Exam Schedule Posted

The Office of the Registrar has finalized the December exam schedule and posted detailed exam instructions for students at "Instructions to Students Regarding the Exam Schedule" (at http://www.registrarsoffice.ualberta.ca/Examinations/Instructions-to-Students.aspx).

On the page, students can link to the December 2012 Final Examination Schedule (students can also check out their personal schedule on BearTracks), and review specific instructions for the major examination facilities, seating arrangements, exam absences, procedures and schedule conflicts.

Free Podcast - 5 Note Taking

Looking for a way to make your notes more "useful" to you?
Do you find that your notes are boring you and you just cant focus?
Looking for a way to make reading notes "note worthy" (bad pun I know).

Check out our latest podcast on how to get the best bang for your buck on your notes!

Click here to get the free podcast!

In the podcast they talk about legend reading. Here is and example of legend reading.

Dont forget we offer workshops and individual consultations to help you study better not longer.

Free Podcast 3 + 4 - Making A Study Plan + Exam Prep

Today we are giving out a double helping of our highly popular podcast series so bottoms up and enjoy!

Making a study plan.

With final exams just around the corner you might be asking yourself: "What did I do all year?".

Fear not! The Student Success Centre's newest podcast focuses creating a proper study schedule, and executing proper study habits so you are never in that same situation of "What did I do all year" again!

Final Exam Prep

Now that you know how you should be studying for all year, how are you going to prepare for the upcoming exams? Check out our newest podcast on how to prepare for exams and create a specific study plan for your exams!

Click here to get our latest podcasts!

And dont forget that we offer personalized services to help get your academic life in order. 

So come see us at SUB2-300 at the University of Alberta.

Can math cause pain?

 A new study by Dr.Ian Lyons of the University of Chicago, has linked the sensation of physical pain with the anticipation of math in "math anxious" groups.

Using fMRI brain scans, they found that when people in the "math anxious" group were told that they would be doing math problems the area of the brain known as the posterior insula would  become active. This is the same area of the brain that is responsible for registering threats and experiencing pain.

Interestingly though, once the participants started actually doing math problems the area was no longer active.
A true case of a "dogs" bark being worst than its bite.

Read more about this at:
Popular Science
or read the actual research study at:
PLOS one, open access journal

Free Podcast 2 - Dealing with Distractions

Next up on our list of free podcast, is dealing with distractions!
Go pick it up today by clicking here

Free Podcast 1

For a limited time only we will be offering some of our podcasts for free!

Each week we will be releasing a new podcast on a different topic that you can download and listen to.  We just ask that you like our Facebook page to get the word out about our new series of podcast!
They are only about 3 minutes long each but drive home many concepts such as:

• The secrets of how to use the syllabus to ace exams
• Preparing for Exams
• Dealing with Procrastination
• Rethinking Success
• Adapting to the University Workload
• Building Smart Memory
• Dealing with exam anxiety
•  ...and many more! 

As a warning we will be removing these podcast at the end of each week, so be sure to grab them while you can!

Podcast 1

The Importance of Breakfast for University Students

A scientific review of the importance of breakfast for university students.

What you need to know.

It has been drilled into our heads time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Despite this constant drone of healthiness we (the University student population) constantly miss breakfast for various reasons. We think that the extra 15 minutes of sleep is more important to our "focus" or that cutting back on those early morning calories can help us loses some weight. Sadly the truth of the matter is that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day for a university student due mainly to its connections to one major psychological construct: Willpower.

Breakfast provides the body with glucose which has a direct relation to the amount of willpower a person has (or so the studies seem to say). There are varying theories of how this works, but in general there is a correlation between glucose in the morning and willpower throughout the day.  Willpower is important as it has a direct connection to the ability to focus on a task or resist distractions, both of which are vital to the study habits of a student.

In fact this increased willpower through the day is one of the reasons why people that eat breakfast tend to be at a healthier weight. For a long time it was believed that not having breakfast lead to the body’s metabolism slowing down, but this is a myth as it would take 3-4 days without food for a body’s metabolism to go into “starvation mode”. In actuality people that eat breakfast in the morning have a higher amount of willpower so are less likely to eat something unhealthy for lunch or overeat at lunch to make up for the calories lost not having breakfast.

