Make the Cut – Fall 2021
Paul Menton Centre, Carleton University
TRANSCRIPT: Learning Strategies Q&A

[SONIA] Hi Amanda! We're just waiting for the questions … the hot questions! (laughing)

[AMANDA] (laughing)

[SONIA] The list is coming up. 

[AMANDA] No problem! 

[SONIA] Perhaps I have a question in the meantime. um What's what difference in terms of studying um … students in high school tend to, to study, maybe rehearse a lot and try to memorize a thing … a lot of things. um Is that the best way to study in university? 

[AMANDA] That's a good question. So, there's definitely times where memorization might be useful. So again, let's say you're taking a biology course or you're taking something that has a lot of formulas. You're going to want to remember where those things are and what they're called, but what's really, really important is understanding what they do what they're for. So, I always say to students you always want to think about the why before you think about the how. So, whenever you're learning a new concept, you really want to think about “why is this important?”, “how is this related to the course material?” before you really start to memorize the material. Relying on your memory for things I know would not work for me. So, you really do need to put some practice into understanding something. And the more you can understand it and practice problems and work things out with other people, the more you'll retain that information. 

[SONIA] Okay, alright. One question that I have for you … “What resources can I explore on my own first if I’m not ready to meet with a learning strategist or want to prepare now for post-secondary?” 

[AMANDA] Great question! So, I believe um I, I did provide our lovely Q&A people with some resources to post for all of you. If you want to get started now … um So, we love information that's done by our psychology professor, Professor Motz, and he talks about the “Science of Academic Success”. So, you can access those videos now and take a look at what Professor Motz recommends that you can, you can take a look at. We also really like referring students to the “College Info Geek”. Frank is his name and he has a lot of good information on his YouTube channel about um things to explore. You can look at your environment at home … all that good stuff. uh We also like … um I have to remember a couple of the other ones because my brain is escaping me. Let me just see if they, they posted it on the Q&A … uh here we go. So, the other ones that we have there are the “Mind Tools” … Mind Tools has a really good videos and referrals to various learning strategies that I mentioned. The learning scientists have a lot of really cool ideas for students, parents, and teachers to explore. um And then there's also “Cloud Gear Learning”. So, Cloud Gear Learning also has some things. So, all of those resources you can access now if you want take a look and see if there's anything that you can try now to prepare for university. Once you get to, to your post-secondary education, again, you're going to want to take a look at any learning support modules that might be available online for your transition. Again, here, we have the Student Academic Success Centre that offers online workshops. We have our MORE modules … and, Sonia mentioned this too, but there is the “CU 101” which gives you an introduction to university, um but also gives you some tips and tricks on some of the things that we talked about.
 
[SONIA] Great … um One question from the students is “When is the best time to connect with a learning strategist?” 

[AMANDA] Really, just like registering with PMC, it can never happen too soon. um If you do start connecting with a learning strategist in the summer … usually the best thing to connect with a learning strategist in the summer would be things like assistive technology, which Jordyn will be talking about shortly. um Because it's really helpful to be able to have your outlines and some material for you to work on with a learning strategist. So, if you can get a referral to work with a learning strategist at the beginning of the term, it's never too early to start, but you can also get a referral at any point in time throughout the year as well.

[SONIA] Great … um “I’ve heard that there are programs that certain schools offer for when to start a project or an assignment so that you can stay on the right track depending on the project um and the importance of it. Do you offer that program?” 

[AMANDA] So, at Carleton, we have writing tutorial services which is available to all Carleton students, and again, that's a drop-in service. You can meet with somebody to look over your outlines and get supports for, you know, what the expectations are for that assignment. Your best people to talk to you always, always, always are your professors and your Tas. They're the ones marking your work. They can help you understand and how to break down your assignments. Check out for rubrics that professors provide and if you need to, we have writing tutors available in our office. um We have learning strategists that support … some specialize in writing support. um And Jordyn’s probably going to go over a couple tools that you can use for writing structure as well. 

[SONIA] Right! “Do you need a referral from a disability advisor for one-on-one sessions with a learning strategist?” 

[AMANDA] So, at Carleton, to work with a PMC Learning Strategist, you do need a referral from your Coordinator. That being said, once you register with us too, you can also just connect with the PMC LS email and ask for a referral that way. Other institutions will have different ways to connect with learning strategists. So again, just talk to your advisor, your disability coordinator at the institutions you go to to figure out how to connect with a learning strategist. I can't guarantee that every institution will offer one-on-one support um like we do …um like— and I, I mean one-on-one, ongoing support. So, in our learning strategies um sessions, you'll meet with the same person throughout the term. um In other places, like in our Student Academic Success Centre, for example, um you will have one-on-one support, but it might be a different person every week. So, um yeah … the, the variance in terms of how things are delivered might look differently in different institutions, but here at Carleton, you can work with the same person throughout the term. 

[SONIA] Great! uh One more question … “Can I try different learning strategies?” 

[AMANDA] Absolutely … and totally encouraged. um So again, we do find that for a lot of people … I’m gonna go ahead and be really adventurous, and I want to say about 90 percent of people … we start with “Time Management” because time management is the number one thing that most people need support with … and it never surprises me, year after year. um That being said, we can progress into all of those other areas: Note Taking, Reading Strategies, Writing Strategies, um Studying, Test Taking … um all of these things are things that you can do with your learning strategist. And the more that you uh talk with them, the more that they will be able to drive your appointments where you need to go. 

[SONIA] Wonderful … thank you Amanda. So, we'll move on with uh the rest of our program. 

[AMANDA] Thanks so much!