My last week of class

I have enjoyed this class.  I have learned many ways to help me study and pass exams and also how to use my time and resources effectively.  I have also learned that I am a procrastinator who needs to remember the end goal and stay on top of things.  I appreciate all the Dr. Nichols has provided to me and the lessons that I have learned.  Wish me luck with my next series of classes.

10/20/30 Power Point Presentation

A power point presentation should be to the point and easy to understand.  If you get carried away with slides and animation your audience can get lost and not follow what you are saying.  To ensure that you have an effective presentation you should follow the 10/20/30 rule for power points.  No more than 10 slides in the presentation.  These ten slides should be as follows.
1. Problem
2. Your Solution
3. Business Model
4. Technology
5. Marketing and Sales
6. Competition
7. Team
8. Projections/Milestones
9. Status/Timeline
10. Summary and Call to Action
Next your presentation should be no more than 20 minutes long.  This give you time to get your point across while maintaining the audience attention.  Any longer than this and you may begin to loose your audience to other things.  Lastly the font on your slides should be no smaller than 30 point.  This makes any text large enough that is can easily be read by all and keeps the focus on what you are saying.

Using Keywords to do a Literature Search

Keywords for Literature Search

                By using keywords in a literature search you can narrow down the amount of articles, books, and journals that are pulled.  The use of keywords allow you to take a general topic like science and narrow it down to the study of plants.  You can look at articles that are generally associated with your topic and not in the larger topic of science.  This takes the amount of time spent on research way down.  Using a five day plan you can allow more time for putting the paper together and proof reading if you use keyword searches in your work.

Many schools have online library resources that you can search for information in.  The keyword search can help you narrow down the search results and give you many articles to choose from.  This is great if you need a large number of resources for a paper.

5-Day Study Plan

5-Day Study Plan

                The five day study plan is a plan designed to help you space your learning out over a few days so that you are not cramming at the last minute.  This five day plan gives a structure to follow so that you allow enough time for each section for review and practice.  Step one is to increase your study time.  Many students do not do well on test because they do not allow enough time to study and prepare for exams.  By breaking your study time up over five days you can allow yourself more time to study and review the material without being overwhelmed.  Next you need to space your study time.  If you know you want to study eight to ten hours for your exam, do a couple hours a day.  This helps you retain what you are reading and no get overwhelmed in the process.  Third you will need to divide the material.  Divide the material into groups to study so that you are studying similar information in your smaller one or two hour sessions.  If you have four chapters that will be covered on the exam you may break it down and study one chapter each day then do a final review on day five.  Modifying the plan is the next step.  If you have already written down some possible questions you may not need so much preparation time, prepare less and review more.  Next you will plan active study tasks.  This allows you to expand your study time to more specific tasks, like reading questions and answering them out loud.    Lastly you will use active review strategies.  Self test yourself.  Have someone read your questions to you and you answer.  Reciting the information helps you remember it when it comes time for the test.  By using these steps over a five day period you can increase your grade and retention of the information presented.

3 Preparation and Review Strategies that I love.

3 preparation and review strategies

1. Condense your text and notes.

                By reading over your text and notes again you can make a list of the information you need to review or read again.  After several weeks in a course some material should be second nature therefore you may not need to re-read it again for review.  You can simplify what you need to study based on what you have marked for further review.

2. Prepare word cards.

                If you have a large list of vocabulary words, or words you may have to define during your exam word cards are a great study tool.  By reading and reciting the information during your study time you will be able to recall it better on the day of your exam.

3. Create a study sheet.

                Study sheets are a great way to organize the important information you will need to know on exam day.  Many times professors will mention that this may be a test question, flag that information so that you can add it to  your study sheet later.  As a visual learner study sheets work great for me.

Goals

Below is an example of my personal goal.  Step one is to list my goal.  Step two is to cover any obstacles that I will be faced with.  Step three is to list all resources that I have.  Step four is revise my goal based on the obstacles and resources that I have.  Step five is to finalize my goal into a more specific and polished goal.

My Goal:

Step 1: I want to graduate with my Master's Degree in Accounting.

Step 2: Obstacles

                1. A four year old who wants to be involved with sports.

                2. A second baby on the way.

                3. Money, I do not get financial aid so my student loans are growing by the minute.

                4. Working a full time job.

Step 3: Resources

                1. My mother

                2. My husband

                3. My teachers

                4. My boss

Step 4: Revised Goal.  I will graduate with my Master's Degree in Accounting.

