radix MEDIA STUDIES • UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH-HUMBER NOV. 21, 2013 RADIXONLINE.CA SURVIVAL End-of-Term Guide Whether you do it by yourself or with a group of friends, it’s something that needs to be done in order to pass your classes. No matter how you do it, your personality affects the way you study. The assistant head of Psychology at the University of Guelph-Hum- ber, Sonja Embree, said the way in which introverts and extroverts study is dependant on how they prefer to communicate ideas. Extroverts are more outgoing indi- viduals who strive on the social aspect of communication, and would prefer to study with a group of friends. For extroverts, parts of the brain are attached to energy levels, which cause them to be more social and thrive off of this learning style, said Embree. On the other hand, introverts would rather find a quiet place and study by themselves. When studying alone, the brain acts differently; the Studying personalities BY CHRISTINA BALRAM Along with broken hearts, getting a job and fitting in, final examinations might seem like one of the hurdles of young adulthood. But relax. Finals look scary from afar, but they shouldn’t even be on your radar during post-secondary school! Here are some tips to help you chill out during exams and show that failure isn’t the end of the world during this grave time of year. Consider everything that needs to get done for exams as one huge insurmountable task, then panic. Before embarking on what will surely be the most grueling month of the semester, write out everything you need to get done. By laying out just how unprepared you are, that brewing anxiety will kick into high gear in no time. Whether or not any of it gets done is beside the point, as long as you know it’s there. Procrastination is key. Video games, eating, sleeping, The Walking Dead, more eating – these are all high priority issues. Use Tip #1 as a guide and check in on what you need to do from time to time to see how much more time you can waste. Two weeks until the final? You could watch all five seasons of Breaking Bad by then! If it’s hard to procrastinate on your own, find some friends. Remember, there’s strength in numbers. Don’t be selfish and assume you’re the only one whose about to wash away the first few months of good grades in a single morning. You’re not alone! There are some great movies that come out closer to exam time and it’s obvi- ous why that is: even the film indus- try knows that you don’t care about your grades. Step up to the plate. Exam time is a great time to finally do all the chores your parents have asked you to do since the beginning of your adult life. Push through all that dirty laundry and stale food beside your bed and think of how happy you’re going to make them. While students are suffer- ing during this part of the semester, parents and professors are having the time of their lives watching you sweat; you might as well make them even happier. The night before. Either you’ve mastered the mate- rial for the next morning or you gave up a while ago. Either way, you won’t be using the night before to study. You’ll stare down at your notes but they won’t stick. The only sticking that will take place is that of your beer mug on the table at LinX Lounge. This may also be a good time to set aside your phone for once; you wouldn’t want to snap back to reality while face-down in your nachos. The morning of. Grab something light for break- fast so you can get in as much last-minute cramming as possible. When you finally walk into your own personal hell, do a last minute check to see if you have everything: Cell phone, money to pay for a shot of liquid confidence, a mountain of pencils that you hope will show you mean business, and a pair of blin- ders so you can avoid the devil- ish smirk your professor has on his/ her face while you write off your aspirations. At the end of all this, remember to reflect. You’ll talk all through Christmas break about how you’ll “never do that again” or “I know what I have to do for next time.” Let’s be honest, you’ve been saying that for years! Unless you plan on becoming a professional student, the real world is within arm’s reach and it’s got a bag full of candy in one hand and whole new set of stress in the other. Take final exams in stride, make sure you’re ready for what life is going to throw at you and hope that a fan isn’t involved when you get hit with what’s to come. Be smart and buckle down, kids! Introverts versus extroverts: how you interact with others affects the way you study How to fail an exam: the definitive guide cerebral cortex might be more active which means there is a higher think- ing order in place, added the assis- tant head. Then there are people who are both known as gregarious introverts who may be chatty but at the same time need to be alone to focus and study. The environment we study in has a significant impact. “Memory is context dependant – how we require info has an impact on how we should study. Some people do better at a coffee shop while others would rather be at home,” said Embree. So where is the best