College Success Skills Guide - LSC-North Harris

Starting Point

1. Think about your topic and what are you trying to answer.  Terms? People? Organizations? Places? Objects?
2. List terms that best represent the main concepts of your topic.  
   • study skills
   • English grammar
   • test taking
   • text anxiety

Research Databases

Library Catalog

Books

Most books about college success, study skills, test taking, and grammar can be found on the third floor of the library.

• English grammar, vocabulary, and writing:  PE section of the shelves (especially PE 1128 and PE 1413)
• Dictionaries: PE 1591-2839 section of the shelves 
• Study skills, college success, time management, test-taking skills:  LB2300s and LB3000s

Web Sites

• CalREN Home Page from the University of California - Berkeley, includes listening tips, test taking (essay, objective, problem-solving) strategies, and study plans.
• Handouts, Worksheets and other Self Study Materials  from the University of Texas at Austin Learning Center, provides information on studying, stress, procrastination, writing, and reading.
• Learning Style Survey for College from Catherine Jester, Learning Disability Specialist at Diablo Valley College provides a self-scoring test to determine your learning style
• Learning Styles & Multiple Intelligence from the Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada) Invisible Disabilities Association, is a non-profit group that promotes understanding of learning and neurological disabilities.
• Six Hour D from Russell Dewey, Georgia Southern University Psychology Professor and developer of Psych Web Internet subject guide, briefly explains how self-testing can help students better recall information from a text to prevent intensive studying that provides few positive results.
• Study Habits and Test Anxiety from the Counseling Center, State University of New York at Buffalo provides practical tips for a proper study environment and how to cope with negative influences. Summary of Activities allows you to print a schedule to record how your time is spent. Evaluation of Time Use Summary provides tips on how to find problems with scheduling. Print a copy of the related Planned Weekly Schedule from the University of Minnesota - Duluth Student Handbook to improve your time management.
• Study Skills Self Help Information from Virginia Tech University Counseling Center, offers guidelines for note taking, procrastination, stress management, improving reading speed, time scheduling, and other helpful practices.
• Study Tips for Students - Your Key to Effective Studying
• Test Taking Strategies from the University of Minnesota - Duluth Student Handbook provides preparation tips before, during, and after the test to prevent the necessity for "cramming" the night before a test.
• UW Counselling Services - Study Skills from the University of Waterloo (Ontario, Canada) Counselling Services provides suggestions for improving listening, reading, concentrating, and remembering.

English as a Secnd Language (ESL & EFL)

• See also Lone Star College-North Harris ESL & International Students help page.
• ESL Idiom Page from Dave Sperling (developer of Dave's ESL Cafe) who teaches ESL at California State University, Northridge features an alphabetical list of common sayings and their definitions. Also check out the Dave's ESL Quiz Center where you can practice your knowledge of grammar, slang, history, and science.
• ESL Study Hall from Christine Meloni, Associate Professor of EFL at The George Washington University includes links to web pages on reading, writing, vocabulary, and grammar.
• HyperGrammar - Features specifics about grammar rules from the Writing Centre at the University of Ottawa.
• Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab from Randall Davis (M.A.,Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL), Brigham Young University), provides practice sound files to become familiar with the English language (NOTE: You may need to download additional software as directed. Check with campus lab personnel to see what software is currently available on college workstations.)
• Resources for English Language and Culture from the Ohio University (OU) Computer Assisted Language Learning Lab presents an excellent survey of links and OU resources on reading, current events, speaking, living in the U.S., and study skills.
• Selected Links for ESL Students from the Internet TESL Journal based at the Aichi Institute of Technology in Japan provides links to games, vocabulary, news, reading, and grammar.

Writing Help

• Common types of Writing Assignments from the The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center features basic writing issues such as a thesis statement, quoting, and paraphrasing plus writing reviews and scientific reports.
• Avoiding Plagiarism by Sharon Williams, Associate Director of the Hamilton College Writing Center employs examples when showing how to give credit to information sources used in an assignment. Also review The Lone Star College System Academic Integrity.
• Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr., late English professor of Cornell University (sponsored by Bartleby.com electronic text publisher) is a classic writing guide including rules of composition and usage, plus commonly misused and misspelled words.
• Grammar and Style from the The University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center includes information on "twelve common errors," parts of speech, transitions, and sentence structure.
• Guide to Writing and Grammar from Charles Darling Professor of English at Capital Community-Technical College in Hartford (CT) offers a comprehensive review of sentence, paragraph, and essay structure with interactive quizzes.
• OWL Handouts : Complete Index by Topic from Purdue University's Online Writing Lab features numerous guides on such topics as grammar, research paper writing, punctuation, non-sexist language, proofreading, and writer's block.
• Paragraphs and Topic Sentences from Writing Tutorial Services at the Indiana University, Bloomington highlights how to best construct a proper paragraph.
• Speakers Anxiety from the University of South Florida College of Education highlights ideas for organizing and preparing an oral presentation.
• UVic Writer's Guide: The Table of Contents from the University of Victoria (Canada) includes numerous guides on essays, paragraph organization, literary terms, and a most helpful guide to revision comments (e.g., CS=comma splice). See also, the Writer's Guide Index for more detailed topics covered.
• Writer's Web from the University of Richmond (VA) Writing Center discusses such topics as idea sources, punctuation, sentence structure, first drafts, and editing.
• Writing Argumentative Essays from Jennifer Jordan-Henley, a Roane State Community College professor, features a look at constructing a pro/con paper.
• Writing Book Reviews from Writing Tutorial Services at the Indiana University, Bloomington covers the mechanics behind an informative evaluation of a book.

• Thinking Critically. From Study Guides and Strategies. 
• Sumner's Definition of Critical Thinking  from the Foundation for Critical Thinking.  

• How We Remember from Student Academic Services - Study Skills Library at California Polytechnic State University.
• Improving Your Memory (PDF) from Maricopa College.

• Reading Methods - SQ3R from the Academic Resource Center - Sweet Briar College.
• Reading Difficult Material from Study Guides and Strategies.
• Reading Your Textbooks Effectively and Efficiently from Dartmouth University Academic Skills Center.
• The SQ3R Method from the University of Arizona
• The SQ3R Reading Method from Study Guides and Strategies.

• Preparing For and Taking Tests from the San Francisco State University.
• Test Taking from Study Guides and Strategies.
• Test Taking Strategies from the University of Minnesota - Duluth Student Handbook.

• Dealing with New Words from the University of Toronto.
• Building a College Level Vocabulary from the University of Alabama.
• Vocabulary.com offers puzzles and games which expand your vocabulary.

Citation Help

1. Keep track of all of the information and sources you used during your research.
2. Ask your professor about the required citation style.
3. Consult Citation Help Guide from LSC-North Harris Library to help you construct your citations.

Each citation should answer the questions:

• Who wrote the material you are using?
• What did the author(s) entitle the piece he/she/they wrote?
• Where and when was it published (for a book, what city; for an article, which periodical)?
• If it's an article or a chapter, what pages is your source on?

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