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The image depicts Baker Library of Dartmouth College during foliage seasons when the trees are vibrant orange
Baker Library, Home of the Academic Skills Center

1. What do we do?

The mission of Dartmouth's Academic Skills Center is to assist students in achieving their academic goals. We help students improve their academic skills and ability to learn, thereby maximizing their academic experience and allowing them to achieve greater academic performance and personal fulfillment.

2. Who are we?

The ASC is a collaborative environment where dedicated staff and students work together in support of the Dartmouth student body. You can read more about those involved by clicking here!

3. Where can you find us?

The Academic Skills Center is conveniently located on the Tuck Drive side of the Tower Room in 224 Baker Library, Dartmouth College!

4. When can you find us?

Our hours are weekdays from 8:30AM- 4:30PM!

5. Why should you drop by?

The ASC offers the student body many opportunities for academic enrichment through academic coaching, group tutoring, MoTEAvational Mondays, learning strategy workshops, and more. We offer personalized help for those seeking to maximize their academic performance and work in conjunction with Student Accessibility Services, the Student Wellness Center, and the First Generation Office to support students of all backgrounds in their transition to college. Come on by the ASC to learn more about the resources available to help you become a more efficient and effective learner!

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Want to make something cool to show your mom, so she knows you have tangible skills? Then this blogpost is for you!

  1. The Book Arts Workshop

At the Book Arts Workshop located in the basement of Baker Library by the Orozco Murals, you can learn to design your own print, make stamps, coasters, books, posters, or anything printmaking-and-book-related that your heart desires.To learn more about the Book Arts Workshop, sign up for a Letterpress Orientation on the Book Arts Workshop’s website. All of their workshops are free, so be sure to check it out. 

  1. The Digital Lab in BVAC

Jess Smith hosts 2-3 free workshops every week to teach you how to use Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, and much more! The digital lab is located on the first floor in the Black Family Visual Arts Center. Check out the workshops available for the rest of the fall on the Digital Lab’s website.

The digital lab is located at BVAC 109.
  1. The Jewelry Studio

The Jewelry Studio is located downstairs in the Hop. The staff is fun and friendly. You can drop in during their open hours to work on a project of your choice, and you sign up for a workshop on the Hop’s website.You will have to pay for materials you use if you go during open hours, and there is a fee for workshops.

  1. The Ceramics Studio

The Ceramics Studio is also located in the lower level of the Hop. To use the Ceramics Studio, you have to sign up first, and you will have to purchase the clay you use. For more information, check out the Ceramics Studio’s page on the Hop’s website.

  1. The Woodworking Workshop

Like the Jewelry and Ceramics studios, the woodshop offers paid and guided workshops that cover the cost of the material you’ll use during the workshop. You can also enter the woodshop, without an appointment, to work on a personal project, but you’ll have to attend an orientation first. You will have to pay for the materials you use for your project. Learn more about the woodshop on the Hop’s website.

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  1. Ask yourself why you’re not understanding the reading.

Is the content difficult to understand with your current knowledge? Are you bored and falling asleep while reading? Are you reading in a loud/quiet or distracting environment where you can’t focus on your readings? Are you disinterested in the topic? Pinpoint these issues and try to solve them one problem at a time.

  1. Go to office hours and ask your professor how you can best approach your readings.

The easiest way to be successful in a class is to ask your professor what makes a successful student in their class. If you are struggling with the readings in particular, or anything else, ask your professor for help. It is their job to help you learn.

  1. Try to understand the purpose of the reading. 

What is your learning goal? What does your professor want you to take away from the reading? If you have to write essays in the class, what information can you take from this reading and apply to your essay? If you take exams and quizzes in the class, what information do you think you’ll be tested on? 

  1. Try a change in environment.

If your study space is too quiet, and you work best with chatter around you, try reading on FFB or in another collaborative study space. If you need quiet and the accountability of being around others, try somewhere like 3FB, 4FB, or Rauner. If you find being around others distracting, find somewhere you can be alone, like a study room or your dorm. 

