I now know my learning style and it is helping me to learn effectively.
Do you know yours?
In class, do you usually
a) make friends with just a few students
or
B) get to know many of your classmates?
2)At a socialll event, do you
a) usually wait for people to speak to me or
b) initiate conversation with others?
3. As a volunteer for a community organization that is raising funds for a hopice, which of these following tasks do you prefer?
a) Stuffing envelops for a mail campaign
or
b) making phone calls asking for contributioins
4) If you decide to learn a musical instrument, would you prefer to make
A) one-on-one lessons
or
b) group lessons
5) Whenever possible, do you choose to
a) Study alone
or
b) study with a study group
6) A career in which my work depends on that of others is
a) less appealing than working alone
or
b) more appealing than working lone
7) To solve a personal problem, you prefer to
a) think about it yourself
or
b) talk it through with friends
If you have more of a's as answers, you are an independent learner and if you have more b's, you are a social learner.
Adapted from Successful College Writing by Kathleen T. McWhorter
Thursday, December 29, 2005
Friday, December 16, 2005
Who Wins the First Class Prize?
Think of the cost of the cost of schooling in a world class university, abroad.Think of the hurdles in securing a VISA.
Think of the weather which you, as an African, will not easily get adapted to.
Think of your families you might miss for the four years because in most cases you would really not like to return home when on a semester holiday on considering it in economic terms.
Think of all the set back of schooling abroad; lots of them which I can’t get a grasp of right now and you will agree with me that words are not enough to say thank you to this great man whose dream is having a world class university in Africa.
Yes, I mean that I have not yet found any word to use and if you do find one, a huge prize awaits you.
If you are a ‘lexicon professor’, this is a chance because you could be the first person to win the First prize in myaaun.blogspot.com
Just to find a more powerful world than
‘‘Thank You’’ and you will win the prize.
No one is exempted, not even me.
My contribution is:
Thaaaa….nnnkkkk You veeeeri veeeri much, sir. WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL
And the entire First Class of Freshman Student Says:
Na gi dadi
Na gode amma fa,
Naji dadi
Na yi Farin ciki.
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Info: Do you know Isaac Asimov?
Perhaps Isaac Asimov and I have something in common, writing. Once called "the human writing machine," according to spotlight on literature, Isaac Asimov (1929 - 1992) was the author of over 470 books. "I must write," the prolific Asimov would say. "I look upon everything but writing as an interrution".
Spotlight on literature says he is perhaps the most widely known science fiction writer in the world. Among his honors were five Hugo Awards from the world of science fiction series (for his foundation services); best novel 1973 (for the Gods thenselves); and best short story1983 (for "the Bicetennical man").
The science fiction writers of America voted his work"Nightfall" the best all the science fiction story.
Asimov also wrote dozens of popular nonfiction books and articles about science, maths and other topics.
Spotlight on literature says he is perhaps the most widely known science fiction writer in the world. Among his honors were five Hugo Awards from the world of science fiction series (for his foundation services); best novel 1973 (for the Gods thenselves); and best short story1983 (for "the Bicetennical man").
The science fiction writers of America voted his work"Nightfall" the best all the science fiction story.
Asimov also wrote dozens of popular nonfiction books and articles about science, maths and other topics.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
A Weakend Taken for Granted
“Thank God it is Friday”
This is a statement that is common among workers. I was yet to know why this is so, prior to my coming to AAUN, but the week that ended 15th of October, 2005, made it clear to me.
The week was a very hectic one, as usual and that weekend, I was not less busy, either. But it did promise to be less hectic as there were no classes and this made me took it for granted.
There were lots of assignments to be done over the weekend.
-there was the statistics assignment which I knew I could do under two hours.
-there was SBE 101 assignment, but the due date was farther than others, so I kept it aside.
-the chemistry assignment for that weekend was a group one, so I need not border about it yet, since we (my group members) had agreed to meet in the library on Sunday evening to do it.
