Workshops Keep Students On The Pathway To Academic Success

Alsace Rodgers-Toure, a program coordinator for Educational Services, can certainly empathize with the students who come to her for help. After all, she knows the demands that students face. She herself is a student on the graduate level – a doctoral student in educational foundations.

Rodgers-Toure leads the Learning Assistance Center for the Office of Educational Services, showing students how they can succeed at the University of Cincinnati.

Beginning this fall, the office is launching a new series of learning assistance workshops under Rodgers-Toure’s direction. The free workshops, offered through spring quarter, present helpful pointers on everything from test-taking strategies to setting goals, building concentration and memory skills, taking notes that are actually helpful, and learning about a reading/study system that can build understanding of textbook materials.

“The number-one problem that I see affecting students is time management,” she says. “It can be a challenge for everyone from first-year students to seniors.” One of the learning assistance center workshops shows students how they can actually program more time into their schedules, after they complete a survey that analyzes their class, work and social calendars.

“I’d say the second most-common problem that students face is anxiety and stress,” says Rodgers-Toure. The workshop, "Stress Management 101" holds some relaxation techniques for students.

All workshops are free and will be held in the multipurpose room of University Pavilion. For more details on workshops and registration forms, students can find information on the Educational Services Web site.

The UC Learning Assistance Center also provides daily study skills advising and tutoring services for students. An assessment tool called the Learning and Study Strategies Inventory, or LASSI, takes only 15 minutes of a student’s time, yet can find strengths and weaknesses that affect learning. By measuring 10 key areas – attitude, motivation, time management, anxiety, concentration, information processing, selectivity, study aids, self-testing and test strategies, students can find where they need to improve their academic skills.

For more information on the resources of the Learning Assistance Center, students can stop by the center at Suite 120, University Pavilion, or contact the office at 513-556-3244.