  1. What to look for in your readings.

If your reading has headings or subheadings, read them and turn them into a question. For example, “Ways to Fix Internal Validity” could turn into “What are the ways to fix internal validity?” After you read or skim the section, answer yourself. 

In addition to headings and subheadings, it’s important to define bolded words and topical words that you don’t know. This will help you understand the reading and future readings better, and if you know what something means, it’s a lot easier to talk about it in class. 

Lastly, take a look at any figures, diagrams, illustrations, or tables in your reading. Visualizing a concept is useful for applying it to different situations. Tables that provide definitions and applications can also help you differentiate between two similar concepts. 

If you would like more reading tips, please visit our website!

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Goals

What do you want out of your Dartmouth experience? Make a list, then number the list items in order of importance, and rewrite the list in that order. For example:

Lifelong friends 3 Lifelong friends To get into med school

To get into med school 1 To get into med school To learn time management

To learn time management 2 To learn time management Lifelong friends

Hiking experiences 4 Hiking experiences Hiking experiences

Now that you have your goals in order, organize your time such that you’re spending the most time on your most important goal. If you have a goal that is urgent but not time consuming, such as learning time management skills, make time for it as soon as possible, but don’t spend more time than necessary on it. 

Budgeting your time based on your goals will help you feel satisfied with your time spent. You can make a list of long-term goals and weekly short-term goals to help you allocate time for specific projects or studying for an exam. Revise your long-term goals monthly and your short-term goals as needed (daily/weekly). 

Planners

The most basic time management tool is a planner. As some meetings might still occur via zoom, I recommend using Google Calendar. With Google Calendar, you can put the zoom link in your calendar and easily access it. We also offer a Dartmouth weekly planner with the start time of courses built in. You can print it out and highlight the time blocks of your commitments, or you can fill it in using text boxes in Microsoft Word. 

Now that you have your goals established, you should plan your recurring time blocks according to your long-term goals. Be sure to include rest time. Using the free space, you should add in time for accomplishing your short-term goals.

Other Tips

The Foco lines are long. If you want to be productive while you wait for your omelette, you can pull up a pdf of an assigned reading, (for psychology students: you can do your InQuisitive assignment on your phone), you can review pictures of your notes, or do whatever you can do for your classes and extracurricular commitments. If you have an audio version of readings, you can listen to them while you walk around campus!

Use your goals as a guideline for your priorities, but trust yourself as you determine your priorities throughout the day, and stick to them. 

Only concentrate on one thing at a time. This will help you get your work done faster, and you’ll find that you have more time this way.
For more information and time management tips, check out our website!

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When was your last in-person exam? 

I had my first in-person exam during 21X, after five quarters of remote learning. Needless to say, it was an experience. Here are five practices that made my in-person exam experience as painless as possible. 

  1. Study with physical material. 

For example, if you have a PDF of a practice exam and reference sheets, print them out, and try to do the exam within the time limit that your professor will give you for the actual exam.

  1. Try to recreate the conditions of your testing environment while you study.

If you know the classroom your exam will be in, see if there’s a time when it’s empty and unlocked. If there is, then the classroom makes an excellent place to do practice questions.

  1. Even if the exam is open-book, do your best to remember the material without referencing your notes.

Switching between tabs and using the finder command on your computer is a lot easier than flipping through sheets of paper to find your relevant notes. If you know the material by heart, you’ll do better with time management on your exam.

  1. Go to office hours.

Ask your professor for help with material you want to be more comfortable with. If you’re nervous about taking the exam in-person for the first time, ask your professor if they have any suggestions that will help you succeed on their exam. 

  1. Create practice questions for yourself.

The best way to learn material is to practice information retrieval. Ask yourself questions and try to answer them without looking at your notes. Spend more time quizzing yourself than rereading your textbook or notes. 

Good luck on your exams this fall!