Resources

Video Podcasts.

The following podcasts are in .wav format. You may "right click" and save to your hard drive or just click and play in your media player. Each podcast is copyrighted 2006, Walter E. Dennis Learning Center.

Know Yourself!.

  • School Strategies Scale
    Find out how you're doing with respect to time management, self-confidence, responsibility, classroom strategies, information processing, test preparation, writing, and life management, and the skills you need to develop to be successful in college.

Motivational Assistance.

The Learning Center offers motivational assistance through individual consultations with Learning Specialists and through computer-based modules. The computer modules helps students increase their motivation to achieve success in college by addressing the following topics:

Procrastination: The Thief of Time
- After the completion of this module, students will be able to: 

  1. Distinguish between rationalizations and the real reasons for procrastinating. 
  2. Describe the Procrastination Cycle and its effects on self-beliefs. 
  3. Identify important self-beliefs and behaviors that result in Procrastination Busting. 
  4. Construct a To Do Checklist to break down large activities into manageable tasks.

Self-Confidence: Believing in Yourself
 - After the completion of this module, students will be able to: 

  1. Explain the relationship of thoughts to feelings and actions. 
  2. Describe a technique that you can use to change your thinking. 
  3. Give examples of self-confident thoughts and self-doubting ones. 
  4. Describe and give examples of the following four techniques for building self-confidence: regulate your emotional level, seek affirmation, pick the right models, and "just do it." 

Taking Responsibility: It's Up to You
 - After the completion of this module, students will be able to: 

  1. Identify possible causal explanations for success and failure. 
  2. Distinguish between internal and external causes, stable and unstable causes, general and specific causes, and controllable and uncontrollable causes. 
  3. Distinguish between causal explanations that do and do not reflect responsibility. 
  4. Identify the importance of effort and strategy as causal explanations. 
  5. Describe and demonstrate the importance and use of Think Positive beliefs about responsibility in attaining successful outcomes.

Managing Your Life in School
- After the completion of this module, students will be able to: 

  1. Analyze situations and ensuing thoughts, behaviors, and reactions in terms of the self-system.
  2. Describe each of 10 techniques for managing your life.
  3. Explain how each of the 10 techniques could be or has been used to manage specific, challenging situations in their lives.
  4. State and explain two perspectives or formulas for viewing cause and effect in their lives, one that they should believe and one that they should not believe.

Career Exploration
- After the completion of this module, students will be able to: 

  1. Describe how career exploration is related to student motivation. 
  2. Explain the relationship between career satisfaction and life satisfaction. 
  3. Identify specific skills that should be developed in college in order to be qualified for many different potential careers. 
  4. Describe a strategy to explore possible career choices. 
  5. Explain why values, personality characteristics, interests, and skills should be considered when choosing a career.

Study Strategies.

The Learning Center offers learning assistance and exam preparation in the forms of individual consultations with Learning Specialists and through computer-based modules.

Begin by taking the School Strategies Scale and see how well you're using key strategies for success in college.

Objectives for computer modules which are currently online include the following: 

Active Listening: Learning from Lecture
- After the completion of this module, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate a method for efficient note-taking.
  2. Construct the following kinds of questions from class notes: (a) Reflection, (b) Recap, and (c) Reasoning, as a way of locating and understanding the main points.
  3. Describe a Plan! to get the most from class notes.

Active Reading: Learning from Text
- After the completion of this module, students will be able to:

  1. Construct the following kinds of questions from text: (a) Recap, (b) Reflection, and (c) Reasoning, as a way of locating and understanding the main points.
  2. Construct a Q&A (Question and Answer) Outline to help read general textbook or magazine content for meaning and understanding.
  3. Construct a Q&A Outline to help read science textbook content for meaning and understanding.
  4. Construct a Q&A Outline to help read math textbook content for meaning and understanding.
  5. Describe a Plan! to get the most from text.

Preparing for Exams
- After the completion of this module, students will be able to:

  1. Describe a quick technique that uses Q&A Outlines to begin preparing for exams.
  2. Construct a CC Web Chart to organize important information that might appear on exams.
  3. Construct five types of Skeleton Key Diagrams to organize information that might appear on essay question or problem exams.
  4. Construct a Mind Sketch to visualize large quantities of information to be remembered and use it to construct CC Web Charts and Skeleton Key Diagrams.
  5. Describe a technique for understanding an instructor's emphasis in order to predict exam questions.
  6. Discuss techniques for using successful study groups.
  7. Describe techniques and their application for (a) getting information into one's head, (b) dealing with test anxiety, and (c) taking a test.

Papers and Speeches
- After the completion of this module, students will be able to:

  1. Demonstrate the use of a strategy to choose a paper or speech topic.
  2. Demonstrate the use of a strategy to approach a paper or speech assignment by dividing the assignment into several manageable tasks.
  3. Construct paragraphs that answer a single topic-sentence question.
  4. Write topic sentences that could be used to build paragraphs that answer the major thesis question of a paper or speech.
  5. Demonstrate the use of good editing and proofing strategies to improve paper drafts.
  6. Describe preparation and rehearsal strategies can improve presentation performance.

Additional Services.

In WEDLC

Related Services in Younkin

The Walter E. Dennis Learning Center is housed in the Younkin Success Center (YSC) which also houses:

It also contains a resource library, study lounges, and classrooms, and, in addition to providing learning services to all students who request them, supports research focused on enhancing learning and self-management among college students.

Related Services Around Campus

Follow the links below to find out about other resources available to you as an OSU student.

Walter E. Dennis Learning Center | room250 Younkin Success Center 1640 Neil Avenue | Columbus, OH 43201 | 614-688-4011