Learning support when and how you want it! Check out our video content -- including both quick tips and full workshop and panel recordings -- to support you as you study.
Presentation skills
Giving Effective Online Presentations: Part 1
This 13 minute video is the first of two videos on giving effective online presentations. Here you will learn how to prepare your presentation, including creating content and visuals.
Giving Effective Online Presentations: Part 2
This 15 minute video is the second of two videos on giving effective online presentations. Here you will learn how to effectively give your presentation, including overcoming anxiety and building confidence.
Ted-Talk Inspired Presentations
This 15 minute recorded presentation covers considerations related to audience, message, the presenter, and "tech bits." It was created using Prezi by SLC Graduate Writing Facilitator, Dr. Poh Tan.
Self-management
Don't Panic! Be Proactive
Many of us say we "work best under pressure." But last-minute work impacts the completeness and quality of your work, the level of your stress, and your likelihood of engaging in intentional or unintentional academic dishonesty. This 60 minute recorded workshop is designed to help you start being proactive instead. Learn strategies to help you start projects early, allot sufficient time to study for exams, and give yourself time for critical and creative thinking.
Handling Procrastination in Online Courses
Procrastination is something that most students do. Today our learning environments are online, with stress, isolation and a lack of structure common. We are all struggling to stay productive! Join us in breaking the isolation and talking about how to manage procrastination even under the most adverse circumstances. This 36 minute recorded workshop will help you understand the cycle of procrastination, what procrastination is, and isn't and then offer you strategies on how you can get moving and productive again.
Resources referenced in the video
The links referenced in the webinar cannot be clicked, but are listed below for your further learning:
- Procrastination:
- Health and self-care:
- SFU resources:
- Study skills, time management, goals:
- Pomodoro Technique by Thomas Frank (student)…
- Study with Me (video from Beedie)
- Achieve More By Setting Smart Goals (video)
Managing Procrastination
Procrastination is something that most students do, and the trick is to keep the extent of it manageable. This 47 minute recorded workshop will help you understand the cycle of procrastination, what procrastination is and isn't, and then offer you strategies to get moving and productive.
Sleep as a success strategy
Why Sleep?
(Somnolence+ For SFU)
Why do you need sleep? How does it affect your health and academic success?
Sleep and the Night Owl
(Somnolence+ for SFU)
Are you a night owl? Does it seem like your sleep is out of step with the world around you? Here are some tips to help you manage as a student.
Study strategies: Quick start
The Curve of Forgetting
Ever wondered why you can't remember material from previous classes and notes? Watch this short (2:20) Student Learning Commons video to find out why regular review is SO important, and how you can improve your memory, and your grades.
Exam Preparation: Five Key Strategies
By approaching studying with a plan, you can study more efficiently and effectively. In this video, we’ll cover five key strategies for exam preparation.
Preparing an Exam Prep Inventory
Preparing an exam prep inventory will help you to plan your study time and ensure that you are covering all of the important topics as you prepare for an exam.
Study strategies: Deeper dive
Critical Reading and Thinking
When students develop their individual capacity for critical thinking and reading, they are less likely to feel the pressure to engage in cheating or academic dishonesty. Professors and TAs often talk about the need to think critically but few actually explain what critical thinking is or how to do it. In this 45 minute recorded webinar, we will define critical thinking and how you can train yourself to ask meaningful and relevant questions that promote critical thinking when you're reading.
Excelling in Quantitative Exams
Do you have an upcoming MATH, PHYS, CHEM, or other quantitative problem-solving exam? Learn essential strategies to tackle unexpected problems, boost your exam writing skills, and manage your nerves.
Getting the Most from your Lectures
This 4-part screencast will help you maximize the effectiveness of attending your university lectures.
Part 1: Types of Classes and Attendance (5:25) - Lectures are a relatively low effort way of keeping up with classes. Yet many students question their usefulness and even stop attending. Part 1 focuses on why lecture attendance is more important than some students might think.
Part 2: Before the Lecture (6:19) - Focuses on what you can do in advance to help you grasp as much as you can during the lecture.
Part 3: During the Lecture (8:57) - Focuses on strategies to help you fully engage with, and record, the material.
Part 4: After the Lecture (11:11) Focuses on making sure that you retain and can apply the material learned in lecture.
How I Raised My GPA: Student Panel Discussion recorded live
In this excellent panel discussion (80 minutes), 3 students (FASS, FAS, Education) share their stories of how they overcame GPAs that were lower than they would have liked, in two cases going from a D CGPA to several consecutive term GPAs in the A range. Major themes included changing areas of study, self-care, seeking help, and time management.
Improve Your Reading Effectiveness
Do you feel that you are not getting enough benefit from the time you invest in your readings? This 73 minute recorded workshop will cover how to effectively learn from various types of readings (textbook, journal article, online source) with a variety of academic purposes in mind (test prep, paper writing, discussion).
Note-Taking from Reading and Lectures
Many students experience challenges with note-taking such as keeping up with their lectures and selecting main ideas to write down from their readings. Effective note-taking serves many purposes, is a skill that can be learned, and is built through practice. Watch this 47 minute recorded webinar to level up your note-taking when reading and in lectures.
