Skills Workshops for Students

All Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre services are based on a problem-solving approach to learning. Our Skills Strategists and Student Facilitators/Mentors will work with you to identify the critical skills you need to work on, and help you develop the tools you need to improve them. Whatever workshops or seminars you choose to attend, you should come prepared to engage in an interactive skills-enhancement experience.

The following are brief descriptions of the currently offered workshops and seminars at the Centre. For more information, including upcoming dates and times, please consult our online calendar, visit the Centre or call (905)828-3858.

Workshops Available:

Effective Reading

This workshop teaches students a process for reading their textbooks critically using the SPAR method of reading (Survey, Process Meaningfully, Ask Questions, Review and Self-Test). We will also show you some different ways of taking more effective notes.


Essay Writing 101 - Research
In a word, no. If anyone other than you yourself proofreads and edits your work, it's no longer entirely yours. It would be unethical for us to intervene in anything you've written, and it's bad in terms of your learning experience as well. If there are weaknesses or errors in your writing, you need to learn to correct them yourself, and ultimately not to make them at all. After all, after you leave the University, any writing you'll need to do on the job will be your exclusive responsibility; employers in today's job market demand good communication skills, so it's a good idea to develop them now.


Essay Writing 102 - Writing Basics
This workshop discusses general essay and report writing skills, in addition to addressing more specific issues. Topics include understanding the essay or research question, constructing a thesis, analyzing an argument (critical review), determining a preliminary research strategy, avoiding plagiarism and using documentation, planning your essay or report, and fixing common grammar and structural problems.


Essay Writing 103 - Effective Editing
This is a workshop that shows students how to identify some of the errors common to their own writing and how to proofread their own work effectively. Students should bring some marked work with them for help with such items as sentence structure, clarity, and word usage.

Exam Prep - Essay/Short Answer Test-Types
In this workshop students are taught how to dissect a question in order to fully understand what they are being asked to do. Students are prompted to then put these skills into practice by examining questions from a variety of disciplines.

Exam Prep - Multiple Choice Test-Types
This workshop provides students with various strategies for coping with multiple choice style exams. By presenting examples of different types of multiple choice questions, students are invited to develop an approach that best suits each specific question.

Lecture Listening & Note Taking
This workshop presents a variety of techniques and suggestions which can help you learn more from lectures. Topics include improving your powers of listening and concentration, ways of identifying the key points in a lecture, methods of note-taking, and making a useful summary of lecture material.

Memory Techniques (Drop-in Clinic)
If you are looking for ways to understand and improve your memory, come to our drop-in clinics where several experienced mentors will discuss various methods to help you discover what memory techniques can work best for you.

Time Management
Learning how to cope with the combination of school work, part-time work, and family and leisure time is part of adapting to university life. This workshop discusses ways to organize and motivate yourself in order to get the most out of your university experience.

Check our Calender of Events frequently for information about what upcoming workshops the Robert Gillespie Academic Skills Centre will be holding each month.