proven place to cram? “One study says the most ideal place to study is the same place and desk where you will be taking the exam. Since not possible, library may be the next best choice,” said Embree. Embree also advises students to not use laptops unless they are using it purely for studying. “If in study groups, it might be distracting to people if you are on Facebook even thought others aren’t.” By doing this, your brain is not trying to multitask between remembering what you’re doing on social media and what you have studied. On the day when all of your hard work comes to light, “It’s important to try to be as centered as possible regardless of how you study, because you will be walking into the exam alone– remember tricks or tips to keep staying positive,” said Embree. “ If you have the mentality that you going to do well, you will.” Students are preparing for their final research papers and assign- ments, gathering material, making notes; some are pulling an all-nighter or two. What they might not imagine is that professors face stress too. Daniel Santa Mina, the head of the kinesiol- ogy department at Guelph-Humber, gives us a background look at a profes- sor’s job during exam time. Style and delivery determine how a professor will make the exam. Santa Mina said he thinks about many different elements when he constructs a final. If he wants students to be proficient in certain areas, “then those are the areas I spend time on in class,” he said. Professors not only have to decide on the focus material, but students are forced to adapt to new or even differ- ent examination concepts. Santa Mina takes those aspects into consideration. “I’ll look at my lecture notes and slides I’ve posted and see what content I spent time on, what I gloss[ed] over, what are the details I want them to know [and] important concepts that were heavily discussed that was not in the lecture notes or slides.” Professors have to cater to different learning strategies that will make all students feel more comfortable. Those considerations filter through to exam-creation. Professors write various styles of questions such as multiple-choice, short answer, and the not-so-fan-favorite essay ques- tion. With all this in mind, an exam can take some time to develop. The hardest part is starting from scratch, as Santa Mina describes. “Creating the first repository takes time. And I would probably say it takes a couple of days - 16 to 20 hours: reviewing the notes, phrasing and formatting the questions.” Although students may be the ones in the hot seat on exam day, a teach- er’s stress level peaks at the same time. “[Professors] all have an idea of what we think is important content for the students to understand,” said Santa Mina I think we strive to make sure they get [the] content and make sure they understand it. I don’t intend to make it unfair, but I don’t intend to make it particularly easy or hard.” Do professors get stressed for exams too? BY LAURA BREITER Students aren’t the only ones feeling pressure Study groups like these work well for extroverts because they can learn from one another, unlike introverts who prefer studying independently. PHOTO, HANNAH SATHERSTROM PHOTO, SHELBY MORELL PHOTO, KAITY THERIAULT Some people [study] better at a coffee shop while others would rather be at home “ ” BY JESSE ESPANA
Transcript
radix MEDIA STUDIES • UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH-HUMBER
NOV. 21, 2013
RADIXONLINE.CA
SURVIVAL
End-of-TermGuide
Whether you do it by yourself or with a group of friends, it’s something that needs to be done in order to pass your classes. No matter how you do it, your personality affects the way you study.
The assistant head of Psychology at the University of Guelph-Hum-ber, Sonja Embree, said the way in which introverts and extroverts study is dependant on how they prefer to communicate ideas.
Extroverts are more outgoing indi-viduals who strive on the social aspect of communication, and would prefer to study with a group of friends. For extroverts, parts of the brain are attached to energy levels, which cause them to be more social and thrive off of this learning style, said Embree.
On the other hand, introverts would rather find a quiet place and study by themselves. When studying alone, the brain acts differently; the
Studying personalities
BY CHRISTINA BALRAM
Along with broken hearts, getting a job and fitting in, final examinations might seem like one of the hurdles of young adulthood. But relax. Finals look scary from afar, but they shouldn’t even be on your radar during post-secondary school!
Here are some tips to help you chill out during exams and show that failure isn’t the end of the world during this grave time of year.
Consider everything that needs to get done for exams as one huge insurmountable task, then panic.
Before embarking on what will surely be the most grueling month of the semester, write out everything you need to get done. By laying out just how unprepared you are, that brewing anxiety will kick
into high gear in no time. Whether or not any of it gets done is beside the point, as long as you know it’s there.
