Academics & The Arts Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-07-2022

Environmental science is a field of study focused on Earth’s environment and the resources it provides to every living organism, including humans. Environmental scientists focus on studying the environment and everything in it and finding sustainable solutions to environmental issues. In particular, this means meeting the needs of human beings (and other organisms) today without damaging the environment, depleting resources, or compromising the earth’s ability to meet the resource needs of the future. A sustainable solution to an environmental problem must be ecologically sound, economically viable, and culturally acceptable. This Cheat Sheet summarizes some key aspects of what environmental scientists study.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-07-2022

Botany is the study of plants. Plants are very similar to people in a lot of ways, but they also have some differences that can be hard to wrap your brain around. And, like any science class, botany can get a little overwhelming at times. So, here are a few items to help you grasp some of the big ideas in botany.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-06-2022

Deciphering the law can be a tricky thing, but you're not alone! Legal help (some free of charge) and information for understanding the law with things like debt, fraud, and discrimination are available through a wide variety of legal groups and government agencies.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-06-2022

Pre-calculus uses the information you know from Algebra I and II and ratchets up the difficulty level to prepare you for calculus. This cheat sheet is designed to help you review key formulas and functions on the fly as you study. It includes formulas, the laws of logarithmic functions, trigonometric values of basic angles, conic section equations, and interval notation.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-05-2022

Taking a state real estate exam is necessary for becoming a licensed real estate agent. Every state requires real estate agents to have a license — and to take and pass a state examination to get that license. You need to cover a lot of ground in preparation for the test, but your efforts are well rewarded by a fun, exciting career.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-05-2022

The saxophone has influenced many styles of music. Saxophonists have left their indelible mark on music, whether it’s in the big bands of Count Basie and Duke Ellington, Bill Haley’s legendary rock ’n’ roll band, or the funk master James Brown. And in the bossa nova song “The Girl from Ipanema,” the breathy sax is the icing on the cake. This Cheat Sheet provides some basic information to help you start playing the saxophone: buying or leasing a sax, sax parts and their functions, practicing with your sax, and playing a new sax song.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-05-2022

When you take the GMAT, make sure you take the required items with you to the test. Use these guidelines to help you get through the math, critical reasoning, sentence correction, and reading comprehensions questions — as well as for writing your analytical essay and conquering integrated reasoning questions.

Article / Updated 04-05-2022

It can be very difficult to get down to studying if your mind wanders or you’re hungry or just plain bored. It’s easy to get distracted by email or Youtube. It can help your concentration if you build in small bribes and treats to break up your studying, provide goals and give you something to look forward to. A few examples of how to treat yourself You know yourself and what can motivate you, but the following list offers a few suggestions that might help you complete a task or work consistently (with coffee/tea or loo breaks included) for a couple of hours. Promise yourself the reward and make sure you deliver. A relaxing bath with scented bath oil, alternatively, do the washing up with lots of lovely suds and hot water to blow bubbles with as well, if you’re short of time. 45 minutes in the pub with friends, back in time to get to bed before 11.00 p.m. A really delicious oral indulgence – dark chocolate coated ginger, seaweed peanuts, chewy salami – taking time out to savour whatever you fancy. A quick spot of window-shopping nearby in the early evening, when it’s quiet, to look at that great dress, jacket or pair of shoes. Television break to catch the news for half an hour or watch a favourite soap. 30 minutes to listen to some favourite music – really listen, not as a background to revision. 15 minutes to knead dough with your hands, or rub butter and sugar into flour to make breadcrumbs for crumble. (These can be put in the fridge to bake the next day.) It’s very tactile and relaxing. Half an hour or so to read a chapter of a thriller or other non-revision reading. A foot or shoulder massage to your flatmate and get them to return the favour. Time to stroke the cat/dog that lives nearby, or any other furry, accessible creature. Ten minutes to stand in front of a window and practise deep breathing, especially on days when you won’t go out till later in the day. Listen to ‘A Book at Bedtime’ (on BBC Radio Four) in bed. Being read to conjures up feelings of warmth and security in many people. Make sure you get out every day, even for a short period of time, for a change of air and scenery. More things to consider Little bribes and treats should include some that appeal to several senses as these can help you relax as well. They will also work as markers or a framework on either side of the revision you are doing and help you remember it. You will also find that you can get more out of the time between treats than you could if you just carried on working, with no breaks or ‘bribes’. This is where you hit the rule of diminishing returns. You need to spend more time to learn less if you don’t build in breaks and little escapes after an hour or so of concentrated work.