-the most tasking assignment awaiting me was a reflection paper on HUM 101(western civilization), and the due date was a week from then. I had already started it though, but I just needed to put it by the side because more impending ones were at hand. These were on WRI 101 and ITC 101.
I was happy that I had succeeded in arranging them to a scale of preference. Oh “Two major assignments to do”, I felt there was more time to do them – Saturday and Sunday.
I decided to join my friends in the football pitch. “Thank God, it is weekend, let’s have fun guys, let’s have fun.” This was my voice as I ran out of the dorm, and dashed into the pitch like a mad dog chasing a bone. I was really doing this to free myself from the shackles of the academic rigor (bulk of assignment). In fact I played the game like I have never done before. I had to make it an interesting one. I really played like a first class footballer, just what it should be expected of an AAUN first class student that I am. And it was my first football game in AAUN. It was like there was no problem in the world, when I was playing – I was totally oblivious of my impending assignments.
We eventually came to the end of the game. I returned to the dorm, took my bath and went for lunch in the dinning hall. The time was 12 o’clock noon and I decided to take my siesta.
I slept for about 2 hours and I remembered that I needed to do some washing. In fact, almost all my clothes were dirty because I had not washed my clothes since the three weeks that I had been in the school. This was an opportunity, I thought. I then decided to wash all of my clothes which took about five hours. Thereafter, I brought my “to do list file” and browse through the items that were in my lists. I saw my list of campus newspaper publication entry to be proofread and my course assignments that were pending.
Although, it was easy for me to recognize that my course assignments were the most important, yet I found it hard to select which assignment needed to be done before the others. The usual thing for me was to do the less difficult ones before the harder ones, but in the time management workshop I had attended recently, then, I was taught that doing the most difficult assignment before the less difficult ones was a better option. Much as I would have like to try this latter new method, I taught it wise to make my choice base on the due date for the assignments. I was to have western civilization, statistics and chemistry classes on the following school day (Monday). So I made up my mind to do those first.
No sooner had I made up my mind to start doing the assignments, than two of my friends came saying it was time for dinner and we went for it. “Oh yeah”, let’s go and we left for the dinning hall. Then the “what’s next guys” topic was raised by one of my friends and somebody reminded the trio of the night movie that was coming up in the next 30 minutes, then. At first, I thought about my assignment and told my friends that I was not going for the movie night. They would not like that I know, but I just have to say it. The power to say “NO” learnt during my time management workshop, was yet to be fully established in me; Behold, I agreed to their demand.
The movie ended 10’o clock and in the next fifteen minutes, I was asleep in my room. I was very tired. I woke up in the middle of the night. I imagined how the time had flown. I thought of the achievement of the day and I was surprised that no meaningful successes were made through out the 12 hours of that day. I was depressed as a result of this and I pitied myself for my condition.
I tried to be courageous and tried to do some of the assignment on that night, in my room. But it seemed the room was not ok then I decided to go to the room where I can place my books on the table to write but I could not. I kept on thinking how I wasted the whole of the day time. I try not to think of this, but the more I tried, the harder it becomes for me. My enthusiasm was then very low and I was very lazy. I then packed my books and left the reading room, for my room to sleep.
It was a sunday morning. I woke up early as I was a morning person. Without wasting any time, started working on my assignment. I was glad to be through with those I needed to submit the following day before lunch. I had my bathe, went to the cafeteriate and then to the library for the chemistry group workassignment sheduled at 3 o'clock.
Monday was always a busy day for me because I not only had three courses, but because I have laboratory class to attend on this day. The closing hour was 5 o’clock and got to the room. I had to have some little rest before going for dinner at 7. But a little rest turned into, not just a short nap, but a very deep sleep. I woke up 3.o’clock at night. I was surprised that I had slept that long. I could not accept this time on my table clock to be correct. I looked at my room mate’s clock and it was correlating with it. I felt like slapping myself on the face for not setting the alarm on, so that I could wake up to do my assignment. I was very hungry and this was unusual. I then realized that I had missed dinner. So I took some snacks, then I quickly brought out my ITC 101 textbook and with my laptop, went to the reading room to do my assignment.