Procrastination is key.Video games, eating, sleeping,
The Walking Dead, more eating – these are all high priority issues. Use Tip #1 as a guide and check in on what you need to do from time to time to see how much more time you can waste. Two weeks until the final? You could watch all five seasons of Breaking Bad by then!
If it’s hard to procrastinate on your own, find some friends.
Remember, there’s strength in numbers. Don’t be selfish and assume you’re the only one whose about to wash away the first few months of good grades in a single morning. You’re not alone! There
are some great movies that come out closer to exam time and it’s obvi-ous why that is: even the film indus-try knows that you don’t care about your grades.
Step up to the plate.Exam time is a great time to
finally do all the chores your parents have asked you to do since the beginning of your adult life. Push through all that dirty laundry and stale food beside your bed and think of how happy you’re going to make them. While students are suffer-ing during this part of the semester, parents and professors are having the time of their lives watching you sweat; you might as well make them even happier.
The night before.Either you’ve mastered the mate-
rial for the next morning or you
gave up a while ago. Either way, you won’t be using the night before to study. You’ll stare down at your notes but they won’t stick. The only sticking that will take place is that of your beer mug on the table at LinX Lounge. This may also be a good time to set aside your phone for once; you wouldn’t want to snap back to reality while face-down in your nachos.
The morning of.Grab something light for break-
fast so you can get in as much last-minute cramming as possible. When you finally walk into your own personal hell, do a last minute check to see if you have everything: Cell phone, money to pay for a shot of liquid confidence, a mountain of pencils that you hope will show you mean business, and a pair of blin-ders so you can avoid the devil-ish smirk your professor has on his/her face while you write off your aspirations.
At the end of all this, remember to reflect.
You’ll talk all through Christmas break about how you’ll “never do that again” or “I know what I have to do for next time.” Let’s be honest, you’ve been saying that for years! Unless you plan on becoming a professional student, the real world is within arm’s reach and it’s got a bag full of candy in one hand and whole new set of stress in the other.
Take final exams in stride, make sure you’re ready for what life is going to throw at you and hope that a fan isn’t involved when you get hit with what’s to come.
Be smart and buckle down, kids!
Introverts versus extroverts: how you interact with others affects the way you study
How to fail an exam: the definitive guide
cerebral cortex might be more active which means there is a higher think-ing order in place, added the assis-tant head.
Then there are people who are both known as gregarious introverts who may be chatty but at the same time need to be alone to focus and study.
The environment we study in has a significant impact. “Memory is context dependant – how we require info has an impact on how we should study. Some people do better at a coffee shop while others would rather be at home,” said Embree.
So where is the best proven place to cram? “One study says the most ideal place to study is the same place and desk where you will be taking the
exam. Since not possible, library may be the next best choice,” said Embree.
Embree also advises students to not use laptops unless they are using it purely for studying. “If in study groups, it might be distracting to people if you are on Facebook even thought others aren’t.” By doing this, your brain is not trying to multitask
between remembering what you’re doing on social media and what you have studied.
On the day when all of your hard work comes to light, “It’s important to try to be as centered as possible regardless of how you study, because you will be walking into the exam alone– remember tricks or tips to keep staying positive,” said Embree.
“ If you have the mentality that you going to do well, you will.”
Students are preparing for their final research papers and assign-ments, gathering material, making notes; some are pulling an all-nighter or two.
What they might not imagine is that professors face stress too. Daniel Santa Mina, the head of the kinesiol-ogy department at Guelph-Humber, gives us a background look at a profes-sor’s job during exam time.
Style and delivery determine how a professor will make the exam. Santa Mina said he thinks about many different elements when he constructs a final. If he wants students to be proficient in certain areas, “then those are the areas I spend time on in class,” he said.
Professors not only have to decide on the focus material, but students are forced to adapt to new or even differ-ent examination concepts.