Now some of our more scientifically minded readers might ask the question: "how does this works exactly?"

To be honest, there is a lot of debate on this subject and no-one knows the answer for sure. 

Basic convention of body energy allocation states that glucose is not used when willpower or self-control is used.  Despite this, many studies suggest a reserve of energy created by glucose that is used whenever willpower is exerted (Gailliot & Baumeister, 2007). This thus suggests a daily supply of willpower/self-regulation that can be depleted throughout the day (perhaps this is why we make our best decisions in the day and our worst at night).  This theory is known as the “Energy Model of Self-control”.

Counter to the above theory is another theory suggesting that glucose activates the dopamine pathways in the striatum (an area of the brain that is associated with responses to rewards), thus readying the body for the possibility of reward (Molden et al. 2012). What makes this study interesting is that it is based on detection of glucose in the mouth and not the presence of glucose in the blood stream. This means one could technically just wash out their mouth with sugar water to bolster their focus or willpower and  suffer no calories or sugar-crash effects from it. Even with this in mind it is important for the body to have a source of slow digesting carbohydrate or you would have to wash your mouth out with sugar fairly often.  This model is known as the “Motivational Effect of Carbohydrates” model.

But the one thing both of these have in common is that there is a definite correlation between glucose and self-regulation/willpower.

So what does this all mean?

Eat a piece of whole wheat toast in the morning and maybe throw in an egg and some fruit juice. Grab a handful of nuts or fruits for an hour later and you should be good. 

Really it is that simple. 

A good slow digesting carbohydrate will allow a gradual release of glucose as opposed to a sudden burst as is the case with simple carbs (White bread, sugar, most breakfast cereals with a cartoon character on the box). This quick burst tends to leads to "super" increased levels of glucose throughout the body, triggering the pancreas to react and release insulin…thus making you sleepy and sapping the glucose out of your blood stream. 

So in short – Eating something good for breakfast can lead to you getting higher grades and losing weight. Really what is there not to love about breakfast?

Websites Cited:

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-delay/200903/self-regulation-failure-part-4-8-tips-strengthen-willpower

http://nutrition.about.com/od/nutrition101/a/breakfast.htm

http://www.helpwithcooking.com/healthy-eating/breakfast-guide.html

Studies Cited:

Molden D.C., Hui C.M., Scholer A.A., Meier B.P., Noreen E.E., D'Agostino P.R. & Martin V. (2012, October 1).  Motivational versus metabolic effects of carbohydrates on self-control. Psychological Science, 23(10), 1137-1144.

Gailliot, M. T., & Baumeister, R. F. (2007, November). The Physiology of Willpower: Linking Blood Glucose to Self-Control. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 11(4), 303-327.

Take Back the Term

Take back the term is day long workshop centered around improving your academic standing in school. But here is the kicker, it is completely FREE.

That is right FREE!

To Register and to find out more info check out: This Link

We are now on Facebook!

We now have a Facebook page!
Check us out at: https://www.facebook.com/UofASSC

Like us and let us know the kind of help you are looking for so we can cater to your needs!

Problems with Anxiety in University?

Worrying that Works

 The U of A's Mental Health centre (2-600 SUB) will be starting a weekly workshop called Worrying that Works. The objective of this workshop is to help students better manage their anxiety symptoms and to help reduce the impact anxiety has on their lives. It will be ran by a professional psychologist as well!

Here are the details:
Eligibility: any U of A student that is struggling with anxiety (general worry, panic attacks, etc.)
Time: Thursdays (weekly) from 2-3:30pm
Start Date: Thursday October 25th, 2012

So if you have an issue with Anxiety and it is affecting your University experience I would urge you to go check out this workshop and learn how to take control of these issues!

http://www.mentalhealth.ualberta.ca/

Midterms Drive

How to Ace that Essay pt.2

How to Ace that Essay pt.2

So let us summarize where we are as of right now.

1) Make sure to get that first step done early so that you got some time to really think about it.

2) Know the steps in making an essay. Breaking down an essay in to parts makes it that much easier and creates a far better finished product in the end.

Today we are going to talk about the thesis statement.

