A&L’s Study Skills for Academic Success lesson series returns this Spring, in person at A&L, 2nd floor, 15 West. Join A&L’s Multilingual Learning Specialist Maria Thompson weekly from February 25th through March 25th on Fridays from 12-1 for targeted guidance and skills relevant to all RISD courses. Please RSVP to uthompso@risd.edu.
Week 1, Feb 25
Reflecting on academic culture
In the first week, we will focus on key features and expectations of academic culture. We will watch and discuss the video series Writing Across Borders and reflect on our first semester experiences at RISD. All participants will perform a self-assessment and set initial workshop goals.
Week 2, March 4
Recording and reducing lecture notes
This week, students learn how to record, organize and reconstruct efficient notes, develop their ability to detect key concepts quickly, and utilize course resources such as the syllabus. Students learn how to abbreviate and use nontraditional ways to record information, such as the Cornell and visual note-taking techniques.
Week 3, March 11
Responding with sources
This week prepares students to write using different methods of engaging with sources. Students will learn about annotated bibliographies, use Hypothesis software to complete a social annotation activity, and then write their own complete annotation on a source.
Week 4, March 18
Reviewing and expanding
This week we learn creative ways to review concepts with peers and seek further information. Students will learn effective ways to collaborate with others through structured activities and scheduled study sessions.
Week 5, March 25
Reading with a critical eye
This week's lessons are designed to teach students how to read scholarly writing with a critical eye for relevant details in the least amount of time. Students will learn what part of a text to visit first and how to determine if it is significant to their research topic quickly. We conclude the series by revisiting our goals and considering our intentions for the remainder of Spring semester.