Going to a Undergraduate Research Conference

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: College Advice
• Date: Mar 31,2008

Yesterday I got back from the Mid-East Honors Association (MEHA) Conference. Going to a conference is an experience all ambitious undergraduates should have. Presenting at a research conference is not as scary as you may think. I would like to share with you what I thought of the conference and some tips for when you go to a research conference.

The Conference
Like I said above, presenting at a conference is not as scary as it may seem. At an undergraduate research conference students are there to grow, not show off. The MEHA conference was relatively small. When I presented there may have been 100+ people watching, but the numbers didn’t feel different than a class of 20 people.

Tips

When going to the conference there are a few things you should be prepared for.

• Technology never works the way you would like it to! If you are using a PowerPoint make sure you save it as an older version of PowerPoint, because the computer at the conference may use an older version of PowerPoint, and your newer version will not be compatible.
• Set up as soon as possible. If there is 30 minutes before your presentation and you have the opportunity to set up, then go ahead and set everything up. Once things are set up you will have some time to relax before you present.
• Presentation Remotes never work like they are supposed to. If the signal is not reaching the computer, you may want to take a few steps forward (unfortunately away from the podium) to get a better signal.
• If your presentation is more than 10 minutes you will want a glass of water. When practicing your presentation you need to plan times that you can take a drink. Even though I had a glass of water I never took a sip. I didn’t know when a pause in my presentation would be acceptable.

Preparing

Like any assignment you want to be prepared. Do not procrastinate! However, when going to the conference the research should not be your only concern. Because you are working so hard on your research, you may fail to pay attention to your other classes. You should schedule your school work for your other classes so you do not get behind. When I got home from the conference, I realized I had a lot of assignments that I did not realize were due the following week. If I would have planned ahead there wouldn’t have been a problem.

Everyone Should Go

Even if you do not want to present a project, you should at least attend. It is a learning experience for everyone. Finding a conference to go to should not be difficult. Ask around. At least one of your professors will know of a conference that you can attend. Maybe a conference that the professor is presenting at. You can also find a list of conferences at conferencealerts.com

Have you been to a research conference? Have advice for students? Leave a comment below.

Going to a Research Conference

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: College Advice
• Date: Mar 27,2008

I have been working on undergraduate research for several months now. Tomorrow I leave for the Mid-East Honors Association Annual Conference. Going to the conference is probably the most exciting thing I have done in college so far.

My Research Topic - Maximizing Academic Performance through Meditation

This Saturday I will be presenting my research on Meditation and how it can benefit students. I am really excited to present my research. I have yet to write out a paper of my research, but when I do I will probably post it on the blog.

Other Topics at the Conference:

• Is the Stem Cell debate over?
• Causes and Effects of Color
• Holistic Health
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder treatments for today’s American Soldiers
• Tracking the Changing Faces of Vampires (sounds interesting!)
• Post modernism: The Dominance of Visual Media in Western Culture
• The Decline of the Print Media and its Successors

The research topics sound very interesting. Hopefully I will be able to see most of the presenters.

Life of an Honors Program

Many schools will also be sharing how their Honors Program has developed, types of courses offered, organizing an honors council, and many more topics that apply to, not only honors students, but all campus organizations and students.

When I get back from the conference I will share with you my experience at my first conference.

Review: How to Win at College

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: Book of the Month
• Date: Mar 17,2008

Cal Newport’s How to Win at College is a book that all college students should read. It will give you inspiration, and you will realize that being an excellent college student is not as difficult as many believe it to be.

Is it easy to read?

How to Win at College is very easy to read. It took no more than 2 hours to read. Each chapter is 2 pages on average. Newport even took the time to bold the sentences that were the most important. The book is perfect to sit down and read it during one sitting, but the short chapters make a perfect book to read a chapter a day.

By reading a chapter a day, you can take the valuable advice and attempt to apply it to your own college life.

It’s all Common Sense

When you read How to Win at College you will probably feel that all the advice is just commonsense. Then why aren’t you a top student? Sometimes we believe things to be commonsense, not because it is common, but because after we hear the information we realize that we understood the concept all along, but we never placed it into tangible words that we can use in our lives.

It’s Just the Beginning

How to Win at College is the perfect book in your step to becoming a better student. The advice Newport gives is a starting point. Becoming a better college student is not about getting the right advice, but about discovering yourself. Every student will have different study habits, different ambitions, and different environments. The more self knowledge you obtain the better student you can become.

Cal who? Why should I listen to Cal Newport?

Cal is currently a Computer Science Ph.D. candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is young and he has already published 2 books! Sounds successful to me. If you don’t believe me check out his Bio.

Buy or not to buy?