The goal of an essay is to state an opinion, if you are not doing that than you are not doing an essay. The thesis statement is you stating your opinion directly in writing in your essay.

To help you create this statement it is best that you imply at least one opposing thought on the matter.  

Because of this thesis statement often start with either: Despite or Although.  (Don’t take this as word of law though, these are just easy guides, don’t take them as IN STONE, MUST BE THIS WAY OR I FAIL!)

A quick example:

Although the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”  portrays lobotomies as a common practice for the era, in reality lobotomies were mostly abandoned in favor of drug based therapies during the era that the movie took place. Despite this discrepancy the movie characterized lobotomies in a realistic manner in some instances such as the common patients to receive lobotomies and the most negative outcome possible in a lobotomy. All in all the movie characterized lobotomies well, but did not accurately reflect the context in which they were given.

Now the core topic of this essay was a compare and contrast, so unlike other essay there were some issues that the movie did do well while others were far from reality, thus leading to a split point in opinion that is seen in this thesis statement. In a normal essay you would keep all your points on topics with central argument. Here is another example:

Although most people characterize schizophrenia as strictly a condition one is born with, there are many cues and possible contributing factors that come from the external world as well…

The beauty of using the although/despite clause method is that it states a difference in opinion right off the bat so the reader knows what the essay is about and how well your argument is tied to the essay.

The topic of the essay must also be addressed in the thesis but thesis is not a re-hashing of the topic. The thesis must directly answer the questions asked in the topic. I cannot stress this enough that this is key in a good essay.  Despite this an essay must not state finality about the topic, but rather it must explain the relationship, the: “how, why and wherefores” to the thinking that led to the conclusion you have stated. 

Dont forget, if you feel like you still need more help come to the Student Success Centre on campus (SUB 2-300 here at the University of Alberta) and we can offer assistance in the forms of: a better writing workshops or individual consultations where we will personally have your essay reviewed by our professional staff.  

How to Ace that Essay Pt.1

With the impending end of the semester coming upon us we are faced with one of the greatest challenges most university students will have to face: “the dreaded term paper”. But fear not! The Student Success Centre Team is here just in the nick of time (yes the nick of time is this early in the year) to give you some tips on how to handle your essays and mid-terms.

1. Give yourself plenty of time to plan and organize your essay.

STORY TIME!

In my third year of university I was in a sociology course that required an essay every 2 weeks. While I did love the class I dreaded the essays, especially because I was a fairly weak writer (or so I had always thought). I had always been one to leave essays to the last minute leaving me with little time to research or form proper ideas. Deciding that I really wanted to do well at this class I did something a little different from my norm.

On the day the essay was assigned, I came up with a topic and did some initial research, pulling out pieces of information from the articles that supported my position. This took me a grand total of maybe 2 hours tops (for the short 3 page essay assigned at least). What this allowed me to do is not only get started early, but it gave me the time to let the ideas bounce around in my head when I was not working on the essay. When I did come back to form and outline or actual start writing I had tones of material to work from, or I had deeper questions to return to my research with. I had never received so many B+s or As on essays in my life!

So to summarize this first step: Get started early – that doesn’t mean you need to bang out a draft on the first night, but come up with a topic and find some research right away. This will allow you to have the ideas bouncing around in your head for longer. Also by breaking an essay into parts, it becomes easier to do. You don’t just sit down and work on an essay till it is at a certain level of complete, but rather you finish one part then come back later for the next. Which leads us to the next tip…

2. Know how to break down the parts of an essay.

It is far too common that a student sees an essay single task -“today I am going to work on my essay) rather than breaking it down into parts- “today I am going to make my outline for my essay and brainstorm a thesis” (sound much less daunting doesn’t it?).

There is an old saying that goes – “how do you eat an elephant?” “One bite at a time”. The same goes for an essay we can turn a dauntingly large task in to something manageable by breaking it down. We tend to procrastinate less when the tasks are smaller and are accomplishable in a single reasonable sitting (and no 6 hours is not a single reasonable sitting…)

Now the breakdown of an essay can vary from student to student, but I am going to give you an outline of what one very basic breakdown is:

1) Pick a topic – Brainstorm
2) Research
3) Organize the ideas
4) Make an Outline
5) Write the rough draft
6) Write a good copy

1) Pick at topic and brainstorm

After the essay is assigned sit down and figure out what topic most interest you, you want something you can really sink your teeth into and enjoy writing about. HINT: if you wouldn’t like talking about your essay topic to one of your friends, you might have picked the wrong topic. Your topic should involve a relationship of some sort. By that we mean that it should be a cause and effect relationship, a relationship of elements or a comparison and contrast.

