How to Succeed At Transitioning to Online Schooling!
Given the rapid switch to remote learning this term, this new environment of online learning has had its ups and downs. Here are some resources to help with this challenge.
Pick Your Brain: The Neuroscience of Motivation
As a fellow student, I know what it’s like to wake up and have absolutely no motivation to get any work done. Have you ever wondered what the neuroscience behind motivation is?
Things to Do for Free from Home
Stuck at home with nothing to do? Here are some free things you can access from home!
Why are Office Hours Important?
In my earlier years at UBC I rarely went to office hours, but more recently learned how helpful they are. I believe that going to office hours often have a considerable benefit.
How I Navigated an Academic Dilemma
I have always been indecisive, but going to university and spending all this money on a degree made me nervous. I wanted to know what to do and I wanted to just get through it as fast as I could.
Mindfulness Meditation as a tool for Mental Health and Academic Success.
Do you wonder why we have negative or positive thoughts? Meditators believe it stems from the formation of attachments to our thoughts and behaviors.
How to Recover from an Interview Failure
Your first job interview can be intimidating. For me, my first interview was a nightmare.
New Year, New Reads: Book Recommendations for the New Decade
If your goal is read more this new year, you are in luck! These books explore the different lived experiences of a variety of individuals; reading is a great way to open our eyes to different perspectives.
Homesickness and the Education System as a First Year Student
Did September to December go by in a flash? Are you feeling excited and nervous at the same still figuring out where you fit at university?
Writing Support for Undergrads: Term 2, 2019-20
This semester, the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication is hosting a number of workshops and events to support undergraduate writing at UBC.
Welcome Back!
Welcome back all UBC students! The Chapman Learning Commons hopes that everyone had a well-rested holiday surrounded by family and friends. We can’t wait to see everyone back in our space!
Mental Health and Students’ Academic Lives
Everyone has mental health. Many of us struggle with mental health problems and some of us will experience mental illness. As a student, your mental health matters.
Mental Health and Students’ Social Lives
We looked at mental health and its effects on academics in the first blog. This time we will look at mental health and its effects on one’s social life.
Accessibility of the Chapman Learning Commons Website
We are extremely proud to announce that we have made the Chapman Learning Commons website more accessible for various users.
Combating Winter Blues
Anyone who was in Vancouver for this past summer knows how amazing the weather was. Now that we’re back at school, the weather is starting to match our moods – grey.
Why It Is Not So Hard to Earn Some Cash and Experience in Your University Years
School is busy, but gaining some work experience can be a good idea if you have enough time for a part-time job.
What I Would Do Differently If I Could Do University All Over Again
My growing excitement to write this post quickly diminished when I realized my days as a university student was drawing to a close. How do I even begin to pen my experience?
Learn to write, write to learn
Here’s an insider secret: There’s no such thing as the “ideal writer” who can do every type of writing perfectly. If writing is intimidating to you, this is good news.
When things don’t quite go like you PLAN-ned
Lists. Agendas. 5-year plans. 10-year plans. In university, we are consistently planning and encouraged to do so.
I Think I Can!
Many students may not realize how significant self-efficacy can be to their academic success, let alone know what it means.
Tech Talk Tuesdays
Tech Talk Tuesdays is a series created on our Instagram page to provide students with information on how to use equipment available for loan at our Help Desk.
Why do we write at universities?
Instructors ask you to write because in the world of academia, writing is the primary form of communication used to share knowledge.
Sleep, Exercise and Balance: Part III
Balancing schoolwork with personal life or family relationships could even improve your academic performance and boost your personal wellbeing.
An Interview with Writing Consultants
We recently sat down with four of our consultants to ask them a few questions about Writing Consultations and the writing process.
Sleep, Exercise and Balance: Part II
In Part 2 of this three-part series, we examine the role of exercise and physical activity and their impact on exam scores.
Sleep, Exercise and Balance: Part I
In Part 1 of this three-part series, we explore the importance of sleep on student achievement and well-being.
