Self-tutoring about academic rules-of-thumb: the tutor mentions slide rules. I’m not old enough (believe it or not) to have used a slide rule. However, I have been taught some slide rules. By this I mean rules about making good slides …
Self-tutoring about academic habits: the tutor mentions one he has developed for large assignments. My first degree was in math: I barely used a PC for it. Virtually everything was handwritten, with solutions written in pencil. (The good old days:) …
Academic habits: file management, part 0: assignment files Read more »
Self-tutoring about academic habits: the tutor mentions the idea of peer-reviewed articles. Sometimes you’re told to seek peer-reviewed articles for information. The idea is that if it’s peer-reviewed, it’s more credible. What about that? A while back, I had to …
Self-tutoring about study habits: the tutor mentions cramming. In my opinion, studying is best done day by day throughout a course. It’s not an original opinion; it’s one I heard countless times as a student. Moreover, I’ve experienced success from …
Self-tutoring about writer’s block: the tutor mentions a way to overcome it. My favourite recommendation for bridging writer’s block is to allow yourself to write at a lower quality. The sub-par writing can then be mined for ideas that may …
The tutor gives a few ideas about email habits. I don’t use email much; at times I’ve used it more. Email is a type of communication that, because it’s recorded, perhaps needs special preparation before engaging. Here are some hints …
Academic habits, Lifestyle: preliminary ideas about successful email communication Read more »
The tutor shares a find he made in the new Microsoft Services Agreement, effective Sept. 15, 2016, relating to work or school accounts. Although I use a lot of open source software, I’m a fan of Microsoft. There are some …
The tutor finds the “keys” to missing sections of text. Especially on a laptop, when I’m typing a post, a chunk of text suddenly disappears. I’ve got in the habit of right-clicking, then clicking undo, to resurrect the accidentally deleted …
Typing: some dangerous hotkeys (keyboard shortcuts) Read more »
The tutor shares some reflections about the fair trade movement in connection with coffee. My wife and I were very poor while I was at university. My joke is that we didn’t eat Kraft Dinner; rather, we ate the store …
The tutor discusses coffee, a cornerstone of the academic lifestyle. In high school, I drank 8 cups of coffee a day. (I’m 6′ anyway; any taller and clothes might not be so easy to find.) My doctor told me, at …