Academic Resources

Class Deans’ Tips for Finals Studying

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Greetings Wesleyan Seniors! In preparation for a healthy and successful end to the 2016-2017 academic year, the Class Deans’ Office Roving Reporters are pleased to share some tips and strategies that students use to prepare for final exams and other academic assessments.

Overall Strategies:
thumbnailCA7IZ161• It gets to the point where I know I have to act like I am in a tunnel. (Joey ‘18)
• I’m trying to figure that out. My strategy is to pay attention in class and try to understand what’s happening when learning it and then remembering it is a lot easier. (Avi ‘20)
• Whenever you get the chance, put any effort you can into studying. Don’t let it build up. Don’t wait for midterms. Be on the lookout at least a week ahead of time. (Ryan ‘18)
• I look over all my notes and my syllabus to make sure I’m not missing any part of the class and to make sure that I at least know something about each portion of the syllabus. Then I just sort of spend time thinking about it and hope that I do well…and sleep. (Nathaniel ‘19)

Study Places:
• I like to be in a quiet place where I don’t feel distracted. I also like eating a good meal before studying so you’re not distracted by hunger the whole time. (Sarafina ‘20)
• Vary your study locations. Just get up and move every couple hours so you don’t get tired. (Campbell ‘19)

Time Management:
• Plan your time wisely. Make a daily schedule and a weekly schedule of all the things that you should be doing so you are using your time most efficiently. Also like not forgetting to get a meal and enough sleep. And to take care of yourself. (Steven ‘18)

Study Techniques:
• Always carry a highlighter everywhere you go…put it in your back pocket. (Mackenzie ‘19)
• I like to listen to really good music, like lots of rap…it has a steady beat, a set tempo for studying. (Parichat ‘20)
• I use index cards, rewrite my notes, and review a lot ahead of time and as you go along. (Valerie ‘20)thumbnailCAVE7PW2
• I study in separate chunks with breaks rather than cramming. You should test yourself; don’t just look at the notes. Anticipate questions that will be on the exam; don’t just look at your study guide and say Ah! I know this, and then formulate it into a question. (Kelly ‘17)
• Because I am a sociology major, I read a lot of social theory. I have different color codes for each color of highlighter that indicate special things in the text and make it easy to hold onto, like words like therefore, hence, thus, or for questions or definitions. I use colors that contrast two things. (Grace ’17)

General Advice:
• Don’t study with your friends. (Willa ‘19)
• Laugh a lot with your friends, take breaks with Netflix, and workout. (CiCi ‘18)

The Roving Class Deans:
These are terrific insights. To learn more about the ways that the Class Deans Office can help you, please stop in during drop-in hours or schedule an individual meeting to see us. http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/about/classdeans.html.

To meet with an Academic Peer Advisor for studying or test-taking tips or time management strategies, go to http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peeradvisors/index.html .

Remember:
Last Day to Withdraw from Full Semester & 4th Quarter Classes – May 3
Classes End – May 10
Reading Period – May 11 – 15
Final Exams – May 16 – 19
University Housing Closes – May 20

Academic Peer Advisor and NSO Peer Advisor Apps due March 28!

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Academic Peer Advisors

The Deans’ Office is looking for talented and motivated students to become Academic Peer Advisors for the 2016-2017 academic year. Academic Peer Advisors are juniors and seniors who work during New Student Orientation (NSO) and throughout the academic year to support Wesleyan’s faculty advising program and enhance student access to academic resources. Academic Peer Advisors will receive training, give individualized peer advice and facilitate workshops for groups of students regarding metacognitive learning strategies, time management, public speaking, study and exam preparation strategies. The Academic Peer Advisor position description and application can be found at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peeradvisors/peeradvjobdesc.html

 NSO Peer Advisors

The Deans’ Office is looking for talented and motivated students to become NSO Peer Advisors for the 2016-2017 academic year. NSO Peer Advisors are sophomores, juniors and seniors who work during New Student Orientation to support Wesleyan’s faculty advising program and enhance student access to academic resources. The comprehensive position description and application can be found at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peeradvisors/NSO%20Peer%20Advisor%20job%20description.html

 

Posted in Academic Resources, orientation, Peer Advisors

Academic Peer Advisor and NSO Peer Advisor Apps due March 28!