If you are a student who has lost his way, How to Win at College is an excellent book to get you back on track. If you think you are already an excellent student, you may decide to skip the book and jump on over to Cal Newport’s blog. He continuously adds new ideas to increase productivity, discover ambition, and make the most out of college.

Effective PowerPoint Presentation

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: College Advice
• Date: Mar 13,2008

Do you fear speaking in front of a crowd? As a college student you will probably have to give many presentations. This is a good thing, because important people are asked to give presentations. PowerPoint has become the norm while giving a presentation. Having a well developed PowerPoint will give you confidence, engage your audience, and make an influential presentation.

I have been working on a presentation for a research conference, and I went Googling to discover tips to improve my PowerPoint presentation. I found some great resources that I would love to share with you. Instead of just giving you a bunch of links, I’d like to set it up as a lesson.

First,I would like you to watch this basic video of a teacher giving PowerPoint advice to other teachers, but the concepts can be applied to all PowerPoint presentations.

At the end of the presentation he mentions a few important people. Why are these guys important? Because they are good. They have given hundreds of presentations.

The first video you will watch is a presentation by Seth Godin. Pay attention to:

• How he interacts with the PowerPoint.
• The stylistic elements of the PowerPoint.
• The type of information on the PowerPoint, if any.
• Measure the simplicity of the presentation.
• Also observe Seth. He seems comfortable.

Seth discusses Marketing. Note: Marketing is not only for businesses but for anyone who needs to market themselves to get a job.

Another person you should watch is Larry Lessig. He has a very unique presentation style.

Watching other people perform can be very beneficial to you. More so than reading a book on how to make a PowerPoint presentation. Not only can you learn from these excellent presenters, but they can give you inspiration.

Other Resources:

Presentation Zen is an fabulous blog about giving presentation.

Need pictures for your presentation? Flickr.com is the number one place to get pictures.

If you need information concerning copy right with presentations visit these two links:

• Memorial Library
• DWU Copyright

Having a presentation remote can be very beneficial when practicing your presentations. I suggest the Logitech 2.4GHz Cordless Remote.

Do you know of more PowerPoint sources? Share the links!

Dealing with the Snow Drifts

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: Study Tips
• Date: Mar 8,2008

Did the winter months pile a bunch of snow on your Spring semester schedule? Shoveling away the mess can be a time consuming process, but don’t over work yourself. You wouldn’t want to hurt your back.

Sometimes the semester following Winter Break does not start as productively as the Fall Semester did. After the break all we can think about is the next break, and sometimes because of that we end up letting things pile up, saying to ourselves, “We will deal with it after spring break. As I was shoveling my driveway today, I realized that, if we have a pile of anything, we need to do a few things to make sure we survive.

Where to put the snow?

If you have ever shoveled snow before you understand that this is a very important question? What happens if you don’t? Well, you begin shoveling the snow, but quickly realize that the place you piled the snow needs to be cleared too. If you don’t have a plan, you will end up shoveling the same snow again and again.

If you have projects or studying that you have put off, make sure that you have a plan. Plan the days you will work on the project, what the final product should look like, and how you will do the tasks necessary.

Lift with your Legs!

Shoveling snow requires a repetitive motion that if performed incorrectly, will damage your back. Working on a project has its own motion that you should do correctly and get lazy. Laziness and lack of focus will destroy your progress.

When due dates sneak up on you, you may be tempted to pull some all nighters or skip class to make up on time. What ever you do don’t do this. You may have to sacrifice social time, but there is plenty of time to accomplish the necessary tasks.

Get a Good Shovel

Before you begin your projects make sure you have all of the necessary supplies you will need to finish it. Make sure you have poster board, resources, and other supplies. Making sure you have the supplies before you start will save you time, because you will not need to make as many trips to the library or the store.

The Snow Will Melt

The snow will quickly begin to melt. That is good right? Well, after the snow ends the landscaping preparation for spring begins. What is spring? Finals. Don’t let them sneak up on you. With spring comes warm weather, which equals your lack of attention. Stay focused!

Listen to Your Professor & Repeat 2 Times

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: Study Tips
• Date: Mar 6,2008

Did you know that we listen at 90-200 words per minute? At the most, a 60 minute lecture will have a total of 12,000 words! That is a lot of information that we process every lecture.

But did you know that we actually think at 500-600 words per minute? During the lecture we actually think a minimum of 30,000 words. What are we doing with the 18,000 words that are not used for listening?

Lazy Listeners

You know who you are. You hear the Professor speak and you do nothing about it. Instead you think about your girlfriend, last nights ballgame, what you are going to eat today, what’s on TV tonight, or anything else that is irrelevant to the lecture.