There were three tasking assignments to be done but I still found myself still battling with just the second one. That is ITC; a course that eats more than half of every AAUN student time. It was dawn and I then put off the assignment for the writing assignment.
The reading assignment was to read and annotate a five (5) page passage and I needed to do this because we were to have a test on it on this particular day. So I dashed on it with the hope of coming back to my ITC assignment. But the passage seemed very complicated to grasp at first read. I then settled down to read it quite slowly; this time got some lines underlined.
How foolish was I not to be time conscious.
I had settled down to do the assignment, since we had our test on the passage that morning. Writing was the first course for that day, an 8 o’clock class! No sooner had I noticed noise coming from students who were going for classes, than I realizing that I it was time for classes. I quickly rush to the bathroom, had a 5 seconds bath and got dressed for classes.
The full realization that I had taken the weekend for granted came when I stepped into the class and saw that the test had started 15 minutes ago. I learnt my lesson!
This is a statement that is common among workers. I was yet to know why this is so, prior to my coming to AAUN, but the week that ended 15th of October, 2005, made it clear to me.
The week was a very hectic one, as usual and that weekend, I was not less busy, either. But it did promise to be less hectic as there were no classes and this made me took it for granted.
There were lots of assignments to be done over the weekend.
-there was the statistics assignment which I knew I could do under two hours.
-there was SBE 101 assignment, but the due date was farther than others, so I kept it aside.
-the chemistry assignment for that weekend was a group one, so I need not border about it yet, since we (my group members) had agreed to meet in the library on Sunday evening to do it.
-the most tasking assignment awaiting me was a reflection paper on HUM 101(western civilization), and the due date was a week from then. I had already started it though, but I just needed to put it by the side because more impending ones were at hand. These were on WRI 101 and ITC 101.
I was happy that I had succeeded in arranging them to a scale of preference. Oh “Two major assignments to do”, I felt there was more time to do them – Saturday and Sunday.
I decided to join my friends in the football pitch. “Thank God, it is weekend, let’s have fun guys, let’s have fun.” This was my voice as I ran out of the dorm, and dashed into the pitch like a mad dog chasing a bone. I was really doing this to free myself from the shackles of the academic rigor (bulk of assignment). In fact I played the game like I have never done before. I had to make it an interesting one. I really played like a first class footballer, just what it should be expected of an AAUN first class student that I am. And it was my first football game in AAUN. It was like there was no problem in the world, when I was playing – I was totally oblivious of my impending assignments.
We eventually came to the end of the game. I returned to the dorm, took my bath and went for lunch in the dinning hall. The time was 12 o’clock noon and I decided to take my siesta.
I slept for about 2 hours and I remembered that I needed to do some washing. In fact, almost all my clothes were dirty because I had not washed my clothes since the three weeks that I had been in the school. This was an opportunity, I thought. I then decided to wash all of my clothes which took about five hours. Thereafter, I brought my “to do list file” and browse through the items that were in my lists. I saw my list of campus newspaper publication entry to be proofread and my course assignments that were pending.
Although, it was easy for me to recognize that my course assignments were the most important, yet I found it hard to select which assignment needed to be done before the others. The usual thing for me was to do the less difficult ones before the harder ones, but in the time management workshop I had attended recently, then, I was taught that doing the most difficult assignment before the less difficult ones was a better option. Much as I would have like to try this latter new method, I taught it wise to make my choice base on the due date for the assignments. I was to have western civilization, statistics and chemistry classes on the following school day (Monday). So I made up my mind to do those first.
No sooner had I made up my mind to start doing the assignments, than two of my friends came saying it was time for dinner and we went for it. “Oh yeah”, let’s go and we left for the dinning hall. Then the “what’s next guys” topic was raised by one of my friends and somebody reminded the trio of the night movie that was coming up in the next 30 minutes, then. At first, I thought about my assignment and told my friends that I was not going for the movie night. They would not like that I know, but I just have to say it. The power to say “NO” learnt during my time management workshop, was yet to be fully established in me; Behold, I agreed to their demand.