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Academic Peer Advisors

The Deans’ Office is looking for talented and motivated students to become Academic Peer Advisors for the 2016-2017 academic year. Academic Peer Advisors are juniors and seniors who work during New Student Orientation (NSO) and throughout the academic year to support Wesleyan’s faculty advising program and enhance student access to academic resources. Academic Peer Advisors will receive training, give individualized peer advice and facilitate workshops for groups of students regarding metacognitive learning strategies, time management, public speaking, study and exam preparation strategies. The Academic Peer Advisor position description and application can be found at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peeradvisors/peeradvjobdesc.html

 NSO Peer Advisors

The Deans’ Office is looking for talented and motivated students to become NSO Peer Advisors for the 2016-2017 academic year. NSO Peer Advisors are sophomores, juniors and seniors who work during New Student Orientation to support Wesleyan’s faculty advising program and enhance student access to academic resources. The comprehensive position description and application can be found at: http://www.wesleyan.edu/studentaffairs/resources/peeradvisors/NSO%20Peer%20Advisor%20job%20description.html

 

The Essential Meeting: Med/Dent/Vet School 2017 — 11/30

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The Essential Meeting: Med/Dent/Vet School 2017
Monday, 11/30, 6:30 PM, Career Center Commons

If you are considering an application for 2017 entrance to medical, dental, or veterinary school, plan to attend the annual Essential Meeting on Monday, November 30. Applying to these three types of health professions graduate schools requires serious advance planning, a clear sense of the required timeline, knowledge of how the process works, and what it will cost.

This information session will provide you with: (1) an overview of the application process, (2) information you need to file a request for an institutional letter of sponsorship from the Wesleyan Health Professions Panel, and (3) suggestions for how to assess the strength of your candidacy.

Unless you have a class, you should make every effort to attend this meeting. If you have a 7 PM class, you should attend for the first half-hour. We will start promptly at 6:30 PM.

Unless you have a class, you should make every effort to attend this meeting. If you have a 7 PM class, you should attend for the first half-hour.

We will start promptly at 6:30 PM.

Peggy Carey Best
Health Professions Advising Consultant/Visiting Assistant Professor, Sociology
Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT 06459
Phone: 860/685-3726
Career Center http://www.wesleyan.edu/careercenter

McNair Program Info Meeting — 11/19 at 6 p.m.

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McNair & Mellon Mays Program Info Session — Thurs., Nov. 19, 6:00 p.m, Usdan 110.

The Ronald E. McNair Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program is designed to assist students from underrepresented groups, including students who are first-generation to attend college and low-income, to prepare for and successfully enroll in post-graduate Masters and/or Ph.D. programs. Participants must be US citizens or permanent residents. Wesleyan’s program focuses on students majoring in the math and sciences. McNair Fellows are eligible for summer $2,800 research stipends along with fully paid housing to conduct research with a faculty member at Wesleyan and to receive a stipend during the academic year to continue their research.  Open to sophomores and juniors.

The Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship aims to increase the number of faculty of color at U.S. colleges and universities and to overcome the effects of persistent underrepresentation of certain groups in the academy. Students from those groups, and others who have demonstrated a commitment to overcoming disparities in higher education that result from that underrepresentation, are eligible for the Fellowship. Mellon Fellows are selected in the spring of their sophomore year, participate in an intensive summer session, and work during their junior and senior years on individual research projects, guided by faculty mentors. Fellows receive academic-year fellowships, support for attendance at conferences and for research, and funding during their two summers in the program. Through the Social Science Research Council and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Mellon Foundation provides additional support for Fellows while they are in graduate school and during the earlier stages of their academic careers. Upon receipt of the Ph.D. in fields stipulated by the Mellon Foundation, Fellows have a portion of their undergraduate loans repaid. Mellon Fellows must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Learn more about the two programs and meet with current McNair and Mellon students at an informational session on Thursday, November 19, from 6:00-7:00 in Usdan 110.

Teaching Evaluations Panel — Mon., May 4, 7-8:30 p.m.

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Teaching Evaluations Panel

Monday, May 4 at 7-8:30pm in Usdan 110     *desserts and coffee*

Hosted by Female Economists of Wesleyan. This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Academic Affairs, Society for Underrepresented Students in STEM, Women of Color in STEM Forum, and Wesleyan Women in Science.

PANELISTS:

Professor Joyce Jacobsen (Dean of Social Sciences, 2015-2016 Interim Provost), Professor Lisa Dierker (Psychology, Inaugural Chair of QAC), and Professor Brian Stewart (Physics), Professor Ellen Nerenberg (future Dean of Arts and Humanities).