Step 5: Polished Goal.  I will graduate with my Master's Degree in Accounting from Shorter University by December  2014.

Seven Habits

The following are the Seven Habits to be successful.

1.  Be Proactive.   Change starts from within so one must be proactive and make changes today.  For example; I know that I tend to put things off until the last minute, this is a behavior that I need to correct to be successful.

2.  Begin with the End in Mind.  Develop a mission statement and extend that mission statement into long term goals.

3. Put First Things First.   Spend time doing what fits into your personal mission first.  Make time for each thing you need to do.  Using a calendar with your day broken down by the hour helps.

4. Think Win/Win.  Seek agreements and relationships that are beneficial to you and your goal.

5.  Seek First to Understand, Then be Understood.  First seek to understand what the other party is telling you.  Once you have understanding of what they are saying, then you can begin to have that party understand what you are conveying.

6.  Synergize.  Communicate and  find way for everyone to benefit from each others differences.  One persons weakness may be another persons strong suit.  Use each other for help and everyone will benefit.

7. Sharpen the Saw.  Take time out to build production capacity through personal renewal of  the physical, mental, social, emotional, and spiritual dimensions.

Cornell Note Taking System

Below are the instructions for the Cornell Note Taking System given to us by our professor.  This is a great way to outline a chapter so that you can study for a test.  I used this to outline a chapter for one of our assignments and it was so easy.  Much easier than the traditional outline format.  I recommend this to any college student.

The Cornell Note Taking System

Recall Main

------2 1/2”-------- ----------------6”--------------------

Reduce

concise jottings and

summaries as cues for

ideas and facts toRecord the lecture as fully and as

Reciting, Reviewing,

and

meaningfully as possible.Reflecting.

The format provides the perfect opportunity for following through with the 5 R's of note-taking. Here they

are:

1.

Write legibly.

2.

Summarizing clarifies meanings and relationships, reinforces continuity, and strengthens memory. Also, it

is a way of preparing for examinations gradually and well ahead of time.

3.

you recall, say over facts and ideas of the lecture as fully as you can, not mechanically, but in your own

words and with as much appreciation of the meaning as you can. Then, uncovering your notes, verify what

you have said. This procedure helps to transfer the facts and ideas of your long term memory.

4.

point for their own musings upon the subjects they are studying. Such musings aid them in making sense

out of their courses and academic experiences by finding relationships among them. Reflective students

continually label and index their experiences and ideas, put them into structures, outlines, summaries, and

frames of reference. They rearrange and file them. Best of all, they have an eye for the vital-for the

essential. Unless ideas are placed in categories, unless they are taken up from time to time for reexamination,

they will become inert and soon forgotten.

5.

most of what you have learned, and you will be able to use your knowledge currently to greater and

greater effectiveness.

©Academic Skills Center, Dartmouth College 2001Record. During the lecture, record in the main column as many meaningful facts and ideas as you can.Reduce. As soon after as possible, summarize these ideas and facts concisely in the Recall Column.Recite. Now cover the column, using only your jottings in the Recall Column as cues or "flags" to helpReflect. Reflective students distill their opinions from their notes. They make such opinions the startingReview. If you will spend 10 minutes every week or so in a quick review of these notes, you will retain

S-RUN-R

S-RUN-R is a study system that helps with your retention on the information.

S- Survery.  You will survey the entire document, chapter, etc. paying attention to the headings as well as any highlighted text or subjects.
R- Read.  Write down the heading in your notes, to help you focus your thoughts on the specfici topic then read the section for comprehension.
U- Underline.  After reading each paragraph underline or highlight the important information.
N- Notes.  Take notes on the key information in each section.  You can do this in the margin of the text or on a seperate peice of paper.
R- Review.  When you finish the entire document, chapter, etc review.  Go over the key points, answers questions at the end of the chapter, review key terms.

I enjoy this study system because you are looking at the information more than once.  I noticed that I am able to answer more of the questions at the end of the chapter without having to look back in the text.

