STUDY TIPS
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1. Control your study environment as much as possible:

• Make sure your desk and seating are comfortable and adjusted to the right height

• Make sure your computer monitor is at the correct height for viewing and that you have adequate wrist supports for keyboarding

• Make sure you have good lighting and that there is no reflection on the computer monitor

• Do not sit at the computer for longer than 30 minutes without getting up and moving around

• Keep distractions to the minimum possible (e.g. put phone on answering/if you have children ask spouse or other adult to keep them occupied while you study)

2. Watch Your Health:

• Do not get stressed - remember that the advantage of online courses is that you can pace them yourself to suit the rhythm of your working and family life - you can even put them aside for a crisis and resume them later.

• Get plenty of sleep - the brain does not function if you are sleep deprived

• Eat healthily - food can also make a difference to the quality of brain function

• Exercise - do not let your mental exercises replace your physical activity. In fact when you exercise you can let your mind get on with its work!

3. Discover and Develop your own learning style:

• Find your best study times (some people like to study in the early hours others are nightbirds!)

• Discover your study type and develop your strengths

• For more information on learning styles you can visit the following web sites:

  How to Identify your Best Learning Styles
  http://www.marin.cc.ca.us/~don/Study/13styles.html

  Learning Styles
  http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/lrnsty.html
  http://snow.utoronto.ca/Learn2/lstyle2.htm

  The Center for New Discoveries in Learning's Personal Learning Style Inventory
  http://www.howtolearn.com/personal.html

4. Enlist your family's/friends'/business colleagues' support:

• Studies show that students who have the support of their families tend to be more successful, so enlist their support

• Ask your spouse or partner to be understanding of your need for time and quiet to study

• If you have children, let them know you are studying and need to concentrate - children are often both helpful and amused by the fact that you are having to study when they are doing their homework and you make a good role model!

• Ask friends to be understanding, and be prepared to invite the rest of the family to events without you on occasion

• Let your colleagues at work know you are studying and might need their support - perhaps you can return similar favours to them later

• Find yourself a mentor (more information on this below)

5. Talk to others:

• If you are taking this course at work, you will have other staff to discuss the course with or you can use the course chat room

• If you are taking this course at home, you can use the course chat room

• CAUTION: Do not give personal details such as your home address or telephone in a chat room.

6. Visit the following web site for more information:

Study Skills Package
http://www.adm.uwaterloo.ca/infocs/