One of my favorite essays was for my neuropsychology class in which we had to watch a movie about an individual with a mental disorder and write about whether or not the disorder was accurately portrayed in the movie. I choose “One Flew Over the Cuckcoo’s Nest” and I picked Jack Nicholson’s lobotomy as my topic. Here we see a good example of a topic – we have a compare and contrast topic between the actuality of disorder and how it is portrayed in the movie, and it was something that I was highly interested in. I had to cut the essay down I had so much to write about.

Brainstorming is essentially you just writing any ideas you have about the topic and about how to make connections between your topic and the literature. Write anything and everything down. If it is a bad idea you are more than likely going to know that it is once research starts, but its better to have something on paper that might be

2) Research

Now that your essay has a topic and some brainstormed ideas, it is a lot easier to approach the research part of the essay as you know what you are looking for. This is surprisingly the easiest part of the essay writing process. While it can be time consuming, if you have the direction of already having a topic and brainstormed ideas research and finding papers becomes a lot easier and faster. As you research your topic, copy paste out parts of the articles that relate to your topic on to a separate word document along with all the bibliographical information on the top of that page. This will essentially be a form of “highlight” and also a way for you to track back where you got your ideas from so that you can cite them properly and avoid plagiarism (make sure to have one page for each source to keep them organized).

3) Organizing your ideas

Now that you have your research done, along with supporting information on a separate word document, you can begin to organize your ideas into categories. These categories will later become your paragraphs. Make sure to also look at the how the categories are related to each other, it is these relationships that will become the transitions between the paragraphs.

In my essay about lobotomies and Jack Nicholson, in my first paragraph I wrote about the history of lobotomies and whether or not it was realistic that he would receive a lobotomy during that time period. My second paragraph was about the reasoning behind the lobotomies and how likely it was that they would give him a lobotomy considering the circumstances he was in. The perfect transition in this case was talking about the historical context of why lobotomies became so popular, thus connecting history and reasoning together.

4) Make an outline

It is at this point you can look over all the information you have gathered and organized and make a thesis statement. In tomorrow’s blog post I will be going over thesis statements in more detail. The thesis should reflect all the main ideas in your paragraphs though.

Check out this sheet for help in forming an essay outline. Outline Sheet

5) Craft a rough draft

The idea here is to begin to flesh out your essay and get your ideas on paper in actual sentences and paragraphs. I try to make my rough drafts as carefully as possible as if I was really writing a good copy.

6) Good copy

In the good copy I re-read what I wrote down in my rough draft first and see if there are any glaring mistakes that need to be addressed. After that, I re-write (not edit) my essay in a new document. I do this bit by bit, allowing me to look at how I wrote my essay the first time and by re-writing the essay it allows me to ensure that the essay comes out cleaner and that each sentence is not just me spitting out what I can about the topic but rather paying attention to how it contributes to the essay as a whole.


And there you have it, the format for an essay!



Expect more guidance on how to write en essay tomorrow as we continue our journey into University essay.

Using Elaboration Strategies

Using Elaboration Strategies

Whats wrong with the way I am studying currently?

One of the most common mistakes students make when coming to university from high-school is relying on memorization as an effective method to study. Courses in university are too packed with information to use simple rehearsal strategies by themselves. Students then begin to feel like a machine programmed to spew-out information on demand, not fully getting a grasp of what all that information means in the context of their course. This becomes especially dangerous later in the year as information memorized in this method is quickly forgotten and new concepts require the old concepts to build on.

Rehearsal doesn't lead to encoding - thus doesn't lead to information  being stored in  "the long term memory."

So, how does one learn new material as a pose to just memorize material?

This is where elaboration strategies come in to play.

What are "elaborations strategies"?

"Elaboration strategies" are methods of engaging with the material in order to create stronger connections with the material, so that the information is not only passed to long term memory but also learned in the context of the course for deep understanding.

