Academic Skill Handouts

Looking to develop your academic skills? Check out our handouts!

> College Success 101

Classroom Tips

• Getting the Most Out of Lectures
• Improving Class Participation
• Tips for Focusing During Class

Communication Tips

• Emailing Your Professors
• Getting the Most Out of Office Hours
• Organizing Your Email Inbox

Goal Setting

• Setting and Achieving Goals
• Long-Term and Short-Term Goals

Group Work

• Effective Group Projects
• Study Group Tips
• Scheduling Poll Websites
  • Doodle
  • Calendly

Notetaking

• Notetaking
• Leveraging Class Slides

Stress Management

• Counseling Center Self Help Resources
• Overcoming Test Anxiety
• Stress Management and Self-Care
  • UCLA Guided Meditations
    • Guided meditations of various lengths, offered in multiple languages

Study Skills

• Active Recall Spreadsheet (Google Sheets template)
• Active Study Skills
• Active Study Technique Inventory (new for Fall 2025!)
• Improving Concentration
• Memorization Techniques
• Nine Traps to Studying
• Getting the Most Out of Lectures
• Reading a Textbook

Subject Specific Tips

• Tips for Succeeding in Chemistry
• Tips for Succeeding in Physics
• Tips for Succeeding in Math
• Tips for Succeeding in Accounting
  • Fifteen Tips for Studying Accounting by Tom Conway (Hendrix College)
  • Accounting Study and Test Taking Tips from Furman University
• Tips for Succeeding in the Social Sciences
• Statistics Study Tips from Queensborough Community College-CUNY
• LabWrite

Test Taking

• Overcoming Test Anxiety
• Test Analysis: Course Resources Inventory (Fillable PDF) (Google Doc Copy)
• Test Analysis: Study Method Inventory (Fillable PDF) (.docx download)
• Test Anxiety from the Counseling Center
• Tips for Test Taking
• Tips for Specific Types of Tests
• Thriving During Finals (Prezi presentation)
• Thriving During Finals Handout

Time and Stress Management

• Keeping Track of Assignments
• Time Management
• Time Management Inventory (Google Doc copy)
• To-Do List Strategies
• Weekly and Monthly Study Plan (Google Doc copy) (.docx download)

Writing and Research

• Writing and Research Resources
  • See “Citation Styles” section for reference formatting (APA, Chicago, MLA, and others)
• Scientific Lab Reports
  • Find more document formats under the “Undergraduate Genres” and “Graduate Genres” sections of “Writing and Research Resources“
• Speeches and Oral Presentations: For more speech assistance, see the Checklist for Evaluating a Presentation

Resources from Other Universities

• Oregon State University Learning Corner
• Purdue University Academic Success Center
• UNC Learning Center
• Time Management Calculator: An interactive calculator that allows you to calculate how much time you have for various activities based on the number of credit hours you are enrolled in. Provided by the University of Pittsburgh.

Looking for additional help? All ASC tutors and peer mentors are trained to assist students with academic and study skill strategies pertinent to their assigned courses. If you would like help in addition to these handouts, you can also email academic-success@ncsu.edu to discuss your particular concerns.