Reading for Writing, Presentations, and Discussions
To prepare for a paper, presentation or class discussion, you need to strike a good balance between using your sources with academic integrity, and expressing your own perspective based on those sources. Reading strategies, therefore, need to be very different than when you are reading to prepare for a test. Watch this 27 minute recorded workshop to learn how to read effectively with this purpose in mind.
Resources referenced in the video
The webinar references several URLs. These links are not active in the webinar, but are listed below for your further exploration:
- SFU’s Academic Integrity Office
- The Ultimate Cheatsheet for Critical Thinking (Wabisabi)
- SLC Reading Guide (SFU)
- Critically Analyzing Information (Cornell University)
- How to Read Your Textbooks More Efficiently (YouTube, College Info Geek video)
- SQ4R
- SLC Reading for Specific Courses (SFU)
Study Strategies that Work!
Do you want to optimize the time you devote to studying? Watch this 45 minute webinar to learn which study strategies are most strongly supported by research and how to maximize your time and focus while studying.
Successful and Ethical Exam Writing
What kind of exams do you have this term? Open book or closed book? This 6-part recorded workshop series provides evidence-based exam preparation strategies that will help you succeed on any test this term decides to throw at you.
Part 1: General Preparation Strategies (15:21)
Part 2: Preparing for Quantitative Exams (8:46)
Part 3: In the Exam Room (11:04)
Part 4: Writing Multiple Choice Exams (7:10)
Part 5: Writing Essay and Short Answer Exams (5:29)
Part 6: Writing Open Book and Take-Home Exams (8:14)
Time management: Quick start
Creating Your Weekly Schedule
Creating a template for a typical week in the current semester is a useful time management strategy for students. This Student Learning Commons video (4:54) will walk you through a process that shows you how to easily identify specific blocks of study time that fit with your other time commitments.
Semester-at-a-Glance Wall Calendar
Have you ever missed an assignment due date, or the date of a quiz? Watch this short (2:13) Student Learning Commons video to learn how to use a "Semester-at-a-glance" wall calendar to help you get the 'big picture' of the semester, and help you ensure you never again miss an assignment due date, or the date of a quiz.
Where Does Your Time Go?
Do you never seem to have enough time to study? Or find that you spend all day Sunday doing homework? Whether you are new to studying at university, or are just looking for tips to improve your study effectiveness, this short Student Learning Commons video (2:20) will give help you determine where all your time is going, so that you can take better control of the time that you have each week.
Time management: Deeper dive
Finding Time to Study
Does it seem that you can never find enough time to study? Or despite your best intentions, something always distracts you from studying? Watch this 47 minute recorded workshop to build skills to help you live by your priorities, and discover tools to help you focus on the task at hand.
Time Management for Busy Students
Are you juggling work, school and other responsibilities? This 36 minute recorded workshop is designed to help you build skills that will help you live by your priorities. it will be a good investment of your precious time!
Resources referenced in the video
You will be asked to pause the recording, and complete the worksheet or watch the accompanying video:
'Where Does Your Time Go?' worksheet
Time Management in Six Steps
In 65 minute session recorded in the context of remote learning and the COVID pandemic, you will learn more about the six steps to effective time management: Reflect, Prioritize, Plan ahead with systems, Manage large projects, (Mostly) Stick to your plans, and Sleep.
Types of courses & assignments
How I Succeeded in Online Courses
Six successful students from various disciplines talk about how they succeeded in their remote or Distance Education courses. In this 64 minute recording, some common themes are time management and establishing a routine. One student shared information about several productivity-related apps.
Watch the video
How to Succeed in Quantitative Courses
Are university-level quantitative courses harder than you thought? Watch this 56 minute recorded workshop, developed by a college math instructor, to learn how to gain the deep understanding needed to solve even the trickiest exam problem.
Working Effectively in Online Groups
Do you dread group projects? Watch this 32 minute recorded workshop to learn how to create a positive team experience remotely by planning ahead, leveraging the strengths of each group member, setting ground rules, and learning how to deal productively with conflict.
Resources for graduate students
Even a Graduate Student Needs Sleep
(Somnolence+ for SFU)
Sleep and being a grad student do not always seem to be compatible, especially during those overwhelmingly busy days! Yet, sleep is absolutely essential. Tips and recommendations on better sleep can be found right here.
Time Management for Graduate Students
Most grad students are busy people, with many competing priorities. This 84 minute recorded workshop will take you through some prioritization exercises and discuss scheduling, how to manage your thesis or other large project, and how to deal with perfectionism and procrastination, all in the context of the new work from home reality.
If you want to share these videos and are having trouble, please contact us at learning-commons@sfu.ca. We will be happy to share the URLs with you.
Co-curricular credits
Most Student Learning Commons workshops, including workshop recordings viewed online, are eligible for inclusion on your Co-Curricular Record.
To receive Co-Curricular credits, fill out the SLC's CCR Reflection Form.
Students cannot receive Co-Curricular (CCR) credits for a workshop if the workshop is already being used to receive academic credit in a course (ex. for bonus or participation marks).
