Ventures Scholars Program | High School Resource Center

High School Scholars
Preparing for College
–	Achieving Academic Success
–	Planning
–	Applying
–	Testing Information
–	Thinking about Grad & Professional School

Achieving Academic Success

The following sites provide helpful tips about studying, time management, reading comprehension and much more. In college or university, you will need to make sure you can manage your time.You will be expected to do a lot more and your professors will expect you to be an independent learner. Don't wait until you get to college or university to improve your habits. Start now!

Also, feel free to go to the undergraduate resource section. There are additional sites. We will periodically update this site so keep coming back!

Classwork and Homework Help

Selecting Courses

Mathematics

Science

Reading

Writing

Listening

Speaking

Study Skills

Notetaking

Study Groups

Homework Help and Other Resources

Standardized Testing Study Sites

Avoiding Senioritis

Summer Reading for High School Students

Time Management and Other Important Skills

Time Management

Decision Making

Leadership Skills

SELECTING COURSES

Colleges care about which courses you're taking in high school. The courses you take in high school show colleges what kind of goals you set for yourself. Are you signing up for advanced classes, honors sections, or accelerated sequences? Are you choosing electives that really stretch your mind and help you develop new abilities? Or are you doing just enough to get by.

How to Select Your Courses - Create a Solid Academic Portfolio
Your course schedule may seem like a random selection of classes to you, but college admission officers see it as the blueprint of your high school education. They're looking for a solid foundation of learning that you can build on in college.

MATHEMATICS

Need help with mathematics? View these sites!

Developing Confidence In Math
Anxiety about performing well in math or math-based science courses is a common experience for many college students. Research has indicated that approximately 30% of college students struggle with math anxiety, and that this issue has consistently ranked among the top 20 concerns for college students.

Coping with Math Anxiety
In this essay we will take a constructive look at math anxiety, its causes, its effects, and at how you as a student can learn to manage this anxiety so that it no longer hinders your study of mathematics. Lastly, we will examine special strategies for studying mathematics, doing homework, and taking exams.

Ask Dr. Math
Ask Dr. Math is a question and answer service for math students and their teachers. A searchable archive is available by level and topic, as well as summaries of Frequently Asked Questions (the Dr. Math FAQ).

Read more:
http://mathforum.org/dr.math/

The World of Math Online
Select the math subject and find answers to your questions.

Read more:
http://www.math.com/

On-line Math Club
This Web site will enrich mathematical experiences by giving students the opportunity to explore and engage with mathematical ideas and offer challenging activities which provide students with opportunities to develop their mathematics.

Read more:
http://www.nrich.maths.org/

SOS Mathematics
Mathematics is your free resource for math review material from Algebra to Differential Equations!

Read more:
http://www.sosmath.com/

Ask Mr. Calculus
Ask Mr. Calculus offers help with calculus and other mathematics questions.

SCIENCE

Need help with science? View these sites!

On-line Physics Resource
StudyWorks! On-line presents this truly awesome physics resource for high school students. The site provides 11 tutorials, each containing from two to six individual lessons, on a variety of basic physics concepts – including Newton’s Law; work, energy, and power; momentum and its conservation; waves; and more. The lessons are clear and well written, describing not just the concept, but also explaining why each concept is important to understand. Each lesson includes an animation to illustrate the concept and concludes with a quiz to test students’ understanding. The site also offers a Multimedia Physics Studio with additional animations to help students visualize the concepts discussed and activities to ensure students’ mastery of the subject matter.

Read more:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/

The Ultimate Physics Resource Site
Links to site on physics topics, physicists, research laboratories, and places to get your physics questions answered.

On-line Science Tutorials and Science Resources
Do you need to brush up on your science courses? There are a variety of online resources to help you better understand your coursework.

Ask A Scientist Program
Ask A Scientist program is operated by science teachers. The program is designed to answer specific questions that are not commonly found in general reference books or text books.

READING

Learning from Textbooks
Reading and remembering information from textbooks can be one of the most challenging aspects of learning at university. Since there can be a lot of variation in how texts are used from one course to another, the strategies that will be effective for reading and studying texts will vary from course to course as well.

Read more:
http://www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca/ByTopic/Learning/LearningGeneral/
LearningGeneralLearningFastfacts/Fastfacts-Textbooks.html

A Strategy for Reading Textbooks
SQRW is a four-step strategy for reading and taking notes from chapters in a textbook. Each letter stands for one step in the strategy. Using SQRW will help you to understand what you read and to prepare a written record of what you learned. The written record will be valuable when you have to participate in a class discussion and again when you study for a test. Read to learn what to do for each step in SQRW.

