First Year Students
Welcome to Western! Making the academic transition from high school to university can be exciting and maybe a little overwhelming. The truth is, university learning is different than high school, but we're here to help!
Learning Development & Success has friendly, professional staff who can answer questions and provide assistance as you adjust to learning in university and as you progress through your studies.
We cover areas such as time management, goal setting, reading textbooks and academic articles, studying for and writing exams, presentation skills, motivation, procrastination, and so much more!
Check out the services below to see how we can help at each stage of your first year:
☀️ Summer
SmartStart: Learning
Learning at university draws on many of the skills you already have, but even so, it takes some time to learn how you will best learn while at Western. This self-guided series will help you develop and enhance learning skills and strategies. These modules are short and are designed to set you up to thrive once classes start.
SmartStart: Academics
This self-study program will help you reinforce key concepts from high school courses to set you up for success in first year. The goal of the program is to help you to build foundational math, science, and writing knowledge needed for your first-year courses, connect with a community of other first-year students, and familiarize yourself with Western's online learning tools.
🍂 Early Fall
Learn2Learn at University
Learn2Learn's goal is to help you with your adjustment to university learning at a time when you need it most – in the earliest weeks of school. Learn2Learn covers important learning topics such as time management, lectures, textbook reading, and studying for tests, and also provides the opportunity to meet with first-year students and connect with valuable campus support services.
❄️ Fall & Winter
Peer Assisted Learning (PAL) Centre
Develop effective learning strategies and get free, one-to-one, course-specific help. Help is provided by highly trained, academically successful senior level students who can provide peer tutoring support in over 150 Western and Affiliate College courses.
Presentations
Our presentations cover a wide variety of important learning-related topics and help you to build your learning toolkit. Recordings of our presentations are online and available for you to access at any time. Our presentations are also offered in-person through the fall and winter terms.
Individual Appointments
Confidential appointments with learning specialists are available to help students achieve academic success. Our learning specialists help you to improve performance and increase efficiency by developing new learning strategies and discovering ways to improve motivation and lessen academic stress.
Mindfulness Supports
Mindfulness can help improve focus, lower anxiety, and enhance your learning. You can learn about the benefits of mindfulness by going through our online material or course and by joining our drop-in or registration-based mindfulness groups throughout the term.