So how does I use elaborations strategies?

Check out this video from McMasters University for just a small example of elaboration techniques available to use to improve your studying.

The Student Success Centre also offer a variety of workshops on how to use elaboration techniques along with organizational methods and many other techniques to maximize your learning on your tight schedules.

Come check us out at SUB 2-300

How to Get the Most out of your Studying (Videos)

How to Get the Most Out of your Studying

With the first couple of weeks of school over, its time to start studying for those midterms (Yes... already). But in order to ensure you use your study time effectively you might want to spend the first little bit of time "learning to learn" rather than jumping in head first with ineffective learning strategies.

Lets make a metaphor here: two people want to canoe across the great lakes, both have canoes but no paddles. Would it be more effective to be the first in the water and try to paddle across lake Ontario only using your hands, or to spend a little time making or finding paddles then going in after you have the right tools?

Giving you those tools is what the Student Success Centre here on the U of A campus is all about!

Here is a short series of videos that will give you quick overview of effective study strategies to kick start you this study season courtesy of Samford University.

The video is about 36 minutes longs in total for all 5 parts, so sit back and enjoy.

Pt.1 - Common Beliefs that undermine Learning

  
Pt.2 - Basic Principles of How People Learn and how you can use those principles to improve your studying (Shallow vs. Deep Level of Processing)

Pt.3 How people study best and how to use this to improve your learning (Short Term vs. Long Term memory and use of Elaboration strategies, Automaticity vs. Overlearning)

Pt.4 - Using Deep Processing 

Pt.5 - I just blew the test!?!? Now what?

Looking for more study tips or perhaps even some actual face to face help with studying or essays?
Check out our website at : www.studentsuccess.ualberta.ca 
Or see us in person at: SUB 2-300

First Year Tips from a Recent Graduate

First Year Tips from a Recent Graduate (With a Job!)

The first year of University can be daunting. You are entering a massive school and know next to no one. You know how to handle highschool but University is COMPLETELY different.

BUT FEAR NOT!

Here are some tips that I found helped me or I wish I knew about upon entering the University of Alberta.

1. GET IT DONE EARLY -

This doesn't only apply to assignments, but to life! Get up early, be the first in line for your ONEcards or text books, if the line looks like more than a 20 minute wait, wait till a dead zone (times when most people are in class) or till next morning. Dont waste your time, get up early and use your time as effectively as possible. If possible try to pick your text books up before classes start so that you can get it done before the rush and get second hand text books for cheap.

2. KNOW YOUR LIMITS -

If you know you are not a morning person don't register for an early morning class. I know this sounds simple logic, but I dont know how many times I have heard "I can adapt to being a morning person" followed 3 weeks later with "So I dropped that class....". Same goes with night classes, unless you have the ability to sit through 3 hours class marathon, avoid them. It all comes down to knowing yourself.

3. TALK TO YOUR ACADEMIC ADVISER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE -

Try to get a one-on-one meeting as soon as possible with an adviser. This will give you the framework you need to build your future class schedule and get you going in the right direction. IF YOU CHANGE YOUR FACULTY AT ANY TIME, TALK TO A STUDENT ADVISER OF THE FACULTY AND MAKE SURE EVERYTHING IS OK ON THEIR END (this mistake cost me about $2000 and an extra year of school).

4. TAKE PART IN WEEK OF WELCOME! -

It is a great chance to meet people and get free food/swag.

5. JOIN A CAMPUS CLUB, INTRAMURAL SPORT OR THE GREEK SCENE -

Week of welcome is a great chance to test out some of these clubs and activities. Being part of a campus group will help you not only make friends with similar interests but create a support network that will help you grow as a person.

