Academic Gold: Smart Use of Your Resources

Creating a word bank is a time investment that pays off later.

A word map is useful to make difficult vocabulary more understandable.

Questions that you make up yourself help to guide you through a learning situation.

The question-generation approach to knowledge construction is a “procedural resource.”

Self-generated questions help you focus so you’ll be aware of other information that stands out and that you’ll want to give more attention to in a subsequent reading.

Howard Gardner developed the theory of “multiple intelligences,” which challenged the idea of IQ and learning.

VAK is a theory that considers learning styles to be either visual, auditory, or kinesthetic.

One of the important outcomes of investigations into brain activity is the understanding of the vast interconnectedness of parts of the brain during learning activities.

Prior knowledge refers to what you already know.

Your prior knowledge is a foundational resource that you need to consciously access and use.

For the “K” column of the K-W-L-H chart, you brainstorm your prior knowledge.

The “W” section of the K-W-L-H makes use of self-generated questions to guide learning.

A self-prepared resource inventory can make resource choice easier and more effective.

Brainstorming can be used any time you want to expand on an idea.

Brainstorming involves grouping related ideas.

Digital mind mapping programs offer flexibility when brainstorming.

A study buddy is someone you study with who’s taking the same class as you are.

In addition to post-class review, you and your study buddy can also work together in preparing for class.

A study group is a group of study buddies working together.

Members of a study group must get an equal opportunity for active participation.

The benefits of the study group resource are predicted and supported by research into cooperative and collaborative learning.

An informal discussion group is an informal meeting of people who are taking the same class and/or who are interested in a particular topic.

For an informal discussion group to be effective, participants must be sensitive to the feelings of each other.

By being part of an informal discussion group, you’ll have your understanding of the discussion topics broadened and deepened.

According to some researchers, cooperative learning involves five elements: Positive Interdependence, Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction, Individual and Group Accountability, Social Skills, and Group Processing.

Collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. Peer learning, or peer instruction, is a type of collaborative learning that involves students working in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts or find solutions to problems.

Prepare for a seminar by going over the focus question and jotting down some of your own ideas that you can contribute to the discussion.

A symposium is a meeting to discuss a particular subject. Symposia involve presentations by a number of contributors, often in the form of research or philosophical papers.

The syllabus is the university’s contract with you.

Instructors could well be your most important resource — after yourself.

A Learning Management System (LMS) has become an essential part of the university structure.

Moodle is one of the many learning management systems used by universities.

You need to become comfortable with your university’s LMS before your courses begin.

You need to become comfortable with your university’s LMS before your courses begin.

A significant service that university libraries provide is access to online publications, such as research journals.

“HighWire,” a Stanford University site, provides access to on-line full-text articles from electronic science-related journals, including back issues, with a large number of them free.

The Dewey Decimal Classification and the Library of Congress Classification are probably more widely used than other library classification methods.

“Open Educational Resources” is a free university service that gives you access to free downloadable print resources, including textbooks.

A self-prepared resource inventory can make resource choice easier and more effective.

The Cornell Method of notetaking is a procedural resource that enables you to record and review your notes in an organized and systematic manner.

You will practice the use the Cornell Method of notetaking.

Copyright grants creators the economic right to benefit financially from the exploitation of their works.

The Canadian Copyright Act allows the use of material from a copyright protected work (literature, musical scores, audiovisual works, etc.) without permission when certain conditions are met.

Fair Dealing recognizes that certain uses of copyright protected works are beneficial for society.

A Public Lending Right (PLR) programme is intended to compensate authors for the potential loss of sales.

Classification is one of the fundamental processes we use to make sense of our world.

You will have the opportunity to download a free PDF copy of my book Power Organizers for High Performance Learning.