The movie ended 10’o clock and in the next fifteen minutes, I was asleep in my room. I was very tired. I woke up in the middle of the night. I imagined how the time had flown. I thought of the achievement of the day and I was surprised that no meaningful successes were made through out the 12 hours of that day. I was depressed as a result of this and I pitied myself for my condition.
I tried to be courageous and tried to do some of the assignment on that night, in my room. But it seemed the room was not ok then I decided to go to the room where I can place my books on the table to write but I could not. I kept on thinking how I wasted the whole of the day time. I try not to think of this, but the more I tried, the harder it becomes for me. My enthusiasm was then very low and I was very lazy. I then packed my books and left the reading room, for my room to sleep.
It was a sunday morning. I woke up early as I was a morning person. Without wasting any time, started working on my assignment. I was glad to be through with those I needed to submit the following day before lunch. I had my bathe, went to the cafeteriate and then to the library for the chemistry group workassignment sheduled at 3 o'clock.
Monday was always a busy day for me because I not only had three courses, but because I have laboratory class to attend on this day. The closing hour was 5 o’clock and got to the room. I had to have some little rest before going for dinner at 7. But a little rest turned into, not just a short nap, but a very deep sleep. I woke up 3.o’clock at night. I was surprised that I had slept that long. I could not accept this time on my table clock to be correct. I looked at my room mate’s clock and it was correlating with it. I felt like slapping myself on the face for not setting the alarm on, so that I could wake up to do my assignment. I was very hungry and this was unusual. I then realized that I had missed dinner. So I took some snacks, then I quickly brought out my ITC 101 textbook and with my laptop, went to the reading room to do my assignment.
There were three tasking assignments to be done but I still found myself still battling with just the second one. That is ITC; a course that eats more than half of every AAUN student time. It was dawn and I then put off the assignment for the writing assignment.
The reading assignment was to read and annotate a five (5) page passage and I needed to do this because we were to have a test on it on this particular day. So I dashed on it with the hope of coming back to my ITC assignment. But the passage seemed very complicated to grasp at first read. I then settled down to read it quite slowly; this time got some lines underlined.
How foolish was I not to be time conscious.
I had settled down to do the assignment, since we had our test on the passage that morning. Writing was the first course for that day, an 8 o’clock class! No sooner had I noticed noise coming from students who were going for classes, than I realizing that I it was time for classes. I quickly rush to the bathroom, had a 5 seconds bath and got dressed for classes.
The full realization that I had taken the weekend for granted came when I stepped into the class and saw that the test had started 15 minutes ago. I learnt my lesson!
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Verbal and Spartial Learning Style
I now know my learning styles. Do you know yours?
1. Which would you find more helpful in studying the processes by which the U.S. Constitution can be amended?
a) a one-paragraph summary
or
b) a diagram
2. If you were studying one of the laws of motion in a physics course, you would prefer to have you r instructor begin the class by
a) stating the law and discussing examples
or
b) giving demonstratioin of how the law works
3. If you wanted to learn the proper way to prune a rosebush, you would prefer to
a) have someone explain it to me
or
b) watch someone do it.
4. You learn best when you
a) write down the information
or
b) form a mental picture of the information
5. If you took appart a complicated toy or machine to repair it, to help you reassemble it, yo would
a) write a list of the steps you followed when taking it apart
or
b) draw a diagram of the toy or machine
6. You prefer to keep up with the news by
a) reading a newspaper
or
b) watching television news programs
7. For recreation, you would rather do a
a) crossword puzzle
or
b) jig-saw puzzle
If you have more a's then you are a verbal learner.
But if you have more b's, then you are a spatial learner.
1. Which would you find more helpful in studying the processes by which the U.S. Constitution can be amended?
a) a one-paragraph summary
or
b) a diagram
2. If you were studying one of the laws of motion in a physics course, you would prefer to have you r instructor begin the class by
a) stating the law and discussing examples
or
b) giving demonstratioin of how the law works
3. If you wanted to learn the proper way to prune a rosebush, you would prefer to
a) have someone explain it to me
or
b) watch someone do it.
