Important information about your enrolment: The HECS Census Date

By now you should have a fairly good idea of the amount of work required for each course you are studying. However, you may be thinking about dropping a course to 'lighten your academic workload.’ Enrolment in your courses and the financial obligations for those courses must be finalised by the census date which is next Tuesday 31^st March 2009.

If you are considering the option of dropping a course it's important for you to make a decision before the HECS Census Date. Why? Well, if you choose to drop a course before this date you will not incur any HECS fees and the course will be deleted from your academic record. Almost all Australian students enrolled in a University program are liable for HECS–HELP fees. Under law, all enrolment payments need to be made by the census date in the study period in which the course is offered. Therefore, the date on which you withdraw will affect whether or not you have to pay HECS-HELP fees. The following link provides you with the steps to drop a course from your academic record http://www.unisa.edu.au/enrolonline/stepbystep/Adding_dropping_enrolments.pdf

International Students:

In order to complete your program within the duration of your Confirmation of Enrolment (CoE), you should maintain full-time enrolment (usually 4 courses or 18 units per half year) unless there are exceptional reasons for not doing so and this is reflected in your Study Plan. Please refer to Visa Requirements information and speak to an International Student Officer at the Learning and Teaching Unit before dropping courses or withdrawing.

If you are unsure about what to do and would like to speak with someone about your own personal situation please come to a drop-in session for a confidential chat. Drop-in sessions are offered on a daily basis and no appointment is necessary. For more information about available times at Mawson Lakes Learning and Teaching Unit please refer to http://www.unisa.edu.au/ltu/contact/dropin.asp#ml

Angela and Helen

The Counselling Team

Spaghetti (n):

1. A type of pasta made in the shape of long thin strings.
2. Anything tangled or confusing.

Bridge (n):

1. A construction or natural feature that spans a divide.

Announcing the

2009 Spaghetti Bridge Competition

Competitors aim for one of the following objectives:

1. Structure. The lightest bridge that can support the heaviest load.
2. Aesthetic. Pretty AND functional.

Where? Mawson Lakes Campus, H1-35
When? Friday April 3 at 12 noon

Just arrived? Still feeling disoriented?

If you started uni late and missed your orientation program, you can hit the ground running online. See the useful links to all sort of resources on the right hand side.
Another essential is the First 6 Weeks website - check your course and program websites for links.

If you missed class, you will need to find out what information was shared with students. This is a great reason to start networking with other students. After all, they may be studying with you for several years!

Oral presentations: the listening mind

This posting is adapted from content published in Tomorrow’s Professor.

Do you have to give a formal talk or presentation? You will need to plan for a listening audience. Obvious? It should be, but your focus as a student and writer may distract you from this goal.

The spoken word is ancient and powerful - especially when what the speaker says is meant to be heard and not read. A speech is not "an essay on hind legs," as James A. Winans, a noted scholar of rhetoric, famously observed. As tempting as it is to borrow language and structure from a paper you've already written, instead try to reappraise your paper, remembering that your audience is listening to your ideas rather than reading them. Studies reveal that listeners cannot process as much information as readers, they have difficulty staying focussed and, unless they hear something more than once, it is difficult for them to retain it.

Here are some strategies to bear in mind when "translating" your writing into an oral presentation.

In the first few seconds of a presentation you are not only introducing your topic but also yourself. Use the opportunity to connect with the audience personally, as well as helping them understand the topic.

Tip: begin with a few interesting facts about yourself that are related to the overall topic.

Listeners remember what they hear first and last, so it is important to also think carefully about your concluding remarks.

Tip: conclude with an overview of the main points

Your audience depends on your organisation of the content for them. You need to use "signpost" language such as "first," "next," or "finally" to reinforce transitions and show your progress through your talk.

Tip: start each of your main points with a question to keep your audience on track - questions invite silent answers, so they help to keep your audience interested.

Readers can set their own pace, reread a complicated paragraph, or leaf back over several pages to refresh their understanding, but listeners cannot.

Tip: be aware of pace and attend to the listeners' need to keep up with what is being said.

Tip: use very clear language and examples, and try to use metaphors to help the audience understand the complicated parts of your presentation.

Kirsten

And the 2009 academic year begins at Mawson Lakes!

Welcome all new and contrinuing students,
It's the first day of the first week of Study Period 2 at UniSA. And it really feels like the start of autumn, a perfect mid-20's day. What a relief after the heat of January and some of February.

Last week there were orientation activities throughout the week for new students. And for the first time first year Engineering students were able to use their new learning space, the Experience 1 Studio. This was great for working on the QED i.e. the orientation quest for the Engineering discipline. Our photo shows some of you hard at work. This might have been the winning team!

If you know a new student at Mawson Lakes who missed orientation our next posting will provide links to loads of useful resources. Meanwhile check out the First 6 Weeks websites: useful and timely info about how to get started.

Helen