Reading and Understanding Texts
Much of the material we have to learn at university is presented to us in written form, most commonly in texts and readings from journals. Students may have problems with both the complexity and the amount of the material they have to read. We can help you deal with each of these concerns.

Read more:
http://www.coun.uvic.ca/learn/read.html

Reading Comprehension
To improve your reading comprehension, use the following 3-step process:

WRITING

CUNY WriteSite
The WriteSite is an Online Writing Lab, or OWL�a collection of writing resources and a way of interacting with other CUNY writers through the Internet. It complements face-to-face resources, like your campus Writing Center, and it's always open. You could call it a "night OWL," or a "weekend OWL," because it's always here, ready to help you.

Guide to Grammar and Writing

Great site to learn about grammar/writing.

The Nuts and Bolts of Writing
"I've got nothing to say!" The first step in writing a paper is having something to say�or turning a mediocre argument into a good one. The guide's thinking section emphasizes writing not as an end-product but as a dynamic process of thinking, exploring, and revising ideas.

Improve Your Writing
Don't wait until college to improve your writing and research skills. Start now! These Web sites provide helpful information.

The Elements of Citation
The Columbia Guide to Online Style (CGOS) by Janice R. Walker and Todd Taylor (Columbia UP, 2006 ) presents a guide to locating, evaluating, translating, and using the elements of citation for electronically accessed sources in both a humanities style (i.e., MLA and Chicago) and a scientific style (APA and CBE). CGOS's unique element approach makes this a useful reference book for citing electronic sources regardless of the specific bibliographic style you may be required to use.

Read more:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos2006/basic.html

APA Style.org

The following is excerpted from the 5th edition of the Publication Manual (© 2001). The material provided covers commonly asked questions regarding how to cite electronic media.

Please note that there have been changes in APA's style guidelines for electronic resources with the publication of the 5th edition of the Publication Manual.

Read more:
http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

Sentence Structure
Elements of Sentence Construction, Sentence Types and Punctuation, Connectors, Sentence Patterns, Sentence Pattern Transformation, Active/passive Voice

Read more:
http://www.new.towson.edu/ows/sentencestruct.htm

Writing Research Papers
Start now to understand the correct process of writing a research paper. There's no room for mistakes!

Writing Research Papers
http://webster.commnet.edu/mla.htm

The Modern Language Association of America (MLA)
http://www.mla.org/

Bartleby.com: Free Encyclopedia, Dictionary, Thesarus
www.bartleby.com/

How to Write an Essay

Establish your topic, organize your ideas, write a first draft, revise the first draft, and proofread the final draft.

Read more:
http://www.infoplease.com/homework/writingskills2a.html

LISTENING

Developing Listening Skills
Although we use listening skills more than any other communication skill, listening is rarely taught (John Parker and Janet Weathers report the following breakdown of a person's communication activities in The Student Success Workbook : listening — 45%; talking — 30%; reading — 16%; writing — 9%). Since the human brain works about four times as fast as the mouth, to listen effectively requires that you maintain a considerable amount of self-control and concentration. It is little wonder that you may have found yourself nodding off in class or wondering why you seem to gain very little from attending lectures when we consider these facts. The good news is that you can improve your listening skills by practicing the following techniques and principles.

Read more:
http://www.scs.tamu.edu/selfhelp/elibrary/listening_skills.asp

Listening Skills
The average college student spends about 14 hours per week in class listening (or perhaps I should say " hearing "--there is a difference!) to lectures. See if you can improve your listening skills by following some of the strategies below.

Read more:
http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/ss_listening.html

Working on Listening Skills
You probably spend more time using your listening skills than any other kind of skill. Like other skills, listening takes practice. What does it mean to really listen?

Read more:
http://www.infoplease.com/homework/listeningskills1.html

SPEAKING

Oral Communication Skills
Do you think you need to improve your oral communication skills? Are you nervous about an upcoming presentation?

STUDY SKILLS

Maybe you are getting good grades in high school without studying. Ask college students and they'll tell you that college professors expect you to be an independent learner!

Study Skills Checklist
First make a print out of this document. Using your printout, read each statement and consider how it applies to you. If it does apply to you, check Y. If it does not apply to you, check N. The purpose of this inventory is to find out about your own study habits and attitudes.

