Final  exam season is officially on! Exams always bring a certain amount of stress. For the most part, stress is great and useful. It keeps you alert and focus and can be turned into excitement rather than anxiety. But for many students, too much stress can lead to test anxiety, with varying consequences on exam performance and distress. In the last episode of this series, we talk about how to recognize test anxiety, how to develop strategies to  prevent it, to mitigate its effect during an exam, and importantly, what to do if things go horribly wrong.References used for this episode:https://learningcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/tackling-test-anxiety/https://sass.queensu.ca/resources/online/test-anxietyhttps://opentextbc.ca/studentsuccess/chapter/test-anxiety/https://www.anxietycanada.com/articles/thinking-traps/To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

Going to university is a social experience for many students. You meet so many new people and make new connections, whether these are professional or personal. It is a time of change, when new friendships may arise and old friendships peter out. As you progress through your degree (or change it), interests are in constant flux and the people that revolve around these interests come and go. It can also be a time of loneliness, perhaps you have gone to a university where you have no connections, perhaps there is a language or cultural barrier, perhaps you are simply shy and you need to  force yourself to get out there to create new connections.  Follow us as we talk about making connections with students, TAs and profs, the challenges, the surprises, the strategies, the beauty and sometimes the pain too.To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

Midterm season is well under way and perhaps you are feeling a little burned out? You are not alone and without any resources! During this reading, listen to yourself if you need to take a break. You can also listen to our podcast for a bit of inspiration on what sort of break might work better for you or simply commiserate on how hard life can be as a student.Should you need help, here are a few resources:Good 2 talk post-secondary helpline (Ontario: 1-866-925-5454)uOttawa immediate Wellness support line: 613-562-5411Finding Flow Solutions : offers training modules to better learn how to reflect on your work habits and find solutions to learn how to overcome workflow barriers.Take care and rest well!To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

After pondering the meaning of being an adult, we wonder if students are and want to be treated as adults at university. No one here is an expert, defining what it means to be treated as an adult is work in progress, but we do have a few comments and ideas that may resonate with faculty and students alike. What do you think? As a student, do feel like you are treated as an adult? As a faculty, are you treating your students as adults? What would not being treated as an adult look like?Shownotes:Why does it take so long to grow up today? Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, Ted talk, 2015: https://youtu.be/fv8KpQY0m6o?si=YRL76bGm0zrMUlFiArnett, J. (1994). Are college students adults? Their conceptions of the transition to adulthood. Journal of Adult Development, 1(4), pp. 213-224.Nelson, L., Padilla-Walker, L., Carroll, J., Madsen, S., Barry, C., & Badger, S. (2007). “If you want me to treat you like an adult, start acting like one!” Comparing the criteria that emerging adults and their parents hold for adulthood. Journal of Family Psychology, 21(4), pp. 665-674.At what age do you start to really feel like an adult? (If ever!), The Student Room: https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=5037720 Reddit blog on students being treated as adult at university/college: https://www.reddit.com/r/college/comments/m6vkss/do_you_get_treated_like_an_adult_in_college/?rdt=47899To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

This is a question that sneaked itself into our conversation as we listened to comments made by 4th year student way back in September 2023. As you will hear, our thoughts about being an adult and whether we considered ourselves adults were pretty much all over the place. So we dug a bit more into the literature on adulting (yes, that is a word) and discussed it further. Not that we'll write a Nobel prize winning essay about this, but we did conclude adulthood is all about buying new sock!  Will you agree?To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

There has been much talk about whether Smartphones are good or bad for learning. All students use their Smartphone in class either for non-academic related purposes or for their learning during class, using polling apps, looking up vocabulary, Google searches, etc. We do not have the answer to whether phones are good or bad for learning per say, but we can talk about what students do to manage their phone use strategically. In this episode, Diane Riddell generously spends time with us to talk about her research while working in Prof. Luc Bonneville's research group, on the student use of Smartphones in university classes.  We hope you'll recognize yourself in some of the strategies and shared experiences described, learn a thing or two and perhaps share your experience using our email address:  Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com. You can read more about Diane Riddell and Luc Bonneville's research here.To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

During a semester, especially at the end, it is sometimes difficult to stay motivated. Establishing routines and good work habits can help. Janet, Joela and Laura share their working habits, what works well or works less for them.  We hope this might motivate you in these last miles of the semester! To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

Following the comments that 1st year students had shared with us, about their fears and aspirations starting university, we asked 4th year students what they would answer back to the 1st year students. There are clearly some general themes coming to the surface, but also, every student is unique, with their unique experience and perspective. Enjoy the ride!To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

I think most who went to university will remember their first semester, the expectation, the excitement, the angst! We asked a few incoming students about their expectations, their hopes and their fears and empathize and sometimes wonder about their answers. How did your first semester go? What would you tell yourself thinking back?To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

Most people working in a science lab has a story to share about something that went wrong. We collected a few of these, true stories one and all, admittedly with a few editorial liberties, for a bit of Halloween fun. Enjoy! Mwahahaha!!!To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

University comes with its own jargon and a wealth of disciplines and program choices that can be both liberating and confusing! Let's try to make light of it and figure out where to get help when you need it! In this episode, Janet, Joela, Laura and Elaine talk with Julie Lamothe, Manager of the Undergraduate Studies Administration at the Faculty of Science at uOttawa. To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.

A quick introduction to the podcast and the co-hosts.To contact the co-host for comments or suggestions, write to us at Podcasttheuniverse@gmail.com.