Article / Updated 04-05-2022

Exams, especially those covering basic maths, can be stressful and frustrating, and not many people enjoy doing them. But jumping through the hoops of an exam doesn’t have to be hard. If you can reach a point where you feel prepared, have a good, solid plan, and know how to relax, exams should hold no fear for you. Know what you’re up against Practising on past papers is one of the most effective ways to prepare for an exam. Past papers give you a great idea of the kinds of questions that come up. Go through some exams from previous years – under your own self-imposed exam conditions if you want – and find out which bits you spend the most time on and where you can improve your understanding. Then focus on those areas for your next few study sessions before you try working on another past paper. Most exam boards let you download past papers from their websites, either free of charge or for a small fee. Some bookshops also sell books of past papers. Or try asking your college tutor if they have any papers you can practise on. Practise the hard parts Try practising slightly harder questions than those you expect to see in the exam, so when you sit the real thing you think ‘Wow, this is easy!’ Don’t beat yourself up over what you can’t do. Just see what you can figure out and applaud yourself for questions you answer correctly. Remember the basics Have you ever watched a football team train? Players spend hours practising short passes, turn-and-sprint, keep-ball and other routines that they’ve done since they could walk. The players haven’t forgotten how to run – they’re just practising what they spend most of their time in a match doing. Try warming up for your study sessions with something you find easy and will use over and over – perhaps some times tables or estimating exercises. Keep your hand in with the basics and you’ll find the more complicated topics easier. Use the final few minutes before your exam If you tend to forget simple things in exams, the crib sheet is your friend. On a piece of paper, write a few key points you need to remember. Then spend the last few minutes before your exam reading the crib sheet over and over again. You can’t take the crib sheet into the exam room, but you can make notes. So, as soon as the examiner tells you to start writing, write down as much of the crib sheet as you can remember. Don’t exhaust yourself In every exam hall, you’ll always see at least one all-nighter zombie – someone who looks like death warmed up and then put back in the fridge, with bags under their eyes and hair like something out of a Tim Burton movie. You can tell at a glance two things about this person: one, they’ve been up all night studying; and two, they won’t do well in the exam, even with their eyes propped open. Before your exam, have a good breakfast and drink enough fluids. Your brain runs on this stuff. Trying to think when you’re hungry, thirsty or tired is like driving on fumes with no oil in the engine and no air in the tyres. No good can come of it. Think positive Your brain can be a bully – but it’s a bully with no substance behind it. If you assert yourself and say ‘Oh yes I can!’ or ‘Get out of my way, brain!’, you can overcome the self-doubt and low confidence that plague most people at some point. Tell yourself ‘I’m smart, I’m capable, and I’m going to show me what I can do.’ You may be surprised how much better you do than when you listen to your inner bully. Have a ritual Having a starting ritual removes much of the worry and stress. You can create your own ritual by thinking about exactly what you’ll do when you sit down for the exam, and in what order. It doesn’t have to be complicated – something as simple as take a deep breath, imagine how great you’ll feel when you get your results, and then start reading the first question would work well. Manage your time The idea is not to spend too long on one question – if the answer doesn’t come out quickly, mark the question with a star and come back to it later. You have limited time in the exam, so spend that time picking up marks you can definitely get before you spend time on marks you may get eventually. Getting to the end of the exam and finding you’ve missed three easy questions because you were looking at one hard one is a calamity. You probably know the feeling of thinking really hard about something for ages, and then giving up, only for the answer to hit you halfway through your walk round the park later on. Leaving a question and coming back to it later can be a really efficient exam technique: as you work on the easier questions, your brain can still work on the harder questions in the background. Guess if you need to If time’s running out and you’ve got a minute to answer the last five multiple-choice questions, you don’t really have time to read the questions, let alone work out the answers. In this situation you have two possible approaches: Miss out the questions and get a guaranteed zero for those questions. Guess the answers and maybe pick up a few points. Maths tests usually aren’t negatively marked, so you don’t lose points for giving a wrong answer. If you guess when you don’t have time or are genuinely stuck, the worst that can happen is that you score no marks for that question.

Article / Updated 04-05-2022

Everything worth doing benefits from proper planning, and taking a test is no exception. The last chance a student has to influence the outcome of a test is the night before they take it. Here are ten must-dos to positively affect the outcome of a test. Eat a well-balanced meal It’s a proven fact that what you eat will have an effect on your physical and mental performance. Avoid coffee and doughnuts or pizza and soda the night before a test. Grilled fish with steamed vegetables on the side, mixed fruit for dessert, and caffeine-free beverages throughout would be perfect. Greasy, heavy food can make you lethargic the morning after consumption. No alcoholic beverages of any kind should be consumed. Get your stuff ready for the morning Make sure you have all the materials that you’re taking into the test ready. If a laptop or calculator is allowed, have it on the charger. Have more than one pencil or pen in hand. Pack a bottle of water and/or some candy for the nervous dry-mouth that can set in before an exam. Gather all your stuff together and have it ready to go the night before. Lay out your clothes Choose an outfit that is layered and lay it out before retiring. You won’t have any control over the temperature of the testing area, so be prepared to add or subtract layers so you can be comfortable during the exam. Go for comfort, not style. Review with a buddy Schedule a question-answer review of the testable material with a study buddy early in the evening to test your knowledge of the subject. Use it to identify the areas that need more effort. The review will also help you have confidence in your ability to do well on the test. Visualize a positive outcome Attitude affects test scores. Even with proper planning, too many people hurt their performance on a test because they just know that they're going to fail. Think positively and don’t embrace failure as an outcome. Don’t think that you might fail, know that you will succeed, and your performance will be the better for it. Make a morning pre-test plan List the things you need to do before the test. List everything that needs to happen and make sure there’s enough time to get it all done without creating stress. Don’t try to do too much; now is not the time to try to work in a load of laundry. Set the alarm No-brainer, huh? You’d be surprised how often this happens to well-intentioned people. Check your morning plan and get up early enough not to be rushed. Don’t rely on others to get you up. Exercise before retiring A little light stretching and exercise will help you fall asleep faster and sleep soundly through the night. It also works out the tension you may be carrying after a day of studying and test prep. If you go to bed tense, you may wake up with a backache or headache — definitely not appreciated on the day of a test. Get a good night’s sleep Don’t burn the midnight oil the night before a test. The extra effort put into late-night studying will be offset by reduced mental performance due to lost sleep. It won’t help, so don’t try it. Call it a night and go to bed; your morning will be better for it. Reward yourself Treat yourself right. Remember to schedule a little post-test celebration or other reward for all your hard work preparing for the test. Make it special. After all, you are worth it!