4. You learn best when you
a) write down the information
or
b) form a mental picture of the information
5. If you took appart a complicated toy or machine to repair it, to help you reassemble it, yo would
a) write a list of the steps you followed when taking it apart
or
b) draw a diagram of the toy or machine
6. You prefer to keep up with the news by
a) reading a newspaper
or
b) watching television news programs
7. For recreation, you would rather do a
a) crossword puzzle
or
b) jig-saw puzzle
If you have more a's then you are a verbal learner.
But if you have more b's, then you are a spatial learner.
Friday, September 30, 2005
First Class Orientation; a welcome to AAUN
Before coming to AAUN, I have always had the intention of studying abroad to have an American Education. This was my desire since being a high school student. There is no doubt that AAUN has enabled me to achieve this. I got to know about the school one thursday afternoon in July 2005, as I read an article about the school on Punch newspaper. Though I was already in a Nigerian University studying mechanical Engineering, I immediately made up my mind that I was going to attend this school. I read about the facilities the school has and the vission and mission of the school. On visiting the school's website the day after, I immediately downloaded the application form and started my application process.
Dr Cherry Pavlick was the first person to interview me while looking through my documents ( during the registration process of the orientation). Standing at her back is Professor Kah, the dean of the school of informatioin technology.
I was driven most by two things. First was the fact that the school has Information Technology; my desired course of study from birth. So, I knew it was going to be a dream come through for me. Although many of my friends and relations (parents and Uncles) never saw the need of me leaving my 200 level Mechanincal Engineering in a Federal Nigerian University, but I was convinced that it was the desired change I had seek all my life.
The second was my desire for having a (modern day) world class university in West Africa. The website of the University says it is going to be the first of its kind in the Sub-Saharah Africa. This has been my quest and I had been (am still) thinking of building one in Nigeria (in the future). I was then so curious to see how the first modern world class University in Sub-Saharah Africa is being built and to contribute my quota towards the project."What is it like to be taught by "up-to-date" world class faculty with modern facilities?", I had always immagined. How would the school be viewed as one situated in the midst of an already decayed educational system? It would be a total new begining for Nigeria and the African continent in general. At last we would have a world class university that can compete favourably with its counterparts in other parts of the world.
On thursday the 8th of September, 2005 saw my coming into the AAUN campus to be welcomed by the most hospitable set of community I have ever come across all my life; the AAUN community. The orientation was the first meaningful one I had and it seems it was going to go on and on. Starting with the President's babeque dinner so rich and spendid, the memories of the FIRST CLASS OF THE AAUN FRESHMAN STUDENT'S ORIENTATION can't be wiped so easily. The orientation came to a climax with a movie in the eve of sunday 11th. Then it was time to get started.
A time to Prepare for the first class (lecture)! That was surpose to be it, after a student have got his books and time table, but I never realized this before then, as being the trick for college survival (preparing before class) and I was so tired that the next thing I did after the movie was to go to bed and wake up by 7 o'clock the following morning. My first class was statistics but I ended up having it as the course that bored me the most in the school. Other courses were just great.
My western civilization course is about the course that excited me the most. The Pr
ofessor, Bill Hanseen is extremely wonderful. He is nothing but the down to earth professor being very diplomatic and charismatic in his teaching style (though it is typical for all my Professors). By the way, I didn't tell you something that astonished me during the orientatioin. The manner in which my professors were/are modest and very active, unlike my former school. My professors and the deans where all engaged in the orientation that welcomed us to the school. I observe on so many occasions, my professors and even the deans having to move (arrange) chairs, for us to sit. I also remember how they had been active in ensuring that we all (130 students in the fall semester) got registered and get our identity card a day before the start of classes. A math placement test was done a day prior to this registration and the result of this was used in determine which maths class a student should best fit into so that every one move at his own pace. I will not stop talking about that first class orientation.
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