Sessions provide students
with study tactics
By Rachael Conley
Assistant
Campus Editor
With this year's season of workshops sponsored
by the Liberal Arts
Learning Center finishing up, essay exams and finals
week are coming into focus.
The learning center has been hosting the workshops
for more than 15 years, and the director of the learning center said
the workshops provide the students with a relaxed environment in which
to learn helpful tactics for their classes.
"We want to spotlight some of the strategies that
we teach in the learning center both on a walk-in basis and in our classes,"
said Kathy Thayer, director of the learning center and the founder of
the workshops. "It makes a really informal, non-threatening way to get
the information."
The workshops are held from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. on
Wednesdays in the Stewart Center.
"They're free, they're open to anyone and they're
really meant to be informative," said Maggie Selo, an instructor in
the Liberal Arts Learning Center. "Stewart Center is far removed from
the normal classroom buildings, so people don't feel like 'Oh, I'm going
into the engineering building' or something."
Selo has taught a few of the sessions throughout
the years. She usually runs the workshop on overcoming anxiety in math
and science.
For these sessions, Selo said she usually gets
a more specific group of students than the other workshops, which attract
people from all over campus.
"We get turnouts from seven or eight students to
20 or 30," she said. The number of participants depends on the time
of year and the weather, Selo said.
Selo said her favorite part of teaching the workshops
is the interaction with students.
She said she also enjoys "being able to give them
some very specific ideas and things they have not seen on their own
— seeing that kind of 'ah-ha' in their eyes."
The workshops are similar to classes but with a
different spin on the organization.
"It's not just simply a lecture; they can exchange
ideas with other students along with getting ideas with Kathy and me,"
said Selo. "It's much more interesting for everyone when it is an interactive
type of thing."
Thayer said the workshops usually start out with
a focus on concentration and time management.
"Usually if you're good at managing your time,
a lot of other things fall into place for you," said Thayer.
Thayer said she had a reason for starting the workshops
so many years ago and continuing them each year.
"I think there was a need to kind of reach out
to the students, to let them know that we're here and to do it in an
informal, non-threatening environment," she said.
The next workshop will be from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
on Wednesday in the Stewart Center. For more information, call the learning
center at 494-5569. The workshops have all been videotaped and are available
at the center, Liberal Arts and Education Building, Room 3268.
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