It’s the early bird that catches the worm! Prepare for your exams now.

This study period is roaring along and soon you’ll be thinking exams. If you want to good results, start planning for a happy July break now.

What do you need to do?

1. Find out everything you can about how exams are done at UniSA: the practical stuff such as dates, venue, rules etc
2. Make sure you know the focus of your exams: see your Course Information guide, lecture notes, past papers, ask in tutorials
3. Develop a revision schedule that covers all you need to revise, perhaps twice
4. Practice question analysis using past questions: ask tutors or successful past students to review your answers to see that you are answering the set question fully
5. Problem solve with others: talking the talk for your course
6. Review feedback: read lecturers’ suggestions and apply new strategies
7. Feed your brain: keep active and healthy
8. Rest well: it nourishes memory and clear thinking
9. Set weekly as well as longer term goals
10. Meet all your goals and get the grades you want.

Are you using a variety of approaches to learning? Find out if there is an exam prep workshop or resources that might help you.Check for discipline and courses-based helpdesks e.g. the Maths Help Centre at Mawson Lakes..

Success is within your reach if you get organised now!

Helen

Helen Johnston,

Learning Adviser, Learning and teaching Unit, Mawsom Lakes

Your new best friend: unilife

unilife is UniSA's student organisation. It is run by students for students and it provides a range of different services, including fun things like

• administration for UniSA students' sporting clubs
• social events
• the student magazine
• footy tipping
• discounts on all sorts of things
  

But, more importantly, it also provides

• advocacy for when you need someone to argue with your lecturer for you
• advice for when you don't understand UniSA's policies
  
• an employment service for when you need to find a part time job
• a second hand bookshop for when you can't afford new copies of your textbooks
  

Voice Advice Play : unilife.

Is attendance important?

Often its hard to find time for everything you have to do. Work, family, friends and study all demand your time and attention. When pressure builds up, it may seem easier to skip class and catch up later.

However, a lot of independent research indicates that attending classes makes students more successful. Here are some quotes from just some of the papers we have read:

• "Students who wish to succeed should attend class, and instructors should likewise encourage class attendance" (Gump 2005).
  
• "The evidence from this study provides an assessment of the pure relationship between absenteeism and student learning. The findings suggest that the mean exam score was significantly effected by absenteeism" (Marburger 2001).
• "... there is a signficant positive correlation between attendance and academic achievement" (Halpern 2007).

In addition, Paunonen and Ashton (2001) found that if students have been absent from classes, we can reliably predict that they will fail the course.

These research projects all agree: skipping class contributes to failure.

So, the next time someone asks you to do something that clashes with a class, tell them you can't afford the time.

Kirsten










PS if you would like to read the papers I have cited, here is a reference list:

• Gump, S., 2005, "The cost of cutting class: attendance as a predictor of success," College Teaching, 53(1):21-26.
• Halpern, N., 2007, "The impact of attendance and student characteristics on academic achievement: findings from an undergraduate business management module," Journal of Further and Higher Education, 31(4):335-349.
• Marburger, D. R., 2001, "Absenteeism and undergraduate exam performance," The Journal of Economic Education, 32(2):99-109.
• Paunonen, S. V. & Ashton, M. C., 2001, "Big five predictors of academic achievement," Journal of Research in Personality, 35(1):78-90.

When things don't go as planned .......

Have you thought how a recent injury, or an incident in your life, may impact on your studies.....a broken leg or arm, surgery or the flu?

Events like moving house, or the loss of a relationship can also cause a hiccup in your studies.

These short-term injuries and events can have a far-reaching impact on your studies down the track – how?

· Getting to placements – travel to and from, getting in and out of buildings

· Moving around campus, lecture theatres and laboratories

· Concentrating on lectures and reading

· Completing assignments and exams – writing/sketching

If you think any of the above might apply to you, come and talk to a Counsellor or Disability Advisor for advice and assistance before it's too late to make arrangements.

Helen Reeves, Counsellor

Tracey Skaczkowski, Disability Advisor

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