A division of the U.S. National Institute of Health (the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health) has published a review of evidence concluding that relaxation techniques may be helpful for those with headache and migraine pain. After looking at U.S. … Continue reading
It’s not what you know… but what you do… Wellness lectures are not as helpful as actually practicing mind/body stress reduction exercises if you want to have lower level of stress chemicals during stressful situations. Elizabeth Hoge measured the stress chemical ACTH as well as inflammatory cytokines in … Continue reading
Lack of sleep deteriorates memory… unless perhaps it’s about negative things! It’s been known for a long time that getting a good sleep after learning new things will help consolidate that new information into long term memory. Now we also know that the amount … Continue reading
Most melatonin pills do not contain the dose listed on the label. Last month in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, University of Guelph researchers Erland and Saxena reported that 71% of the thirty common melatonin products they purchased in … Continue reading
Procrastination is predictable… of course we’d prefer to do something fun right now and leave everything else until later. 20% of adults claim to be chronic procrastinators, although that number may be as high as 70% among college students! Current research … Continue reading
Are you stressed? If “YES”, do you see that as good? A couple of weeks ago I was listening to Ed Lawrence, Canadian gardening guru, when he was asked how to get a healthy 80 year old … Continue reading
Does this look like a familiar classroom scene?
Researchers at York and McMasterUniversities found surprising information when it comes to laptop use in class and how it distracts not only you, but everyone else around you.
Multitasking is everywhere in our busy lives. We feel that without it we wouldn’t be able to get nearly as much accomplished, but many people fail to realize that it has negative consequences on task performance. When we are dividing our attention between two or more tasks, the incoming information we must process isn’t properly stored. (Sana, Weston and Cepeda, 2013) This applies to multitasking during lectures. If we are distracted by our own, and others’, computer screens it decreases our ability to store the information being presented to us.
The study Laptop Multitasking Hinders Class Learning for Both Uses and Nearby Peers (Sana, Weston & Cepeda, 2013) looked at whether multitasking on a laptop during class would negatively affect individual learning, and also if being in view of someone multitasking would have an effect. The results showed that students had lower comprehension of course material when they spent time multitasking during class. What is surprising though, is that students with a direct view of others multitasking on laptops had their comprehension even more negatively affected than those actually multitasking. Although those students were trying to learn, viewing their peers’ multitasking behaviour put them at a disadvantage.
Knowing these results, is it up to Universities to have more strict policies regarding laptop use during class time, or is it up to students to take responsibility for their own learning?
If you would like to read the full study, it can be found at http://www.sciencedirect.com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/science/article/pii/S0360131512002254#
Sana, F., Weston, T., & Cepeda, N. (2013) Laptop multitasking hinders class learning for both uses and nearby peers. Computers & Education. 62. 24-31. Retrieved from: http://www.sciencedirect.com.subzero.lib.uoguelph.ca/science/article/pii/S0360131512002254#
Okay, so maybe you aren’t quite as excited for Christmas as Buddy the Elf here, maybe you are completely the opposite. This is very understandable since the holiday season can be a stressful time of year.
The Mayo Clinic website has some great information about ways to ensure you have an enjoyable and less stressful holiday season.
To read the article in entirety and for additional tips visit http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/MH00030.
One last idea….. DIY gifts are a great way to decrease stress regarding gifts and money. There are many websites that have great Do It Yourself ideas for gifts for your loved ones. These gifts are more thoughtful, original and help you easily stay within your budget.
If the holiday season so far has been more stressful than enjoyable, try implementing some of these strategies.
Now that the last day of classes is upon us, many students are getting into final exam study mode. This can often be a stressful time of year because students tend to have less sleep, do not eat properly and dedicate most of their days to studying constantly. Many students feel that in order to learn as much information as possible it is a good idea to stay up “cramming” the night before an exam. If this sounds like something you might do, take some time to read the info gram posted below. You might be surprised what research has to say about cramming.
Source: Best Education Degrees
Now you know more about how our brain learns new information, and also how poor study methods can have a negative impact on grades… what tips will you use to improve your own study methods?
Use these ideas to create positive study habits that decrease stress and improve the results of your exam!
Stress affects learning and studying!
We know that stress is harmful to many aspects of our life, especially our health. Unfortunately many students don’t realize just how much stress affects how we learn and retain information.
A Mixed Blessing for Memory: Stress and the Brain, shares great information about how our brain responds to stress, why stress is harms our brains and how stress affects studying. Even though stress can be beneficial to our minds in some cases, long term, chronic stress is harmful. The take away message from this post is that decreasing stress through meditation, deep breathing, spending time with family and friends will help to reduce stress. If you would like to read the post in entirety click on this link http://brainconnection.positscience.com/a-mixed-blessing-for-memory-stress-and-the-brain/
Exam time is quickly approaching, with this in mind you may want to consider attending Stress Less for Tests. This is a program with sessions on Tuesday, November 19th and Thursday, November 21st from 5:30-7:00 p.m. in the University Centre at the University of Guelph. This program will teach practical strategies to reduce exam anxiety to increase positive results.
For more information about this program please visit http://www.uoguelph.ca/~ksomers/stressless.html
It is important to take time out of your day to include stress reduction strategies to optimize learning and improve grades!
International Stress Awareness Day was last Wednesday!
This was a day to spread awareness and knowledge about stress. This is the display that was set up in the University Centre, it outlined facts about stress and strategies to decrease the amount of stress in your life.
Here are some recommendations for stress reduction:
The free presentation “Diet, Stress and IBS” was a great success and provided a great deal of useful information. Here is a sample of the information that was presented.
Strategies to relax the GI tract:
For good GI Function:
Come take advantage of the free events available on Wednesday, November 6th- International Stress Awareness Day! 
AND
For more information visit http://www.uoguelph.ca/~ksomers/
Everyone worries – worrying can help us create new ways to solve problems, but we need to learn when enough is enough and how to stop worrying when it becomes overwhelming.
5 Pitfalls that encourage worrying are:
Strategies to STOP worry:
Sometimes the most effective way to stop worry from creeping into our lives in an overwhelming way is to write down 1) what you’re worrying about, 2) how you can effectively deal with it, and 3) if it is unavoidable, how you can cope.
If you’d like to learn more, check out the Stop Worrying workshop next Wednesday night.
Worry DOESN’T have to take over your thoughts!
If you feel sick, anxious and panicked when there are exams coming up, don’t worry! Here are some tips to help relax and get better results!
For many people, writing a test or completing any kind of assessment can be really stressful. For some people it becomes overwhelming and even causes poor performance. When you experience this type of test anxiety it can have an impact on physical, emotional, behavioural and cognitive aspects of life. Fortunately there are ways to reduce the strength of test anxiety:
Way back in February we posted some facts about Cramming, and why it doesn’t work! Here it is once again as a refresher…
the link for this info graphic is http://dailyinfographic.com/cramming-for-your-exam-infographic
It is important to understand that you are not alone in feeling this way, it happens to many people. Using these strategies will help you feel more prepared in your ability to do well on a test.
