The Freshman Skills seminar was designed to help students in the transition from high school to the university. The goal of the course was to obtain a better grasp of the topic of study. Workshops on original sources, secondary literature, and the use of library and documentation facilities to get a greater understanding of academic writing were established. The course’s main premise was to introduce students to a number of skills, and I was able to learn valuable information in various areas as a result.
First of all, the importance of time management was highlighted numerous times. Through the course, it has become apparent that the ability to manage the time is one of the essential for a freshman. The most important finding was that writing helps students rationalize how they spend their time and keeps them organized. Keeping note of the everyday activities and how long they last, for instance, will be quite beneficial in the long term. Keeping track of the assignments is more beneficial than simply being aware of them. Another valuable lesson learned was not to get overwhelmed. Even though a college student has numerous interesting options, there are only 24 hours in a day. Registering for hundreds of classes while volunteering and looking for an internship on the side is not a good idea for a freshman (Anderson & Hooks, 2020). To become more time-sensitive, a proper student must master prioritization.
Besides the time management insides, the important piece of academic writing is based on the familiarization with citation styles. No matter in which field one is studying, getting acquainted with APA referencing is a crucial point. The APA style provides a foundation for good scholarly writing by assisting authors in communicating their ideas clearly, precisely, and comprehensively. Citing, for example, aids the author in avoiding plagiarism and the harsh implications that come with it (Onwuegbuzie & Combs, 2018). When an author exploits another person’s ideas, research, or findings without citing them correctly, he is taking credit for their work, which most educational institutions regard as fraud (Scribbr, 2021). When sources are mentioned consistently, and the piece is presented invariably, it improves the presentation and allows to focus on the content.
Besides the APA style writing, it was beneficial to get familiarized with the proper citation in the PowerPoint presentations. This topic is sometimes neglected, and most students do not realize that proper citation is required in PowerPoint presentations, not only in written assignments. A key takeaway from the PowerPoint presentations was that referencing sources improves a scientist’s work. A presentation without citations will be less responsive and helpful than one with relevant citations and connections. Lastly, creating a reference list and its proper organization brought important knowledge to me. A bibliography is a useful tool for communicating vital information to readers (Scribbr, 2021). For example, by giving detailed information on each source utilized, readers may locate and read those books if they like. At the same time, a well-organized bibliography verifies the content’s correctness.
Overall, the course provided a great amount of valuable knowledge and insides, but personally, the most important was the aforementioned points. The importance of proper APA writing style, citation, and referencing can not be overstated since a student in any discipline will have to write an academic assignment during their studies. Besides that, it will be impossible to accomplish without a proper understanding of time management and its importance.
References
Anderson, D. L., & Hooks, T. (2020). Academic reality check: A fast, free, practical tool for freshmen retention. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice, 15(2), 102-109.
Onwuegbuzie, A. J., & Combs, J. P. (2018). Writing with discipline: A call for avoiding APA style guide errors in manuscript preparation. School Leadership Review, 4(1), 6.
Scribbr. (2021). APA 7th Edition: Formatting the APA Reference Page [Video]. YouTube.