The University of Alberta is also home to many fraternities and sororities, which not only give you the opportunity to make friends but also network with a strong group of Alumni that are no longer part of the group. They are also not based around a single activity or ideology allowing them to be inclusive of many different people regardless of religious beliefs or athletic skills.
Here are some other interesting facts on Greek Societies:

• Nationally, fraternity members acquire grade point averages above all other college men's scholastic rankings.
• Nationally, fraternity members have an overall higher graduation rate than non-Greeks.  71% of all fraternity men persist to graduation while only 50% of all non-fraternity members graduate.
• All but two U.S. Presidents since 1825 have been fraternity men, and 63% of the U.S. Presidents' cabinet members since 1900 have been fraternity men.
• Studies show that 76% of Congress, 71% of the men listed in "Who's Who in America", and 85% of the Fortune 500 executives belong to a fraternity.
• Since 1910, 85% of the Supreme Court Justices have been Greek.
• Greeks contribute innumerable community service hours and contributions to local and national charities annually.
•  The first Female Senator and Astronaut were Greeks
• The Greek system is the largest network of Volunteers in the US, with member donating over 10 million hours of volunteer service each year. 
• The UofA's entire slate of elected Student Union representatives are in fraternities

Source: http://www.commercekappasigs.com/ and http://www.njit.edu/greeklife/directory/facts.php

6. HAVE FUN, JUST DONT GO OVER BOARD-

You wont want to be part of something that you don't enjoy. Make friends, enjoy the student life, get out and have fun, but university can be a training ground for alcoholism amongst many other horrible habits. Take the time to find fun outside of drinking. Also dont forget your foremost reason for being at the UofA is to graduate, dont let fun supersede that one main goal.

7. CHECK OUT THE STUDENT SUCCESS CENTRE!

The Student success centre is a fantastic resource that is extremely underused at the undergrad level (grad students use it fairly frequently, that should tell you something). We offer workshops on everything from understanding Time Management for University to Individualized Writing Consultation to help you with that tough essay!
Check out more at : www.studentsuccess.ualberta.ca

Tips for Enhancing your memory

Tips for Enhancing Your Memory

Tips to help you survive at university!

Some Truths about Memory

• Memory is not perfect. Few people have “picture-perfect” memories that can record information the way a camera does. Most people have to use strategies to help them remember.
• Memory is a case of “use it or lose it.” Memory strategies require practice and discipline. Using your memory also seems more difficult if you haven’t been in a school setting recently.
• Memory is a skill that can be learned. Memory strategies are not generic or innate – they must be learned. There are many different strategies to help you remember information.
• Memory does not diminish over time. Many people think that memory “goes” when they get older. In fact, memory stays quite intact – it is the speed of retrieval that diminishes.
• Rote memorization has limitations. Students who rely on memorization for their exams are in for a big surprise. Not only is it difficult to memorize an entire term’s worth of information for the exam, but trying to do so can cause a great deal of anxiety.
   

Memory Tip 1: Pay Attention in Class

All information presented in class, whether by spoken word or visual aids, must pass through sensory memory. It is the critical gateway for information to be received by other memory systems. Attend your lectures with a goal of listening.

Memory Tip 2: Take Effective Notes

In order for information to be stored in long-term memory, it first needs to pass through your short-term or working memory. As this stage of memory is limited in the amount of information it can retain, information you receive in class must be written down or you will forget it.

Memory Tip 3: Remember the Three R’s

In order to move information form short-term memory into long-term memory, you must do three things: repeat information, make information relevant or meaningful, and keep information recent.

Memory Tip 4: Use Mnemonics

Mnemonics are short-term memory devices that involve making arbitrary but easy-to-remember associations for specific information that is easy to forget.* Some examples are sohcahtoa (trigonometric definitions of sine, cosine, and tangent) and roygbiv (the colours of the rainbow).

Memory Tip 5: Generate Examples

A very effective way of monitoring your own comprehension is to generate examples of concepts.* If you cannot do this, it is likely that you do not fully understand the concept. It is also important to understand why something is an example of a concept and why it is not an example of something else.

Memory Tip 6: Use Visual Imagery

Visualization of concepts can be a very powerful way to learn. Images can be directly related to the topic or can be based on analogies that transfer abstract concepts into concrete images.* (Eg. Flow of electricity > river)

Memory Tip 7: Make Associations

Get a sense of the “big picture” by making connections between the lecture and textbook or readings, and between lectures.* Memory works best when information is first learned by theme.

Memory Tip 8: Use Rehearsal Strategies*

Practice retrieving information by reciting key ideas, predicting questions, practicing problems, and testing yourself using old exams. These strategies will assist you with consolidating information in long-term memory.