What’s the deal with Teaching Evaluations? Do you have questions or concerns about how teachers or classes are evaluated at Wesleyan? Have you ever wondered how your evaluations at the end of the semester impact the professors and the structure of the classes that you take? Do you have strong opinions about professor tenure? Would you like to see your classes taught in a more interactive and less formulaic way? If you want to voice these and more questions, please attend the Teaching Evaluations Panel! 

The discussion will surround the current problems with Teaching Evaluations, faculty and administration’s continuing efforts to improve upon them, and on the role of course evaluations in those teaching evaluations. We want to raise student awareness about the problems with current evaluations and their effects on all of our academic experiences. Plus, we want to spur greater student involvement in Teaching Evaluation reform. Each panelist will speak for 5-10min, and then we will open the panel up to audience Q/A. We’ll have a list of questions ready just in case folks are shy, plus audience members will be able to write down questions to put in a friendly fish bowl.

 

Nepal Relief Efforts through GIS Mapping — Fri., May 1, 2-3 p.m.

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Want to help with relief efforts in Nepal after Saturday’s Magnitude 7.8 earthquake?

Special WesGIS/Mapping workshop:

Introduction to OpenStreetMap.org Relief Mapping for Nepal

When: Friday, May 1, 2:00-3:00 pm

Where: Allbritton 204

Who: Anyone in the Wesleyan community who is interested in helping out by tracing (digitizing) objects from aerial photos. No GIS experience required.

We’ll introduce tools that you can use to contribute toward relief efforts in Nepal through mapping. We’ll get you registered, provide a hands-on introduction to mapping using OpenStreetMap.org’s browser-based iD editor, and show you how to find lists of mapping tasks that need completion (following the basic outline presented a  http://mapgive.state.gov). New satellite images and tasks are being posted daily and there is still much work to be done.

 The room has 30 computers. Please bring a laptop if you have one.

Please RSVP at http://goo.gl/forms/PZwWGMAHIu.   Questions? Contact Kim Diver kdiver@wesleyan.edu or Phil Resor presor@wesleyan.edu

 

Apply to be a Peer Advisor — April 6 Deadline

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The Deans’ Office is looking for talented and motivated students to become Academic Peer Advisors and New Student Orientation Peer Advisors. Academic Peer Advisors are juniors, seniors and exceptional sophomores who work over the summer and throughout New Student Orientation to support Wesleyan’s faculty advising program and enhance student access to academic resources. NSO Peer Advisors are rising Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors who meet with new students during NSO as they prepare to meet with faculty advisors. Check out the position descriptions and applications.

Applications and supporting documentation are due by Monday, April 6th at 5 p.m. 

Questions should be directed to the Associate Dean for Student Academic Resources, Laura Patey (x5581, lpatey@wesleyan.edu).

 

Metacognition/Learning Strategies Workshops–Jan. 29 and 30

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There are fantastic academic workshops being offered on Wesleyan’s campus next Thursday and Friday. The first is for particular students while the second is open to everyone.

These workshops are designed to help students of all levels and abilities learn effective strategies for improving their academic work and grades. Please RSVP for one or both workshops by emailing CFCD@wesleyan.edu.

Workshop for Under-represented Minorities, Veterans, and First-generation College Students

Thursday, January 29, 2015       Time:   7:00-8:15 PM

Location:       41 Wyllys, Olson Commons (CRC lobby space)

Audience:      Under Represented Minorities, Veterans, and First-Gen college students

Title:              The Journey to Excellence

Description: Minority students in college often fail to reach their academic potential because of past experiences that have thwarted their motivation and drive to excel.  This interactive inspirational discussion presents the experiences of the speaker along her academic journey, which includes an award presented in the White House Oval Office.  Specific learning strategies are presented, and students are urged to commit to using the strategies to achieve their personal academic and career goals.

Please RSVP for workshop 3 (cfcd@wesleyan.edu)

 

Workshop for all undergraduate students

Friday, January 30, 2015          Time:   9:00-11:00 AM

Location:       Exley Science Center, Woodhead Lounge

Audience:      All Undergraduate Students

Title:               Metacognition:  The Key to Acing Courses!

Description:  All students who are admitted to college have the ability to ace their courses.  However, most students did not acquire effective learning strategies in high school, and resort to memorizing information just before tests. This strategy usually yields poor results, with students earning grades much lower than their ability.  This interactive workshop will introduce students to cognitive science based learning strategies that help all students experience meaningful, transferable learning, resulting in A’s in their courses!

Please RSVP for breakfast (served at 8:30) and workshop 4 (cfcd@wesleyan.edu)