Read more:
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/checklis.html

Studying
Your success in high school and college is dependent on your ability to study effectively and efficiently. The following web sites provides information about study skills and homework help.

How To Study
HowToStudy.com provides free links to valuable sites on the Internet related to the subject of studying. HowToStudy.com has been developed by former students who, just like many students now, had a tough time adjusting from high school to university or college.

Read more:
http://www.howtostudy.com/

Studying for Final Exams
Some of these sites are for college students, however, they will help you too!

Study Skills
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/augustine/study/

Study Skills Improvement
http://www.unc.edu/depts/unc_caps/TenTraps.html

Study Skills Links
http://www.d.umn.edu/student/loon/acad/strat/

How to Survive Exam Weeks
Do you find yourself panicking when you have several exams to take in a short period? Do you feel a lot more stress during mid-terms and finals?

NOTETAKING

Why should you take notes in class?
Note taking is an active process that will help you concentrate during the class session and will aid you to retain what you are learning. The lecture will contain information that you can't find in your textbook or elsewhere.

Read more:
http://www.willamette.edu/cla/ler/notetaking.htm

Notetaking
There are many reasons for taking lecture notes.

Read more:
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~acskills/docs/taking_notes.doc (Word Doc)

Notetaking Systems
Try these systems and improve your notetaking ability!

Read more:
http://www.sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/notetaking.systems.html

STUDY GROUPS

Most college students use study groups to prepare for exams. Start learning how to use this effective strategy in high school.

Importance of Study Groups
The nature of the university classroom continues to change. One of the most apparent pieces of evidence of this change is the large-sized, first-year, lecture-styled class. This style of teaching is usually one-directional, for several reasons, such as:

There is insufficient time for professors to answer all questions for the benefit of all students and students are shy to ask questions in large classes. This creates a need for students to work on learning the course material primarily outside of the classroom. The formation of study groups have been found to improve the learning experinece for many first-year university students.

Reinforcing the Importance of Study Groups
Recently, the Ventures Scholars undergraduate e-newsletter linked Ventures Scholars with information about study groups. We thought it was so important that we are providing this information again. Research shows that students can truly benefit from participating in study groups. Form one as soon as possible!

Study Groups
A study group does the following: reinforces, clarifies, and deepens your learning by providing the opportunity to teach. (Research indicates that many students improve their grades by supplementing individual study with group study, provides feedback -- before the test -- on how well you are learning the material, provides practical advice on which courses and professors to take or avoid.

Read more:
http://www.uic.edu/depts/counselctr/ace/studygroup.htm

Study Groups
A study group is a collection of people coming together to learn more about a pre-determined topic. Study groups provide participants with a forum for learning together, planning together, testing ideas together, and reflecting together.

Read more:
http://lan.altec.org/studygroup/index.jsp

The Importance of Study Groups
Education often looks like competition. Students compete for entrance into school, and
for grades when they are in school. As a result, it is easy to overlook the power of
cooperation. Aside from the camaraderie, the fellowship, and the fun, a support group
can assist you by elevating your sprit. There will be days when you just don’t want to
work at your education.

Read more:
http://www.bmcc.cuny.edu/lrc/studyskills/TheImportanceofStudyGroups.pdf

HOMEWORK HELP AND OTHER RESOURCES

Here are some additional sites to help you with school work.

High School Preparation for University Work
A carefully planned program of high school courses provides students with the best preparation for University work. It can give them a definite edge in their undergraduate studies and the opportunity to do advanced preparation for their chosen field of study. Most important, students who master certain basic subjects and skills in high school substantially increase their chances of success at the University.

Online Tutorials A-1 Tutor
http://www.a1tutor.com/tut_science.html

High School Hub
http://highschoolhub.org/hub/hub.cfm

BJ Pinchbeck's Homework Helper
http://www.school.discovery.com/homeworkhelp/bjpinchbeck/index.html

STANDARDIZED TEST STUDY SKILLS

Taking standardized examinations soon? Maybe some of these sites can help you prepare for the examinations. Go to

http://www.venturescholar.org/resource/testinfo-hs.html

AVOIDING SENIORITIS

Tips for Avoiding Senioritis
The symptoms show up every year. High school seniors try to balance extracurricular activities, a social life, college admission, and perhaps a part-time job. Somewhere along the way, home work begins to seem less important. Then they get accepted to college, and after that, high school seems even less important. School work begins to slide--and so do their grades. The diagnosis? Senioritis.