Santa Mina takes those aspects into consideration. “I’ll look at my lecture notes and slides I’ve posted and see what content I spent time on, what I gloss[ed] over, what are the details I want them to know [and] important concepts that were heavily discussed that was not in the lecture notes or slides.”
Professors have to cater to different learning strategies that will make all students feel more comfortable.
Those considerations filter through to exam-creation. Professors write various styles of questions such as multiple-choice, short answer, and the not-so-fan-favorite essay ques-tion. With all this in mind, an exam can take some time to develop.
The hardest part is starting from scratch, as Santa Mina describes. “Creating the first repository takes time. And I would probably say it takes a couple of days - 16 to 20 hours: reviewing the notes, phrasing and formatting the questions.”
Although students may be the ones in the hot seat on exam day, a teach-er’s stress level peaks at the same time. “[Professors] all have an idea of what we think is important content for the students to understand,” said Santa Mina I think we strive to make sure they get [the] content and make sure they understand it. I don’t intend to make it unfair, but I don’t intend to make it particularly easy or hard.”
Do professors get stressed for exams too?
BY LAURA BREITER
Students aren’t the only ones feeling pressure
Study groups like these work well for extroverts because they can learn from one another, unlike introverts who prefer studying independently.
PHOTO, HANNAH SATHERSTROM
PHOTO, SHELBY MORELL
PHOTO, KAITY THERIAULT
Some people [study] better at a coffee shop while others would rather be at home“ ”
Preparing for the end of the semester can be full of stress, fear and late nights of cramming before an exam. Thankfully, the University of Guelph-Humber has an abundance of services to help relieve some of the pressure.
The Learning Support Peers, Math Centre and Writing Centre all provide students with assistance throughout the semester and espe-cially during midterm and final exam seasons. They are all located on the second f loor of Guelph-Humber.
An important aspect of the LSPs is their tagline “Here to Assist. Here to Relate.” Senior LSP Cassandra Engineer said, “We promote academic success at a peer level, so you have someone you can actually relate to.”
Engineer explained the LSP services. “We provide learning skills workshops which include, time management, procrastination management and stress management,” she said.
The LSPs encourage students at all levels to make use of their services, especially nearing the end of a semester.
“We offer reading and note taking skills workshops, which are partnered with our exam prep workshop. If you have good reading and note taking skills you can prepare accordingly for your exams,” Engineer said.
Engineer is extremely proud of what herself and the LSP team do, because she can see first-hand the lasting impact of helping her fellow peers.
The Math Centre is one of the busiest services on campus, helping an average of 6,000 students within a semester.
The Math Centre helps “guide the students through their own material, opposed to teach-ing them what they’re doing,” said the coordi-nator, Cameron Redsell-Montgomerie.
The Math Centre offers help for all Math courses on campus, including, Technical Math-ematics, Photography, Kinesiology, Design Automation, Electronic Engineering and Calculus.
When students are preparing for final exams and tests, Redsell-Montgomerie said the Math Centre has “a lot of review sheets for a number of classes,” which help students in addition to their textbooks.
“A lot of people really feel that if they hadn’t come here they wouldn’t have done as well,” the coordinator said.
The Writing Centre helps an average of 5,000 students each fall semester.
Writing Centre Coordinator Franc Jamie-son said the range of assistance available “can be anything from helping students with sentence structure, punctuation and spelling to look-ing at essays and considering how effective the thesis is and whether proper development is there.”
For the Writing Centre, crunch time comes during midterms and again during finals. “We experience a very busy time and students are advised to anticipate their needs and book well in advance,” said the coordinator.
Although the Writing Centre can be hectic, Jamieson said they try to take some of the stress away by helping students along in their assign-ment to get closer to completion.
The LSPs, Math Centre and Writing Centre encourage
Guelph-Humber and Humber students alike, to take advan-tage of what’s available to them.
radix
Help us help you!Take advantage of these smart student services on campus
Eat, sleep, write - or pull an all-nighter?
Students can do some pretty crazy things on the day of finals, from staying up all night to using the same pen for every exam.
But in an informal survey of students, most of those exam-day must-dos had to do with eating or sleeping.
