Introduction
In the academic setup, creating a sustainable environment and conducive atmosphere for oneself right from the start is a crucial and vital task for the student. A Student Survival Guide helps any student maintain not only the academic course performance but also helps in struggling with the onslaught of the day-to-day challenges of academic life which includes competition, time management, and developing other personal and interpersonal skills.
Main body
The first step in creating this survival guide would outline the basic, necessary actions that need to be taken during the course of the academic year. The first and most vital step in this process would be to see how to go about conducting successful library and internet searches. In today’s world of electronic access to information, it is often wondered if libraries are necessary at all. But despite the broad range of information available on the internet, libraries are often thought to be losing their importance. However, well-designed libraries serve a purpose that is much higher than most people imagine. They make technology available to the general population who cannot afford to have it at home. This universal access is often better because accompanied by librarians on site who can guide users through a maze of unknown sources (McNulty, 1999). The best way would be to get completely familiarized with the local or nearest university libraries before the term starts taking a harrowing pace. It is also helpful to stay in touch with an online resource for example JSTOR, ERIC, or any other journals’ database online. In the online university library, as in the case of the local libraries, it is best to acquaint oneself with the setup before the workload increases.
Once the resource problem is dealt with, having clarity for judgment in evaluating the sources at hand is of great importance. Academic honesty is not just about submitting work on time or fulfilling the outlines. It is also about having the aforementioned clarity of judgment which not only enables the student to realize the potentials of the sources, the context from which the material is provided, but also enhances his understanding of the world of mass media and information. The writing of the assignments, reports, and other papers require this sense of honesty and clarity that discourages intellectual theft, which maintains Axia’s academic honesty policy. Citation skills can be easily developed with resources given online and in libraries. With practice and effort, all forms of intellectual theft and lack of integrity in academia can be avoided.
In a distance-learning environment, there is a larger margin for lacking ineffective study skills, therefore a study guide helps students maintain a good pace in studies as well as maintain academic honesty. Students during the 70s and 80s had to rely on books, encyclopedias, newspapers, magazines, and pamphlets to gather research material. Today a student has full access to the internet where some cut and paste research information from a magazine article found in a library online database. Others rework a paper from a paper mill. Some provide a credit card, a parameter, and receive a completed paper ready to be downloaded; printed, and turned in (Foss and Lathrop, 2005). The best way to avoid it would be to remain true to the concept of learning itself. If a student is more obsessed with the idea of getting a good grade or is not willing to make an effort, in that case, the entire purpose of learning is defeated.
The Survey, Question, Read, Recite and Review study habits will help in memorizing the day-to-day lectures and notes for the student. Other than these reading and reviewing techniques it is also very important to maintain a proper eat, sleep and exercise schedule. In order to avoid bodily lethargy, the maxim of all-work and no-play does not apply, however, it is extremely necessary to maintain a balance and identify goals and targets that would help in order to keep up with the pace of the academics.
As long as time management is effective for a student, the targets and courses can move well with each other. Each course has its specific demands and requirements which also come along with work and family responsibilities. Such responsibilities can be managed if a timetable can be maintained. It does not have to be rigid or carved in stone – but if one has a loose or semi-structured outline that fulfills all areas and needs of life, it may become easier for the student to keep up with all the responsibilities.
Conclusion
If by the end of the term, one is able to achieve the goals that were set out at the beginning of the academic year, the level of success has a great chance of being higher not in the short term but in the long term as well. The purpose to attend Axia is to get a strong background on the given course with a well-developed strategic body of knowledge and thought. If these goals are fulfilled the time spent at Axia will not only help in the short-term goal of being awarded a laudable degree with a laudable grade – it will help in the professional and practical life that awaits each student as they make into a competitive, harsh, uncompromising world that requires all the skills and goals that one has learned to establish at Axia.
Bibliography
McNulty, T. (1999). Accessible libraries on campus a practical guide for the creation of disability-friendly libraries. Chicago: Association of College and Research Libraries.
Lathrop, Ann, and Kathleen Foss. Guiding Students from Cheating and Plagiarism to Honesty and Integrity Strategies for Change. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2005.