How to Excel at Teamwork
4 tips and tricks that will help you to work confidently and contribute ideas effectively while working in a team setting!
Setting Intentions and Getting to Work
It’s here! A new year. A new semester. How do we form more positive habits? We share some of our favourite apps to get the new year started off!
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays from everyone at the Chapman Learning Commons team! Click here for our holiday help desk hours. We look forward to seeing you in the new year!
Decision Making: Does Stress Recovery Exist?
How does stress impact our ability to make decisions? What are the best techniques to have a productive, relaxing winter break post exam?
Belonging to Tomorrow: Can Procrastination Be a Good Thing?
What is the brain science behind procrastination? Can procrastination as a student sometimes be a good thing?
On Decision Making: What matters to us?
What decisions do students go through here at UBC? What matters to them? And, how exactly do students go through the decision making process?
Fall Farewells and Reflections
Self-reflection can help you to further develop your skills, learn from your mistakes, and engage with your learning on a deeper level.
What’s Your Fix?
It’s 2 a.m. in the morning and you glance at the bottom of your Word document. 1500 words to go in 7 hours, I can do this. But the long day of unengaging classes, standing at work and arguing with your roommate about chores just makes you want to hit the sack. No, I […]
What Does It Mean to Network?
“The exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions.” Or at least, that’s how Merriam-Webster defines the word ‘networking’. While that may seem a reasonable definition, I myself still have a few questions, namely: What kind of information? What kind of services? To what end are these individuals, groups, or institutions exchanging said […]
Struggling? Stressed?: Adopting a positive attitude to challenges
Students at UBC are often well-versed with the myriad of resources available on campus. Throw one of us a problem and we can often quickly spit out a resource that we know our peers and ourselves can access: “Feeling sick?” “Go to the doctor?” “Not getting the grade you want in classes?” “Get a tutor.” […]
What Does it Mean to Be a Professional?
‘Professionalism’ is one of those buzzwords which often gets tossed around by people who want to give you career advice. But what does it mean to be a professional? Rarely does anyone give a precise definition of what it means to act professionally, and when someone does, they generally produce a rigid list of rules […]
Are We All Just Robots?
University students are often faced with endless streams of assignments, midterms and tests. We are frequently worried about whether we are: taking the right classes to maximize our GPA, getting into that major that will look “competitive” on our CV, and making sure that we are checking off the requirements for graduation. All of this […]
The Golden Rules of Academic Integrity
Academic integrity often seems like a rather nebulous concept to incoming university students. The term sounds strong, but it is also incredibly vague. The result is that many simply embrace the “I know it when I see it” approach to something which really ought to be approached with care. As scholars at a public research […]
#ProfWalks
Join us every Tuesday throughout the summer, at 12noon in front of Irving K Barber Learning Centre, East Mall entrance, for a short walk around somewhere different on campus and meet students and faculty members from all different disciplines!
Improving Campus Sustainability
As we kick off Bike to Work Week here at UBC, now seems a good time to reflect on the issue of sustainability, and more specifically, on what we can do as a community to create a more sustainable campus culture. While it’s easy to feel as though your own actions don’t matter in the […]
Making a Career Out of Your Degree
Here at the Chapman Learning Commons, we have a student-run podcast called in[Tuition] which takes an in-depth look at campus issues from the student’s perspective. In our most recent episode, my partner Laila and I asked what was wrong with getting an Arts degree. While we found that there were many highly successful Arts graduates […]
How to Stay Hungry and Foolish Over the Summer
With classes out, the overall decrease in academic stress can often leave students without any clear sense of purpose. However, it also opens up many new avenues for personal achievement. Whether you’re taking classes, working a job, or immersing yourself in foreign cultures, in the words of the late Steve Jobs, now is the time […]
Is Student Health A Myth?
As the semester draws to a close, stress is heightened more than ever not only because of academic factors but also through our personal lives as well. With all of these stresses, one of the first things to fall through the cracks for a lot of people is their health and well-being. Health covers […]