survival Guide

Venessa Box

The following are tips and guidelines to a successful and pleasant experience in the college environment. The first tip is using Axia's Educational Resources; the option to download files to your computer or a portable device, which is a great tool on the go. The University Library is a very helpful tool for locating articles that have relation to what you are researching. The search options in the library let you search key words to better help you find an article to suite the topic you are inquiring.

You must uphold Academic Honesty to the full extent. In the Code of Conduct it states "Students are expected to conduct themselves ethically, honestly, and with integrity as responsible members of the University's academic community. This requires the demonstration of mutual respect and civility in academic and professional discourse." (Student Catalog 2007, pg.31) Plagiarism is using someone else's ideas and words on your own work, for one's own personal gain or otherwise. As a result of committing plagiarism you would receive a zero on your assignment and a plagiarism report would be reported to University administration. You can avoid plagiarism by staying true to yourself and being thorough with the information you use and cite from other sources.

It is very helpful to set and identify long-term, short-term and career goals to have something to aim at. Set your long-term goals then break them down into timelines to help make them a reality. The same goes for the short-term goals, they should be broken down even further as a stepping stone to achieve your long-term goals. There will be many obstacles along the way, perseverance and the drive to succeed can help you overcome the obstacles along the way. Careful planning and being prepared are the best ways to attack such unforeseen circumstances. An Axia degree relates to my goals because it is the foundation to my long term goals. The first step in my overall goals is to achieve my degree to achieve a successful job and better my way of life.

Managing time wisely is the key to success during your studies here at Axia. Balancing time between courses at Axia is high priority. You must devote equal time to both courses in order to maintain balance as well as receive participation and high marks in your classes. You can do this by staying a day or two ahead of the due date for your assignments. A schedule should be developed as part of your daily routine. You must incorporate juggling schooling, work and family responsibilities into your daily routine. If a routine is not up held, all can fall into chaos. Put yourself in a controlled environment to help minimize distractions and increase productivities. Prioritize your time spent on work and try to minimize the time wasting activities such as television.

When doing assignments in the future use the reading comprehension techniques. Some of the tips to remember are, do not expect to master the material on the first pass. Instead, create a multistep plan: On your first reading, your goal is to gain an overview of key concepts and interrelationships. On subsequent reading, you grasp ideas and relate then to what you already know. By your last reading, you master concepts and detail and apply the material to problems. Instead of telling yourself that you cannot understand, think positively. Tell yourself: "I can learn this material. I am a good reader." You need to think critically. Ask yourself questions like "Do I understand the sentence, paragraph, or chapter I just read? Are ideas and supporting evidence clear? Am I able to explain the material to someone else?" Building vocabulary is a very strong skill. Lifelong learners never stop learning new words. The larger your vocabulary, the greater you understand and the faster your reading speed. Build knowledge through reading and studying. More than any other factor, what you already know before you read provides a context for new material. (Keys to college studying pages 122-123, 2007)

Using the SQ3R surveying techniques you scan the table of contents of your texts