In many instances, success requires seeking out help and support. But with so many resources available, how do you narrow down your options? Here is a compilation of resources intended to help you with that search.
STUDY SKILLS AND COLLEGE SUCCESS
Get the Most out of Studying
On this series of short videos, Dr. Stephen Chew (Sanford University) provides excellent advice on learning and study strategies.
Learning How to Learn
Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski offer an extraordinary online course that gives students easy access to invaluable learning techniques used by experts in art, music, literature, math, science, sports, and many other disciplines. The course is self-paced and runs in a four-week cycle, but you can re-enroll in a different section if you lose track of your original cycle.
The Science of Well-Bieng
This is avery popular and free Yale University course, tough by professor Laurie Santos. She teaches not only what psychological research says about what makes us happy but also helps students put those strategies into practice. The course focuses on activities that have been proven to increase happiness along with strategies to build better habits.
College Info Geek
I’m not a big fan of the “study smart, not hard” mentality. But, sometimes, learning quick techniques to enhance productivity is very helpful. College Info Geek Thomas Frank produces and shares videos to help students be more productive. Topics include “study tips to help you learn faster and ace your exams, advice on destroying procrastination, reading and note-taking strategies, and more”.
Dennis Learning Center at Ohio State
The Dennis Learning Center at The Ohio State University provides a great selection of short video tutorials with research-based study techniques and principles.
College Success Guide
Non-profit organization Mapping Your Future offers this free guide and many other resources for a successful college experience.
Study Strategies Library
A great collection of tutorials, handouts, and resources on study skills developed by California Polytechnic State University.
OPENCOURSEWARE
For many years, colleges, universities, and organizations have been sharing a large number of their courses for free. Some use OpenCourseWare websites and others use MOOC platforms like Coursera and EdX. While not exactly the same content you’ll cover in your classes, these online courses provide a plethora of tools like video lectures and handouts or practice quizzes and exams you could use to enhance and/or supplement your learning.
- Carnegie Mellon University (must request independent learner account)
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Yale University
- University of Michigan
- Johns Hopkins University
- Stanford University (under delivery option, select online)
- Open Courseware Consortium
- Coursera (look for the Audit link for the free version of each course)
- EdX
- Khan Academy
- Lumen Learning
If you’d rather browse courses by subject, visit this catalog developed by Class Central or check this list compiled by Dahwal Shah with 450 free Ivy League online courses.
Additional learning resources available on our Apps and more page.
FREE TEXTBOOKS AND OTHER TOOLS
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg offers over 58,000 free eBooks. Books are available as free ePub, Kindle format, or to read online. You will find the world’s great literature, with a focus on older works for which U.S. copyright has expired.
Open Culture
A collection of free cultural and educational resources: courses, textbooks, ebooks, audiobooks, movies and more.
Open Textbook Library
A repository of open textbooks provided via the University of Minnesota.
OpenStax College
From Rice University, OpenStax College also provides free textbooks for college students.
OER Commons
Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching and learning materials that you may freely use and reuse at no cost, and without needing to ask permission.
Online Writing Lab
Purdue’s University Online Writing Lab (OWL) is a very respected tool for reading and writing.
MERLOT
Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching; free instructional and learning materials for online education.