{"id":4717,"date":"2009-10-16T07:00:19","date_gmt":"2009-10-16T11:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=4717"},"modified":"2011-05-31T12:43:07","modified_gmt":"2011-05-31T16:43:07","slug":"students-looking-for-help-with-study-skills-can-ask-ali","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2009\/10\/students-looking-for-help-with-study-skills-can-ask-ali\/","title":{"rendered":"Students Seeking Help with Study Skills Can Ask Ali"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"<p>Alixandra<\/a>
Alixandra Grasson, a recent graduate, at Homer Babbidge Library. Photo by Frank Dahlmeyer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Students looking for a bit of friendly, one-on-one advice about how to succeed at UConn can now turn to a series of useful online videos created by one of their former classmates.<\/p>\n

In \u201cAsk Ali,\u201d a series of eight video segments available through the UConn website<\/a> with a NetID and password, as well as on YouTube<\/a>, recent UConn graduate Alixandra Grasson offers students insight into some of the specific study skills and strategies that worked for her during her time at the University.<\/p>\n

Over the course of her junior and senior years, Grasson \u2013 known as Ali \u2013 recorded the video segments to coach students on approaches that helped her excel in her own schoolwork.<\/p>\n

Each \u201cAsk Ali\u201d video covers, generally in less than five minutes, a different topic related to enhancing study skills. In each segment, Grasson walks the viewer through a particular technique, inviting students to try it out in their own classes. Her videos touch on such topics as learning how to take effective notes, managing time, and improving recall using an approach called mind mapping.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really wanted it to be like a face-to-face conversation, where I could say, \u2018This works for me, and maybe you should try it,\u2019\u201d Grasson says.<\/p>\n

Every video is also accompanied by a set of links to a wealth of supplementary material with further details on each of the study tactics she outlines.<\/p>\n

The idea for \u201cAsk Ali\u201d originated in 2008 with Kevin Sullivan, director of academic support in the Office of First Year Programs. Sullivan, an instructor for First Year Experience (FYE) classes, recognized that tools like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter have become a part of students\u2019 everyday interactions.<\/p>\n

Often hearing his students talk with one another about the videos they had seen on YouTube, he also observed in the classroom that videos seem to resonate with students. \u201cWe have tons of resources that students can access, but the interesting thing is, you do a two-minute video, and students just get it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

With the \u201cAsk Ali\u201d videos, Sullivan says his vision was to \u201cdemystify\u201d study skills and help make them more concrete for students. Good grades don\u2019t \u201cjust happen,\u201d he says. \u201cWhat we\u2019re saying is, take a look at what you\u2019re doing. If something works, keep it. We want to get students to see that there is a process \u2013 a kind of intentional approach. If you notice, with everything Ali talks about, you\u2019re always doing something with the material from your classes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because he also wanted to ensure that the videos came across as genuine, Grasson would try out each of the study strategies herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor two, three, or four weeks, Ali would watch how she studied, what she did with her notes, how she read her text, how she managed her time or her stress, and then she\u2019d come back and make a video,\u201d Sullivan says. \u201cThe deal was, \u2018You can only talk about stuff that works for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Adds Grasson, \u201cIf they did work, I could vouch for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sullivan says the response to the \u201cAsk Ali\u201d videos has been positive from students and faculty alike. \u201cStudents seem to appreciate them,\u201d he says. \u201cI wasn\u2019t sure if they\u2019d see them as kind of hokey or propaganda. The videos are talking about studying skills. It\u2019s not the most glamorous subject in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

FYE instructors, Sullivan says, are now pointing incoming students to the videos \u2013 which are accessible through HuskyCT \u2013 and even kicking off some of their classes with a relevant clip from \u201cAsk Ali.\u201d The videos are also promoted to students visiting the Academic Achievement Center to improve their academic skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that if students are feeling lost, or if the high school strategies they have aren\u2019t working, they can at least look to this and say, \u2018Here\u2019s another strategy I can try,\u2019\u201d Grasson says. \u201cI hope these videos can help some people succeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Grasson graduated in May, plans for an \u201cAsk Ali\u201d sequel are in the works. Coincidentally, Ali\u2019s potential successor is a UConn student named Allie, currently in her third semester. \u201cAllie, Too,\u201d a working title for the next generation of videos, will focus on coaching students on health and wellness issues.<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Videos offering study skills advice and recorded by a recent graduate are now available online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[49],"class_list":["post-4717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-08 00:57:55","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4717"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37609,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4717\/revisions\/37609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4717"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=4717"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=4717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}