Seeking specific insights on learning, education, or all things Penn State? Dive into our blog with the search below!

James TIerney James TIerney

Understanding Grade Forgiveness at Penn State: A Guide for Students and Parents

Navigating the academic landscape can be challenging, especially when it comes to understanding policies that can impact your GPA and academic standing. Penn State has introduced a grade forgiveness policy that offers a helping hand to undergraduate students striving to improve their grades and, ultimately, their GPA. Here’s a simplified breakdown of what you need to know about this policy.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Navigating the Academic Odyssey: Preparing for the Next Semester

As one semester concludes, the anticipation for the next one begins. This blog aims to guide students in effective preparation, helping them harness essential skills and resources for a successful academic journey. Alongside strategies for note-taking, course selection, and technology utilization, consider the invaluable support that academic tutoring can offer as you embark on the upcoming semester.

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James TIerney James TIerney

The Importance of Self-Study as a Complement to Peer and Professional Tutoring

Self-study is the cornerstone of learning. It's where you explore new concepts at your own pace, develop critical thinking skills, and build a personal connection with the material. When students engage actively with the subject matter, they're better equipped to ask insightful questions and grasp the nuances of the topic.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Setting Achievable Goals: The SMART Way to Academic Success

Goal-setting isn't just a January ritual; it's a year-round endeavor crucial for academic success. However, the art of effective goal-setting is often misunderstood, leading students down a path of frustration and self-doubt. The right goals can be a roadmap to success, while the wrong ones can be a recipe for failure. In this article, we'll dive deep into the SMART framework, a proven methodology for setting achievable goals.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Understanding the Significance of Cost Tables in Economics

In the dynamic world of economics, understanding the intricacies of production costs is paramount for businesses to make informed decisions and stay competitive. Among the powerful tools used to analyze these costs, cost tables stand out as an essential and versatile method. In this blog post, we will explore the importance of cost tables in economics, define the variables involved, and provide a detailed explanation of their significance. Additionally, we have an informative video below that will walk you through the process of solving cost tables step-by-step.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Emailing Your Professor: Essential Tips for College Students

Are you struggling to communicate effectively with your professors via email? If so, you're not alone. In today's workplace, digital communication skills are essential, but many students overlook the importance of honing these skills in college. As a professor who receives countless emails from students every year, I understand the challenges of communicating professionally and respectfully via email. This post is intended to provide you with some practical tips to help you improve your email communication skills and make the most of your college career.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Mastering Metacognition: Using Exam Wrappers to Become a Better Learner

Exam wrappers are a powerful tool that can help students improve their learning and performance in exams. By reflecting on their exam-taking strategies and identifying areas of strength and weakness, students can gain valuable insights that enable them to make more effective study plans, address knowledge gaps, and approach future exams with greater confidence. In this blog post, we explore the benefits of exam wrappers and provide practical tips on how to use them effectively. Whether you're a student, teacher, or lifelong learner, exam wrappers offer a simple yet powerful way to enhance your exam preparation and achieve your academic goals.

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James TIerney James TIerney

What is Backward Course Design?

Backward course design, also known as backward design, is an approach to creating educational curriculum that begins with identifying the desired outcomes and then working backwards to create learning activities and assessments that align with those outcomes. This approach, first introduced by Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe in their book "Understanding by Design", is considered to be more effective than traditional course design, which often starts with the selection of content and then tries to fit assessments and activities around it.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Planning for College and Preparing for College Admission Testing

At one point, the differences between the ACT and SAT accentuated their rivalry.  But both have been redesigned recently so that now, they are more like comparable alternatives in friendly competition. Both are still the major college admissions tests and criteria for national merit scholarships; both still test what students learn in high school. But here the differences begin and with those differences, the likely reason why which test to take became--and still is—a question for so many students. 

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James TIerney James TIerney

Retrieval Practice is the Key to Acing your Exams

Now that New Year's celebrations have ended and the new semester is in full swing, it's time to maximize your study habits to ace your exams. But how? Perhaps by now, you've heard different ways to study effectively, such as studying right before sleeping, spraying peppermint oil on your clothes, using multi-colored pens— the list goes on. What if the solution to your study needs is much simpler than cramming in as much information as possible before bedtime?

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James TIerney James TIerney

5 Apps to Help You Start Strong This Semester

Ah, the beginning of the semester… a time for new friends, new teachers, and new beginnings. For some, this period is like a refreshing blank slate; for others, it’s a time of much stress and responsibility. Fortunately, whether you’re looking forward to the new semester or already wishing for it to be over, there are apps available that will give you a leg-up. Listed below are 5 apps that will help you start strong this semester:

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James TIerney James TIerney

How to Create a Gmail Account

Are you ready to join the millions of people using Gmail as their primary email provider? Creating a Gmail account is quick and easy, and best of all, it's completely free.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to set up your own Gmail account:

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James TIerney James TIerney

A Welcome Email to College Students from a Professor

As an educational consultant, one common concern I encounter when working with educators is how to best prepare for the start of a new semester. To assist my clients, I often share resources that have proved helpful in the past, such as the pre-semester checklist I used when I was a faculty member at Penn State. If you'd like to receive a free download of this checklist and other valuable educational resources, be sure to sign up for my monthly newsletter. One important item on the checklist is to send a welcoming email to your students. Below is a sample email that I used, which you are welcome to use as a template.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Pros and Cons of Using Calendly to Schedule Office Hours

Holding office hours can be a crucial part of being an educator or mentor, as it allows you to be available to your students or mentees for additional support and guidance. Scheduling these meetings can be a challenge, especially if you have a busy schedule or if you work with people in different time zones. This is more common for those who teach online. That's where a scheduling app like Calendly comes in handy.

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James TIerney James TIerney

7 Must-Have Items for a Successful Semester

Starting a new semester can be overwhelming, especially if you're not prepared. One way to set yourself up for success is to make sure you're organized from the get-go. When you're organized, you'll be able to find what you need quickly and easily, which will save you time and stress. Plus, being organized can help you stay on top of your assignments and deadlines, so you can focus on learning and succeeding in your classes.

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James TIerney James TIerney

Why Self-care Isn’t Selfish

Today, be what everyone in your life has advised against: selfish. That’s right, self-ish. Not the person who lacks consideration for others, or who has so much consideration for others you lack consideration for who matters most: you. No matter what, you matter. What matters to you is just as important but means nothing if self-care is not practiced.

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James TIerney James TIerney

5 Mobile Apps to Help Limit Cellphone Use

In present-day society, smartphones have become devices that we are considerably dependent on in areas such as work, school, entertainment, and social life. In an instant, you can communicate with someone across the globe or find an actor’s entire filmography after tirelessly pondering where you’ve seen him before. Unquestionably, smartphone technology has revolutionized the way we live our daily lives, both positively and negatively.

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