Microsoft Word

Using Microsoft Word is a basic skill that any student needs.  Taking online tutorials or using the help function within Microsoft Word are great places to start.  Microsoft has many tools that can help you format a paper correctly, insert information, and ensure you have correct spelling and grammar within your paper.  Microsoft Word 2007 is different from Microsoft Word 2003.  2007 has updated features which allow the user to use all funcations in an easier manner.  2007 is more user freindly for students who do not have much experince with Microsoft products.  Also in 2007 you can save documents in a compatible format so that users with the older version of Microsoft Word can open your files.  If you are new to Microsoft Word I would recommend 2007 and the different online tutorials available.  It is very user freindly and a great asset for your learning.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is a huge topic among college students today.  Many wonder what exactly plagiarism is and others are not sure if they are citing information correctly.  I believe that the problem with plagiarism is a lack of education in high schools regarding this.  Many students enter their first year of college unaware of what exactly plagiarism is and how they need to correct the problem until it to too late.  Many students are unaware that their actions are inappropriate until they are being disciplined for it.  I believe that plagiarism is very wrong and credit should be given to the appropriate parties; however I do also believe that students need more education on plagiarism and correct citing techniques while they are still in high school.  In the state of Georgia the no child left behind rule has gotten in the way of teaching students all they need.  The fact that teachers have to cater to the students who are falling behind more, rather than challenging the students who are getting bored is part of the problem.  The high school just does not allow room for the education students need for plagiarism and appropriate paper writing skills.

9 Habits for Successfull Online Learning

There are 9 habits for successful online learning that I must incorporate into my learning process.
1. Get an early start.  I must use time management skills to make sure that I allow plenty of time to complete my assignments with an understanding that blocking more time than needed is a plus.
2. Organize. In order to be successful I must stay orgranized, this includes my notes, printed text, any online discussion information, etc.  Keeping all information organized will allow me to be able to find everything in a timely manner when needed again.
3. Plan.  Planning out a how, when, where, etc is key to success.  Having assignments on my calendar and time block to work on them will keep my plan of attack in order.  I have to remember that life is life, I have a son and another one on the way...things happen.  Allowing myself some extra time will ensure that I can complete all assigned tasks and have time for my family.
4. No Procrastination!!  I must stick to my plan.  If my time is blocked for reading than reading is what I need to be doing, not watching NCIS which is my favorite TV show.  I need to maintain control of my learning and not procratinating helps with this.
5. Stay in touch and ask for help.  By knowing who my resources are from my teacher to my advisor.  Also keep in touch with classmates.  If I need help any of these people should be able to help me.  Remember that no question is a "dumb" question, especially with online learning.  I do not have the ability to look at the teacher in the face and ask a question and get the non-verbal communication.  This can create a challenge if something is misunderstood so I will always ask questions.
6. Communicate clearly.   Communicate as clearly as possible in all writing.  If I find that I have trouble conveying the point I desire I can take advantage of the writing lab or get in touch with my professor for other options.  Most of all do not be afraid to ask for help with my writing since this is the only communication I will have between my class and the teacher.
7. Keep good records.  Keep copies of all assignments.  If something is lost or does not post correctly I will always have a back to email to the professor in case the online learning system goes down.  Also I will keep track of my grades so that I have a clear understanding of where I stand in a class.
8. Know your program of study.  Understanding my program and the requirements I must meet to graduate is vital.  I do not want to take courses that will only give me elective credit, or not be able to use a course I have taken.  Keeping up with my classes and the class requirements will allow me to be successful in completing the courses I need to graduate without extra expense on wasted classes.  Knowing who my advisor is and maintaining a relationship with her will be helpful as well.  Also some professors are great resources for future classes, knowing who taught me what and what their speciality is can be helpful with work in the future.  Teachers are one of my best assets as far as bouncing ideas around, or proofing a project, or a letter of recomindation for a job after graduation.
9. Believe in yourself.  Believing in myself will give me the confidence to be successful.  I must maintain that I understand and I am able to do this.  If I ever start to doubt myself my assignments and grades will suffer.

My Learning Style

This course has given me a chance to look into my learning style and how my mind processes information received.  I am a visual learner so naturally I need to be able to see things in order to process them at the best of my ability.  I have to underline and highlight important facts in the text and take notes.  I understand that with online learning these things may present a challange, for example my text book for this course is online.  I have been able to download the text so I can read it, but I do not have the book in front of me to write in the margins and highlight information that I feel is important.  I have printed out some of the text that I thought would be benefical, however in a "green" world I am trying to save as much paper as possible.  I have adapted to reading with a spiral notebook.  I keep my notes in the notebook with the page number of the online text.  This has allowed me to know exactly where to go back and find the specfic information I was looking at when I made the note.  I have also done this with the online discussion from the professor, minus the page number of course.  I feel that these adaptations will allow me to be successful.