College Planning for Adults

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It’s great if you have the motivation to go to college but often, motivation isn’t enough. College is very different from high school and college is very different from Adult Education Programs.

In order to do well in college you need to arm yourself with the proper tools that will help you complete each course successfully.

Learning Styles

How do you learn best? Do you learn better if you read the information or if you hear the information? Do you prefer to look at pictures to learn something or do would you rather read or hear about it?

People take in information in different ways. If you know your learning style you’ll know what to do in each of your classes to help you remember the information that’s being provided to you.

The following websites will ask you a series of questions. The way you answer the questions will help determine if you are a:

  • visual learner – learn by seeing,
  • auditory learner – learn by hearing, or
  • kinesthetic learner – learn by doing.

Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire
http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html

What’s your learning style?
 http://www.ldpride.net/learning_style.html

Why should you become familiar with your learning style?
 Each professor has his or her own teaching style and it may not fit with your learning style. If you know your learning style, then you also know your options.

For example, if you are a visual learner but you’re taking a class with a professor who only lectures, you can:

  • talk to the professor about your learning style and request more visuals such as graphs and charts,
  • you can ask your professor to tape the lectures and then get help from a tutor,
  • you can find a buddy in the class to help you or
  • you can get help from a tutor who can present the information to you in a different way.

Study Skills

There is more to studying than opening up a textbook to the assigned chapter, reading it, and rereading it.

Study skills are made up of reading skills, note-taking skills, stress and time management skills, test-taking skills, active listening skills as well as a host of other skills.

The following websites will arm you with various study skills to help improve your performance in your college courses.

How to Study
http://www.how-to-study.com/

Study Skills Self Information
 http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/stdyhlp.html

Study Skills Resources
 http://www.westshore.edu/webs
/ltc/study_skills_resources.htm

Study Guides & Strategies
 http://www.studygs.net/

Brains are not enough: A guide to effective study skills
 http://www.harvardwestlake.com/
students/studyskills/index.html

Test Taking Strategies

Taking a test can be nerve-wrecking but there is no need to completely stress out. The following links can provide you with tips on how to study for and how to take tests.

Test Taking Tips
http://www.testtakingtips.com/test/genpre.htm

University of Minnesota at Deluth/Test Taking Strategies
 http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/test_take.html

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill/Test Taking Strategies
 http://php.unc.edu/ovcsa/caps/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=0

 
 Stress Management

Taking two classes, working part or full time and taking care of your family is a recipe for creating stress. The following websites will help you identify stressors in your life and offer advice on how to cope with stress.

Managing Stress
 http://www.uhs.uga.edu/stress

Stress Management Techniques from Mind Tools
 http://www.mindtools.com/smpage.html


Time Management

In order to successfully complete each semester, time management skills are key. It is important to figure how you spend your time each day and how to balance your time between your school work and your life.

Time Management: 168 Hour Exercise
 http://studytips.aac.ohiou.edu/?
Function=TimeMgt&Type=168hour

Virginia Tech’s Time Management Quiz
 http://www.ucc.vt.edu/lynch/TMQuiz.htm

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