Strategies by Hamid Yakub

Congratulations on your acceptance to Seneca College! Throughout your educational experience at Seneca College, you will be required to participate in a variety of learning exercise. You will be evaluated on your ability to present what you have learned. On this page you will find some useful information that will help you to be successful in your future endeavours. 

Homework: in order to provide further examples of their teachings, instructor will assign homework. The idea of homework is so that students can understand their strengths and weaknesses as they progress through the subject. As questions arise, make sure you ask you instructor for help. To complete homework timely and effectively:

• -          Use and agenda to document and organise your workflow
• -          Create a visual timeline to plan when homework should be completed.
• -          Understand your learning style (visual, note taking, reading, etc...)
• -          Bring questions to class to share with the instructor and students

Studying: In preparing for exams, you will usually need to spend a great deal of time studying. By studying for quizzes, tests, and exams you will be able to better prepare yourself; conditioning yourself to remember certain objectives. Every student has a different learning style; however it is always important to remember the following:

• -          Thoroughly read textbook information and take notes to summarize information
• -          Be resourceful, use the external resources to better your understanding (internet, books, text articles)
• -          Don’t spend too much or too little time in preparation
• -          Create/take part in study group
• -          Take breaks between studying to avoid overloading yourself (this will allow you to be more productive)
• -          Keep yourself hydrated during studying and exams
• -          Keep everything you need close by to avoid interruptions
• -          Avoid distractions and keep them away from your study area

Projects: As a part of your learning experience at Seneca College, you will be evaluated through various projects. Projects are designed to challenge you as a student, and require you to accomplish task in order to display your understanding of learning objectives.  Projects can be configured for individual or groups of two or more students. Primarily, In order to be successful in working in groups, it is important to have good organization and time management skills. Many projects have specific due dates. Marks can be deducted for late assignments. Additionally, if you’re working in groups, it is important to have good teamwork and communication skills. When working in groups, it is also helpful to remember these other steps to overcome problems which may arise:

• -          Create an agenda
• -          Assign tasks
• -          Attend meetings accordingly
• -          Brainstorm Ideas
• -          Ask questions
• -          Evaluate your performance

Presentations: After most projects, a secondary component of evaluation is presentations. Once again presentations can be done as individuals or in groups. This is when you communications and speaking skills will be challenged. Remember the following:

• -          Prepare yourself and group members ahead of time
• -          Practice in front of a mirror
• -          Use point form notes to remind yourself and avoid awkward pauses
• -          Time yourself according to guidelines
• -          Give frequent eye contact

Essays: Regardless of you major at Seneca College, many programs begin with an English reading/writing subject. The reason for this is to provide Seneca students with affective oral and written communication skills. In these courses, students will learn and demonstrate different writing techniques. Aside from reading and writing, students will learn how to be resourceful and use the library for researching information. It is important to never plagiarise your work.  To make sure you achieve a grade which reflects your hard work, it is important to remember these tips:

• -          Understand what is expected from your instructor
• -          Use a liberal amount of time to conduct your research
• -          Evaluate your articles
• -          Pay attention to grammar and punctuation
• -          Use a dictionary and thesaurus to expand you vocabulary
• -          Proof read and let a peer edit your work
• -          Always site your sources