Or maybe you are not listening at all…

Using the other 18,000 Words to be an Active Listener

Given an extra 18,000 words to think, you could repeat everything the professor said in your head, maybe even twice! Please don’t do this, instead repeat only key points in your head and possibly add a note.

For Example: Let’s say your professor is teaching a lesson on early American history. He spent 20 long minutes discussing Alexander’s Hamilton’s Economic policies. Take note to the key aspects of his policies, but also add a note to yourself, “this would make a good essay question.”

We determined that you will not use all 18,000 words to repeat everything, just key points. What could you use the rest of your brain resources for?

• Think of questions that you can ask the professor.
• This will help you memorize the information.
• Also, your professor will be impressed with your attentive listening.
• Relate the key points to other key points your professor has pointed out.
• Evaluate your emotions. Do you agree with the given philosophy? Does it anger you? What would you do differently? Do you understand the information?
• Relate the key points to your own life.
• Think of ways you can further explore the given information by writing down questions that you will lookup yourself, instead of asking the professor.

It’s Not Easy

Being an active listener is not easy. After an hour lecture you will feel exhausted. Eat healthy before lectures, sit up straight to increase oxygen intake, and build self motivation to keep focused.

Take advantage of the time given to you. You are sitting in the class. Therefore, you should put forth all your energy. In the end you will save time and effort, because you will walk out of class with a greater understanding of the material.

Does it make sense to pour a building foundation, destroy it, then pour it again? The lectures are your foundation, and if the information is not stored correctly you will need to start all over.

10 Things You Shouldn’t Forget to Put in Your Schedule

• Author: Michael |University Scholar
• Filed under: College Advice
• Date: Mar 1,2008

1. Calling your parents

You forgot about them didn’t you? Well, your parents do care and they do want to hear from you. Make sure you block out time in your schedule to call your parents. You may consider just writing an actual, send in mail, letter. Writing a letter takes time, and when your parents read it they will recognize the effort. And you can always benefit from extra writing.

2. Monthly Reflection

Do you ever worry if you are going to school for the right thing? Schedule one hour a month to sit and dwell upon your life. Students change their majors all the time. Some decide, college is not for them. During your reflection time think about:

• Where you are?
• Where you plan to be in the next few months?
• Does everything feel right?
• Is there something missing in your life?
• What are your ambitions?

These are questions that we find ourselves asking everyday. By scheduling time to tackle the questions we can reduce our stress, because we know that we will deal with the issue. Worrying about whether you are on the right path is not something you should be concerned about while taking a test or writing a paper.

3. Toilet Time

Alright, this one is for the guys. Most guys would agree that they think best while sitting on the toilet. Well, I have noticed that my schedule has become so hectic that I do not appreciate my Toilet Time. Once a month, you deserve a 30 minute toilet session to think or read the newspaper.

4. Read a Book of Your Choice

In the course of the semester. Read a book that you actually want to read. Make it a part of your Sunday ritual if you’d like (Follow a Sunday Ritual by Cal Newport).

5. Play an Instrument

Did you play an instrument in High school? Don’t forget to keep at it. One day you will want to teach your kids to play an instrument. I play the piano all the time, for me it is a perfect stress reliever. Playing a musical instrument also enhances brain function and it counts as a physical exercise. I play the piano every other day. Don’t have a place to play? Yes you do. I am sure that there is a practice room in the music department that is not being used.

6. A Meeting with a Professor

Getting to know your professors is very important. They will be the ones writing letters of recommendations, possibly hooking you up with your first job, and forever a person of advice, and all for you. Go to their office; they wont bit. What should you talk about?

• Ask if they have a book they recommended pertaining to the course.
• Discuss a book your professor wrote. Extra Brownie Points!
• Discuss news regarding the course.

Remember, your professor has to eat too. If it is lunch time, they are probably eating on campus. There is no reason why you can’t ask to eat with them.

7. FOOD

Plan what you will eat every week. Why? It lets you look at what you will be eating. If you write down McDonalds for everyday, you recognize that your weekly diet is not that great. If you planned day by day, you may not notice it.

8. A Community Service

I am not talking about Community Service that you put on your resume, but community service, for the sake of serving. One year of college is a lot and doing something to help another person will lift your spirits. Don’t bother putting it on your resume. Don’t bother telling everyone what you did. Just be proud that you did something for someone else.

9. Car Maintenance

Remember to check your car fluids. You can save a lot of money by checking your car. Don’t take it to a shop to have them check your fluids, ask a friend, someone on campus will check it for you. It takes 5 minutes, and you can save future expenses. Don’t have a car? Lucky you!

10. What Would You Add?

Share the important things you put in your schedule.