University of Guelph-Humber student Matthew Bamber believes a good breakfast is the key to a good grade. “I usually wake up earlier than I normally would and make myself a huge breakfast, it works for me!”
And he’s right, according to the respected medical website WebMD. A good breakfast fuels your body with “brain food,” which is just as important as studying, not to mention it keeps you alert and fresh. It improves concentration, academic performance and has been shown to enhance problem-solving skills, says the website. Besides, do you really want your stomach to growl in the middle of an exam so everyone turns around and looks at you? That’s what we thought.
Another common option is getting a good night sleep. Accord-ing to second-year business student,
Students have different ways of prepping for exams - and some are better than others
Get to the Humber Spa before the stress gets to you
Exam time is creeping up on us and many students are starting to feel the pressures from stress and anxiety buildup. What better way to relieve your nerves than taking a trip to the spa?
The Humber Spa is a great facil-ity to help you prepare for those hectic exams without any textbooks. The clean and hospitable environment has a wonderful team of students that are welcoming and help create a peaceful atmosphere.
Monica Grasmann, a lab assis-tant at The Humber Spa said, “If your body is well relaxed and revitalized, it will show when writing an exam”.
As students prepare for their exams they must remember that it is just as important to prepare your body, as it is to prepare your mind. Maintaining your health can help you achieve the higher grades you’re working towards.
After hours upon hours of studying for that final exam you begin to feel uncomfortable and irritable but your ability to absorb information will be much stronger after rewarding your-self to a tranquil treatment. It will calm your senses and prepare your
brain for an intense workout. Grasmann suggests students take
time to kick back and relax because, “nothing feels better than getting a massage to relieve those study-kinks in your neck.”
It’s also a great way for students to take a break between classes and studying. Some of the most popular services that students receive include manicures, pedicures and facials.
One service in particular that has been popular among students is the “Core Facial.” It is a great treatment to get rid of those impurities from stress and fatigue. After this treat-ment you’ll leave with fresh and glow-ing skin.
If you can’t make it to the spa there’s a way to bring the same relax-ing environment home with you! Grasmann recommends that students should take a nice bath with Epson salts as “you’ll be feeling new in no time.”
It’s time to walk into your exam looking great, feeling even better and knowing you’re going to rock that final!
If you’re interested in allowing your brain to take a back seat and pampering yourself, drop by The Humber Spa in Humber’s north campus. To make an appointment call 416-675-5033.
Relax and rejuvenate
Nicholas Moscioni, more sleep equals less stress. “I try not to study the day of the test, I get a nice sleep and try to keep my day stress free until that paper is put in front of me.”
If you have already prepared yourself well enough for the test, getting a good night sleep will keep you from dozing off in the middle of your exam. We defi-nitely would not want that to happen.
However, second-year business student Joe Di Paola takes the opposite approach. “I make sure I buy an extra large coffee and pull an all nighter studying.”
Caffeine plus no sleep seemed to be the most reoccurring answer of the survey. The question is does it really help you once you get the test?
“I often feel drowsy and zoned out if I stay up all night studying, so I wouldn’t recom-mend it,” said third-year media studies student, Melanie Raffa.
BY SAMANTHA KNIGHT
Find out more about eating to
feed your brain at radixonline.ca.
PRICES
Manicure: $30
Core Facial: $40
Waxes: $7 to $30
Massage: $40
CHEAP TREATS
Keep your eyes open for advertisements
around campus for the Humber Spa’s great
holiday package deals. The Spa is located
in Humber’s Building X next to the gym.
PHOTO, ANYSIA SOLARSKI
I try not to study the day of the test; I try to keep my day stress-free until that paper is put in front of me
PHOTO, HANNAH SATHERSTROM
“ ”
We promote academic success at a peer level, so you have someone you
can actually relate to.
Can you tell when it’s time to call it a night? Cramming for an exam the next day might seem necesssary but can easily backfire.
BY MATTHEW PEDIAS
“”
BY ALEXANDRA SCARLATO
For a complete list of Guelph-Humber services that can