 For More Study Tips check out our site: Tips to Help You Survive at University

(*Adapted from Fleet, J., Goodchild, F., & Zajchowski, R. (1999). Learning for success. Toronto, ONT: Harcourt Brace & Company.)

© 2011 Tips for Enhancing Your Memory , Learning Resources, Student Success Centre, University of Alberta

Nature's Winamp Visualizations

Some interesting Neuroscience

Greg Gage of Backyard Brains has turned a Longfin Inshore squid into the newest Ipod accessory by making the squid's chromatophore cells react to music. 

Backyard Brains is an organization dedicated to educating young soon-to-be scientist of our world, and showing them the joys of neuroscience by creating interesting experiments such as re-animating a severed cockroach leg and making it dance.

In the above experiment the Backyard Brains Team attached one of their "Spiker Boxes" to the squids chromatophore nerves in the fin. They then side-chained the electronic signals to an I-pod allowing the music to activate the cells in a colorful display that goes along with the music.

Now if only all labs could be this fun!

For more information check out: http://news.backyardbrains.com/

Eating Cheap and Healthy!

How to Eat Cheap AND Healthy

Looking to eat well on campus but not spend a lot of money? The Environmental Working Group has made a guide book, that can be found here, that goes over not only recipes but buying strategies to ensure you live both cheaply and healthy. Check it out and have some more energy to get your study on!

New Workshop! - Public Speaking

Probably the scariest thing in the world! 

During my time as a post-secondary student, I was never afflicted with the fear of talking in front of my classmates, but this can not be said for many of my friends. Regardless if your in Comparative Literature or Engineering at one point or another through out your university career you will have to speak in front of an audience. 

Imagine this: "You need to make a presentation for your Spanish class in front of the whole class of 40+ people. Some of which you are now friends with, some of which you might be attracted to and the rest you don't know. Your hands are beginning to sweat, you can feel your heart rate begin to increase in speed. You practiced all night but you feel like your about to pass out".

If this sounds like familiar to you, then you shouldn't feel ashamed at all! Fear of public speaking is actually very common. That is why the Student Success Centre is are offering both a workshop and individual consultations on public speaking.

Here are the details:

Presentation and Public Speaking Skills Workshops and Individual Consultations Engaging Presentations ($40) Are you nervous about speaking in front of others? Do you worry that you will forget what you have to say? Do you think that others will grow bored just listening to the sound of your voice? Learn how to develop and deliver dynamic, engaging presentations or speeches. This three-hour session will provide many helpful techniques and tips.  Saturday, September 22, 2012                   9 am-noon          SUB 2-702 (maximum enrolment 25) Saturday, September 29, 2012                   9 am-noon          SUB 2-702 (maximum enrolment 25) Personalized Assistance Receive individual feedback on your verbal and non-verbal communication skills base on a 10-minute presentation or speech (you prepared in advance). Your presentation will be taped to aid feedback. Individual Consultations  ($20 for one hour if you have completed the Engaging Presentations Workshop) ($80 for one hour if you have not completed the Engaging Presentations Workshop)

Academic Success Videos: Strategic Learning

Learning how to be a strategic learner!
Follow the link to the video on a great website!
Academic Success Videos: Strategic Learning

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Get a(n Extra) Life! - How Video Games Can Make You Live Longer

FINALLY - A justification for all the time I've put into Diablo 3!

Jane McGonigal, PhD and author of the book Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How they Can Change the World  (Penguin Press, 2011) is putting all preconceived notions about gaming aside as she seek to enlighten the world on the importance of video games in modern society.

One such example of this was presented in her June 2012 TED talk where she explains the importance of video games in the healing process. Using well backed research she has created a simple game called "SuperBetter" that can add (believe it or not) 10 years to your life!

The game seeks to improve 4 main areas of life: Physical resilience, Mental Resilience, Emotional Resilience, Social Resilience using micro quest such as "shaking hands" or "doing something active". By completing the quest you do not only gain point but also improve on the aspects that lead to a longer happier life!

And people say video games are a waste of time, HA!


To find out more check out the TED talk at : http://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_the_game_that_can_give_you_10_extra_years_of_life.html

Or her Website at: http://janemcgonigal.com/meet-me/