Jefferson State Community College Libraries: Learning Success Center: Academic Success

Smarthinking

Smarthinking is available to all Jefferson State English and Math students. View the brochure for additional information.

Smarthinking's tutors work with students online using a virtual whiteboard. Students can also submit questions offline at anytime and a tutor will respond within 24 hours.

Smarthinking Brochure

Math Tutors

FALL TERM 2022 VIRTUAL HOURS [08/17/2022 - 12/12/2022]

Monday
- 1:00 pm to 9:30 pm
Tuesday
- 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Wednesday
- 1:00 pm to 9:30 pm
Thursday
- 12:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Friday
- 8:30 am to 12:30 pm

SHELBY - HOOVER CAMPUS FALL TERM 2022 ON-CAMPUS HOURS [08/17/2022 - 12/5/2022] IN THE LIBRARY, GSB 122

Wednesday
- 9:30 am to 12:30 pm
Thursday
- 9:30 am to 12:30 pm

JEFFERSON CAMPUS FALL TERM 2022 ON-CAMPUS HOURS [08/17/2022 - 12/5/2022] IN CARSON HALL, ROOM 312

Monday
- 8:45 am to 9:45 am
Wednesday
- 8:45 am to 9:45 am

Writing Tutors

Writing Tutoring Schedule for Current Semester

Online Tutoring Schedule for Fall 2022

Monday
- 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Wednesday
- 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Friday
- 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

On-Campus Tutoring Schedule [Shelby-Hoover Campus]

Monday through Thursday 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
General Studies Building, Room 122 [First Floor]

JSCC Virtual Writing Center
Follow this link to the online writing center for access to a qualified writing tutor.

Study Skills Handouts

College Success Skills

College Success Skills from PrepStep This link opens in a new window
College Success Skills Center provides self-directed study that serves all students and can be a particularly valuable asset to student support services and first-year experience programs. The center helps build essential skills that many students do not possess when they enter college, such as time management, goal setting, organization and multitasking.

PrepStep Access & Registration

College and career readiness is about more than academic knowledge—it’s also about developing the foundational skills and habits that are critical to that success. The tutorials, articles, and eBooks arm students with the skills they need to succeed in the classroom and in life. Each interactive tutorial includes relevant examples, self-assessments, video, audio, and practical tips that students can use in their daily lives.

Organizational Strategies
- Achieve Your Goals
- Effective Multitasking
- Get Organized
- Manage Your Time
Classroom Success Skills
- Effective Classroom Listening
- Memorization Tips and Tricks
- Note-taking Strategies
- Reading Strategies for Class
- Strategies for Success in Online Classes
Getting Academic Support
- Communicating with Your Professor
- Using Campus Resources
Research Skills
- Introduction to Research Skills: Information Literacy
- Finding and Citing Sources
- Understand and Avoid Plagiarism
- Write Like a Scholar
Personal Success Skills
- Develop Healthy Habits
- The Basics of Money Management
- Why Credit Matters
- Managing Your Debt
- Understanding Insurance and Taxes
- Investing for Life

Academic Success: Smart Tips for Serious Students

The transition from high school to college is a lot bigger than many students realize. Help them make the most of their college academic experience with Academic Success—a six-part streaming video series filled with facts, hints, insights, and observations from experts in the field of education and from students who know the ropes. Topics include values and goals; time management; critical thinking and problem-solving; active listening and note-taking; researching, reading, and writing; and studying and test-taking. A Cambridge Educational Production. 6-part series, 10-12 minutes each.

Values and Goals
What are values? What are goals? And how are they connected? These questions are easy to ask, but they’re not so simple to answer. This three-section program combines commentary from educators and students with in-class exercise segments to explore the meaning of values and goals and illustrate how they steer and shape a person’s life—in college and beyond.
Time Management
Compared to high school, where the day is structured down to the minute, college is a blank do-it-yourself calendar. Classes, clubs, sports, part-time jobs…assignments, projects, exams…even time to hang out: all must be penciled in! Over the course of this three-section program, viewers will learn to sidestep common time-management errors and plan out their semesters so they can take control of their time and enjoy a healthy work/life balance.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
By defining critical thinking and examining how it’s applied to the process of problem-solving, this two-section program will show viewers how to handle whatever challenges come their way. An in-class discussion segment on critical thinking explains how to rationally assess a statement and express disagreement, while a similar segment on problem-solving considers what to do when preparing for what appears to be an overwhelmingly tough exam
Active Listening and Note Taking
Lectures and labs are the heart of the college academic experience, and for students eager to make the most of them, active listening and note-taking are powerful learning tools. This two-section program explains how to create a bulletproof listening/note-taking loop that ensures deeper understanding and better recall. Pre-class reading, in-class participation, and post-class review are stressed.
Researching, Reading, and Writing
Faced with a mountain of research to conduct, reading to do, and papers to write, students must work both efficiently and shrewdly. This three-section program tells how to identify and cite reliable online and offline sources of information, carve textbook chapters into manageable chunks, and outline and revise papers—all elements that are essential to getting the job done well.
Studying and Test Taking
Studying is a process, not a last-minute event. It takes strategy to consistently make the grade—both before a test and during. This two-section program brings together educators and students to discuss things that viewers can do to increase their understanding of course material, enhance their ability to memorize, and improve their performance during exams.

Computer Skills Center

Computer Skills Center This link opens in a new window
Learn the fundamentals of your computer, the Internet, and popular software applications with these easy-to-follow multimedia tutorials—and take advantage of all that today’s technology has to offer.

How to use PrepStep

Use the Computer Skills Center to access the following

interactive online computer and technology courses.

Get Started with Your Computer

Getting to Know Your Computer
- Computer Basics 1: Roles of Computers
- Computer Basics 2: Personal Computer
Using Your Desktop Applications
Computer Safety and Maintenance

Get Started with the Internet

Discover the Internet
Using Your Email
Social Media Tools
Internet Safety

Popular Software Tools

Microsoft Access
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Project
Microsoft SharePoint
Microsoft Visio
Microsoft Word

Learn Computer Graphics & Illustration

Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop

Understanding Your Operating System

Windows Operating Systems