Students at the University of Windsor finished exams on Tuesday, with more than 200 using the school’s STEPS study program to help them prep for exams.
The Skills To Enhance Personal Success program is a series of 12 workshops which students can participate in to help them in areas like taking multiple choice exams and test anxiety.
Laura Prada, the student development and support transition services intern, runs the program with the help of fifth-year student Sarah Formagin.
“The workshops are very practical, they’re not like a lecture,” she said. “The program is more about students discovering what kind of learners they are where they want to be academically.”
The program costs $15 for the 12 sessions or $5 a session if students only want to drop into a few. It’s been available through the university for more than 10 years, but the cost was added five years ago.
Keith Brown, a 21-year-old drama and communication student, said he didn’t participate in the program in previous years because of the inconvinience of going to the workshops and the cost.
“It’s not like that’s a lot of money, but it’s still money,” he said. “I mean, we’re students, there are other more important things I could spend my money on.”
He said he would though, if the workshops were free and available online.
Prada said the $15 cost is to cover things like inventory used for the program, a USB stick that students receive with extra information, among other overhead costs.
While only some students participated in the program this semester, Prada said she’s pleased with the outcome.
Along with a colleague, Prada hopes to launch a pilot project with the program to determine grade difference from students before and after participating in the program.