The Student Learning Commons is scouting out new talent for our Writing and Learning Peer and English as Additional Language Peer programs. 

Both positions will allow you to develop transferable skills in the areas of client service, interpersonal skills, giving effective feedback, and cross-cultural communication, and will give you access to a professional reference as well as a private study/social space in the library.

We hope you will join our team! Apply now through http://myinvolvement.sfu.ca

I'm sure I don't have to mention that it is exam time! In this blog post, Donya Samadi --  PhD student in Educational Psychology and former Graduate Facilitator with the SLC -- shares how the concept of self-explanation can be applied to studying. 

Self-explanation, Donya explains, may be beneficial because information previously learned is recalled and integrated with new information to generate a self-explanation. In this way, self-explanation is a connection and elaboration to prior knowledge. When engaged in self-explanations, learners can develop new meaningful associations, and further understand the content they are studying. 

Welcome back to the wonderful world of commas!

SLC Writing Coordinator Amanda Goldrick-Jones, PhD, helps us understand the "unwanted comma," or when NOT to use commas in our writing. 

Missed Part 1? Check it out here. 

Looking for an icebreaker for your next event? Interested in promoting self-reflection opportunities? Curious about the relationship between mistakes or failure and resiliency?

This is the toolkit for you! 

[Note: Excellent mistakes not included!]

Perhaps you are starting to gear up for term paper writing? If so, you might be wondering when you are REALLY supposed to be using commas...

SLC Writing Coordinator Amanda Goldrick-Jones, PhD, returns to help us understand that common piece of punctuation, the comma... and maybe, just maybe, how to save our relationships? 

Announcing the winners of the 2018 Student Learning Commons writing contest.

Congrats to these winners and thank you to everyone who entered!

Award-winning poet and SFU Communications student Natalie Lim guest blogs for In Common this week! 

Check out Natalie's top tips for how a creative writing practice can help strengthen your academic papers. As a bonus, Natalie offers some fun and helpful writing exercises to try out! 

Congrats to Natalie for winning the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize with her poem Arrhythmia.

The six word story initiative invites members of the SFU community to celebrate their "excellent mistakes." 

It's a New Year and it's time for a new installment of our Grammar Camp series! 

SLC Writing Coordinator Amanda Goldrick-Jones, PhD, is back with a glossary of useful grammar terms to help you with your writing... and with breaking the ice at your next party! 

Part-two of Eric Cai's top tips for excelling in university classes that require math and problem-solving. 

Want to know more about Eric? Read his In Common welcome interview here.