When High School is a Drag: Avoiding Senioritis
A recently graduated high school student was once asked, "What was the best thing about the senior year?" The student responded, "Getting out!" This response is not unusual because high school seniors are notoriously uninterested in the last days of high school. In fact, a term was coined to describe this phenomenon, "senioritis."

Read more:
http://www.uctv.tv/collegebound/articles-e.shtml

Avoiding Senioritis: I Can’t Wait to Get Out of This Place
Springtime is when I often hear high school seniors lament that they are sick of school. They are outward bound and ready to go. High school no longer holds any fascination for them. These comments are symptomatic of a condition that all eachers of seniors have encountered, senioritis. Senioritis is the sharply diminished interest that seniors have in the conventional aspects of school life. Symptoms include lack of interest in studies and extracurricular activities, increased attempts to avoid school, physical symptoms such as over sleeping, headaches, and stomachaches and over all malaise. The seniors may be ill tempered and curt. In short, they are hard to live with and probably know it.

Read more:
http://www.lambuth.edu/news/Parent's%20Corner/article8.html

SUMMER READING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

Summer Reading Lists - Book Lists

The following lists provide you with a list of books and tips for summer reading:

Read more:
http://www.hsv.k12.al.us/dept/merts/instruction/summer/high.pd
http://www.lkwdpl.org/sumread/
http://teacherweb.com/PA/NewHope-SoleburyHighSchool/Library/HTMLPage14.st
http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/DIS/readlist/hs.htm#find

TIME MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SKILLS

Personal Time Management Tool
How do you spend your time? Fill in this worksheet with what you do in a normal school week. Use the results to figure out where you might have some extra time. See how you can improve your schedule.

Read more:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/college-success/118.html

Time Management
Tick, tick, tick ... No, it's not the beginning to 60 MINUTES nor is it the dreaded crocodile coming to get Captain Hook. It's time moving on. College students often report that their inability to manage their time is the biggest problem they face in college. Time management is a skill few people master, but it is one that most people need.

Time Management
This section of Mind Tools shows you how to use personal time management skills. These are the simple, practical techniques that have helped the leading people in business, sport and public service reach the pinnacles of their careers.

Time Management
Managing your time successfully implies accomplishing what is most important for you. When you don't accomplish what you truly want, you may feel confused, compromised, and frustrated.

Read more:
http://www.couns.uiuc.edu/Brochures/time.htm

DECISION MAKING

Guide to Decision-Making
As a student, you must make hundreds of decisions, ranging from what classes to take and what topic to address in an assigned paper, to what career you will pursue and who you will involve in a relationship.

The Decision Making Process - Choosing a Major
A seven stage decision-making cycle has been described in seven steps.

Read more:
http://www.suu.edu/ss/success/major/decision-making.html

Decision-Making/Goal-Setting Skills
Development of Decision-Making / Goal-Setting skills is needed by students to help them make health-enhancing choices, to choose behaviors that promote health and reduce the risk of illness and injury. These skills include the recognition of need and understanding of how to make a decision or set a goal that is realistic. Both decision-making and goal-setting skills are needed to improve health status in each of the nine content areas

Read more:
http://www.healthteacher.com/teachersupports/skills5.asp

LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Ten Ways to Identify a Promising Person
It's also important to determine whether a person is capable of learning leadership. The natural leader will stand out. The trick is identifying those who are capable of learning leadership over time.

Outstanding Student Leader Qualities
What are the qualities of outstanding student leaders?

Student Leadership Today
How can one define what a student leader truly is if there are so many definitions? Well, I believe there are a few main qualities every student leader needs, and also have identified some of the reoccurring themes I have seen in the words student leadership, words that seem to gain recognition as the years progress.

Becoming a Leader
A leader may not always be a manager, and one day you may see an opportunity to lead a project or team within your group, but when do decide the time is right and how do you go about becoming the leader?

Qualities of A Good Leader
The incoming class of LEAD Scholars worked in their classes to define the characteristics of true leadership.

Become a Leader
To achieve success and become a leader, it is important that you believe that your dreams can become a reality. First, you must believe that you are a future leader. You must believe in yourself and your abilities. Leadership starts with confidence, a vision and an idea.

Leadership Matters
Students who demonstrate leadership abilities have a leg up with colleges, universities and employers because, like Superbowl tickets in January, leadership qualities are in demand. Leading the pack is not always easy, but the ability to go first will help you stand out in a stadium-sized crowd of applicants and offer you plenty of other benefits.