Making the transition from high school to postsecondary education

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You might be familiar with the basic laws and tenants of IDEA, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, that governed your rights and responsibilities as a K-12 student. IDEA provides the legal structure for schools to create and implement an IEP (individualized education program) or a 504 plan.

Something you may not know is that your IEP or 504 plan doesn’t “transfer” from high school to college.

Colleges and universities are under the direction of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Cct. As a student in a postsecondary institution, such as OSU, you are now responsible for requesting and managing your accommodations.

This website provides a great Q&A about ADA and Section 504 as it applies to postsecondary education:  http://www.pacer.org/publications/adaqa/504.asp:

Many parents of students with disabilities have learned the basics of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). However, as students and their families prepare for the transition from secondary school to postsecondary options they often find they are less familiar with the protections provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

It is crucial that students and their advocates become knowledgeable about their rights and responsibilities in postsecondary education because, although protections exist, the student has considerably more responsibility to request and design their own accommodations. And this responsibility is ongoing. For many students with disabilities, good self-advocacy skills will be key to success, and knowing your rights is one essential element of effective self-advocacy.

If you have any further questions about your rights and responsibilities as a student registered with a disability at OSU check out our rights and responsibilities page in the student handbook: http://ds.oregonstate.edu/handbook/handbook.php?chapter=2.

Working this summer? Considering disclosing your disability? Read this guide to disclosing a disability…

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Whether you have already found a job or will be looking as soon as finals week is over it is important to think about some issues about disclosing your disability.

Check out this guide created by the University of Minnesota’s Career and Community learning center for some great tips!

https://www.class.umn.edu/crimson/dependancies/multimedia/disclosing_a_disability_4web.pdf

Learning Styles…they make a difference!

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By: Jennifer Gossett, Coordinator Notetaking Services and Student Support

Many of you probably have taken some type of learning style assessment in your lifetime. Do you know your learning style? If you do know how you learn best, do you apply that in your study techniques?

Many people know there learning style, but don’t know how to use it. The subject of today’s blog is to talk about specific ways you can utilize your learning style to pump up your study techniques and hopefully increase your success in the classroom.

What is your learning style?

Have you heard of the VAK? The VAK stands for a learning style inventory that determines whether you are a visual, auditory, or Kinesthetic learner. The VAK is only one type of learning style inventory/assessment out there and there are a myriad of learning theories that have been used to determine learning styles. Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning_styles.

I recommend the Building Excellence (BE) Survey available at http://www.learningstyles.net/. The survey is a great assessment tool to find out what learning preferences you have. The BE explores how the time of day, whether or not you are eating or drinking, room lighting, and many more variables might can affect your ability to learn.

How can learning your learning style help you?

So…after you learn your learning style what’s next? The BE survey results give specific recommendations on how to study. It might also be helpful to employ study techniques designed for multiple learning styles.

If you have the luxury of choosing types of courses and professors within your major it may be helpful to take into consideration your learning style along with the professors teaching method and course structure.

Visual Learners (learn best by seeing/reading)

  • Use diagrams or visual representations to help you remember processes, events, timelines, etc.
  • Make outlines.
  • Watch videos or movies related to the material.
  • Take notes and copy diagrams from the board.
  • Color code your notes or readings using different colored pens or highlighters.
  • Underline or circle important words in your notes or book.

Auditory Learners (learn best by hearing/listening/speaking)

  • Hear it, say it, write it. This will help you remember important information.
  • Record and replay your lectures
  • Watch videos or movies related to the material
  • Participate in class discussions or discuss information in a study group

Kinesthetic Learners (learn best by doing/touching)

  • If you are struggling with complex information it may help to break up study sessions into shorter periods of time
  • Learn how information can be applied in real world situations
  • Repeat or practice hands-on tasks like science labs multiple times
  • Use flash cards
  • Participate in class discussions and study groups
  • Teach others the information in a study group
  • Visit places related to the material (i.e. museums)

It’s important to remember that applying different study techniques will increase the chance that the information will “stick” and you’ll be able to remember it for that 8:00 a.m. exam.

For more study techniques based on your learning style you can make an appointment for Academic Coaching! DAS students should contact a DAS staff member for an appointment by calling 541-737-4098.