Tips for Academic Success

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Not many people know that National Punctuation Day is celebrated in the US on September 24th. It was founded by Jeff Rubin in 2004 to celebrate the correct usage of all punctuation. Although it is celebrated in the fall,we must always be vigilant about making punctuation errors. 

Look at the following sentences. Can you identify the punctuation errors? See the answer key below once you finish. 

My new student job is exciting, I love working with the OIE team.

Ibrahim asked, “Could you tell me where the Office of International Engagement is located”?

Its located in Maucker Union. It’s employees have their offices in MAU 113. 

Come to MAU 113 to meet one of our academic success coaches, and learn more about punctuation rules.  

We offer online and in person assistance in these areas; listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Still not sure if you really know how to punctuate correctly? Take the following punctuation quiz to see if you need to work on punctuation some more. 

To learn more about punctuation rules, use the following resources: Purdue OWL and NIU Punctuation Tutorial. 

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Answer Key:

My new student job is exciting; I love working with the OIE team.  Use a semicolon, not a comma, to connect two independent clauses. 

Ibrahim asked, “Could you tell me where the Office of International Engagement is located?” Put periods, commas, question marks, and exclamation points inside the quotation marks. 

It’s located in Maucker Union. Its employees have their offices in MAU 113. It’s is a contraction that means it is or it has. Its is the possessive form of the pronoun it. 

Come to MAU 113 to meet one of our academic success coaches and learn about punctuation rules. Be careful not to overuse a comma before and. Do not use a comma before and when it does not join two independent clauses, but when it just joins two verbs. 

We offer online and in person assistance in these areas: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Use a colon, not a semicolon, to introduce a list of items.

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University Expectations: Sticking to a Deadline

Deadlines are very important when it comes to success in academic study and your professors, advisors, and peers expect that you will stick to deadlines. Organizing your time can help you avoid costly mistakes and will make your life as a student easier. Think ahead and create a plan for the semester that is manageable and helps you achieve your goals. Here is what you can do to plan your life as a student:

1. Check UNI’s academic calendar. This calendar can help you plan your time on and off campus. You can find answers to the following questions:

When do my classes start?

When is the last day of classes?

When is spring break?

How many holiday breaks do I have?

When do university offices close for the holidays?

2. Check your course syllabi and E-learning. This will help you organize your time every week. The syllabi will list tests, group projects, papers, and other assignments and when they are due. Make sure to check every class for deadlines and mark them on your calendar to avoid missing an important deadline. There is nothing worse than missing points for a late or missed assignment.

3. Find time for fun! UNI campus offers many opportunities to engage and when you plan your week, also look at what’s happening on campus:

Check our the calendar for daily campus events 

International Coffee Hour

Check out Campus Activities Board (CAB) for fund events and trips

Join a student organization

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Are you being a Copycat?

Did you know that there are 5 Academic English Coaches ready to help you every day in the Office of International Engagement here at UNI?

The coaches are here to answer your questions about academic life here at UNI.

One of the most common questions we get from students is about plagiarism. What is it?  How do I avoid it?

Read the email below and see how I, Tom, an Academic English Coach, answered the student.

 

 

Dear Coach Tom,

I’m an international student and I’m having a hard time writing papers and essays. I found some great facts about my topic from an excellent article and cut and pasted the paragraphs into my essay. Last week, my economics professor told me that I had plagiarized my paper. I felt really embarrassed but I don’t know what I did wrong.

Yours,  Nigel

 

Dear Nigel,

Uh-oh. You committed plagiarism. American culture holds the value "self reliance" very deeply, so when a professor feels you plagiarized, they feel you didn't do your paper by yourself. Therefore, you can fail the assignment, fail the course or even face punishment from the university. Here are some things to think about.

Don’t worry! Research shows that most plagiarism in not intentional. The problem is that people don’t know what it is and how to avoid it. You are not a bad person. Most students just need to learn how to avoid plagiarism. We are here to help.

Cite your work! When you write a paper, you have to make sure that you show where you found your information. You need to mention the name of the author in the sentence or in parenthesis at the end of the sentence (Author name, 2019). Always record the page numbers, author, publication, and dates for a good citation. The Academic Integrity office at MIT has easy-to-understand guide to citing sources.
 

Paraphrase it! In addition to citing your work, you need to use your own words. This means to restate the ideas from your research articles in different words and NOT change the meaning. Also, change the grammar (structure) of the original sentence.
 

If you would like to test your sills take this practice quiz - Academic Integrity Tutorial - Falcone Library Le Moyne College from Lenmoyne University. Here is another quiz What is Plagiarism? 

Nigel, I hopes this gets you started in understanding what professors want from you and your writing. The Academic Integrity Tutorial from Lemoyne University provides an in-depth and easy-to-understand discussion of plagiarism. Try it out.

If you have any further questions feel free to contact me, or any of the fine Academic English Coaches at the Office of International Engagement. Here is a link to our schedule.  We are caring experts ready to help you every day of the week, in-person or online. 

Now, let’s practice!  This is a short practice quiz that I give my students in my research writing class.  Decide if each paraphrase is acceptable or unacceptable.

ORIGINAL TEXT: “Further study needs to be done to explore the group differences within the international student population” (Zhao, Kuh, & Carini, 2005, p. 223)

 

Paraphrase 1:  More research is needed to investigate differences in groups in foreign student groups.

◯ Acceptable ◯Unacceptable

 

Paraphrase 2:  According toe Zhao, Kuh and Carini (2005) the topic of international students requires further study be done to explore how each group is different. 

◯ Acceptable ◯Unacceptable

 

Paraphrase 3:  The distinctions between the groups of international students need to be investigated further (Zhao, Kuh, & Carini, 2005).

◯ Acceptable ◯Unacceptable

 

Which paraphrase has 1) different structure, 2) different words and 3) a proper citation?

The answer is #3! 

 

Paraphrase 1 copies words and structure. There is no citation.

◯ Acceptable ⚫Unacceptable

Paraphrase 2 copies words and phrases.

◯ Acceptable ⚫Unacceptable

Paraphrase 3 has different structure and words, and a proper citation.

⚫ Acceptable ◯Unacceptable 

 

Great job!  If you have any further questions please come to our Academic English Success Coaching to learn more. 

Best, Tom

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